[RiDragon]

"Yip!"
Olive groaned, dragging her pillow over her head.
"Yip Yip!"
"Nooo.."  She moaned, trying to keep the warmth in her covers.
CHOMP!
"OW!"  She yelled, shooting up, which of course let the cold air get into her warm sleeping bag.  She glared down at her pet Chombones.  He was a trusty little guy, but damn, did he bite when he didn't get his way.

"What do you waaaaaant?"  She groaned as the little beast jumped into her lap, purring.  "Seriously?  That's it?"

[Current Characters: Olive, human
Null, Bleeder, Bleached Posts: 24
Apollo, Shielupe, Bleached Posts: 10
Aramis, Shielupe, Blossom Posts: 10
Chompie, Chombones Posts: 12]

[RiDragon]

Olive sighed and rubbed her eyes in an annoyed manner.  Ugh, what time was it?  It still seemed dark.  Oh.. Oh right, they were in the Tengel Rainforest, weren't they?  Of course it was still dark, she had camped out under the thick canopy.  She sighed, why'd she decide to go out in the middle of winter anyway?

"Because you couldn't wait to go exploring."  A voice grumbled from the sleeping bag parallel from her.  The voice pulled down the bag, revealing a colorless face and red eyes that lacked pigment.    It was Null the Bleeder, taking on his preferred human form.  Though the tiredness in his eyes made him barely appear human at the moment.

[RiDragon]

".. Well you don't have to be all sour about it."  Olive grumbled in response, crossing her arms.  "... How'd you know what I was thinking anyway?"
"Because I'm a bloody Bleeder!"  He snapped, obviously not intending the pun in his annoyed sentence.  "We tend to be able to read minds, y'know?"  
Olive giggled a little, unfazed by her companion's anger.  She was used to him, after all.  She had known him for forever, since before he could even summon his human form.  She pointed to his face, which had a trail of pink liquid dribbling from his mouth.  "You're oozing again, bud."

[RiDragon]

Her friend cursed in some unknown language, probably some really horrible words, and wiped his mouth.  "Stupid Bleeder blood."  He grumbled.  Though he had gotten the hang of his human form, the creature couldn't quite control the natural tendencies of his species.
Chompie nuzzled Olive's hand, whining softly at her.  "What is it hun, are you hungry?"  She cooed despite herself, patting his smooth exposed skull.  She always thought it was really cool that Chombones' bones were outside of their bodies, that's why she adopted hers, after all.  He was a rescue from a pet shelter, his previous owners having abandoned him due to his biteyness.  Well, duh, of course he's bitey, he's a Chombones!  Olive never really minded, and he didn't draw blood... That often.

[RiDragon]

"Why doesn't it hunt its own damn food?"  Snapped her friend.  Olive shot him a glare, then smiled softly at him.  "The same reason why you can't hunt your own food, Nully."
Null growled at the nickname that Olive had given him.  "If you don't remember, I don't eat.  Well..  On physical food."
Olive stifled a giggle.  "You sure looked like you ate when you found that batch of chocolate!"  This caused the Bleeder to look away and blush, his bleached skin making his whole face turn red.  "C'mon, I know neither of us are morning people.. Or morning Bleeders.  But once we get moving we'll be cheery again."  He grumbled in response to her, but started getting his things together.

[RiDragon]

Olive had passed out before unpacking the night before, and therefore had no need to repack her supplies.  She instead dug through her purse, pulling out a strip of jerky.  Before she could unwrap it, her Chombones jumped up and snatched it, greedily ripping it apart and gulping it down.
"Chompie!  You're eating the plastic packaging..."  Olive sighed, though she knew his stomach could handle it.  She stretched out her arms, cracking her back and spine in a satisfying way.  She took a few more moments to roll up her sleeping back before exiting the tend, leaving Null to sleepily pack his things and Chompie to his jerky.

