Posted June 22, 2015 (edited) ((Make sure to read the whole OOC so you can post your intros and such smartly!)) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another day of farmwork. Something I never looked forward to, and never will. Drawing is a hell lot more fun, even if it wasted ink and time (as Father would say). Reading, drawing, dreaming of the future, it was all more fun than pulling weeds or harvesting tomatoes. JESSICA!! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE AND GET TO WORK!! Oh great. That was Father calling, the dreaded call to work. Who could ever tolerate the Sun beating on their back, and the work set before them? Well, the Sun part was less likely at this time, since winter was ready to strike. I knew what that meant; the rush to harvest wheat. If we didn't harvest the wheat in time, the town would starve, sure. But, just....ugh, I would rather laze all day. It never helped that our farm was a part of seven that was relied on to produce most of the food. I just wanted to sleep a little longer... WHAT DID I SAY?! GET DOWN HERE NOW!! Would he just shut up? Ever since sister went off to explore the world and chart new dragon species, I was stuck here to do most of the farmwork. Dragon charting. All my life, I was fascinated by dragons, and I always wanted to get close to one. Books never said enough, I was just dying to learn more. Screw wheat and fruit, I wanted to ride a dragon! COME HERE N- The sudden stop and the few ka-dunpms that followed surprised me. What the hell? I slugged out of bed and slowly got up, stretching. I dragged my feet out of my room, right to the edge of the stairs... When a huge orange beast lept at me and slammed me against the wall. I almost let out a scream at the sight of my father bloodied at the foot of the stairs, a scythe point in him...and that scythe was held by a cloaked figure. That scythe was no farming tool, but a tool for death. When I tried to scream, no noise came out, which frightened me further. "Oops. Sorry 'bout your daddy, kid." The cloaked figure said, then the orange dragon whacked my head, sending me into sleep...... The nightmares that followed were horrifying. Every turn I made there was something I feared, something that made me scream. The worst part....I don't want to go into detail, ugh. But the strangest thing was this girl always saving me in the end, always pulling me from one disaster to the next. Why was the girl there? I only saw an orange dragon and a cloaked person...maybe this girl was that person? But that would mean she killed Father! My mind was spinning as one oblivion spat me into the next.... Until the girl lifted me once more, and then darkness cloaked me. After all that pain, the dark felt nice, it felt comfortable. Sitting in this darkness was a good feeling, after all those nightmares. Until my eyes opened, and I groaned awake. Something was different, and I felt all sorts of weird things about me. I could not stand up on two legs, my senses were sharper, and there was an extra weight on my back. What? I almost passed out when I saw my reflection in a convenient water puddle.. Unbelievable! Was I a dragon? The very creatures I wanted to study, and I became one?! Okay....from the books I read, I now look like a...Winter Magi? Oh! One of those mysterious Christmas Dragons that nobody knows much about! Well, now I am one, so finding more about them should be no problem! Nope! ((Slowly all of the human turned dragons and their buddies will wake up in the same area as a chubby Winter Magi freaking out. Also, my YAAD chars will come, slowly...)) Edited November 12, 2015 by Esko_the_Wolf Share this post Link to post
Posted June 22, 2015 (edited) ((I hope I did it right.)) Fala " My name is Fala Scott." I said quietly. The boy gave her a weird look. " You know, like that one play! Fa, fa-la-la-la-la!" My friend sang. I punched her in the arm. " OW! you know, you're the one going around wearing plaid skirts." " I like plaid." I said, still quiet. " Uh." Was all the boy said, before walking away. My friend, a rather fiery soul named Amber, stomped her foot. " Look, you scared him away! How am I supposed to get you a date if you won't let me-" " I don't want a date." I muttered. " You're getting one." Amber said, brushing her short hazelnut hair from her face and dragging me off by the arm. " Before I leave, you're finding someone!" Maybe I should explain a little. It was fall, in our little town, and the book club was holding a little autumn meeting for "fall themed books" at the library. I loved reading, but I never went to the meetings because I didn't like being social. My friend Amber understood the former, but completely disregards the latter at times, and especially this time because her family was moving away soon. She was insistent that I need another friend to "keep me company". Yeah right. I'm the kind of person who reads horror and action novels, and she wants me to find a love life? She dragged me to another group of guys, introducing them to me as we approached. They just kind of stared. Well, I'm not exactly primped up and pretty. My long black hair was almost never brushed, I consistently wore red and black plaid with a dark top, and I never wore anything considered "short". Long. Long was the way to go. Oh, and I had glasses. Guys don't seem to like glasses, even nerdy guys who like to read. Using your "natural eyesight" was a fad... or something... " This is Fala. You know Fala." Amber flashed a winning smile. The guys were mostly looking at her, barely acknowledging me. Eh. Who cares. As Amber rattled on, I snatched a book from a nearby shelf and opened it. It was titled Dragons: Friend or Foe? I put it down, grabbed another one: The Culinary Arts. What the heck was that doing next to a dragon book? " Oh, and she likes dragons too. She wanted to go dragon charting with the others, but I said no, and-" " What's that?" A blonde boy interrupted Amber. " Dragon charting? What, you out of Galsreim or-" " No, that!!" The boy pointed over her shoulder. I barely glanced out the window, opening a book about meteorology. " AHHHHHH! Someone, help! It's a Grim Reaper!" That's really hard to ignore. My head snapped up from a page about cumulus, but everything had turned into a blur! CRASH! The library wall was gone! Something huge and orange launched itself through the hole, knocking down several kids with its tail. Something popped up beside it-some kind of cloaked figure, but it disappeared behind the orange thing. Amber's jaw dropped open as more screams rang out. " Holy wow, it's a-" Poor Amber, cut off yet again as a tome on jungle wildlife pegged her in the head. I ducked behind a shelf as books seemingly exploded around me. The boys? They had run. Smart kids. " Get it! Get it!" " Aaaahhh, no, RUN!" " Someone get the mayor!" " Oops." I looked up and around. The "Oops" didn't belong to anyone I knew... who was that? Why was it so close?! I jumped when my searching caught an unfamiliar girl, right behind me. She had her palm raised. Uh... My brain said. Attack! My reflexes said. So I raised the meteorology book high above me, and smacked her in the head with it. She didn't go down at all, but she let out a definite "OW!" and clutched her head. " Sorry! I don't know you!" I cried over the noise. Stupid, Fala! Stupid! A kid's book flew dangerously near my head, landing comically upright on the shelves in front of me. The girl glared, before smacking me hard in the forehead with her palm. Well. I deserved that. Books weren't light. ----- A dark corridor. The smell of blood. Shifting expanses of sand and grit. Way too bright and hot, way too dark and wet. Creatures coming from the walls! Rats with human heads and bulging eyes chewing on my legs, dragging me down tunnels! Moths with spear-mouths stabbing the ground, searching for a morsel to drink! Yes, drink! That was not a sight I wanted to see again. I screamed. Flash! The tunnels and sand, gone! A thick jungle, made of intestines. What the heck? Was this what my mind was capable of? Millions of spiky creatures! Crawling