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+--- Thread: Last Sacrifice (/showthread.php?tid=18693)
The promise of a hot day was in the air, with the rising humidity and not a cloud in sight there was little hope for a storm to cool down the earth. Through the dense foliage, the lightest touches of day were beginning to seep through. The forest was strange this morning however, it was quiet. Not a single animal called, sang, prowled or stirred. So unusual for a forest that is usually booming with life, only the light breeze that filtered through the trees caused sounds to be heard. What had happened to the life within the forest?
To those who were brave enough to trek into the bizarrely still forest, you will find the silence pressing into your ears. Even the trees seemed to have disappeared into themselves. Eventually one might stumble upon an opening within the forest. It is not a natural clearing, something monstrously huge had done this to the forest.
Do you dare to approach?
The closer you come the louder the breathing becomes, it is the only sound coming from the forest. As you pass the trees and enter the clearing you will behold the most magnificent sight. Clearly the beast has made a crash landing and cleared a good twenty or so trees while doing so, he lays atop the debris, panting from pain.
Over ten meters wide and nearly twice as long danger and nobility simmers around him- his scales glint in the sun that now burns down through the newly created gap in the forest. His great wings are crumpled beside him, blood gently trickles down from one of his nostrils however a grey smoke is still being exhaled from both nostril. Sprawled in all directions are his thick legs, massive claws extend from each toe although most are chipped and one on his back left foot has snapped off. An almighty tail is curved around his body, cuts and grazes cover his body while richly coloured blood decorates his green and bronze scales in splatters. Strapped to one side of his body is a leather bag, clearly it is full to the brim yet with the flap closed it is impossible to see what is carried inside. Bright green eyes are wide open and clearly full of intelligence beyond compare.
Clearly the creature needs help, he is desperately seeking someone to heal him, someone to help him get up. Taking a deep breath and using what really must have been the last of his energy, the dragon lets out a horrendously loud roar. The call is laced with magic; he is summoning the four that he feels are different from the rest of the inhabitants in this land. At the speed of light the magic seeks out the demigods, each one with their own connection to the land. Only them would he trust and it was these souls who would be able to help him.
Through perhaps, they just didn't know it yet.
@[Mesec] @[Aithniel] @[Isopia] @[Roskuld]
- This is only for the demigods. A viewing thread has been set up here.
I mean fuck me I was already on my way to the area ‘n shit! Didn’t have to blow my goddamned ears out. Jeez.
To be fair, though, I was going there for the sole reason of showing where I had found you originally. I was gonna tell you about time and how much of a mindfuck it was and how I had met this guy in a cloak in the crossroads of nowhere and how he turned out to be muttering nasty shit to me and in the end how he turned out be fake and real and a bird all at the same time and how he had pooped an egg into the cloak that he left behind. Yeah, I was gonna tell you all that.
What I wasn’t expecting was to see destruction.
You were keeping it together much better than I was. You were looking around with interest, and maybe it was the innocence in you, but the smoke and the queer smell of copper wasn’t making your heart thump faster, or your skin to prickle, or your mind to go grey with suspicion. No—you were just perched on my horn like you always were, wide lizard eyes gazing about the gloom of the forest, wondering what was causing the copper smell, the heavy breathing we were hearing, because I certainly wasn’t helping in any way.
I almost didn’t go.
“I ain’t doin’ it,” I said between gritted teeth, and you begged me with your little emotions bounding to and fro inside my head, pleading with me, gauging me with your insistence—your own powerful curiosity doing fierce battle with the caution and the stubborn resistance that lanced throughout my tense body. I didn’t want to go. There was a feeling in my gut that you didn’t understand, but I knew all too well; it was a feeling I was beginning to dread, because it usually meant shit was about to go down.
And the last time that happened, someone died.
“No, Chico,” I said again, a losing battle, because you’ve got a mind so pure and light that it always chipped away at my defenses with the gentlest of chips; and I was walking through the broken underbrush even though every nerve in my body rebelled against it, to assuage the burning something in my gut that told me to move forward, to appease the burning something in my head that emanated from your little shit head. I love you, Cheek.
Nothing better happen to you, I know that much.
What we did end up seeing was enough to put the piss flowing through your teeny little body, and I’m glad you were able to hold it, because—y’know, you were on my face. But to be honest I was just as close as you were to pissing myself. Because holy shit dragons don’t get that huge.
All I could think of was Ma’s Tinek, and how he clung to Ma’s neck like a silver ornament.
And how this dragon would be able to crush his fool ass.
You were so…enamored. After the initial shock of seeing something so grossly humungous, there was a foolish little pride bubbling in your miniscule chest at seeing a fellow lizard, as though you had something to do with its regal bloodline—as though you were looking into a future. I was looking into a past.
I was looking at the injuries, the pulverized flesh, the bruises and cuts and scrapes that littered such an awesome, powerful body.
I stood there, wondering just what the hell was strong enough to knock the shit into something like this.
The girl had been on the beach with Mesec and the others when she had heard the call. At first it was gentle, like her very atoms were being tugged towards the source, until the pressure started. Because the girl was in her raven form there was nothing she could do to block out the sound - she could not fold her ears back, nor could she stifle the noise anyway. The sensation seemed to bleed her thoughts away, forcing her to action and making it impossible to think of doing anything else but follow.
The girl, who had never been particularly prone to anger or annoyance, suddenly was. This harshness was unnecessary. She would have followed the gentler commands.
On wings of black, the girl glided. She was aware of Mesec at the loud and noisy blue pegasus were following the sounds as well. Could they hear it? For some reason this surprised the girl. The call had seemed .. intimate in some way. It had resonated in her bones on a frequency that she had assumed was meant just for her. That perhaps it wasn't made the urgency and harshness of the call more understandable. She would have come willingly, but many others likely would not have.
As the silence of the forest hummed around her, something in the back of the girl's mind suggested that her current form was likely not the best one to inhabit. As the trees spread apart due to the creature's destructive path, the girl lowered and changed. Long and blood-splattered hued limbs protruded from an avian body which was quickly becoming more and more equine. The black wings of her raven form grew enormously and changed from ebony to a mismatched maroon and cream. Quad horns emerged from her skull. The only similarities between the body she was in now, and her previous one, were her sharp golden eyes and the skull markings on her cheeks.
Her long legs carried her easily and without sloth through the forest. The girl felt no fear, only intrigue. The silence of the forest was noted, as were the broken trees around her, yet the girl was not deterred. Something in her told her that all of this was necessary some how. As she came upon Roskuld and the dragon, she stopped. Part of her balked awkwardly at the mere sight of another. She did not necessarily want to say hello, but custom dictated that she probably should. Still, there seemed to be more pressing things at hand (given the injured creature before them), and so the girl used the wounded beast as justification enough for glossing over etiquette.
Even now, standing so close to the beast, the girl was not afraid. She saw only a living thing, bleeding away its life force. The girl winced, her light-rimmed eyes narrowing as she looked upon the creature. It seemed there was far too little that the girl could do, and her young mind rallied against that fact. She was useless here, and the thought was as crushing as the silence.
Stepping forward - only a stride past Roskuld - the girl offered her aid in the only way she could. Pulling her magic from deep inside, she created a creature composed of water. It was a poor facsimiles of the dragon itself, and much, much smaller, but the resemblance was obvious. The water-dragon flitted forward on magical wings, shaky but accurate nonetheless, towards the real dragon. It offered its body to the dragon, who could likely fit the entirety of the girl's creation within itself mouth easily.
