Timothy
He doesn't know if him arriving at the brink of dusk is a good thing, or a bad thing. Good, because the night allows him to travel silently and swiftly through the mountains without getting spotted by a Skywing patrol. Bad, because it's a couple more hours to the Sky Kingdom, and by the time he arrived it'll be daytime, therefore his sleep schedule is down in the gutters.

But he can't really complain now, could he? Not when he's here for the task of taking a life.

It's weird, really. Back in his younger days in the army, he never had any big issues in regards to taking a life. He didn't go out of his way to kill willy-nilly, but whenever his superiors asked him to take the shot, he took it with little resistance. But now, he won't finish a fight with only him as the survivor. He'll leave bruises, scars that takes weeks to heal, but ones that won't kill them. One that ensures survival, if he could. The blood of someone else on his talons makes him weak at his knees. 

If only he can avoid that fatality here.

The contract was clear cut and dry; the target was an elite in Skywing society, allegedly related to the captain of the royal guard by a slim margin. Noble to all, but cruel to the unseen, demanding work from the lower class and taking more from the unfortunate. The buyer wants him dead in 3 days. Methods used are irrelevant, as long as he's gone before sunrise.

What the target is up to, is the only reason he even accepted the contract. So he'll make his time worth. 

Wings as silent as his namesake, the masked Nightwing glides gracefully through the air, steadily appraching a large opening between the mountains. A good place to rest his wings, and hide from possible Skywing patrols. Wouldn't want to tell them why a suspicious looking Nightwing is all alone in their territory. 

Blackbolt had gone through the mission with the knowledge that he's the sole hunter. But he couldn't be far more wrong. 

For his keen eyes had barely missed a figure hiding in the shadows. Watching him approach.
Philip
Eucalyptus was used to being pursued but not so... Unsubtly. Sure, she's had her fair share of Nightwing assassins but they weren't nearly as obvious about their presence as this one was.
Perhaps her commissioner had sent another dragon to make sure she got the job done? Or perhaps this was merely a passerby? Whatever the case, the dragon soaring overhead looked quite strange if a little intimidating.
Euca felt a cold lump beginning to form in her stomach as she swallowed hard, narrowing her eyes at the partially obscured Nightwing. If she was going to be monitored then so be it but she wasn't going to be particularly pleasant or friendly about it.

The Sandwing shuffled backward, further into the trees to avoid being spotted so easily with her pale scales, branches crackling with each step and thick foliage snagging on her talons as she began her steady movement further in with an unenthused grumble.
She wasn't exactly used to such thick foliage either as she trudged through but she'd have to deal with it until she got to the craggier part of the Sky Kingdom.

She hadn't set up a fire or anything since that may give away her location but.. Maybe if she created a small fire on purpose she could get that strange dragon down here to see who they were and what exactly they wanted. Anything to avoid an unnecessary fight was a solid plan in her mind.
Scooping up a few stray twigs and branches, she soon collected them in one arm and hobbled her way into a small clearing, dropping the stick with a small clatter as she inhaled, letting the warm air draw into her throat and... Voila!

The Sandwing breathed a steady plume of flame onto the bundle which quickly caught fire, twisting up and up into the fading light until it died down to a comfortably sized fire.
Timothy
Blackbolt was about three wingspan closer to approaching the opening when the smell of burnt wood enters his nostrils. Eyes widening by a margin, he suddenly halts his descent and hovered quietly in the air. The dragon subtly sniffs the air around him as dark sapphire flickers rapidly around the rocky area, trying to spot what has disturbed the silence. 

Firewood. Rarely would his sense of smell lie. There's no mistaking it; someone's here.

A Skywing patrol? It wouldn't be out there for a squad to make camp this far out. So either that, or some lone dragon decided it was a good idea to make camp in Skywing territory; not inside a cave, no less. Whoever it is, he must be cautious. He doesn't want any distractions from the mission.