all over me! Get off me! One creature killed became six hundred more! So itchy! An earwig! I was inside an earwig! What!? Flash! Cats freaking out! Why were there so many cats?! And why were they mooing!? Oh, it's raining orange acid! It burns! The vapors.... can't breathe... The girl! Wait, the girl? What was she doing here!? She grabbed my arm, and pulled me away from the acid rain, the mooing cats. Yes! No! Don't leave me- Flash! An arctic expanse... it was writhing! Cockroaches the size of bedsheets! Where was a spider when you needed one?! Ah! Ah! I'm being swallowed! So nauseous! Grabbed by the leg! The girl again! Wait, no where are you- Flash! Howling monkeys! An inferno! Flash! An endless, freezing sea! Flash! Vipers! Vipers with bug eyes and pincers! With wings! I was screaming. And still screaming. My body was not in the shape it used to be. It was chewed on, burned, frozen, dropped from above, splintered and speared. The girl was leaving me in one place after another. Everything hurt! LET ME OUT OF HERE!!!!! ----- Flash! Time passed. I groaned and shifted. Dang, that girl had the force of a tome! A full fledged encyclopedia! A.... uh... ow... I lifted my head, blinking. It was still daylight, that I could tell, but was it still morning? Noon? Almost evening? My parents will be worried! I had to go get them! But... ugh, my whole body hurt. Ached like those dreams were real... I wasn't really diced, eaten, and frozen alive, right? Come to think of it... what were those nightmares, anyway? My eyes adjusted. Whoa whoa, wait. What? I clapped a hand to my face. My glasses! But... I could see just fine! And, depressingly enough, what I saw before was not daylight, but a pulsing orange crystal. I groaned and tried to sit up, but something in my body wasn't working right. I searched on the ground for my glasses, but saw nothing but stone and a wide variety of glowing crystals. Cold, oddly comforting stone and crystals. Where am I? I wondered. I tried to sit up again to look around, but my joints were moving weirdly. Another nightmare? Not another nightmare!! Come on, Fala, don't panic, just get up and look around! I finally succeeded in standing, though I had to do it on all fours, and stood up. My balance!! Oh no! Crash! Face-forward, onto the ground. I huffed-it sounded really deep and rumbling. Okay, this is weird! I thought, trying again. This time I tried to lean back, and though I succeeded, I grimaced as my spine kinked oddly. It wasn't too comfortable, but I could see. I was in a cave. Not one patch of it was left alone by the glowing crystals, which came in a wide assortment of colors. It was a nice temperature, very comforting, and solitary. Good. I was worried someone had seen me face-plant like a moron. " Hello?" I called out, but instead jumped when I heard " Hrrrooaarrgh!" I scanned the cave. " Hello?" It came out more like a squeak. " Grrmmmm..." The voice replied. I should probably get out of here... I thought, beginning to panic. Whatever this place is, I need to be back at my village! I assumed a rather normal gait, but fell flat on my face again. I tried again, and down onto my side I went. Again, and I fell. " ARRRRGH!" I cried in frustration, punching a crystal. " Ow, that hurt!" " ROOOAAARRRRGGH!" The mysterious beast answered. " GrrrrRAOORR!" I hissed at whatever invisible thing was mimicking me in a beastly voice, and it came out really believable. I nursed my fist. AHHH!! The creature's paw! I stumbled backward in surprise, staring at the wickedly curved claws and the dark grey scales. It must have come up behind me! I waited for that paw to clap my mouth, maybe grab my throat, eat me, strangle me, whatever, but it simply sat there, suspended in the air. My eyes followed it down the arm. My arm! Click. "ROOOAARRRGH! RRAARRGGh! Raa! GrrAAARROOOGH! ROOAAARGH!" A flurry of roars simply exploded from my mouth. My grey muzzle! My clawed feet! My spade-tipped tail! My yellow eyes! My huge wings?! AHHH! AHHH! I was going insane!! I'm not a dragon! I'm not a dragon! I'm definitely not a Grey Dragon! My claws scrambled stone as I raced around the cave, tearing up stone and crystals, roaring at the top of my lungs. Screaming for help. " I'm not a dragon! I'm not a dragon! " HELP ME!!" SMACK! Right into something large, colorful, and scaly. Edited June 22, 2015 by skwerl56767 Share this post Link to post
Posted June 23, 2015 (edited) Working in the mana business wasn't exactly the safest line of work to be in. Very few people were willing to march out into the wilderness, climb down into underground caverns, expose themselves to raw mana, and march on back to civilization with the threat of the violate mana acting unpredictably. There was also the more common fears that drove people away. Bandits lurking in the woods in hope of easy pickings, wild dragons ready to defend their territory, slavers willing to sell anyone who crossed their path, wild animals that could attack in a moment's notice, dangerous terrain, and other such assorted threats were present to those who traveled as much as Devorah and I did. The two of us were a team, working together to harvest mana and safely bring it back to civilization where we would sell the mana to whoever was willing to pay. We were our own little business, traveling around Valkemare selling our product to whoever would buy it. We were nomadic, carrying our personal belongings in large, billowing, hiking packs that were filled to the brim with sundry gear and wares. We had no home and had to carry whatever we could with us and leave everything else behind. The way Devorah and I lived wasn't perhaps the simplest or easiest way to live, but it suited us. We were content and that was good enough for us. Our travels brought us a small underground cavern out in the middle of the wilderness. The dangers nature provided had most likely scared off a majority of anyone else who could harvest the mana. Luckily, Devorah and I were not so easily daunted. We managed to locate and enter the cavern without any major problems. As we descended down into the bowels of the cavern, I felt as though someone was watching us. I didn't know if Devorah felt the same, but I wouldn't be surprised if she did. It was as though our own shadows were watching us like a hungry predator. I did a double-take several times as we walked towards the mana crystals. I didn't voice my concerns with Devorah, but knowing how close we were, my constant fidgeting probably gave away my state of concern. The journey down to the depths of the cavern took much longer than expected but when we did finally reach our destination, we were greeted by a glorious collection of bright glowing crystals. As per usual, I kneeled down next to one of the crystals and got ready to pull out my harvesting tools, but, instead of setting my pack down, I hesitated. For several moments I just sat on the ground, my eyes staring blankly at the illuminating mana crystal before me. "Devorah?" I said in a small voice, turning my eyes towards my companion. "You don't think-" I didn't even get a chance to finish my sentence. A large orange hulk soared across my vision and straight into Devorah. The beast caught both of us off guard; it slammed itself right onto Devorah and pushed her over. A shrill scream rippled out of my throat as I watch the creature turn its green gaze towards me. It took only a moment for me to recognize the dragon. It was a Magi, a breed with high magical affinity. It wasn't uncommon for Magis to buy raw mana or one of the magical trinkets Devorah made at our shop. Had the Magi claimed these crystals as its possessions? Was it attacking us because we were in its territory? That would explain quite a bit. As I fumbled through my backpack for one of the Cassare bones stored inside, another figure appeared. It was a hooded humanoid, a human presumably. I became still as he walked up beside the Magi. The dragon didn't seem keen on attacking him. Were they working together? Wasn't this the Magi's territory? Why wasn't it attacking him? I could feel my heart beating madly inside