"Drink." She instructed gently, although her voice was confident and unwavering.
Things had been just calming down back at the beach when he felt it, the magical call that beckoned him to the forest. He hesitated, right in the middle of conversation with Ampere, and his head snapped in the direction it had come from. Again? It became clear that Isopia had felt it too as her raven form took off in the same direction. Looking back to his friend he explained quickly, sure that it made little sense, as he was already unfurling his wings and making to take off in haste. Whether she came with or not, he had to go. Hurrying along with his cousin Mesec prayed (though he wasn’t sure to whom) that there would be no dead body at the other end of the summoning.
Perhaps he could have fought it and there was certainly a part of him that wanted to, but the stronger part worried that this was the same as the last time. What if his sister and cousins had heard the call as well? What if something terrible waited for the demigods yet again. He could only hope that whatever made that roar would not be accompanied by their parents.
Fear and curiosity drove him as fast as he dared across Helovia, weary as he was from the scramble on the beach, following the pull always and knowing exactly where to go. Eventually, he did not even need the call - the destruction in the trees was enough to tell him where he needed to be as he skimmed the tree tops on descent. Something huge had crash landed here - he could see a glint of bronze and green but could not tell for sure what it was until he landed and found himself in the impromptu clearing.
Well, there wasn't a dead body but there was a wounded one - it was unlike anything he had ever seen before. A giant dragon. Moon eyes took in the sight, peeled wide in awe and he, too, thought of Tinek and the size difference been Ophelia's dragon and this one was staggering. Mesec's movements were cautious as he came to a stop by Roskuld and the Earth girl. There was a definite theme going on and he was sure that Aithniel would be along any moment.
He felt wary and protective of Roskuld and their cousin (now back in her tribrid form) in the presence of such a large creature, but he stood fairly relaxed where he stood. He did not truly believe this dragon had called them there to make a snack out of the demigods. It looked like it needed help. The Earth’s daughter used her magic to bring forth a water dragon, and he couldn’t help a little smile at the sight. She was getting better!
But his magic was useless for helping heal the wounds of this magnificent creature and he wouldn’t know which plants would be best for helping - so instead he had to settle for just asking "How can we help?"
I’m trying to find my direction home, ______________
A question of space, a matter of time, _______
I follow the stars until the first light.
Aithniel, finally growing into her wings and lanky form filling out in late adolescence, explore the world through bitter, angry eyes. There was a fire in her soul, rooted deep within her veins, and no soft word or kind praise would put it out. Love was for fools, and she was no fool - not anymore. Cold, silver eyes, harder than metal, stared out at the forest, barely able to discern the fear in the forest. The trees, to her, looked just as trees, and any lingering emotions hanging on bated breath burned before touching her skin. A tug, something deeper than magic, called her forward, and she stiffened, frowning.
What had the power to call her to it in this way? What had this power to command?
The fire child flattened her ears against her pale neck, shaking black and gold mane which started to swing low and fold over. She glared out from beneath her dark lashes, observing the way the trees began to bow from some great force, revealing a clearing in the distance. A monster lay there, bleeding, and much to her surprise, the other children of gods were there as well. Well, Hototo was not, and that made her heart ache in her chest. However, the fourth of their group was Isopia, a curious filly who had spoken to her mother like an adult, and she remembered feeling jealousy over the fact that she had a parent who cared.
Why was she here? Was she the Earth God's new descendant? That would only make sense.
Aithniel watched from a short distance as Iso made a dragon out of water, encouraging the creature to drink, but she did not trust those scales nor the fangs hidden beneath reptilian lips. She shot a dark look at Roskuld before coming to the side of Iso, standing with a cool, tetchy demeanor and a judgmental, distrusting expression. Honestly, Roskuld had asked her question already, but she wasn't about to admit that. She nodded her head to acknowledge Mesec and then returned her gaze back to the massive creature.
"Why did you call us all with magic?" she asked stiffly.
A i t h n i e l
Hope not ever to see Heaven. I have come to lead you to the
other shore; into eternal darkness; into fire and into ice.
Roskuld, daughter of Time, was the first to answer the call. And while she seemed to fall into a mild stupor over the beast's appearance. The dragon's green and bronze scales glistened in the sunlight that fell upon them – or at least on the ones that weren't covered in blood. He probably seemed like such a mess to the singular demigod, thus why she probably asked what had happened. Normally, the dragon would have answered instantly but he decided to wait for the others to come instead before addressing them all.
Not long after, Isopia and Mesec and Aithniel all showed up in that prospective order. Isopia seemed to be the bravest or the dumbest of them all by stepping forward and offering the dragon a drink of water from the draconian shaped form of water she made. Luckily for her the beast was one of the good guys, and emitted a low ground shaking rumble from deep within his throat before graciously taking a sip.
The beast waited until after Mesec asked what they could do to help and after Aithniel questioned his means of bringing them all together to speak to them all. His words
“I called you all here as I did because it was the simplest way to reach all of you,” he answered Aithniel's question. His words sounded about in multiple tongues but no matter what the demigods heard they would understand. Annoyance was also slightly laced in his tone due to the fact that he had to explain his actions. Then he turned to Isopia.
“Thank you dear child,” his gratitude clearly present in his voice as he thanked her before addressing them all as a whole, “It is my duty to protect civilization from magical artifacts that can bring harm if in the wrong hands. I was going about my business when one of the magical items proved to be more...difficult than I had anticipated. I did manage to destroy it, but at great cost as I am now injured to the point of grounding.”
A quick glance was sent towards the bag that he carried and then his attention turned back towards the group of demigods. They could help him get back to his full strength, though clearly they had no clue that they each held the ability to do so otherwise one of them would have already done so. For a few minutes the beast pondered how to share with them the fact that they could indeed heal them. Then he knew exactly how to do it.
Four times the dragon sucked in air, filling his chest full of oxygen. Four times he puffed out balls of smoke from his nostrils. And with magic, the wise dragon embedded each ball of smoke with the knowledge and skill that each of the demigods needed in order to help him. Then he blew each of them in the direction of their intended vessel. A green cloud for the child of Earth. A golden cloud for the child of Sun. A purple cloud for the child of Moon. And a blue cloud for the child of Time. Once the clouds reached their intended the vapors of knowledge swirled around the bodies of the demigods cloaking them until it soaked into them and gifted them with the knowledge that was required to help the dragon.
“I need for you to heal me so then I may continue my mission of protecting the world from dangerous artifacts,” he said as he worked to shift his body. All of his weight had been laid upon only one side and it grew uncomfortable so gingerly he moved about. But before he was done moving a loud ripping noise echoed about the air. Instantly the dragon's attention turned to the leather bag that he carried. Dread filled the dragon's mind as he saw the bag rip open and items begin to fall out of it. The first item to fall was a book.
“Beware of that book,” The beast spoke to all the demigods thru a mental connection he wouldn't have done if he wasn't worried about their safety.
When the book fell upon the ground it opened up and instantly music became audible.
It's a whosis!
It's a whosis?
It's a whatsits!
It's a whatsits?
Who's that?
Who's there?
Who's where?
Beware!!!
The source of the voices was unexplainable but as soon as the word beware was shouted a giant swarm of colorful insects burst from the pages of the book and flew towards the demigods and the beast.
Who's that hiding in the tree tops?
It's that rascal
The jitterbug!