Although, a small part of him wants to investigate. If it is a Skywing patrol, with a little... Persuasion, he can get information about the ongoings of the Kingdom, and devise a plan accordingly to get to his target. 

That plan has many risks. But so does investigating the matter himself. Lack of accurate info may slow him down on his mission, and by the time he got what he wanted, the time limit would pass. 

Which one would be the lesser evil in this situation?

The dragon, wings flapping as quiet as the wind, seemingly had made up his mind, looking towards the direction where the smell came from. By now he can see a faint smoke trail ahead, by the same location he was about to land in no less! The smell of burnt wood is getting stronger, alluring and calling to him in a siren's song. 

Let's just hope whoever's there, would remain quiet and pliant for him.

Blackbolt flies towards the trail, keeping mind to silence his flight. He flexed his talons, right thigh shifting slightly, feeling the strap of his knife holder dig into his scales. His claws would be enough, but just to keep it safe...

To his slight surprise, the clearing was empty, other than what he now knows to be the source of the fire. He looked around to see if anyone's there. 

Strange... There's seems to be no one pre-

**There.**

Hidden behind the trees, he spots a shadowy figure. He can't see what it is, but he knows for sure that it's a dragon. Which tribe, he does not know. But that doesn't matter; he's not alone. 

Approach, or stay?

....

With a gust of wind, the dragon landed silently on the rocky clearing, sapphire eyes locked onto the figure hidden in the foliage. But he does not move. Only standing some feet away from the fire. Watching. Waiting.

Anticipating what the other dragon will do.
Philip
The Sandwing waits patiently after lighting the fire, the smell of smoke filling the air little by little. Whatever light was left in the sky was fading quickly and that set her on edge just a bit. She didn't want to brawl with a dragon in the dark when she could hardly see.
Straining her ears, she could just barely make out the quiet wingbeats of the Nightwing following her. She couldn't exactly tell where they were coming from however and that made her even more nervous as she got to her feet, backing away from the fire until she was just barely on the edge of the glowing light.

As the dragon lands on the other side of the rocky clearing, Eucalyptus lets out a low, threatening hiss, her barbed tail instinctively rattling in turn.
"Mighty strange t'find a Nightwing all the way out here in Skywing territory." She calls from the shadows, narrowing her eyes against the darkness so she could get a better look at this stranger. Their mask was reflecting orange thanks to the crackling fire and she could barely make out the cloak around their shoulders against the gloom.
Eucalyptus was tense, trying to make out any signs that the dragon before her was hostile like she thought without giving away why she was here in the first place.

"Mind telling me what yer doin out here so far from home?" Her tongue flickered out of her maw, tasting the smell of dragon mingling with smoke as she slowly stepped forward into the light to reveal her own scales in turn, beginning to pace cautiously.
Timothy
The silence was thickening, but brief. He blinked, and a low hiss was soon heard throughout the clearing. His muscles tensed, ears pinned behind him as he stared down on the shadow, hard. 

```"Mighty strange t'find a Nightwing all the way out here in Skywing territory."```

His eyes narrowed at the jeer, but he kept his stance clear. 

The Skywing—or atleast, he thinks its a Skywing—is stalling him, by making small talk. He knew this technique all too well. 

```"Mind telling me what yer doin' out here so far from home?"```

When the dragon walked into the light, it took all his strength not to outwardly react. Instead his eyes only widen by a margin as a *Sandwing* Stepped out of the shadows and not a Skywing like he'd expected. 

Pale yellow scales decorated with dark accents, with a build suggesting a history with the harsh desert. The Sandwing stared at him, jeering, their black tongue flickering out of their lips. 

This just complicates things further. 

Relations between the Sandwings and Nightwings are, to his knowledge, a positive one. But with this one being outright hostile towards him, hints of them being either an exile like him, or a disgruntled official who's just looking for an excuse to brawl. Either way, this doesn't look good for him on the long run. He'll just have to bear whatever comes next. 