my chest. My fingers and back began to throb in rhythm with my heart. My mouth opened and closed several times as the gears in my brain whirred frantically as I tried to piece together what was going on. Just as I found the courage to open my mouth and speak, the clocked figure said something I couldn't quite catch, pointing the strange augmented scythe in my general direction. Before anything else could happen, the Magi leaped towards me. I screamed as I felt the Magi's hot breath press against my skin. Not too long after a sliver of sharp pain writhed through my body. Everything became dark and I knew nothing more. Within the darkness I was plunged into, horrific nightmares began to crawl their way into my mind. I was flung into terrifying scenarios where inhumane horrors plagued me. Great blistering boils would grow on my skin and pulsate disgustingly. My skin would burn like hellfire or freeze as though I had contracted frostbite. I would find myself in heinous places. I would be walking through a dark forest filled with abominable wildlife that looked more like someone had stitched two creatures together rather than an actual animal. Eldritch abominations would chase me through a never-ending world where the beasts could find me no matter where I hid. I was a sobbing mess who just wanted the horrors to end, but then, there was a girl. I was quite sure I had never seen her before, but she popped up again and again in my ghastly dreams. She would appear and all of the madness would just vanish. She didn't tell me who she was or why she was helping me, she just made the pain go away for a while before she left, allowing everything to explode around me. Part of me wanted to thank her for helping me and other part wanted to scream and shout obscenities at her for leaving me to face the horrors over and over gain. She would save me, leave, the horrors would return, she'd come back again, and so the cycle went on. Questions filled my mind when she was around but such inquires would disappear as soon as the horrors came around again. I was stuck in an eternal cycle of suffering and revival and there was nothing I could do about it. Or at least, that's what I thought. After a particularly troubling dream where I was drowning underneath a frozen lake only to be fished out by the strange girl, I felt my conscious slip away from the nightmares. My eyes flickered open and I stirred from my position on the ground. I grumbled softly, shaking my head as I woke up. "Devorah?" I mumbled quietly as I raised my head as my eyesight became less blurry. My lips formed the words but all that came out was a jumbled mess of incoherent noises. It took a moment for me to get my bearings, but, when I did, nothing but questions began to pour into my mind. Where was I? What was going on? Where was Devorah? What happened to the Magi and the figure? Was Devorah okay? Was I okay? I shook my head viciously as I tried to straighten myself up. Get it together, Bethany. Answer one question at a time and calm down. You've been through worse, just figure out what's going on and what you have at your disposal. You can figure out what's going on from there. "Okay," I breathed quietly to myself as I glanced around nervously. "Where am I?" My speech was still garbled, but I felt better mouthing the words than simply thinking them. For a moment, I thought I was back at the cavern, but the thought was perished quickly. There were mana crystals in the cave, sure, but they were more varied than the ones Devorah and I were gathering. I could see mana from all three alignments as opposed to the simpe ice mana crystals we were gathering. Scattered on the floor, I could see dark shapes laying down. By the way their chests were slowly rising and falling, I assumed they were all asleep. By the sheer size of them, I could only presume that they were either some sort of large animal or dragons. Neither thought was comforting. "Okay, so I have no idea where I am" I huffed to myself as I turned around to examine my surroundings. "So what's going on?" Devorah wasn't with me from what I could tell so I would have to go out and look for her eventually. I felt incredibly strange but that could be for a number of reasons. If magic was in the equation, which I highly suspected it was, then any number of spells could have been cast on me. The question of why anyone would want to waste so much mana on someone as ordinary and unimportant as me was perplexing. If they wanted to steal the mana I collected, they could have done what without dragging me to some cave. Of course, there were other reasons to capture me, none of them I wanted think about. Didn't I have some Cassare bones on me? They repel all magic within proximately of them. How could someone cast magic on me if those bones were nearby? A thought hit me right in the head. Of course! My backpack! I still had that on my person, right? Excitedly, I reached towards the strap on my shoulder and flung the backpack in front of me. I froze. Did I just grab my backpack with a... claw? I examined my hand only to find that it wasn't a hand but, in fact, a claw. I mouthed a few words of confusion before checking my other hand which was evidently also a claw. Panic began to seep in as I started to observe my body. My skin had been replaced with brown scales, my rear had grown a tail, my hair had been replaced with a fin, and horns had sprouted from my head. I checked my backpack to find that the straps had been stretched as though they were fitted on shoulders larger than mine. Letting out quick sharp breaths, I hurried over to one of the more reflective crystals and stared at my reflection. I didn't see my face within the depths of the crystal. I saw stunning crystal blue eyes fitted upon a Cassare's visage staring back at me. I wasn't human anymore, I was a dragon. "Okay, calm down," I told myself shakily as I pulled away from the crystal. "T-This can't be permanent. Illusions exist, p-perhaps it's just that. An illusion to make me look like something I'm not. It's not like I haven't faced that before." Working with mana, Dev and I had quite a bit of experience with magic. We seen the best and worse magic had to offer and we had survived every encounter. A little illusion spell wouldn't break me. Just like those nightmares couldn't break me. I would be strong and find a way through this mess. Taking deep breaths, I decided to give myself a more thoroughly look over. I was a Cassare for sure, there was no doubt about that. I was taller than an average human, maybe eight to nine feet or so, but I wasn't exactly big. Based on the Cassares I had seen in my lifetime, I looked pretty average save for the fact that my hide held more speckles than a normal Cassare did. Whoever made the illusion did a pretty good job but I wasn't going to let it scare me. Turning my attention back to backpack, I began to scour through it in hopes to find that everything was still in place. After a quick look, it appeared as though the contents of the backpack were still there. I fished through the pocket where the Cassare bones were suppose to be only to find them missing. Of course they were gone. How else was someone going to cast a spell with Cassare bones in the way? I highly doubted the anti-magical properties of Cassares was present in the illusion cast on me. What point would there be in making your victim immune to the magic you're using on them in the first place? I had considerably calmed down by the time I finished looking through my backpack. After readjusting the straps, I found that I could still carry it just fine. Seeing as I wasn't planning on staying, I decided to keep the backpack on me least I ran into a situation where I couldn't come back to it. I had just begun to mull over my options when I suddenly heard noises fill the cavern. Curious, but still cautious, I padded towards the sound, trying my best to work my new strange legs, to find two peculiar sights. A Winter Magi, a breed I had seen only once before, was excitedly bouncing up and down for reasons I could not fathom. I cocked my head