Should you catch him
buzzing 'round you?
Keep away from
The jitterbug!
Oh the bees in the breeze and the bats in the trees
Have a terrible, horrible buzz
But the bees in the breeze and the bats in the trees
Couldn't do what the jitter bug does.
So just be careful of that rascal
keep away from
The Jitterbug!
The Jitterbug!
The last of the bugs had left the pages and a maniacal cackling began to sound from the book but before its source could leap from the pages the dragon's tail finally reached the book and shut it closing the portal between the written world and this one. Sadly though, the bugs had already made it through.
“Beware of those insects! If they bite you, you'll begin to dance uncontrollably until either they are defeated or until you die!” the urgency in the dragon's voice made the situation seem all the more dire. First though the jitterbugs tried attacking the beast but once they noticed that they couldn't get through his thick scales they turned onto the next closest living things: the demigods. Hopefully, they would be able to defeat the jitterbugs and heal the beast before any more items fell from his bag full of dangerous magical items.
Talk
____________
Jitterbugs from The Wizard of Oz have escaped the confines of their book! You must defeat them AND work on healing the dragon at the same time. Good luck on avoiding the jitterbug's bite for once bitten you will have to dance until they are all defeated or until you die from exhaustion!
I didn’t register who she was at first. Maybe it was the shock of the dragon or the dread of his injuries suffusing me with something convoluted (and maybe it was your nearly-indecent excitement pounding against my trepidation helping along too), but when she stepped passed me, all I really acknowledged was some punk-ass kid coming along to magic water in the monster’s maw. Which made me snort, because water tastes good and feels great going down your throat, but it ain’t stoppin’ death.
Through my numbness, though, things were going down a lot closer to how I imagined they would; Mesec sort of emerged from the shadows around us, equally in awe and probably having a lot better of a handle on himself than I was. Then she came along, some other punk kid (there’s a theme here that I was missing) that wasn’t so much of a kid no more, but still a punk, sending me punkish death-glares and holding the current record for longest-held bitch grudge. Yeah I can call her a bitch now. Because glancing at her (with eyes that were no less flinty), I could see where her legs had pulled, her body had swelled, her mane grown into something longer and fuller—her wings large enough to fly with. I didn’t expect the bitterness welling up in me as I peeked at her, a bitterness not entirely to do with her, per say.
Not you, too, I caught myself thinking; and I was slipping into something inexpressibly sad.
And I continued to slip, a spiraling free-fall that I couldn’t stop—because who else could join us here but Hototo? And obviously that wasn’t gonna happen, he was…he was gone now, the memory of it twisting in me and making you pique with concern from your place behind my ear. I couldn’t explain it to you, though; how could I, without falling apart? There was an emptiness in me, in my world, and there was no one to blame but me and there was no one who could stitch the scar properly and there was no one able enough to fill the voi—
--wait.
I stopped breathing, and my eyes snapped to the scrawny little brown thing that stood before me, nothing but leg and an awkward bush of browning hair.
I did a double-take, because she was small--but there was age to her, too, like maybe she wasn’t born yesterday, but maybe it was the day before.
My eyes widened and I realized who I was looking at and things were crashing and you scurried down my face because you could feel the heat rising both on the inside and the outside and you wanted to know what was happening but how could I tell you that I was only expecting three of us to show up—
--but there was four of us and I was looking at some kid shaping water in the air like it wasn’t nothing, some bushy, gangly thing minutes old but already heeding the call to arms, standing with us—
--standing in Hototo’s place—
(his replac--)
And I snorted again, violently, backing away hurriedly from the group, from Mesec’s side and the shade flowing from Sunbitch’s grey eyes; I jerked away, turning my back on a dragon who needed my help, my duty from whatever bullshit I was born for, or whatever, and I had barely gone two steps before we started arguing--
No, fuck this place Cheek, I’m gone--
You sent images to me of the cuts and the scrapes from the dragon that had caught my attention, the things that had worried me and excited you--
Cheek, I’m done, I’m done, I tired and sick of this backwards-ass bullshi--
You gestured the dragon again and it was speaking, its gravelly voice weak and majestic all at the same time while it thanked the—
--the replacement--
I’m DONE Cheek, drop it!! I screamed in my head, causing it to pound and tear with the added strain and I was going, too, I swear I was leaving this stupid shit behind me, and if you hadn’t scurried from my face and down my neck and down my chest and braved the pounding of my hooves—I would have been gone.
But I didn’t go. Because your stupid ass did exactly that.
“The FUCK man!?” I screamed, wheeling around to search for you—but you’re tiny and you slipped through the leaves and the loam with ease, drawing my probing eyes, my focus back onto the dragon that needed us, coaxing it out from within something bloody and hurt. And even as I registered something obscene growing inside you (a different sort of excitement, I guess), the dragon boomed a warning for something I had missed:
*“Beware of those insects! If they bite you, you'll begin to dance uncontrollably until either they are defeated or until you die!”*
“Ahh, shit,” I spit, realizing what was so invigorating to you. Dumbass, I growled at you, completely missing the point—
--and there was a swarm coming, surging out of control, little nasty-ass insects gleefully bumrushing all of us that had been standing there, that were standing there—
--and my face showered with sparks and my horn exploded with the shock-stuff and it blasted from me, shooting forward passed Bro and Sunbitch and the repla—
--and her--
--shooting for the first wave of bugs. My bolt was small, though—I didn’t think it would destroy them all--
--but at least it’d give them a chance to haul-ass while we figured out what the hell we were gonna do.
[oops summary: Roskuld loses it and, when she notices the bugs crawling nearer, blasts lightning at the first wave to give the other demigods some space and time.]
The girl failed to comprehend the magnitude of those who had gathered around her at first. Her thoughts were on the dragon, and aiding it with her magic. If it was to die, at least it would not have a parched throat. The girl showed no visible sign of emotion - no pleasure or pride that her offering had worked - as the dragon accepted her drink and thanked her for her effort. Stepping back solemly, the second demi of her line listened to what the creature had to say.
As the dragon recanted its tale, the girl felt a pang of sadness well within her chest. Why did the dragon go around destroying such wondrous artifacts? She accepted the dragon's statement that if in the wrong hands they could prove to be devastating, but then shouldn't his task be to keep them out of the wrong hands, rather than out of any hands? The thought of losing the knowledge that the artifacts held caused despair to rally within her mind. The dragon's actions seemed foolish and naive. Was the injury that befell it simply penance for the destruction it had caused?
As the puff of green smoke ebbed her way, the girl stood steadfast, though was tempted to hold her breath. What if each of the three gathered around her, as well as herself, were similar to the artifacts that the dragon was so hell-bent on destroying? What if this was all a trap, and the smoke coming towards them was merely a means to kill them off? Even with these thoughts swirling in her mind, the demi-girl did not move. If today was the day of her death at the hands of the dragon, then so be it. She would not rally against fate, she would not barter for time. As the girl inhaled the mysterious smoke, she felt knowledge unlocking in her mind - like cogs that had been dormant but were suddenly jolted to life. A new understanding and power graced through her system, as understanding slowly began to take hold.
