we'll see the sun come up again, we'll climb higher than we've been

Astiar had watched the members of the group create a place for food. He had been curious - as much a bug could manage. His wings buzzed as he munched on a branch, watching the other Pittians place food and take food. It was a strange concept. Sharing. Animals hardly understood a concept. Bugs certainly didn't. Perhaps those with a pack mentality would be able to comprehend. Not cicadas, especially. A bug was simple minded creature that didn't need the in depth thoughts required to comprehend sharing food. Astiar had watched for a long time while he ate his own food. His food was inedible to the rest of the group, but he decided that he needed to pitch in.

The mound of food was particularly small today. The cicada decided that he would remedy such a thing. The dragon turned and lumbered on out of the camp with his tail dragging in the dirt behind him. Slowly Astiar was growing familiar with having a tail. He could smack into things, albeit usually never intentionally. His wings brought him to the air, buzzing forth to set out on his self appointed task. It was merely copying that he was doing. The truthfulness of the statement was that he hadn't learned anything. Astiar was only copying what he had seen. His methods for copying were unique - as it was between any group of people. Everyone was their own individual, and everyone would always have their own unique ways of doing a task. The dragon shoved a tree over, and grabbed it with his mandibles. It was harder to get into the air, and even harder to bring the massive log all the way back to where all the food was stored. He felt small creatures crawl over him, but the necessary mental strength needed to remember what he was doing allowed for him to ignore such a thing.

Astiar set the tree down on top of where the food was stored. He heaved and huffed, feeling winded from the task. It was momentary, and the dragon swiftly recovered. The ever noisy wings had softened in their noise, only barely twitching. The dragon turned and stepped back, moving a distance away. He was watching and waiting for someone to take his contribution, just as others did. The small creatures that had been crawling on him were ants. They didn't bite him - more so they were confused as to why this cicada was far too massive. Their confusion was as best as an ant's mind could allow, of course. The ants had made their colony in that tree, and they now swarmed about due to being removed from their environment. They crawled around and nibbled at Astiar's scales. They didn't cause him any harm, they were not able to puncture the dragon's hardened scales. The prey that was present was soon crawling with ants. Astiar laid his head down, a soft rumble sounding.

we've got a fire that burns within, we are the dragon hearted

we'll see the sun come up again, we'll climb higher than we've been

The feeling ants crawling on his scales was unfamiliar. They couldn't pierce his thick hide, and so they mostly milled about against his pelt. They blended in rather well, the dark colors of the ants against his equally as dark form. They were both of the bug mentality, Astiar and the ants. He didn't mind them being there. They weren't hurting him in the slightest. The feeling was strange and foreign, and he lifted an arm to watch them crawl about. There was an absurd amount of ants present. They had made their home in that log for quite some time. Not that ants could be angry about their home suddenly being moved. Would they be, even if they were capable of thought? Now they had a plethora of mildly rotten food to bring back to their colony. That was likely why they swarmed the pile of food - that, and the natural defense of ants to be to swarm whatever had disturbed their colony. Swarming Astiar had done little to nothing, and so the ants simply went about with their usual ant business.

Suddenly he heard noise. It was the noise Astiar was beginning to associate with those of the group. It usually was a senseless noise, one that he couldn't understand. His ears flicked as the gat came marching over. While Astiar could not understand the words that were being used, he could vaguely grasp the tone. It was hot and heated, and it added to the pricking feeling that the ants created by milling about on his darkened scales. A chatter sounded from his jaws, caused by a slight clicking of his mandibles and the blowing of air. He wasn't really forming speech nor making any progress. Astiar's head lowered to the ground, ears lowering. A whine parted from the dragon's jaws. He didn't like this tone. He didn't understand what was being said in the slightest. Being approached in such a fuming mannerism triggered the instinct that came from being a dragon. He shuffled and lowered the rest of his body against the ground. He made his massive form fold in a submissive way. An apology of sorts, not that in truth he was capable of understanding what he was doing. Astiar only wanted for the loud and angry noises to stop. His wings buzzed loudly, as if trying to cover up Redvox's angry words.

Kydobi was a familiar sight to Astiar. The other had been there when he had first shown up. In Astiar's mind - as loose a term as that was - the leopard was definitely a part of the colony that the cicada cared for. His mentality of care was vague and bendable. His chattering came to a close, and turned into a more pleased rumbling noise. His head sharply raised when he realized that Kydobi was finally addressing him. The dragon shuffled closer, a click of his mandibles following. His tail flicked towards the log that he had dragged in. It was the barest form of seeking approval, that he had brought what he had deemed edible material back for the colony. After all, as far as Astiar knew, Kydobi had eaten the chunk of wood that the cicada had presented a while ago. He did have an ability of memory, in it's barest form. He payed deeper attention, clicking when he noticed that the other frowned. He rose up into a stand, shuffling between his six feet with a few more clicks following suit. His full height was far taller than sitting, especially more so than where he had previously been pushing himself into the dirt and noisily buzzing his wings to keep from hearing the full hostility of Redvox's words. Some ants went and tumbled from the movement, but ants certainly didn't die from falling.

we've got a fire that burns within, we are the dragon hearted