to the side at the curious sight. There didn't appear to be any sort of special object or such around the Winter Magi. Why was she so jovial? Before I gathered the courage to inquire about what was going on, shrill shrieking filled the cavern. I jolted backward, eyes wide with surprise as I scanned the area for the source of the noise. A Gray bursted into sight, screaming at the top of her lungs as she ran around wildly. It was only after she yelled, "I'm not a dragon," did I realize that she was also a victim. It wasn't a surprise that those not exposed to magic regularly, which I assumed the Gray was, would act so violently towards finding out they changed forms. Hell, I was shocked when I saw myself but, then again, I could reason my transformation. The Gray apparently could not. For a second, I opened my mouth to speak, but quickly closed it. I couldn't speak using my mouth as a Cassare. They didn't possess the ability to speak vocally and instead use telepathy to communicate. There was only one way I was going to talk the Gray down without physical intervention and I wasn't looking forward to it. "Miss!" I called telepathically as the Gray continued to scream. "Could you please calm down? Yelling isn't going to make the situation anymore-" Before I could finish my sentence, the Gray ran straight into the Winter Magi. I cringed at the impact and averted my gaze for several seconds before looking back at the duo. "Oh dear," I exclaimed as I took a few steps towards the strangers, making sure to keep some distance from them. "Are you two alright?" Edited June 27, 2015 by Doctortear Share this post Link to post
Posted June 23, 2015 I like to think of myself as a scholar of magic and peddler of foreign goods—the latter mainly because of my wanderlust, though, well, if I'm going to be living that long, I might as well as see everything I can, though I'm certainly never going back to that place, with a bit of dragon raising on the side. Everyone has heard of those millennia-old wizards keeping vast meters of scroll in their house about each and every dragon they raised, but I was more relaxed about my raising, especially since I was traveling around so much and so often. It was a beautiful night out in the wilderness, with not a town in sight, the stars glittering countless above us, and only the tall shadows of the occasional tree obstructing the view. I loved it. I closed my eyes, listening to the chirps of crickets, rustle of the leaves, scuffles in the dirt or rustles in the long grass as animals searched for food, by hunting or trawling. The wood deck of my carriage was smooth and cool, a nice contrast to the still-surprisingly/annoyingly-hot night in the prairie. A bundle of green scales, red shining ribbon, and gold was curled up on my stomach, color distorted by the red paper lantern hanging on a hook inside, finally docile after a tiring day of traveling. I yawned and rubbed my eyes. Was it just me, or were they harder to keep open? Yes.... And my mind... Is wandering... Again. I managed to get myself into the carriage despite the sleeping dragon, then I snuggled the best I could with a backpack as my pillow and a dragon on my stomach and finally decided to let my mind wander.... BAM! What was that!? My carriage was being attacked! Said carriage rocked harshly as something huge crashed into it, shaking and scattering my belongings everywhere. Tinselwings yelped as I was sent flying into a wall and crushed her in between, jumping out as I fell back onto the floor. I reached for my bag and got the strap around my arm before the carriage violently rocked again. Oil spilled out of the lantern and dropped, hissing when it hit something solid. What should I do? Adrenaline surged through me as I stood up and grabbed the lantern, then made out the back of the carriage as fast as I could. Aim.... I can't possibly *miss* that giant beast, and if nothing else the flare of the lantern would startle it! And throw, the lantern flew at the beast, revealing a split second of bright, almost glowing orange scales before I looked down at my bag to—someone's behind me! I dodged to the left, off the carriage as I searched my bag. Curse my lack of organization skills! I heard a roar and saw a flash of yellow light—the lantern—just as I found the potion to prevent fire spread, which I also threw at the direction of the dragon as I spun to face the mysterious enemy behind me. My eyes had afterglows from the fire...There was a figure wearing black with a deadly scythe headed towards me, camouflaged almost perfectly with the night. I panicked, and my hand instinctively started to—NO！！！ Was that my scream? Did I scream? I paused in confusion, suddenly unaware of where I was, and something slammed me into the ground, knocking the wind and the consciousness out of me. Again, I was in a forest, young, unknowing, weak. I shouldn't have took that dare. But... That arrogant jerk. Someone needed to show that idiot up. And now, we were running, a boy already killed—no, something else..?—by the spirits chasing us. A good friend, one I affectionately called Wings for her feather adornments, was the only reason I was still running... But it wasn't only because my body felt as if it was burning from the inside out.... "Wings! Just let me go! Please! They want me!" I was the cleric—a murderer. Healing my friends from the backline, a fountain of medical aid and assistance, but still armed with offensive spells.... And the only technique that can completely destroy a spirit—no, not completely, nothing can ever be destroyed completely—but so close one can never..... It takes too great an effort to restore. "We are all making out of this alive!" "..." I am sorry. Please, Wings, live for me. I pried her hand loose, and ran charging at the spirits. They were glaring at me with glowing eyes filled with rage. They can sense the kills—no, no, no, don't think of them as kills—I had done. No exorcism has left a cleric completely unaffected by the spirit itself. I think she screamed my name, then I felt her hand—idiot, that isn't her! I don't care who it was. I am the only person these spirits wanted! Go away! Did she hear me? My hand the person touched wrote ”逃" in the air and slammed it at said person, sending them flying back. I turned to see a girl I never seen before with a look of utter surprise on her face from getting slammed back just as the spirits reached me. A snake was the first to reach me, and jumped through me, hissing, leaving her venom coursing through my body. From there, a horse, trampling me with hooves of metal. A tiger that slashed me to shreds. A bird with nine heads, relentlessly pecking me. I think I saw the girl return, but after a second round of the same ”逃" traced in the air, I never saw her again. They were ripping me apart—in body and spirit, and I deserve it. Two dark eyes appeared through the gloom, both human and not, and the worst pain thus far fell on me—both—huh? I heard something other than my own ringing scream, dying with the nightmare again. A soft pitter-patter of water. Water? I was nowhere near a spring or anything last I remembered. My body was sore and tired, as well as something out of place on my back—very comforting, though. Huh. Incoherent screaming—not me!—in a language that was not my... No, I know this language. Wait, this is Galsish, was—I was—of course, my first... I slowly opened my eyes, seeing something pink and black hanging from—wait, my hair was just black— and was that my nose? I don't remember it being that long or silver, and why can I feel so much of the ground under my jaw? Like a crocodile. That was my muzzle. Wait.... Wat...? "Oh dear. Are you two alright?" "Galsish....?" Did I say that? Yes. I raised my head—I can raise my head so high! Then lowered it again to—No, what was I doing? I want to get hair out of my face! But I can't reach—see? I settled for tossing me head instead. I—we—were in a cave lit by walls covered with glowing mana crystals of all kinds... A true rarity.... Most caves only grow one particular kind of mana, since many kinds if just haphazardly thrown together would ensure bad things would happen as the two types fight due to their incompatibility. Large unconscious forms were all around me, though three seemed to be awake, a gray one in a pile with a golden-colorful one with a worried copper-brown one with oddly mottled scales. ((Huh..... I think this is going to be the first time I'll be playing a little-to-none magic character. Not that you can tell with this post.)) Share this post Link to post