Four Gods ... She reasoned. Four children. Hazarding a glance, her mind began to connect the pieces. The shape of Ros's horn. Aithniel's colouring ... Mesec's lineage she already knew. Aithniel had asked why the dragon had called them, and the dragon answered it was the easiest way to reach them. It had not waited for more to arrive. Four Gods ... four gathered ... A child from each god. My cousins. The girl was obviously the youngest. Did the others know who she was? Mesec did. Had Aithniel put the pieces together? Was her presence here, among them enough to prove who she was? The thought made her smile slightly. None of them had asked anything of her, hadn't tried to be her family. In this, the girl was so very, very different from Aithniel. Whereas the fire girl coveted the idea of family, the earthen child resented it. Maybe it was the presence of the dragon and its mystical call which made this feel less like a happily family reunion, but the girl did not argue.
As the dragon shifted and the book fell onto the ground, the girl's attention was diverted from thoughts of her un-family. Beware of that book! She heard sharply in her mind, causing her dark ears to fall backwards against her quad-horned skull. No one had ever spoken into her thoughts before. She felt invaded by it.
Then everything sort of happened all at once. There was the noise from the book, the bugs, and the movement of Roskuld. Not bound by the pull of family, the girl's golden gaze remained with the dragon, rather than her flailing cousin. She watched the brightly colored insects swarm the beast, but with no effect. Seemingly smart enough to realize that their efforts against the dragon's scales were useless, the creatures turned upon the four. The girl heard and smelled Ros's electricity as it illuminated the area, and she cast her eyes downward so as to not stare directly into the beam.
The girl's mind raced. She certainly did not want to be forced to dance. The magic she held over earth and water seemed ineffective against the creatures ... How did the natural world combat such things?
Then she knew.
Mud. She would make a coating of mud for herself and her cousins if she could. Animals used such tactics to deter the bites of animals, it seemed to follow that it should aid them now. Calling upon her magic, she created three shapes out of earth and two out of water. She didn't bother shaping them into creatures as she had done before, there simply was no time or need. Her compositions slammed together in the air, mixing and creating an ugly mass of mud. Some she allowed to fall upon herself, to coat her growing body. The rest was divided into three parts, which she hurled towards her cousins. There wasn't time to explain what she was doing, she only hoped they would understand.
"Mud to protect against the bugs!" She yelled as an afterthought. If she could provide defense, hopefully her cousins could continue Ros's offense.
[Iso creates mud and throws it on herself and at her cousins. She figures animals use mud as a way to block insects in nature, so it should help them now.]
With Aithniel’s arrival, to which he returned the nod in greeting, they were all here and they learned why they had been called. his attention was split between what the dragon was talking about and Ros because she started retreating from his side and he looked to her to see why. Where was she going? He didn’t call out though, part because he thought he could figure out what was causing her to leave. Either she had enough of being called to arms whenever something magical needed their help or she had figured out who the Isopia was. Of them all, Ros had been closest to Hototo - he didn’t imagine her taking the news of his replacement very well. So he didn’t call after her, either of those reasons were valid excuses to get out of this dragon-made clearing while she could.
One ear kept flickering back, half-hearing how the metallic dragon was explaining what it was his job to do and why he needed them to heal him. It wasn’t until, from the corner of his silver eyes, he spotted the purple cloud that his full attention returned back to the creature that had called them here. He turned to face it, holding his breath as it engulfed him. Was it something dangerous? Perhaps he should have fled before it but no, as it surrounded and settled around him he felt something unlock in his mind. Something he did not know existed within him.
He could help heal the dragon!
But before he could rejoice in this knowledge, before they even had a chance to get to work, the bag at the dragon’s side ripped open and a book fell out. Well, Mesec didn’t know what a book was, it was just a strange rectangular object to him at first, but the dragon called it a book and it fell open and music filled the clearing, seeming to come from the object, and then things started coming out of the book as well. Insects but unlike any insects he had ever seen. The sheer number in the swarm was alarming but soon a warning came from the dragon, speaking into their minds again. Letting the insects bite them was not an option. Perhaps if they healed the dragon, he would be able to help them? His scaled seemed to protect him from the bite of the insects.
Before he could even think about how he could eliminate this threat, a shower of sparks flew past him right toward the bugs. Ros hadn’t left! They had a chance, a real chance, if they stuck together. Mesec was hit in the next moment but it wasn’t by bugs or lightning, but instead by mud that splattered against his body. A gift from Hototo’s sister, which she explained quickly. If mud could keep regular, nasty flies away perhaps it would help them with these ones.
His black and silver coat slick with Isopia’s mud, he figured it was time to get moving. Shrouding himself in shadow, he teleported to the other side of the dragon from where he had been standing before, near the hind leg, and hopefully temporarily lost from the sight of the insects. He was close to the dragon, close enough to feel nervous and getting any closer seemed foolish but he was sure that if they healed the great dragon he could help them. So he hurried towards a nearby gash in those green and bronze scales and used his new knowledge to fixate on it, try and heal it, while trying to stay aware for any incoming insects and hoping that if he couldn't teleport away from them in time, that Isopia's mud would help protect from their bite.
After a moment he couldn’t ignore the insect swarm any longer, so he thought perhaps he could distract them away from Ros and the others enough to allow them to get close to the dragon as well and try their luck. Stepping backward, and looking around (silver eyes catching sight of the spectators but now was not the time to get distracted by who he saw there), Mesec unfurled his mud splattered wings to reveal the clean, silver underside that he flaunted - hoping the bright shine would attract the attention of at least some of the insects and give the others some relief.
** Mesec doesn’t know Isopia’s name but it’s just so much easier to refer to it as that xD
** Mesec uses his magic to teleport to the other side of the dragon and tries to heal a wound on the rear leg before stepping back and flapping his wings - hoping the shiny silver will attract the attention of the jitterbugs (using the logic that light attracts insects) and encourage them to get away from his cousins
I’m trying to find my direction home, ______________
A question of space, a matter of time, _______
I follow the stars until the first light.
Aithniel listened to the large dragon, staying close to the earth child with her ears tilted back untrusting. No matter what this massive beast said, she was unwilling to give him the full benefit of the doubt. Sure, she would play along and help out, but that is as far as she would go. Teeth that big and a carnivorous appetite were reasons enough to be incredibly wary. She stood and waited, nodding when her question was answered and watching as a golden cloud of smoke puffed her way, settling over her body. She wrinkled her nostrils, careful not to inhale too sharply lest she cough. Aithniel had been on the brunt end of breathing her own fire before, and she was none too keen to experience the burning in her throat again.
She felt a little different, and then, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Roskuld actually backing away. Aithniel rolled her eyes. Let her run like a coward. Did he think she was called here for no reason? Did she think that she was so much better than everyone else that she just got to leave? A scowl curved her lips, and her iron eyes settled back on the dragon, watching a book fall open and tumble to the ground.
Seconds later, it spoke, and she gave a wide berth between herself and the pages. She had never seen a book before. Why so many pages were all bound together was unknown to her, and she took a deep breath, hearing his words in her head. Be careful? Be careful of what? Was this one of those artifacts he was afraid of? Even Iso seemed to be a little standoffish, and that was irksome. Aithniel frowned, listening to the dragon warn about some type of dancing bug, and she let her rage free.
It was a hot, liquid pool of lava churning just beneath the surface, bubbling from abandonment and bullying. Anger was the fire to her heart. Black was the charred pieces of her soul. Aithniel let her long, feathered wings snap open, and she lashed her lion's tail around her hocks, summoning a large ball of fire. With her rage, it grew, expanding until she released it all with a powerful yell. "RRrraaaaahhhhhh!!!!" she howled, letting the flames sear the bugs before listening to Iso yell over the din of her rage.
