<div style="text-indent:1em;">Damien was getting hungry. Again. This was not a new occurrence for Damien, as living miles from the nearest settlement made it difficult to gather a large amount of supplies, but he should have been more thoughtful. <span style="font-style: italic"><span style="color: violet">I really need to do something about this...No food for the what...fifth night in a row? I'm surprised I can still think rationally.</span></span> He decided that maybe venturing to the nearby wooded island might be a good idea. The deer were usually quite large because hunters feared coming too far away from the main lands, with the bandits, thieves, and mercenaries appearing more often as the safety of the cities was left behind.</div><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">The land of Triunia was a vast series of floating islands. Nobody knows how they ended up this way or how they remain, but for centuries, nay, many millennium now, many races have thrived upon the islands in the sky. Two such races are dragons and the great eagles. Over time, both have become a means of transportation, but dragons in particular are highly regarded. With only a few eggs per month to the entire species, care of the dragons has been taken by all of the sky people. Ones who become bonded with dragons and protect them, as well as serving their country, become dragon riders.</div><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">Damien is one such rider, but due to an accident in his bonding ceremony, the dragon became a part of him, and was sealed within him to prevent its escape, which would have killed him. After many years, Damien was able to communicate and even become friends with the dragon within him, and can freely call upon its power and form. But now was not such a time as he needed to.</div><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">After gathering some of his meager supplies, namely his sword, armor, ocarina, and goggles, Damien left his hut and proceeded to the edge of his island, which was only a few hundred feet from where be built his home. He pulled out the ocarina and played a tune.</div><object height="360" width="640"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qeyqY8UPpus"/><param name="wmode" value="transparent"/><embed height="360" src="https://www.youtube.com/v/qeyqY8UPpus" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="640" wmode="transparent"/></object><br/><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">After a few seconds, a white eagle came flying up and landed beside Damien. <span style="color: violet">"It's nice to see you again Karo, are you ready to fly? We've got some hunting to do."</span> Karo tilted his head, which Damien took as a yes, and put his special eagle saddle on Karo's back. It had straps to hold in his legs, and arms if necessary, and was crafted in the same fashion as Damien's mentor Galahad had taught him. Damien strapped his legs in the saddle, and Karo took the plunge off the edge of the island.</div><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;"><span style="font-style: italic"><span style="color: violet">This was always my favorite part!!</span></span> Damien leveled out Karo's flight and directed him toward the island a few miles away. It was one of the larger ones that was distant from any city, but still uninhabited, mostly.  The chance he would find dinner for the rest of the week was a lot better here than his own island.  After a few minutes, Damien guided Karo to a clearing, telling him he would call again when he had food, and let Karo leave after he unstrapped himself and dismounted. <span style="font-style: italic"><span style="color: violet">I think I'll go...this way.</span></span></div><br/><div style="text-indent:1em;">Damien walked silently through the woods, taking care not to tread on anything that might give away his presence. The pristine silence of the forest around him had its own beauty, and Damien did not want to disturb that, at least not until he saw his dinner. He spent the next few hours waiting, stalking, and even hunting, luckily finding a small group of deer in a meadow. After admiring the quality of his kills, which left no mark on their bodies, Damien thought he heard something nearby. <span style="font-style: italic"><span style="color: violet">Something large? No...even a large creature is more careful about their steps. This sounds like...people? A group of bandits, no doubt. Maybe I should go check on that before they scare off any more food.</span></span> At this, Damien used a small earth spell to seal his kills in a stone box, and he jumped into the trees and silently approached the sound.</div>