Posted June 23, 2015 ((3DS replies. Grrrr)) Okay, first order of being a Winter Magi: figuring what these guys do. Moving was too akward, and my wings jerked without say on my part. Damn. Looks like being a dragon is gonna be harder than I tho- WHAM OUCH! I was startled when a big force slammed right into me, sharp objects poking into the soft flesh of my underbelly. As a knee-jerk reaction, I flung my arms everywhere. Help! Help! I screamed. ROAR! RWOARG! Was what came out. Drat, I could not speak! I tried yelling for help once more, but only ended up letting out furious roars. Then a gentle voice rang in my mind. MY. MIND. Holy hell, what?! I stopped struggling and found both a Cassare and a Silver...at least I THINK I did. I read about Cassares and Silvers. Surprisingly there was more to read about the Silvers than the Cassares, considering how rare Metal Dragons are in general. Without much effort, my mind released a Hello?. Woah! ((I assumed that Bellamy and Pyro used telepathic comunication)) Share this post Link to post
Posted June 24, 2015 Today started out like most days past and present. Beth, my friend and associate in all my dealings, had planned to set out to locate a node of mana crystals near our campsite. We had detected surges of magic from a cavern a little ways into the woods, and after a quick survey of the surrounding area had deemed it safe enough to gather. We set off at around first light, the early sun giving us just enough light to see by. The trek to the cavern was short and uneventful, but something I couldn’t quite place was bothering the hell out of me. It was partly the silence; areas with high concentrations of mana attract tend to attract volatile creatures, but we hadn’t seen so much as a bird. The forest only seemed to get more empty and more quiet the closer we came to our goal. Our descent into the cavern was similarly uninteresting, which didn’t comfort me at all. The further we sunk into the earth the more nervous I grew, but I didn’t dare say anything. Beth had a tendency to blow things out of proportion. In any case, we reached the mana deposit successfully, and started the setup required for extraction. Beth, in spite of herself, seemed hesitant and distracted, entirely without her usual businesslike attitude. "Devorah?" she said, turning towards me. "You don't think-" As she spoke I could feel the hairs on my neck stand on end. A shiver went down my spine, and I turned half-consciously to look behind us- -only to be greeted by the dripping jaws of an orange beast, its claws reaching towards me. Its weight bowled us over, and we went tumbling along the rocky ground. I tried to wrestle it off, pushing its head away from my face and kicking at its stomach. After a brief and futile struggle it pinned me down and knocked me out with a stinging blow. As I fell into unconsciousness all I could hear was Beth's bloodcurdling scream. I don’t know how long I was out for, but it felt like a century. In my fevered dreaming I was put through a torture I can barely begin to describe, passed one moment from the claws of some ghoulish beast to the crushing grip of a blackness so great it nearly had form. The denizens of every nightmare ever dreamed since the dawn of time capered and gibbered across the landscape of my mind, forcing me to endure pain and anguish like nothing I had ever felt before. During each new torment, just as I was about to reach my breaking point, a girl shrouded in a cape appeared and seemed to rescue me from my persecutors. But by this time my mind was too scrambled, too fragmented and mangled, to comprehend the idea of a rescue. Eventually I woke up, the endless nightmare giving way to the horribly real complaints of my body. Everything ached; my head, my back, my throat. Groaning, I cracked open one eye, hardly having the energy to dead what new hell I had been dragged off to. I tried to roll over onto my side, but I felt strangely heavy and immobile. Sharp stones dug into my skin, but I barely registered them. For a moment I paused, lying on the ground like a dead thing, to try and gather enough sanity to coordinate my limbs. With a grunt and a wheeze I pushed myself upright. My back felt rigid, so I could only manage a kind of gargoyle crouch, but at least I was up. Bleary-eyed, I glanced around, barely understanding what I was seeing. My eyesight seemed strangely warped, like my eyes were bulging sideways out of my skull. Forcing my eyes to focus made me feel dizzy, so eventually I gave up and allowed them to do what they pleased. All that my cursory glance had given me was the impression that I was in a large cavern lit by the glow of hundreds of mana crystals. For now that was enough. I had to find Beth. “Beff?” I croaked, my lips struggling to form the familiar syllables. To my admittedly impaired ears my voice sounded garbled and alien, barely recognizable as language. Carefully I shook my head, trying to shake off the feeling that something fundamental was obviously wrong. Not wanting to think about this further, I gathered my strength and lurched to my feet. My body still felt strange and off balance, but I either couldn’t or wouldn’t place why. Scattered around the floor of the cave were the silhouettes of several sleeping beasts. Some shred of self preservation noted that most of them were smaller than I was, and I felt an odd sense of relief. For a moment that was enough to comfort me, giving me security in size advantage if nothing else. Unfortunately that relief was short lived. My already tenuous balance was upset by the lapse in control, and I fell forwards. Reflexively I caught myself before crashing into the ground, my arms spread out to break my fall. For a split second I sat there, stunned, not wanting to believe the evidence my eyes were presenting to me. A thought buzzing around in the back of my mind had suddenly come forward, spurred by the vision of my scaly green arms, and was drowning everything out with its distressing significance. Whatever shape I was in now, it wasn’t meant to stand on two legs. Whatever shape I was in now, it couldn’t speak like a human. Whatever shape I was in now, it most definitely wasn’t sapient. With this revelation out of the way, I felt an immediate and totally unexpected renewal of relief. This was something I could handle. I’d faced much weirder and incomprehensible things. At least I still had a body. All I had to do now was figure out where Beth had gone, change me (or perhaps the both of us) back, and then get back to camp and move on. With renewed energy I scanned the cavern, noting the position of the sleeping figures and the sudden and piercing sound of someone yelling. By the sound of it, they too had been transformed. Someone else, a small copper-and-brown dragon, was trying to calm them. I shuffled closer, absently trying to figure out how to walk on all fours. “Hey,” I said, clearing my throat. “What’s going on? Are you alright?" ((I'm going to justify this bad writing by saying that this is how Dev would do it. She wants to be prosy but she really is not.)) Share this post Link to post