Mud, right. Aithniel immediately took a dive into the dirt Iso had created, coating her body until all that was left was gold fringes of hair and silver, iron eyes. Protecting in this mud casing and not giving a shit about her appearance, she continued to fight. Ash rained from her wings like terror, and she sent more orbs of flame at offending bugs. Seeing that Mesec didn't have much against these creatures, she quickly jumped to his aid, attempting to block his body with hers while releasing more fire.
As a last ditch effort, she pushed toward the book, trying to close it quickly with one of her cloven hooves.
A i t h n i e l
Hope not ever to see Heaven. I have come to lead you to the
other shore; into eternal darkness; into fire and into ice.
Large eyes watched as the four demigods accepted the clouds of healing knowledge. The vapors curled and snaked around their bodies until they either soaked into and under the skin or were inhaled by the intended receiver. Finally, they could help the beast with his injuries and make him well once again.
But after the bag ripped open and the jitterbugs began swarming about, most of the demigods seemed more worried about stopping the bugs rather than healing the slowly dying beast. One however did attempt to heal him. The dragon felt the tingling sensation of Mesec's healing magic at work and and the area that was once plagued by a deep gash slowly turned into a minor scraped.
As the beast was being healed, the bugs swarmed and continued their attack on the demigods. Isopia's mud concoction seemed to work mildly. The jitterbugs were not deterred by it, but it did prove to be something for the jitterbugs to get through before reaching the soft warm skin of the demigods. But it was only a matter of time until the insects broke through the mud leaving the demigods vulnerable to their attack. Aithniel's fire burned the jitterbugs that came at her and eventually she seemingly tried to close the book. Though her efforts would be in vain for the book was already closed and the onslaught of jitterbugs was seemingly endless. Then, without even a warning, a strange magic befell upon Aithniel. If she would have simply turned around she would gaze upon a chewed through portion of her muddy armor and a blackened part of her skin. Her legs would soon begin to quiver and move of their own accord as she would break out into uncontrollable dancing.
Aithniel had been bitten.
Further off in the distance, arcs and sparks of Roskuld's electrical magic lit up the area with a crazy display. With each spark that she sends forward she manages to kill a handful of jitterbugs leaving the ground stained black from their remnants, but their approach seems to be faster than the sparks she sends out. Quickly, the jitterbugs crash into her like a wave upon the sand and the strange magic that overtook Aithniel soon grasps a hold of Roskuld's body as well.
Roskuld had also been bitten.
Mysteriously a black stain is also left upon her body and with no knowledge of black stains being left by the jitterbug the dragon sweeps his tail in some of the black pools upon the ground and examined it closer.
“Ink?” he murmured just loud enough for only Mesec to hear since he was right nearby. The insects were just made out of ink. Surprise hit the dragon as this knowledge was new to him. His flame and the flames of many others in the past had just disintegrated the bugs leaving no trace of their bodies. If he had known that they were merely beings of ink he would have dowsed the whole book in a pool of water a long time ago to prevent this kind of madness. But now it was too late. Two of the four demigods had already fallen under the curse of the jitterbug bite only two remained unharmed.
The reflection of something bright made the dragon squint his eyes and soon most of the insects seemed to be drawn to whatever the source was. After a few minutes of the beast's eyes adjusting to the new level of brightness, he soon learned of the shine's origin: Mesec. Worry radiated throughout the dragon even though his body slowly grew weaker. He had to tell them all. He had to help them all somehow. He had to...
“The bugs,” his voice echoed just slightly, “They're made out of ink!”
Hopefully the demigods would know what to do with that small bit of knowledge. Hopefully it would provide them an advantage in the fight that they now needed to win in order to save both his life and theirs.
Talk
____________
Aithniel & Roskuld have been bitten and can't stop dancing. (RANDOM GEN odds were a hit, evens were a miss)
The jitterbugs seem to be made out of ink! Mesec's diversion works, but now they all are heading straight for him.
I had been trying to track your little ass somewhere on the ground when the mud had slapped straight across one side of my face, my neck, the front of my chest, flung so valiantly by the rep—the uh—the…girl. I stopped in my tracks, blinded and stunned and even more pissed than I already was, a perfect sitting duck for even more crap to be flung at me.
Because I didn’t see the wave of bugs coming right at me before it was too late; a creeping, shitty flood of awful insects sort of slammed into me and before I knew it there were little pinpricks all over me and by the time I had ducked down my head just quick enough to wipe the mud off my face and against my knee, it was too late.
The bugs—well. They sort of swept themselves off of me just in time for my body to throw itself into a—
--into a—
SLIDE TO THE LEFT!
--a dance.
Not gonna lie, I yelped in a panic when my body just decided to…sashay a little to the left like it wasn’t no big deal or nothin’ that it wasn’t taking any orders from my brain. The panic only mounted when that thing sounded in my head again, a voice that couldn’t belong to you because you didn’t have a voice (yet), a voice that gave my flesh bouncy, infuriating commands that every nerve I had couldn’t help but obey:
SLIDE TO THE RIGHT!
“AAAGH!” I roared helplessly as my legs shifted underneath me, my ass and hips moving in ways that I had never really fathomed before as they slid to the right.
TAKE IT BACK NOW, Y’ALL!
“NO!” I screamed at the voice, at nothing, and I couldn’t help but back away from the injured dragon, from Mesec, even as I saw the blinding light shine from him, watching as a black mass of awful insects suddenly changed their mind and moved towards him in a single, terrifying unit. I tried with every fiber of my being to move forward—to charge—to get to Mesec before the bugs did, because this was awful and I didn’t want him to get caught up in the same bullshit that I was caught in—but all I really managed to do was—
ONE HOP THIS TIME!
--hop forward like a goddamned rabbit.
RIGHT FOOT LET’S STOMP!
I stamped it in fury.
LEFT FOOT LET’S STOMP!
I stamped it in rage.
CHA CHA REAL SMOOTH!
And my body hadn’t ever done anything smoothly in its life before but here it was, cha chaing (whatever the fuck that was) like it wasn’t nothing, even though every piece of me ached and burned with anger at the bugs, at this stupid dragon, at these stupid artifacts and this stupid swelling in my chest that was drowned in the worry I felt for you because I didn’t know where you were or if you were gonna get trampled or bit by the bugs to and it was tearing me up on the inside—
“Bro, get outta there!” I screeched from where I danced, my thoughts racing, because the dragon had said something about ink and I didn’t know what that was or what that meant but all I knew was that those insects were making a beeline straight for him and the air in front of my face sizzled for a moment, the spark crackling to life in front of my eyes as I readied a bolt to fling at the wave coming for him—
NOW TURN IT OUT!
Ugh, dammit! Because now I was turning away from the dragon and my Bro and I was still doing these shitty dance moves and I couldn’t pause enough to actually aim and I my ears were pinning and I still had mud somewhere caked on my face and my whole body was a flutter of mess and strange stuff from the dragon and worry for you--
--but then something flashed in my mind, a sensation that wasn’t related to terrible yearling choreography. It was faint and subtle but I grasped onto it straight away because it was you; I was feeling what you felt for a second and seeing what you saw, and between your (my) little feet-toes there squished a gooey, foul-smelling puddle of blackish water—
--no. A puddle of ink.