For now, he gives the Sandwing nothing more than a huff from his nose and twitching from his wings, revealing the lightning pattern on his membranes in the hopes of intimidating them.
Philip
Eucalyptus frowned as she saw the stranger didn't quite react in a way that garnered flight or perhaps suggested they meant little in the way of harm.
"Not much of a talker? I've seen the strong n' silent type of assassin before." Her pupils were slitted against the fire's light but they flashed in the gloom as she tilted her head this way and that, trying to squint and see if they had any weapons other than their teeth and talons.

"We can do this nice n' easy or this can get messier than a Mudwing inna marsh. I don't take real kind to dragons stickin' their nose where it don't belong and following me all quiet like." The Sandwing drawled, slowly stepping closer despite Blackbolt's posturing and attempt to look intimidating.

"Whaddya say? I'm willin' to let scales stay intact if you just slink back into your shadow all princely."
Euca's tail barb twitched in irritation, flickering to and fro from its neat coil by the light of the fire.
Timothy
```"Not much of a talker? I've seen the strong n' silent type of assassin before."```

Blackbolt can't help but narrowed his eyes at the comment, lips twitching into a frown. 'Assassin'. That blasted term haunts him in his earlier years of isolation. He excelled in it, but he's not proud of it. He has only done it to survive. He is not a strong assassin, far from it. 

He doesn't have time to mull over the thought, as the next words they said snapped him out of his stuppor. 

```"-messier than a Mudwing inna marsh. I don't take real kind to dragons stickin' their nose where it don't belong and following me all quiet like."```

He blinked, brows slightly raised under the mask. Following her? The only reason he knew she's here at all is because of the fire that the Sandwing had, allegedly, made just to lure him in. If it weren't for that, he'll pass over her during his flight, surely. His mind is only focused on the mission, not conversing with assassins hiding away and luring other dragons to them. Where did she get the idea of him following her? 

Unless she had misunderstood his stance in this? He'd only flown here to investigate the fire, and gather information from possible Skywing patrols. If no one was there, he would leave the area immediately and probably never meeting the Sandwing.

```"Whaddya say? I'm willin' to let scales stay intact if you just slink back into your shadow all princely."```

Either way, he needs to diffuse the situation, fast. He has confidence in himself that he can fight her off with little difficulty, if push comes to shove. But he's on a time limit, and doesn't have time to brawl with other assassins and getting himself hurt in the process. So he'll need to calm the situation down from a potential fight, if only for his sake.

He lets out a low throaty croon, then lowered his head slightly, eyes looking downwards. His wings, once raised in an intimidating way, was moved down as well, with the limbs hovering above ground. 

He dares not bow down completely, lest he puts himself in a vulnerable position for an attack. But this is enough to send a message across, he thinks. He lets his body language speak for itself, the submissive posture clear to all dragons. 

*'I am not your enemy.'* 

The body can express more than words can.
Philip
The oddly patterned Sandwing was about to bark another warning that she was getting fed up and tired of the silence but as she was about to step closer again, the Nightwing before her did something... Odd.
They averted their gaze, bringing their wings back into place and obviously tried to make themselves look less threatening with a throaty warble. Eucalyptus was.. Confused to say the least. Had she gotten this dragon all wrong? Her mind spun with unanswered questions and she felt dizzy, stepping back a few paces and plopping down in on the smooth dirt.

"Talons and teeth, I thought you were here to try and kill me, sorry about that—" She scuffed her talons in the dirt, sending little plumes of dirt and rocks this way and that. Now she felt stupid. Great.
"I don't mean ya any harm, honest. You did scare me at first with yer mask there, looks mighty strange, like you've got something to hide." She chuckled, squinting in a relaxed manner, a brief smile curling its way onto her snout. "I usually don't go telling my business to anyone but... You deserve an explanation yknow? Nothin' but a humble bounty hunter, my client back home got into an.. Altercation of sorts with someone of high status and now things aren't looking too great for the perpetrator in question. That's why I'm here—to even things out you could say."