Posted June 24, 2015 (edited) It seemed as though everyone in the cave had fallen victim just as I, and possible Devorah, had. I didn't know whether to find comfort in the fact that I wasn't alone or if I should be mortified by the fact that others had fell for the same trap that I did. Instinctively, I tried to open and close my hands to give myself something to focus on. Alas, I had forgotten I no longer had hands. Instead I felt my new claws grind against the coarse cave floor. I gritted my teeth together before jerking my claws forward, taking a moment to lift them up to my face so I could examine the damage. I could barely make out any details with my new binocular vision and the limited light the crystals gave. Nothing appeared to be wrong but it certainly hurt. Mumbling incoherent gibberish underneath my breath, I placed my claws back onto the ground. My entire body was completely alien to me. Maneuvering around with four legs proved to be challenging and speaking telepathically was just plain weird. I kept trying to mouth the words that poured out of my mind only to hear drivel come from my lips. The entire set of circumstances was frustrating and draining, but I managed to shove my negative emotions down into the reaches in my mind in favor of concentrating completely on finding Dev and moving on with our lives. I just had to figure out what was going on first. At least the Winter Magi had calmed down. After the shrieking Gray crashed into her, her buoyant dance ceased and she took hold of a more demure demeanor. She greeted me, along with the Gray, with a cautious hello which, to my surprise, sounded much younger than I was expecting. Was she just a teenager? Perhaps an adult who just sounded young? I couldn't tell and I wasn't sure if I wanted to know. The idea of someone kidnapping a teenager was deeply disturbing. "Ah, yes, hello there!" I called out, perking up as the Winter Magi spoke. "Are you two alright? That was quite the scene; I do hope you didn't get hurt." Not too soon after I had finished speaking, another voice spoke up. This time, the voice was much more mature and eerily familiar. I could feel a ethereal chill crawl down my spine as a distinctly familiar voice inquired as to what was going on. "Devorah?" I asked aloud, turning my head towards the sound of the voice. I nearly gagged as my gaze landed on the enormous Green standing just a meter or two away from me. That couldn't be Devorah, could it? She was gigantic! I couldn't see clear enough to determine if she was the biggest dragon in the cave, but she was definitely the largest dragon that had woken up so far. How much mana did our captors have to use to cast an illusion that made a human appear to be fourteen meters or so long? Remembering the pain that still lingered in my claws, I began to suspect that perhaps our transformation might not just be an illusion. Perhaps whoever captured us actually took the time and energy to transform our forms completely. Why anyone in their right mind would want to do that and how was beyond me. I wasn't even completely sure it was possible but after seeing the happenings within the cave, I find little reason to reject the theory. Though at the end of the day, it didn't really matter, did it? Dev and I were still going to escape, find some way to undo the transformation, and hightail out of the cave. It wasn't like we hadn't been in weirder situations before. "They spared no expense with you," I huffed jokingly as I walked up towards my much larger companion. "I know you're taller than me, but this is a bit excessive, don't you think?" Edited June 27, 2015 by Doctortear Share this post Link to post
Posted June 24, 2015 (edited) Fala The thing I crashed into was squishy and scaly. And it spoke too. " ROAR! RWOARG!" " Hello?" " RAWRRGH!" I jumped back in alarm, still dizzy from the impact. I tripped backwards and fell hard on my tail. Think a creature with a tail sitting is as comfortable as a human sitting? Not so much. It's like sitting on a bony pillow that squirms and gives you pain. I rolled over and scrambled at the floor, forgetting that claws don't provide much traction on stone. After skidding comically, I slipped and grabbed onto a jutting crystal in time to prevent yet another face-plant. At least I had draconic thumbs of which to grip with. Though it just gave me an embarrassing visual of me running on all fours as a human. But I wasn't a human anymore. At least, I don't think so... " Are you two alright?" A dragon walked up to the colorful, vocal dragon and I. I jumped. " Uh." I said. " Grummm..." Was all that came out. I swallowed nervously. This dragon was more human-sized, and had some nice, burnt-bronze scales. I think it was a Cassare? Yeah... that's how you pronounce that, right? Oh great. That means I couldn't defend myself with magic! Yeah right, Fala. Like you know how to use magic. Besides, she sounds nice enough. I sniffed in response to that, trying in vain to ignore my suddenly keener olfactory senses. " Hey, what’s going on? Are you alright?" Ahhh! Another voice! Behind me! This time I literally leaped behind the crystal, though there was no way it could hide me. I peeked out, and saw a huge silhouette come closer and form the features of another dragon! A very large green one... A Green! I had panicked so badly that I had flattened myself out on the floor like a cat, and for good reason; Greens are huge dragons. I never knew you were such a spook. My conscious mocked. I frowned at it and pushed the thought away. Or at least, I think I frowned... my facial muscles felt a bit stiffer than they did before. The Cassare seemed to recognize the Green Dragon almost immediately, and was pretty calm about walking up to it and engaging in conversation. I saw something stir deeper within the cave, something a bright grey like my new underbelly, and I began feeling more and more uncomfortable. Just how many dragons were there? Where did we all come from? And who was that girl who smacked me on the forehead?! I let out an almost canine whine and curled up tight behind the crystal, hoping no one saw me. Just stay calm, Fala. I told myself. Just wait and observe, like you always do. I tried to think about the different dragon I had seen-so far I only remembered the Cassare and the Green, but there was a silver dragon stirring out in the cave. It looked pretty groggy like it had just woken up, and a bit flustered at its brightly-colored mane. Pink. Did that make it a girl? What was it again, pinks were girls and boys were blue? Or was it the other way around again? That thought process brought me to a history snippet I read on how the gender colors switched over time. Ah, this was better. Calmly thinking and processing information in my head. No more craziness, no more dragons,- " -No more chaos, no more caution, just some nice, good ol-" -Processing information in my-whoa wait, was there just a voice, in my head?! " AHH!" I clapped my dragon paws to my ears like it was outer noise, positively freaking out. Great, now I wasn't only a dragon, but I was going insane too! WAIT FALA! Don't freak out yet! Just mull over the theories, remember the theories? Dragons speak using telepathy? " Now that's just fiction!" Yeah, but real life isn't- "-Fiction, is it? Noo, this is real, so get-" -A grip on yourself! I mean, figure out how to use the dang thing if it exists! I smacked my forehead, completely forgetting about anyone who might be watching. " So what, now I need to learn how to fly too? And eat meat for the rest of my life-or whatever this thing eats? What about magic, huh, what am I going to do with that? DOH! Why did Amber drag me to that stupid book-club-meeting-whatever...?!" I started kicking rocks and stomping about, tail lashing as I couldn't answer all of the questions in my head, and hey, I wasn't exactly expecting to be turned into a dragon today! I mean, if I did, what would I tell my parents? " Hey mom, by the way, when I come home, I might have wings and be too big to get through the front door. Oh, and Dad? You know that old barn? Yeah, shovel some straw in there for me, will you? Thanks. Much love and dragon kisses." Yeah. Now I was really frustrated with the whole thing. It's not every day that I get emotional enough to cause such a fuss, but well, this wasn't exactly what one would call a normal day. ((EDIT: Help, can't make up my mind on text color. Dimgray is hard to make out against the text, but Slategray is similar to the text color of a character I might import back in here...)) ((EDIT#2: Just so you guys know, I changed what dragons Fala knows about with Doc's suggestion so it makes a little more sense now.)) Edited June 25, 2015 by skwerl56767 Share this post Link to post