“Hey, do the water thing again!!” I sorta screamed into the air, at the girl, and I was yelling mostly because I was having trouble listening to my own thoughts (NOW IT’S TIME TO GET FUNKY!) and partially because of the epiphany I was having, but had just clicked in my head that mud sticks to you and it’s slimy and awful and gross—but it didn’t matter if you got some on you ‘cuz you can wash it off.
And maybe ink was just a type of black mud.
I mean…maybe. I dunno. I was too busy being miserable and kinda side-stepping everywhere and trying to find a way to work my ass over to the dragon, to Mesec, to somewhere I could make myself useful.
[OH JEEZ ROSKULD IS STUCK DOING THE CHA-CHA SLIDE FOREVER or at least until the next dance. Encourages ISOPIA to use her water magic against the bugs.
*Side Note: If Ros and Aith don't get stuck doing some kind of tango together or at least the Cupid Shuffle at some point in this thread than this whole RE will be for naaauuuuught. ]
Things could have gone worse ... but then again they certainly could have gone better. Although the girl is aging faster than those who dwell in the Edge, and so likely faster than regular yearlings, it is clear that she is still the youngest among her assembled cousins. Much younger. Mesec seems the oldest, but only because he isn't flailing around screaming like Ros is. In her youthful mind, the girl thinks that perhaps the loud one and the dark one are the same sage. It leads her to wonder why Aithniel is younger than they - was she a facsimile as well? Later the girl would have to ask.
Mesec's healing appears to have been effective, as the dragon seems to rally slightly, calling out to them.
Ink ? The girl doesn't know what that means, or what it is. Is it a type of magic that she has yet to hear of? Some sort of element that holds the key to their downfall? Her mind doesn't have time to linger on the strange word, for once more Ros seems to be running away. For a moment the girl's ears pin backwards as her angry golden gaze falls upon her cousin. But she isn't running away at all. She seems to be ... hopping? Sashaying? A confused look falls over her death-masked features as she tries to pull her gaze away. Her mind tells her that remaining this still for this long is a poor strategy. She needs to be moving, lest she end up in the same condition that seems to have befallen her cousin.
Looking upwards, the girl spreads her mismatched wings and jumps. As she does so, her body shrinks voluntarily, contorting into the much smaller frame of a raven. Flapping her avian wings, the girl flies towards the dragon. The bugs have seemingly left it alone, and so the girl hopes that they will take no notice of a common raven lingering on a beast that is much too difficult for them to bite. Having no idea what she is doing, the girl tries to land on the head of the dragon. Her golden eyes go glassy for a moment as she realizes she has no idea what she is doing. The puff of smoke blown her way might have activated the magic within her, but it did not tell her how to use it. Mesec had been able to figure it out though ... huffing to herself, the girl focused. She tried to conjure up the feeling that had accompanied the burst of magic within her. She concentrated on the sensation of power within herself, and tried to direct it towards the dragon.
“Hey, do the water thing again!!”
The now raven-girl looked towards her jumping and jiving cousin. Was water the enemy of this new element? Could water overcome ink? The girl had no idea, but Ros certainly sounded like she understood this ink thing. Inwardly, the girl focused on a magic that was much easier to call forth than her recently acquired healing ability. She felt the calm blue pull as the air before her vibrated. Rather than creating her usually two largish shapes, the girl opted for 5 smaller ones. 5 creatures, roughly the size of dogs suddenly appeared. They had no distinct shape or form - the girl was in too much of a hurry to put much effort into the aesthetics of her magic - but they were composed of water nonetheless, just as Ros instructed. Rather than throwing her magic at her cousins as she had done before, the girl directed these five shapes at the hoard of bugs.
Like mini tidal waves they came, directed at the swarms and instructed to break over them, hopefully drowning them and overpowering this ink, whatever it was.
Iso becomes a raven and flies to the dragon, trying to land on its head. She hopes that since the bugs left the dragon alone, they won't bother her while she tries to heal him. She then follows Ros's instructions and creates 5 creatures of water and hurls them at the bugs.
Aithniel moved toward him, shooting off flames at the bugs and protecting him. Fondness for the sun’s child surged within him as he worked at healing with her nearby, but the protection did not last for long - she moved toward the book and was swarmed by the insects. “No!” The word surged out of him as she was bit and a moment later - a yell from across the body of the dragon let him know who else had been bit by the creatures. “ROS!” Mesec shouted when he heard her yell, his heart faltering as he feared the worst. He was too distracted by the ‘dance until you die’ part of the warning from the dragon to find any sort of entertainment in the way Aithniel was dancing and Ros was angrily stomping and sliding all over the place. He faltered in his movements, just for a second, his wings drooping and his attention on the dancing demigods before he remembered the rest of the warning. They had to defeat the insects and now it was up to him and Isopia to save the lives of the dragon and the others.
Mesec would not lose anyone today.
The great dragon near him rumbled about ink but much like when the ‘book’ was mentioned, the word didn’t mean anything to him but it snapped him out of his distressed daze with renewed determination. Isopia did something he had not know she could do - she transformed into the guise of a raven and flew toward the dragon's head to join in with the healing. The call from Roskuld, encouraging him to get out of the way was ignored. Much as he appreciated her concern, he would not give up and back away. Aithniel and Ros's lives depended on whether they could defeat these insects and, if he needed any more encouragement, Ampere, his father and others were too close for comfort. The swarm could not be allowed to notice them.
As he stepped back to distract the insects, his mind searched for some hint at how to defeat the mysterious ink - but, luckily for them, one of their group managed to figure it out as she was cha-chaing across the forest floor. He heard Ros yell at Isopia to use her water magic against the insects. What was water going to do? He had no idea what ink was but they both seemed to think it was a good idea so he figured he could do whatever he could to help out.
His trick with his wings seemed to be working, which was great, except he seemed to have attracted a lot of the insects. Mesec did not teleport out of the way again, though perhaps it might have been safer for him, he did not want to risk losing the attention of the swarm and letting them move toward the raven. If water was the trick to defeating these creatures, Isopia was the key and he had to keep them distracted from her so that she could use her magic, so that she did not get bitten. With the wall of insects moving toward him, he merely backed away from the dragon - keeping his wings outstretched and the reflection of the shiny silver continuing to act as a beacon. He hoped, then, that with so many of them focused on him that Isopia’s water would hit the swarm, and defeat the ink creatures.
Mesec lingers where he is, stepping back away from the dragon and continue flapping his wings to encourage the swarm to stay focused on him in the hopes that a collective swarm increase the effectiveness of Isopia’s water magic
I’m trying to find my direction home, ______________
A question of space, a matter of time, _______
I follow the stars until the first light.
Aithniel burned through bugs, but they kept coming. The swarm was seemingly endless, a black mass of buzzing and fury. Mud protected her, or so she thought. Even with the book closed, the continued to move in, and her plumes of flame could not hold them off entirely. A sharp sting on her back leg alerted her to her mistake, hasty as she was to make her muddy armor. The burn of the bite spread, sending impulses to her body that she could not control. Desperately she tried to ensure that her legs went only where she wanted them to, but that was in vain.
Though the situation was serious, she furrowed her brows, watching her cloven hooves shift. Her tail swung like a balances as she backed up, heel to toe as if she was sliding across the ground. A moon walk. Able to control her head, she looked over at the rest. Iso had turned into a raven, using the massive dragon as a shield while she healed him, and Aithniel continued to dance, in a wide circle of a moon walk. The dragon said something about ink, and she looked at the ground, seeing little black stains.
Was ink a black stain? She had no idea.
