While other Matriarchs and Patriarchs had gathered and talked, Valdrovas had only briefly encountered the leader of the Greens before withdrawing back to the cold expanse of the Highlands, secluding herself to the frigid wastes where nodes of azure and aquamarine crystals were beginning to form along the rocky ground. It had been months since she'd even seen another dragon.

Eighty-six feet of scaly, pale blue hide was curled loosely over ground where Valdrovas was resting amongst a patch of crystals. She did yet see or hear two younger dragons approaching at a distance, but Contrun could see the Matriarch's large frame already. "Down there - that's her." He called out to Taru, and used his blunt muzzle to point in the direction of Val in case she hadn't spotted her yet. "I haven't heard much from her, but I know she's been here several months already."

The female dragon had been flying circles around the Contrun, happy to be flying with another dragon. Her huge wings made the earth look blue as the sun's beams went through them. Her white fur on her legs and end of tail gave her great flight stability and made her be able to do tricks more easily in the air. When the red dragon pointed at the Matriarch below them, she stopped flying around and slowed down to the same speed he was flying, gliding next to him easily.

When the dragoness saw the other Blue, her mouth opened wide and she let loose a roar into the slience, a torrent of blue flame coming for her throat. She soon cut it off and tucked her 25 foot wings to her side, and dived, happy to see another one of her broods. She got close to the ground and opened them again, wind catching in them. The blue flapped them to slow her down until she was flying parallel to the ground, about 10 feet from the Earth. When she got close, she slowed more and lifted herself perpendicular to the ground, flapping in place before gently dropping onto the Earth. She smiled, her ivories showing. Hello!! She said happily to her Matriarch.

Contrun had had fun dipping and swirling through the air on their way here, though he still couldn't keep up with Taru's agility and speed in the air. He might be older and more powerful than her, but she was swifter and, as far as he saw, much more graceful. The Red's acrobatics came to an end the second he spotted Valdrovas however, if only because he was made to feel more self conscious and uncertain in the presence of a Leader, especially one of a different brood than his. As Taru came up beside him and began the descent towards the rocky ground below, Contrun folded his own wings slightly and angled himself to land slightly after her, and a good few dozen feet behind.

Out in the desolate reaches of the Highlands, there was little by the sharp winds for Valdrovas to listen to, aside from the occasional thunder of bison and elk herds roaming in the distance. The flap of leather wings against the cold air caught her attention immediately and brought the Matriarch quickly to her clawed feet. By the time Taru had landed, with Contrun hitting the ground a bit more heavily behind her, Valdrovas had her long, tooth-lined muzzle held high so that it was looking down upon the Blue and Red that approached her. "Ahhh, another Blue." Her voice sounded a little distant, but was contradicted by the warm look bestowed from her otherwise icy, navy-blue eyes. "And what might your name be?" Valdrovas had an impecible memory for her Blue kin, as most Leaders tended to have, yet this young female was one that she'd hadn't the privilege of meeting personally.

Taru smiled at her Matriarch and bows her head a bit before looking back up with her sapphire orbs. When she spoke, she listened intently and responding accordingly. "I'm Taru!!!" The dragoness wings were still open and she closed them to her sides. "It is very nice to meet you...Uh...Excuse my ruseness. But that's your name, my Matriarch." She let a small laugh at her stupidness then glanced at Contrun, wondering if he was going to introduce himself to the Matriarch in front of them.

The Matriarch's dark navy eyes, overshadowed by the wide horns that sprouted on either side of her head, looked between the two again. The Red appeared nervous, but otherwise both of them looked healthy and well, and that pleased her. Her gaze shifted back to Taru, "Valdrovas is my name. You must have just landed recently? I was beginning to worry how many of our Brood would make it here." While she spoke, Contrun remained respectfully quiet. He might have offered his name by now, but didn't want to interject in their conversation unless the Matriarch specifically addressed him. Until that happened, the Red kept his blunt jaws shut, and focused his eyes mainly on the cold, rocky soil at his feet.

Taru inclined her head once again. "I am very happy to finally meet you, Valdrovas." Then she nodded, her tail twitching. "Yes. I actually just got here a little while ago. I landed in a warm pool. I didn't think I would meet another of my brood here, let alone my Matriarch. If it wasn't for Contrun, I wouldn't have met you here today. Or at least not for a long while." She pointed to the red with a flick of her tail and sat down on her flanks. Her scales seemed to shine like thousands of gems when the sunlight hit them.

Valdrovas inclined her head slightly and parted her jaws in a vague smile, "In that case, I'm happy to have had the pleasure of meeting you. It does my heart good to see another Blue after so long." Contrun was under her dark gaze next, causing the red to look down abruptly when he found the Matriarch's eyes upon him. "You must be Contrun? You have my appreciation for helping Taru." The red nodded his blunt muzzle and stole a glance upwards to fix his sights at the end of Val's muzzle, rather than look directly in her eyes. It wasn't that he was a shy fellow, but... something about talking to a Leader, especially one of another Brood, made him feel like a hatchling all over again, "Yes, I'm Contrun. I've been here for several months myself, so I knew of your location." Now that he'd said that, Valdrovas was sure she'd at least scented this brute before. Regardless, she'd given him her thanks, and with that accomplished, it was back to Taru. "I encourage you to take up residence here, Taru. There is plenty of food, and so far I've only found one human in the region." She nodded back towards her cache of crystals, and laying scattered on the ground beside one particularly large gem was... human bones? Contrun blinked in surprise, not sure why seeing the remains of human carcass bothered him so.