Posted June 24, 2015 The antics of the other dragons made their relative youth eminently clear to me. Only a child would react such a way. We were all in a serious situation. Throwing a fit and acting crazy would not help anything, and it would only add to the chaos. Hell, waking up in a new body is a shock, but it doesn't warrant screaming and writhing like a scalded cat. Luckily, the copper-and-brown dragon (who I realized was a Cassare, now that I had gathered my thoughts) seemed to be quieting them down. One of the young ones, what looked to be a Winter Magi, calmed enough to offer a tentative hello. "Ah, yes, hello there! Are you two alright? That was quite the scene; I do hope you didn't get hurt." I half-nodded to myself, agreeing with the smaller dragon, then froze. Is that.. is that Beth? Her voice was as close to me as the sound of my own thoughts. It had to be her. It was a shame that she had been turned, too, but at least now I knew where she was. She seemed to recognize my voice as well, and turned, calling my name inquiringly. Something flashed in her eyes- was it fear? For a moment my heart leapt to my throat. Surely she wouldn't be frightened of me? The moment passed, and what might have been fear turned into a kind of bemused surprise. "They spared no expense with you," she joked "I know you're taller than me, but this is a bit excessive, don't you think?" Relieved, I couldn't help but laugh. "Am I really that large? I haven't gotten a good look at myself." My crocodilian lips curled easily into a smile. "I bet I look a sight, eh?" I glanced over Beth's shoulder, catching the reactions of the other dragons. A Silver and a Grey had woken up so far, and done their own variations on the freakout tune. As it looked at me, the Grey's face froze, then grew grey and angry. I could almost hear them scolding themselves. I was about to laugh again to try and reassure them, but they quickly broke into frantic conversation with... themselves? Beth and I were intimately familiar with telepathy as a form of communication. Presumably this person wasn't. They started throwing what looked like a fit, stomping around and kicking things, generally acting like a child. Catching Beth's eye, I gestured to them with my thumb and swirled a finger around my ear in the universal sign for "daft". "Should we do something, do y'think?" I whispered. "I don't want them to hurt themselves." Pausing for a moment, I glanced around the cave, trying to locate exits and points of interest. "Not to mention, the sooner we can gather ourselves the sooner we can get out of here." Share this post Link to post
Posted June 24, 2015 (edited) ((Hey Blade, how about Darkgoldenrod? )) Just as I thought things could not get any crazier, another dragon- this time a Green- walk up and try to communicate. I rolled on my butt- then fall to the side because of the uncomfortable feeling- and looked at all the others. I made out other dim shapes in the distance, probably still sleeping. I sighed and rolled a bit more, my belly molding with the ground. "Ah, yes, hello there! Are you two alright? That was quite the scene; I do hope you didn't get hurt." The Cassare asked. I sighed and rolled to face the Cassare. Welp, a Magi and something that looked like the Grim Reaper barged into my house, stabbed my father, something knocked me out and made me into this without having any decencey to remove the fat, but hey, I am alive! And I don't have to harvest wheat! So I am A-okay, I guess! I chirped, my tail slowly swishing back and forth. And now I get to know all about Winter Magis and share the knowledge with the rest of the human race! Yeee! I threw my arms gleefully in the air, and felt them flop down on the ground. Then, I just noticed the few holes in my belly with blood trickling down them, and the few smears I left on the floor where I rolled. Oops. Then I heard noises downwards. I slowly turned my head towards to shapes in the distance. I made them out to be another two dragons, one with spikes and a chill around it, the other with feathered wings and a large orb dragging on the ground. As they came closer, I recognized the types; one was an Ice, and the other was...oh! A female Moonstone! I could catch their conversation. That was only supposed to transform you! And splash effect or not, we're not supposed to be here.. The Moonstone snapped at her chilly companion. I dunno, I thought I felt a presence when you used the spell... The Ice innocently answered her, and their conversation intriuged me. What were they talking about? Hello? I called to them, hoping that the two would not be startled Edited June 24, 2015 by Esko_the_Wolf Share this post Link to post
Posted June 25, 2015 (edited) “Hello?” "Ah, yes, hello there! Are you two alright? That was quite the scene; I do hope you didn't get hurt." I stayed quiet to get my bearings. The strange bit was, I felt at ease, as if it was perfectly normal for me to have differently arranged limbs more suited to quadruped movement—or was that really so strange? Have I been in a body—that was an odd way of putting it… The ground shook, and I watched in alarm as a giant green rose... And stumbled from its hind—like a human trying to walk—huh? “Hey. What’s going on? Are you alright?" The voice that rang clearly in my mind….. Dragons speak with their minds, of course…. The cave was brightly lit due to the mana, so no point in hiding myself just in case…. And if I’m seeing things right, I—I pushed myself to my claws—and looked back on my body, my silver scales were as glowing as well. They were a blunted, not very polished, silver and I can’t see a reflection of anything but blobs of color. And—oh, look at that, how nice—the odd feeling at the base of my back was a tail, with the same brown-black streaked with pink as my… That wasn’t hair. I managed to crane my neck back to see that there was a mane of hair going down my back—no, that’s the spine. Suddenly, I heard quick rambling, snatches of self-conversation, coming from a gray behind a mana crystal. The gray's panicked thoughts were traveling quite "loudly," or some facsimile thereof. The others seemed to be conversing normally, or, well… 蓬安… How do I… Mostly without any problems, but the poor gray seemed like a patient in an asylum. I—I—walked calmly—on all fours, like this, I can do it, just relax, the other dragons don’t seem interested in you—towards the panicking gray, letting her see me as I walked around the crystal of mana. When I got close, I started singing—in my native tongue, translating is hard for me—a soft lullaby. She might not understand the words I was singing to her, but hopefully the emotions would get across, if other conversations I had was of any indication. ((I was thinking emotions get transferred across to let a dragon know exactly what you mean, like if a dragon tells you about a storm you can tell if the storm has been experienced or was just in passing without the other directly telling you.)) Edited June 25, 2015 by beiningtian Share this post Link to post