Instead, she danced closer to Roskuld, her legs extending out in front of her rather elegantly as she tossed her loose mane from around her ears and face. Roskuld yelled at Iso and Mesec, and she looked over, watching the water magic attack the ink bugs. Aithinel kept her fire magic to herself - not sure if she would help or hinder in this case. "Hey, if you take Mesec, I'll take Iso," she offered, her expression all business though her body was all chaos.
Falling in time with Roskuld for a minute, she danced until she could move her rhythm over - closer to the dragon and the book. The Fire Child sparked a flame with her hooves, sending the small orb beneath Iso's magic, hoping to boil the water and make it hotter. Hot water would help, right? Most of the time hot water had a better chance of absorbing stuff, so maybe it would work with ink too.
She wanted to yell at Mesec to be careful. She wanted to yell at Iso to do something. But, they were not exactly her family, and nothing she would say would matter much anyway. Instead, she did what she could from the sidelines, shaking her backside violently as she stretched. The word twerk came to mind....
Not sure what that meant.
-----
Aith dances to Ros and WITH Ros ;)
Then she takes guard with Iso and tries to use her fire to make Iso's water boil and hopefully help
A i t h n i e l
Hope not ever to see Heaven. I have come to lead you to the
other shore; into eternal darkness; into fire and into ice.
The dragon watched helplessly as Aithniel and Roskuld began to dance uncontrollably. His hopes of being healed nearly cut in half as they just danced on and on. His words of wisdom seeming to fall upon deaf ears. Did none of them know what ink was?
Then Roskuld's yells echoed around them all. The dragon had noticed that the young Isopia had transformed into her avian form and seemed to be trying to heal him and it was to her that Roskuld was speaking to. It wasn't until right before Roskuld's words though that Isopia's focus was strong enough to heal. With Roskuld's instructions however, the flow of tingling healing magic became disrupted as she turned her attention to her water magic.
Five forms of water. One mass of jitterbugs all swarming around Mesec. Who would win? Before Isopia could send off her water forms, Aithniel managed to dance her way over to a point where she used her fire magic to heat the water. Then the water was off. Like surging waves of a tsunami they attacked the hoard of jitterbugs and before everybody's eyes the jitterbugs disappeared within the water.
Nervously, the dragon waited for everything to clear.
The magic that had taken over Roskuld's and Aithniel's bodies seemed to have stopped as their dancing slowed to a halt. Once the water all cleared however, the dragon was at first frightened a little. The individual bugs were gone, but a massive black blob of dripping ink remained. It took a few minutes for even the dragon to realize that the black blob of ink was Mesec. Poor fellow got the brunt of the jitterbugs by being bathed in their remnants. But at least the jitterbugs were gone. Round one to team demigods.
The calm before the storm. Everything fell silent, nothing moved aside from the dragon's slowly drawn breaths.
It would be foolish to let their guards now, it was not over yet.
Helplessly the dragon watched as the ink began to slowly move. It trailed through the grass, leaving no trace of it's journey. It trickled away from each of the demi gods, leaving no trace of it's presence on their coats. Different streams, all of varying sizes wove over the earth towards two separate pools. They began to swirl and build in both height and mass, one was building beside the dragon, the other was near Mesec. It was unclear what was being created from the gathered ink, quickly they became a swirling mass of ink, then darkness began to leak out of spinning mass. At first it wasn't clear how dangerous these creations would be until a single twig picked up and flew into one of the swirling masses. Next a stone was slowly rolled into one...the dragon gasped. The ink had created damn portals. "Get away from the portals!! They are pulling things in!" Then a hairy leg stuck out from the first portal and what followed that leg was an abomination.
Eight spider legs were attached to the body of a bird, it's head was that of a cat. As it rose to it's full height the creature stood above the rest, it's four eyes studied each of the demi gods before it turned towards the portal that had risen from where Mesec was, an identical creature came from the second portal. A blood curling scream rose from both the creatures, it's pitch high enough to almost split eardrums. One takes a few steps forward and hisses at Roskuld but after a moment it turns away and fixes it's gaze on Isopia. The one that had came from the portal closer to the portal is more interested in Mesec.
Meanwhile the portals had been growing in strength and were gradually sucking in larger objects into their swirling blackness, everything that entered the portals disappeared from sight. The dragon could see where the ground was being pulled up and sucked into the portal. However before they could deal with the portals they would first have to deal with the two creatures that had come from the portals. They had begun their attack.
In perfect unison they charged at their targets, one towards Isopia and the other towards Mesec. The dragon began to struggle up, needed to help them defeat the abominations that had spawned from the portals. A line of darkness attaches the creatures to it's portal, it appears that each of the portals is drawing power from the creature it spawned. "Quickly! I need more healing! Let me help!" His legs shook under neath him and once against he was upon the ground with a massive thud. He needed more healing from all of them, for he was desperate to help and save Helovia from being sucked into the portals! They had to move quickly. "If the creatures die so should the portals," he cries at the demi gods, hoping they can hear his cries.
____________
Two portals has spawned and they are sucking everything inside, they are growing stronger by the second! Meanwhile the two creatures are charging towards Isopia and Mesec.
You must defeat the creatures to shut down the portals, meanwhile the dragon still needs healing so he can stop all of these events from happening.
Because things were getting weird and Sunbitch’s ass was doing its own thing and so was mine and it was out of my control and I was about to have a meltdown. Just as the pale jerk found her way over towards me and we were gyrating ass-cheek to ass-cheek, the hunch I had gotten proved to be effective; boiling water scalded the little inky shits and as soon as they dissolved before our eyes, the thingthat had had me and Radiant Asshole under its thumb suddenly vanished, and even though I could feel pretty much every muscle in my back and ass, I could at least move them of my own volition.
“We ain’t never sayin’ shit about this,” I hissed venomously, a pant pulling at the back of my throat (fuck you but dancing is exhausting if you do it hard enough). I didn’t look at her; I don’t think I could look at her straight for the next…like…3 weeks or whatever. Shit gets pretty intimate when you’re forced to dance on the same twerk team but I wasn’t ready to know her like that.
Also.
The fuck was a twerk?
Uh, anyway.
Things had…quieted, after the silencing of the dancing and the disappearnance of the bugs. I looked around the clearing, getting my bearings together (wondering where the fuck you had run off to, little shit—) while the heavy breath of an injured dragon lay heavy around us. I couldn’t see where the—girl—had run off to, which was weird, because she had obviously taken my advice with the water thing, right? It ain’t like there was a lot of time for her to jet off. I furrowed my brow, my eyes scanning the area, my gaze coming to rest on Mesec—
“Bruh, what?” I blurted, the corners of my mouth pulling into something wide and amused as I saw him dripping with goo, “Aagh , dude! Sick!” I cackled, because I’m awful at being a sibling. “Urgh it’s all in your hair ‘n shit—“
I had taken a step towards him when I felt it; something sliding off of me, which turned out to be the last of the ink. I snorted, standing stock still as I watched it trail through the underbrush, through the grasses and leaves—becoming dumbstruck when it all sort of converged into two floating portals. My jaw clenched as dragon-words seeped all around us, warning us.
*"Get away from the portals!! They are pulling things in!"*
Like I was about to waddle my fat ass over there and lick the shit anyways.
Inwardly, I blamed you for making me come to this shitty forest—if it hadn’t been for you, we probably would have napped and I probably would have found you some honey suckle to myam on. And now look. We’re fighting fucking Dragon Tales.
