Months passed and Davyn and Amythest made slow but steady progress. Now that she was getting used to flying fro long stretches, she was getting faster and her endurance was building. It wouldn't be long now, Davyn thought privately, before she is ready to live up to her breed's legacy.<br/>Their continued progress led them to all kinds of new places, new experiences and new people. They continued their trek north, occasionally veering off-course to explore an intriguing island or a nearby market. One day, they heard thunder in the distance, and Amythest turned her purple gaze on the dark clouds.<br/>"Yeah, I see it, girl. What do you want to do?" He always made it a point to ask her opinion. She knew her abilities just as well or even better than he did. Besides, he didn't want to hold her back. If she wanted to stretch her wings among those dark clouds then that was fine by him. If she wanted to hunker down somewhere and wait out the tempest, he'd gladly help her look for a spot.<br/>She rumbled, keeping her gaze fixed on the clouds before them. Davyn didn't speak; he knew that she was thinking. Going into that storm would be great fun for her, but it could be perilous to her rider.<br/>Finally, she turned toward the storm. Davyn smiled and adjusted his seat in the saddle. After a year of nurturing a baby dragon and being so careful with her, now she was confident enough to take a chance. He was excited for this opportunity and was eager for the experience and the things that he would learn.<br/><br/>Amythest accelerated, speeding through the air, taking Davyn by surprise. He whooped and hung on to the saddle's makeshift grip as his dragon took them into the storm. The winds buffeted them, but Amythest barely slowed down. She simply adjusted her tail and moved on. Lightning flashed as thunder boomed, and rain began pouring down. Amythest roared, shooting a plasma blast into the clouds in her excitement. She swooped, spun, and dived, timing her moves between gusts of winds and making to account for them so that they don't overpower her and send them into the icey ocean below. It was clear to anyone who didn't even know her that she was having the time of her life.<br/><br/>Just as the rain, winds and the cold began to catch up with Davyn and he was going to tell Amythest to land...A mistake was made. Someone leaned the wrong way just as a strong gust of wind came in from the side. Davyn was ripped off the saddle and downwards, away from Amythest. He shouted as Amythest looked his way, noticing the sudden lack of weight on her back. She roared as Davyn plummeted. She folded her wings and chased him, dropping past him. In a split second, she had turned her head to judge her rider's position and then matched her own body so that he fit back into the saddle with little jarring impact. As soon as she felt Davyn's arms around her neck, she opened her wings to stop their descent. She pulled them away from the storm and towards an island she had noted as they passed overhead, but she shouldn't have relaxed so soon. The storm wasn't going to let her go that easily. Another gust of wind, the strongest she'd felt yet, ripped at her from all directions, twisting her whole body around and leaving her disoriented. A chunk of ice, one of many that had begun to fall, fell onto her wing just as she had managed to get straightened out. A bone cracked and buckled, and the dragon screamed in agony as she felt her control over the air fade away. She began to fall and she screamed again in outrage. She heard Davyn screaming in her ear, she used her good wing and her tail to try to guide them to the island. They were going down hard and fast, but she managed to get them over land. Once they were clear of the ocean, she focused to slowing their speed. Backflapping hard and reaching for the nearest tree's tallest branches, she grabbed hold on a thick bough. Their speed stopped, but the branch was too thin to support them. It broke and they fell, crashing into the branches before finally landing hard on the ground below. Both of them were knocked unconscious.