of Tricks and Trees

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STORY
Liu rested her back against the treetrunk and waited. She had a wonderful view of the fields that lay below and the drop of the cliffs to the Sea far below. Overhead clouds drifted in the blue sky and birds sang in the neighbouring trees. Liu didn't have to wait long for her intended victim to arrive.
Within half an hour, the figure of her brother appeared from the village, taking the road to the fields. He was a couple of years older than Liu and far too serious for his own good. Liu was the complete opposite of him and often the object of his sermons about responsibility. And she'd had it. Huang needed to be taken down a peg for his own good. No matter what he said about her needing to experience just the same.
When Huang was right below her, Liu dropped down, hanging from her feet, and mussing Huang's hair. His scream was a delightful reward. Him falling and dragging her with him was less so. But still Liu couldn't stop laughing while she hit the ground hard. She'd have a good bruise to show for it but the prank had been worth it.
Huang still had to catch his breath but by this time he'd figured out what had happened. It hadn't been the sky falling on his head or a sudden rockfall. It had only been his menace of a sister. All things considered things could have been worse and he felt some pride for the fact that he had made her fall from the tree.
"Get of me." He said, got up and dusted himself.
"You should have heard your scream." Liu giggled.
Unbeknownst to the two Khylarian humans, they were being observed by two other creatures. The serpentine dragons were tricksters of their own and quite approved of what they'd seen. In fact, both Gui Ji and Mi Mi knew they could do better.
"How about we scare them just a little?" Gui Ji suggested.
"Or tempt them with a treasure." Mi Mi suggested.
"Let's do both!" They both agreed.

That night, Liu was the first to wake up. She heard whispers in the wind. Getting up she stumbled to the window, looked out and was suddenly wide awake as she saw the glitter of gold. As she moved to the door, Huang woke up.
"What are you doing?"
"I saw gold!" she hissed back, "i'm going to get it."
"No way."
Huang figured his sister had had a dream, but it was dark outside and it was potentially danferous. He sighed and got up. He couldn't leave her to roam the village alone at night. But as he got out of the house, he too saw the glint of gold. In fact, many coins were strewn across the street, illuminated by the moonlight.
The two of them started picking up coins, stuffing them in their pockets and in a bag they'd found. Without noticing it, they got further and further away from their home. Finally they reached the fields. And then the trail of coins stopped. Looking up the two of them suddenly found themselves eye to eye with two monsters.
"Got you!" the purple one called.
"Psyche!" the green one added.
Huang took a step backed and tripped over Liu who was already hiding behind him. The two children fell to the ground, frightened for their lives.
"They're not laughing." Mi Mi remarked.
"How come you're not laughing?" Gui Ji asked verbally.
"It took us a long time to gather all those coins too."
Huang was the first to recover as the dragons seemed to mean them no harm.
"Where did you get these?" he asked.
"They were lying in some cave to the east. Nobody was around."
"Bandit hideout?" Liu asked with big eyes.
"Must have been." Huang agreed.
"Does that make you guys.... heroes?" Liu asked.
"We are!" Gui Ji grinned.
"We're strong and cunning!" Mi Mi agreed.
When in fact the tw dragons were only just children themselves. But the humans didn't need to know that...

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Lineart by Charlie-MoM on DeviantArt - Coloured by Nomi from Dragonpact

STATS
Name: Gui Ji (Chinese for "trick")
Gender: Male
Species: Eastern Dragon
Description: The Eastern Dragons have short, pastel coloured fur, with brighter/vibrant tones for their mane/longer fur, and jewel tones for their eyes. They're short, between 3 and 5 feet at the shoulder, and 6 times longer than they are tall. If marked, their markings should be based on cats and horses.
Personality: Funloving, mischievous and inquisitive.
Abilities:
- Wingless Flight - move like they're swimming through the air
- Telepathy
- Verbal speech
- Portal based Teleportation
- Incubate: Can hasten the hatching of eggs
- Brood: can buffer a clutch against changes of environment which might cause them harm
- Limited Precognition: always know when a birthing/hatching/ect is going to happen.
- Don’t naturally bond, can be the target of others bonds.

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Lineart by Charlie-MoM on DeviantArt - Coloured by Nomi from Dragonpact

STATS
Name: Mi Mi (Chinese for "secret")
Gender: Female
Species: Eastern Dragon
Description: The Eastern Dragons have short, pastel coloured fur, with brighter/vibrant tones for their mane/longer fur, and jewel tones for their eyes. They're short, between 3 and 5 feet at the shoulder, and 6 times longer than they are tall. If marked, their markings should be based on cats and horses.
Personality: Sneaky, secretive and gossipy.
Abilities:
- Wingless Flight - move like they're swimming through the air
- Telepathy
- Verbal speech
- Portal based Teleportation
- Incubate: Can hasten the hatching of eggs
- Brood: can buffer a clutch against changes of environment which might cause them harm
- Limited Precognition: always know when a birthing/hatching/ect is going to happen.
- Don’t naturally bond, can be the target of others bonds.

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Picture taken on vacation
Lantessama Isle