You responded to me with a tiny blurp of mental happiness. I still couldn’t see where you were; I hoped it was somewhere far away.
I watched as something…something crawled out of the portal, and my breath hitched and my butt cheeks clenched and my heart dropped because fuck that fuck that fuck that fuck that fuck all that mess this shit was getting ridiculous.
I didn’t even know what was going on anymore.
And then it scREEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACCHed and I pinned my ears and ducked my down but my vision swam and my eye started to pound and there was a metallic taste on my tongue and even when I opened my eyes and saw the scary-ass shit hissing at me, challenging me, I was too stunned to rise up to it and flip my own kind of bird.
Didn’t matter. It seemed like it got bored with me anyway and turned away, going for something that didn’t matter because I wasn’t about to let the creature get away from me. Because my blood boils when I’m afraid but it also boils when I’m ready to pick a fight.
Finally. A chance to make sense out of this backwards-ass situation.
The thing that moved away from me charged—and I charged too, bolting for the creature, trying to cut across its path. No bro, fight ME, I'm the motherfucker you gotta worry about is what I wanted to scream, but all that really came out was “I got this one!!” all savage and whatever, and I dropped my horn, intending to ram the shit into the creature’s….um. Into the creature. Showers of sparks erupted and a bolt flew before me, flying for the creature, giving me a target to aim the whole force of my body.
I didn’t think too hard about what it was or what it was gonna mean to touch it. I mean…whatever man. I was done with thinking in that moment.
[Roskuld charges at the creature going for ISO, trying to divert its course away from her.]
The girl feels pleased as Aithniel's magic accompanies her own. It feels right somehow, that they should work together. This kindredness was something she had never felt before, and despite its intimacy, she didn't shy away.
As she worked atop the dragon's head, the girl could feel whatever power he had given her bleeding from her and back into him. If he had the power to make them heal, why didn't he just keep it for himself and heal himself first? This seemed backwards, unless it was some sort of test.
The girl paused for a moment. Was any of this even happening? They had come here, all hearing voices, and now they were, what? Fighting something called ink? It seemed incoherent and almost senseless to the girl. She was tempted to give up and abandon this whole project all together, until the portals arrived.
Well, real or not, their original task had been to heal the dragon. So if she wanted this illusion to end, she would start there. With her eyes closed and her avian body resting on the dragon, she focused intently. She tried to remember how it felt to bleed her healing into the dragon, and hone in and replicate it again. Vaguely she heard Ros yelling that she had got something, and although her mind wanted to demand to know what it was, she kept her eyes closed and focused.
Although she had never relied on anyone else before, she hoped now that her cousins would defend her while she tried to assist in this task.
Exhausted, the earth child finally opened her eyes to see spiders - although of the sort that just couldn't be real, stomping about. In her raven form, the girl lifted off from the dragon's head. She didn't know about birds, but she was pretty sure both cats and spiders hated water. With her beak pressed firmly shut due to the effort, the girl called forth a huge dragon of water. She couldn't make multiple as she had before, for she was too tired. Instead, she focused on the one that Ros apparently had. With a caw, she let the dragon formation dissolve, dumping all of the water onto the spider...thing.
dumdum closes her eyes and heals the dragon as best as she can while Ros is getting the spider running for her. Then she takes flight and dumps a dragon-sized amount of water onto the spider that Ros is fighting.
Aithniel watched as the boiling water effectively took out one of the inky bugs, and she snorted, still stuck dancing while Roskuld spoke. The fire child laughed once, shortly, but she also nodded in firm agreement. “Yeah, never,” she agreed wholeheartedly. Having to dance with Roskuld was embarrassing enough, but she owned her actions, not wanting to think too much about her emotions at this point in time. There was too much else to focus on, and she finally felt herself take control of her own hooves again. She sighed in relief and then achingly walked over toward the dragon, rolling her eyes in utter irritation. There was more now?
Now there were portals. With monsters. Weird monsters that were a strange combination of animals, but she did not necessarily want to pay attention anymore. The dragon had brought this onto them all, and she was angry that they were now stuck cleaning up his mess. And then, he had the right to demand to be healed? Mesec was dirty, covered in ink, but he would live, so she ran the opposite direction of Roskuld straight toward the second creature. Aithniel summoned a large fireball and threw it at him with an angry yell, wanting nothing more than to burn it to dust.
“Hey, Mesec! Take over for me while I heal the dragon!” She yelled, turning back to run to the scaled beast while using that strange dust she had breathed before to pump whatever energy it was into this disastrous stranger. Roskuld and Isopia seemed to have the other monster. Impatiently, she used her fire to heal the stranger, a scowl on her features the entire time. The second she felt it right, Aithniel ran back to the monster, wings flapping hard to gain her speed. “Your turn to heal, Mesec!” she shouted, throwing a series of small fireballs at the monster.
A i t h n i e l
Hope not ever to see Heaven. I have come to lead you to the
other shore; into eternal darkness; into fire and into ice.
The trick with the water worked! Mesec was thrilled for about a second, before the little creatures exploded and every single drop of the black substance they were made of soaked him. He was lucky enough to get his eyes closed before the impact. He felt the squish of all that thick ooze hit him and sighed. Ears flickered toward the sound of Roskuld’s voice and his silver eyes - standing out more now that he was coated with black ink - rolled at her cackling laughter. Little sisters.
But before he could make any sort of remark, before he could be even a little bit thankful that the mess with the jitterbug was over, something new was happening. The ink was sliding off of his coat, moving completely of it’s own accord, and leaving his coat spotless (or at least as dirty as it had been before the ink-bath). It was a relief, but not for very long. Close to him, too close for comfort, a puddle of the ink was pooling and he stepped cautiously away from it as it started to swirl around, faster and faster. More shouts of warning from the dragon, this time about portals which was another new word for Mesec but he had no desire to get a closer look at the ink-portals, especially when it became clear that something was starting to crawl out of it.
One bizarre creature crawled out of the portal near the dragon, a random collection of body part from a whole assortment of animals seemingly just thrown together, and then another crawling out of the one that Mesec was backing away from. The creatures were massive, hideous, and seemed to have it out for demigods. Before Mesec could get defensive over the way the first monster was eyeing Roskuld and Isopia, he realized he was going to have his own to deal with.
Meanwhile, as they were all facing these giant, mish-mash creatures, the dragon had the nerve to ask them to heal him. Well which was it, kill the creatures or heal him?
A great fireball announced help from Aithniel, a useful magic for the task. There were no arguments from him as she told him what to do, and Mesec lunged at the creature - crooked horn out - before vanishing in a flash of shadow and reappearing on the other side of the creature. Using his horn and legs, Mesec alternated between lunging and disappearing - hoping to keep the monster confused and aggravated long enough even if he did not get a lucky strike at a leg or the feathered torso. Without destructive fire balls or lightning bolts, he found himself wishing for a more offense-based power that he could use to attack.
Aithniel returned, and Mesec disappeared once more - only this time reappearing at the side of the dragon. His head swam with the rapid repetition of the magic use but he managed to pull on more energy to direct toward the dragon, hoping that once he was healed the dragon could put an end to these strange occurrences.
Mesec uses his magic to distract/annoy the monster while trying to land kicks and strikes with his horn on the legs and torso of the creature before going to help heal the dragon
I’m trying to find my direction home, ______________
A question of space, a matter of time, _______
I follow the stars until the first light.