[RiDragon]

Olive yawned and scratched her back, looking back to her patchwork tent.  She had gotten it from a secondhand shop, but it worked just find.  As long as there were no strong winds.  Or rain.  Or any other weather.  She looked to two shadowy shapes in front of her, smiling absently.  "Hey guys, how are you doing?"  
Two Shielupe almost instantly lept upon her, showering her with wet doggy kisses.
"How are my pups doing?"  She asked, laughing.  "Did you do a good job keeping watch?"  They barked in unison in response, wagging their stubby tails.  Olive owned multiple Shielupe, though she decided to only take two to the long journey into the woods.  Her blossom female, Aramis, and her Bleached male, Apollo.  All of her Shielupe were great dogs, but having so many at once would probably make it hard to journey through the dense wilderness.

[RiDragon]

"You gonna help me pack up the tent or what?"  Null piped up from behind her, though he had a hint of amusement in his eyes when she looked back at him.  
"Ah, not such a spoilsport anymore, huh?"
Null's frown returned and he huffed, turning back to start the work of folding up the tent.
Olive couldn't hold in a small chuckle, pat her Shielupe, and went to work helping her friend.  It took a while and a bit of trial and error, but they finally got the tent packed up.

[RiDragon]

A panicked yipping came from inside the folded up tent, and Null slapped his palm on his head.  "Dammit, I forgot the little bugger was in there."  He tried to hide it, but he was smiling.  After a bit of commotion and lots of angry barks, the Chombones was finally free from his tent prison.  He barked at Null indignantly, who shrugged in response and gave a half hearted apology.

[RiDragon]

Olive laughed a little, then took a deep breath.  "Alright guys, which direction do we head in first?"
"Back to civilization."  Null added glumly, kicking a piece of moss underfoot.
Olive rolled her eyes in response, gently grabbing her Chombones and placing him on her shoulder, his favorite spot to hang out.  "Let's goooo..."  She thought for a few seconds, looking up at the dark canopy above, then looking at the mossy ground below, then into the darkness ahead.  She closed her eyes, did a little spin, and pointed randomly.  "That way!"

[RiDragon]

Olive happily skipped on her way, her two faithful Shielupe following on either side of her, keeping watch over the ditzy monster trainer.  They knew her well enough to not be too worried about her, but stayed on guard regardless.  This place was huge and mysterious, not even the most seasoned scholars have mapped out the entire area.
She enjoyed the sighs and birdsong of the jungle, stopping every so often to admire plant and animal life.  So far, nothing of too much interest, but it was still a fun adventure!

[RiDragon]

Null followed behind them at a sluggish pace, alone with his thoughts.  Though he very much would rather be at home, curled up in a snug bed, he couldn't sleep at night knowing his master was in the wild and crazy rainforest.  Yes, his master.  He would never ever admit it out loud, but Olive was indeed his master and caretaker.  She had let him into her life before he even was truly sentient, when he was simply a spirit that fed on melancholy feelings.  She had taken care of him, kept him warm, offered him food.  Yes, he was almost basically a human at this point, but she would always be in Olive's debt.

[RiDragon]

"C'mon bud, don't lag behind too far, you might get eaten by a Carpetfang!"  Olive joked, though she knew well enough that Carpetfang weren't even in this area.  At least, she thought so.  Maybe they were.  She wasn't some big smart ol' rainforest expert.  She was just there for the sights, and for the thrill of danger of course.  She turned back, just in time to crash right into a tree.

[RiDragon]

A few Pollies angrily squawked at the sudden commotion underneath their tree and flew away, leaving behind loose feathers.  Chompie's angry yips joined the chorus as he lost his balance on Olive's shoulder and toppled to the ground, Apollo catching him by the tail before he hit the ground.  Of course, this just caused more pain than hitting the ground, and Chompie tried to bite at the Shielupe's face.  Apollo dropped the Chombones indignantly, trotting over to Olive to check on her status.

[RiDragon]

Olive groaned a little, but she was otherwise fine.  At least she thought she was fine.  She held her hand to her nose and felt a wet warmness, and pulled it away to see a few droplets of blood.  "Ah..  Great."  She muttered as her Shielupe nuzzled her, whining with concern.  She looked back to see Null approaching and shaking his head.  "Look, I'm a Bleeder too now!"  She tried to joke, though the pain was starting to set in.