tried using colored lines. They look good on Garangolm, but less on Verim's crest. Don't know how I feel about the effect it has on the sword and shield.
Anyway, way too long storytime:

Night is beginning to set and most riders and monsties have returned to the outpost. To regain their strength and set out once again when morning comes. However, a few are still out in the field.

Verim clacks his beak in annoyance while he is wading through the murky water of the swamp. He dislikes this environment and is all too keen to make it known to Giran who is walking in front of him. His claws sink too deep in the mud, making it more difficult for him to run or jump. Furthermore, the water is disgusting. He looks at a few bones sticking out from the water. He shudders, he won't take a single sip of this water, not even for a million steaks.

The reason why he and Giran haven't returned yet is because they are on scout duty. In fact, their shift has just started. The duty of the scouts is to track the movement of the monsters in the area, and keep watch whether other dangerous monsters enter the area of operations. Verim was quite content with their scout role. By how the three lords were described, it didn't seem like he and Giran were ready to face them yet.Once they left the swamp behind them and made it onto dryer land. Verim tries to remove the mud from his feet as best he can. He lets out a sad coo when he sees the state of his nails. It has just been over a day since his nails were painted, but the colours have already faded away because of the mud and water. Looking at Giran to complain about the miserable conditions, he notices that his riders posture is less stiff than when they were traversing the swamp.

"Were you scared of the water? Afraid that something might grab your leg?" he mockingly twitters. "To be honest, I am still scared." Giran responds while continuing their trek over the hills. Verim falls quiet, this is the first time that he hears his rider so openly admitting that he is scared. And it isn't because of one of Verim's antics this time. He worryingly coo's at the back of his rider. "It is just, we haven't been on a real quest yet, and here we are in a place far from home. With three large monsters which are way out of our league somewhere in this area. I think that the guild have placed too high hopes on us." Giran sighs.

Verim frowns, this isn't the first time that Giran brought up the guilds expectations for them. But he has not explained where those expectations stem from. The guild hasn't watched them train, nor where their few expeditions anything noteworthy. So the only place those expectations can come from must be his friends past, Verim concluded. He picked up his tempo by a bit so that he was next to Giran and started nagging his friend. "Now isn't really the right time, we need to stay focussed here." Giran says pushing Verim's beak away. Verim huffs, he won't give up so easily. He clatters his beak next to Giran's ear. Determined to get an answer. After pestering his friend for a minute, Giran finally gives in. “Fine, I will tell you, but the details will have to wait for once we get back. It is because of my father. It turns out that one of the higher ups in Elgado heard stories about him, and because of that he was requested to be send here.” Giran falls quiet for a moment before continuing. “He couldn’t come of course, since he isn’t with us anymore. The guild then decided to send us instead, as some sort of replacement. And now we are here and … and …” Giran stammers, unable to finish his sentence. He feels a beak pressing against his neck, and a vibration at his back as the Velocidrome softly growls to comfort him. “And I wish that he could be here with us, and I really miss him.” Giran cries while petting the beak of his friend. He turns around facing Verim. Verim lets out a soft coo, apologizing for pressing the subject when it was clear that now wasn’t the time. “No it is alright. You deserve an explanation. And I should have told you sooner. When we get back, I will tell you all about dad.” He presses his forehead against Verim’s beak for a moment. “Let us continue for now, I don’t really care about the expectations of the guild, but I do want to make that old man proud.”

After traversing more rocky terrain the two are at the end of a small mountain pass. According to the maps, there should be a small bridge on the other end which leads to an excellent lookout spot. However, it seems that the bridge is now far below them. “Well, they didn’t lie when they said that this path wasn’t travelled often.” Giran remarks. He looks at Verim. “Do you think you are able to cross it?” Verim looks cautiously at the jumps that he would have to make. It is quite a distance, and the terrain is loitered with small rocks and grit. Verim kicks a large rock towards the path, and watches as all the small rocks start to roll because of the impact. If he moved carefully and at a slower speed, he should be able to cross it; he twitters to Giran. The two think for a moment about their next move. Is the lookout spot really worth it? Even if you take away the risks of the path itself, there is still a chance that they might be ambushed by a flying wyvern or a stone throwing monster while traversing this obstacle. “Let’s go back, we will go to our next point of interest and keep our eyes peeled for tracks. With the extra time we might also take a look around the other- damnit it.” When Giran turned around to go back the way they came, he sees a large monster appearing from the entrance and slowly making their way up to where he and Verim are. Garangolm has shown himself, and a red SOS flare is fired up in the small passage.

“This wasn’t supposed to happen. We shouldn’t be in this situation.” Giran looks back, the bridge still laid broken far below them. “We aren’t ready for this. This is our first quest together and Verim has not been in a real battle yet. I can’t let him face one of the three lords.” Thoughts are racing through his panicked mind. “Both of us can’t go over the passage, Garangolm would need to fling just one rock and we would be done for. Maybe, if I can hold off Garangolm for long enough, if I can just buy Verim a little time, he can go over the passage and make it to safety. That is the best option in this situation.” Giran feels his determination coming back. He can do this, he will protect his friend. Even if it may cost him his life. He turns towards Verim to tell him what must be done, only to see the same fear and courage in the orange eyes of the Velocidrome that also shine in his. The fear that comes when a friend is in danger, and the courage that follows to protect them. After witnessing how his friend’s sight is locked on their opponent, Giran lets out a small chuckle. “Guess I gave up fighting on my own for good when I became a rider.” He then talks to Verim. “We are not able to win this fight so we must look for an opening to escape. However, this does not mean that we can only focus on defence, if we do that we will be at his mercy. Punish him for any attacks he make and don’t stick your head out too far. Our victory condition right now is to escape from here together.”

The two wait while their opponent walks up towards them. Once Garangolm is near, the duo make a bow before taking on their fighting stances. Garangolm is standing a couple of meters before them, none of them is making a move. It is Garangolm who goes for the first attack. He lifts up his fist and leaps forward. Giran reacts blocking the attack with his shield. Verim jumps atop the stretched arm and then at Garangolm’s head. He gets in one quick sweep before he is forced to jump back by Garangolm grabbing hands. In the opening his friend created, Giran let his weapons swing overhead in axe form, only for it to bounce off against the hard skin of the beast. Looking up, he sees the two fists of Garangolm coming down on him. A blue shadow quickly dashes by Giran. Grabbing Verim’s shoulder, Giran is dragged just in time towards safety as the fists slam down behind them.

With another standoff created between the two sides, Giran speaks. “You are doing great, lets keep this up and look for an opening to get away. We can’t rely solely on the SOS flare, we need to fight with the expectation that backup won’t come.” Giran coo’s agreeing with him, however he still wishes that someone might come save them from this situation they have gotten themselves in.