Taru smiled and glanced at Contrun out the corner of her sapphire eye as Valdrovas spoke to him. Then her gaze shifted back to the Matriarch as she spoke to her now, asking her to stay. Looking around, she examined the terrain and decided it would be nice to be here. Then her gaze shifted to the bones near the crystal that Valdrovas looked to.

It unsettled her to see the bones though she didn't know why. Lastly, her gaze locked back on her Matriarch. "Thank you for the offer. I will take it happily." Her cranium looked back at Contrun. "Hey Contrun. Where do you live? I would like to see it. That is, if you don't mind."

Keen and perceptive, the Matriarch caught the looks that both younger dragons made to the bones. "Good, good. Now, if you need any help at all, for whatever reason, I encourage you to seek me out, Taru. We must stick together if our Brood is to prosper." For all that she'd been focusing on Taru, Valdrovas swept her gaze back to Contrun and offered him the same courtesy... along with a request, "And you as well, Contrun. I would also appreciate a word with your Patriarch, if you should come across him."

Contrun promptly and respectfully nodded his head again, "As you wish Matriarch." If he is still among us. Contrun hid the nagging dread in his heart. He hadn't heard or seen Patriarch Savas in many months, and couldn't shake off the fear that their venerable leader might have perished in that time. Shrugging off those dark thoughts, the Red looked back to Taru with a friendly smile in his eyes, "I live a ways to the east, in the Sandgal Desert. It's not a terribly long flight from here."

"Before you go-" Valdrovas projected her voice, commanding their attention. Contrun snapped his head back in her direction. Once she had both dragons looking to her, Valdrovas continued, "I do not know what feelings Savas has for the humans, but as your Matriarch Taru, I want you to use great caution around the humans. They are crafty and sly, and not to be trusted. Guard your crystals well, for they will try to steal them."

Taru listened intently as Valdrovas spoke. "I will always come to you if I am bothered by an important problem or information you should know." Then she listened as she proposed the same for Contrun. When Valdrovas brought up the Red's Patriarch, Taru's sky blue ears, which were unique to her, perked up a bit.

Unfortanatelly for her, the Red didn't say that much about this Savas. That was disappointing since she wanted to learn about the other broods. Then he told her that he had settled down in the Sandgal Desert and that it wasn't a far flight from where they currently were. "Then why don't we go." She stood up and her wings were already half unfurled when Valdrovas spoke up again. Snapping her head towards the Matriarch, she listened intently with her ears perked at what she said. Valdrovas told and explained the rules about the humans. To use extreme caution around them and to guard her cache of crystals.

Her ears lowered a bit to the news. She was highly curious about the tiny two-legged creatures. But, despite her relunctance to the rules, she agreed with a nod of her head to what Valdrovas said. "I will make sure I do that." She then turned to Contrun and smiled, unfurling her wings to her full wingspan of 50 feet. "Shall we? Before he could answer, she crouched, brought her wings up till they almost touched, and jumped, bringing them down to lift herself off the ground. Opening her jaws, she roared a goodbye to Valdrovas and continued to climb, each time her wings came down, they lifted her high into the air. When she was a couple hundred feet up, she leveled out and circled in a wide circle, waiting for Contrun to catch up.

Valdrovas watched Taru closely, particularly the way the young Blue lowered those unique ears of hers, along with her head. Val saw it as the sign of reluctance that it was, and issued a quiet warning, "Be sure that you do. We are all weak in power, and we cannot afford to lose our crystals to them." Contrun felt a little uneasy, since he too was vastly curious about the two-leggers, and very interested in meeting with them again. Out of respect for Valdrovas' authority though, he stayed quiet and didn't interrupt the Matriarch, even if her rules didn't really apply to him. When Val felt that she'd got her point across, and could see that the two young dragons were eager to continue their exploration of Eltica, she stretched out her own wings and relaxed her domineering posture, signalling that she was finished speaking to the pair.

Contrun couldn't wait to go. This place was too cold for his liking, and besides, he had greatly enjoyed flying with Taru and was looking forward to spending more time with her, after he'd been alone for so long. "We shall." He gave her a toothy grin and bellowed his laughing reply back after she took off into the sky. Being a heavier fellow than she was, and a good deal bulkier, it took Contrun a bit more effort to launch himself off the ground and gain altitude. But once he did, his wide wings carried him fast and brought him back within talking distance of the young Blue. "Follow me!" And then he turned, sweeping to the east with a few powerful strokes of his wings.