Posted June 25, 2015 Fala I didn't know what was becoming of me. I had barely noticed someone approaching until she was so close I could count the colors in her eyes. It was the silvery dragon from before, glowing oddly like she was a crystal herself. I raised a forepaw like I was going to strike her, so upset I was shaking, but she started singing. Whatever she was singing I didn't know, but I simply broke down in front of her and collapsed. I never knew dragons could cry. " This is all just a dream, right?" I sobbed, even though the tears felt real. " I'm going to wake up in my own bed, and we're going to have scrambled eggs, and toast, and some juice, and I'm going to go off and read in school and procrastinate on boring homework..." I slapped my tail onto my face to try and keep the tears back. " What's this dragon business?! Why us? Why me? What are we supposed to do? Is this some cruel joke? I don't know anything about dragons! I know the common colors and some theories, but... but..." I snuggled up to the comforting dragon. " Maybe I just need some sleep, you know? Like... something to do." I fell silent after that, sniffling and wringing my front paws together as though I was still human, pondering my situation. Was it the transformation? Was that why I was so emotional? I can't remember the last time I've had a breakdown like this! I mean, maybe when I was five, yeah... It started getting foggy at my feet, but I ignored it. Maybe you just need something soothing. You know, like how Mom would make tea? Yeah... maybe I just needed some tea... I looked down at my paws and saw a glob of wispy fog, so thick I couldn't see my palms. It dissipated when I stopped wringing my paws. I stared at the remnants of the anomaly before trying to shake my unease off. I might as well learn about these dragons. I finally decided. No one has attacked me yet. They ought to be friendly. Finally feeling better after my tantrum, I scanned the cave. From who I readily recognized, there was the Cassare and Green, but I didn't recognize the brightly colored dragon who looked quite a bit like a christmas present with a head, wings, and tail. I also didn't recognize the silver dragon who had comforted me, and coming out from the back of the cave, I saw two more dragons, both unfamiliar, bickering with each other. I flinched, my pride on being a reader hurt. Did I really not know those breeds? Were there really tons more dragons out there? I was pretty used to simply observing and learning by listening to unknown things in context, but I was getting determined to fill the void in my knowledge about dragons, and I needed to get a hang of this telepathy thing anyways. So I turned to stare awkwardly at the silver dragon beside me. " Um, hi. Sorry about that. Uh... Fala. That's my name, I mean. Do you know what we're doing here? Why I'm a dragon?" Share this post Link to post
Posted June 27, 2015 (edited) "Am I really that large? I bet I look a sight, eh?" "You've always been a sight for sore eyes," I giggled as I offered Devorah a sly grin. Though she looked nothing like her normal self, Dev still had her usual sense of humor about her. It was nice to relax a little, especially in such a tense situation. The small moment of personal comfort Devorah and I shared quickly dispersed as the Green began to look around at the other captives, her reptilian grin slowly fading away as her face fixed into an unamused expression. I looked back to see just what had captivated her attention. The Gray who was screaming her head off earlier had begun what seemed to be a tantrum. She began madly mumbling to herself, kicking rocks in her aggravation. Glancing back at Dev who was making the universal sign for screwballs, I muttered a few words of displeasure as I tried to keep myself from grinning. It wasn't too long before Devorah stiffened up and became serious. "Should we do something, do y'think? I don't want them to hurt themselves. Not to mention, the sooner we can gather ourselves the sooner we can get out of here." I clicked my tongue together as I gathered my thoughts. Dev wasn't wrong, the situation was only getting worse with each passing minute. As nice and morally correct it would be to help the other captives, they weren't our top priority. If we could help them we would, but if all of our cards were laid out on the table and the choice was either getting stuck to help the others or running off to save ourselves, we'd probably pick he latter. We had a sense of justice but we weren't heroes. I opened my mouth to respond to Devorah, but the Winter Magi I spoke to early suddenly piped up. I offered her a kind grin as she rambled on to hide the uneasiness I felt. She was obviously young, preteen perhaps which only made my thoughts of getting assistance from the others dwindle evermore. The blood oozing out of her stomach was disturbing, but when she showed little to no concern about it, I decided to refrain from asking about it. I gave Devorah a knowing look as the Winter Magi suddenly bounced away. We were dealing with children, something we were not accustomed to. If we were going to help them, we were probably going to have some problems doing so. Thankfully, it seemed as though someone who did know how do deal with children was around. A Silver, who I did not notice before, suddenly began to stride towards the whining Gray, singing a lovely tune in a foreign tongue. I was completely perplexed as to what the Silver was doing until I saw the Gray break down in front of her. She began sobbing, cuddling up to the Silver as words began to pour out of her mouth. For several moments, she became silent as though she was finally beginning to relax and then she spoke once more, softly this time and without any anger or fear in her voice. I was honestly impressed. I wasn't sure I could be as comforting as the Silver. I certainly tried to soothe others' worries but I don't think any of my attempts at calming someone down had ever been as effective as what the Silver just did. Unfortunately for me, the time for admiring the Silver would be cut short. Voices rang out throughout the cave. At first, the speech was nothing more but gibberish but it didn't take long for the voices to become clearer. I completely froze as I eavesdropped on the conversation. A chill went down my spine and I shot a horrified glance over at Devorah. The two strangers were talking as though they had just used a spell, presumably the same one that had been cast upon everyone else. Were these two our captors? I would hate to think that an Ice and a Moonstone managed to capture Dev and I by themselves. The thought of them working with others made much more sense. For a second, I had no idea what to do. Should I confront them? Should I hide? What if they had weapons? What if they ran away and brought backup? I thought of the possibility of them using magic, but I soon remembered about the breed I had been transformed into. I wasn't entirely sure if the anti-magic field had been implemented into my new body, but it was a possibility. After standing still for several seconds, I quickly moved closer to Devorah, attempting to obscure myself from the strangers' view as I placed myself closer to my giant companion. Edited October 10, 2015 by Doctortear Share this post Link to post
Posted June 29, 2015 ... Spell? Even after my little greeting, the two seemed to keep talking. Was I THAT quiet? I tried squirming towards them, wondering why these two had a grasp at movement. Unless they were able to for a while... They're our captors. The thought sounded crazy at first. Our captors? That was impossible; I was transformed by a Magi and something that resembled a Grim Reaper. Maybe these two were the masterminds of it? But it sounded like they were transformed recently, and they transformed themselves. Why was I going to greet these two? I was known for being that girl in the corner who gave you a nasty response whenever you approached. Did this spell change me somehow? Probably not. I still crawled towards the duo, and then lifted my head suddenly. The Ice jumped at my sudden sight and the Moonstone looked spooked. Sure, seeing a Winter Magi out of season was quite the sight, but they could have at least hid feelings? Hello? I tried again. This time they heard. Um...Hi? The Moonstone replied, then looked to her Ice partner. Um, are you our captors? Right after saying that, I bit my tounge back. Why did I ask that? The two looked at me funny, like I had two heads. Captors? I think we were captured. The Ice innocently answered, and I cocked my head to the side. What was the talk about the spell then? I inquired, sure that the question would bring some answer. The two looked at each other nervously, and I knew I had the answer. They're the ones, I knew it. You see... The Moonstone started. I wanted to see if there was a way humans could turn into dragons and turn back. It would be a breakthrough in transportation and such! So, I used a spell I found in a notebook and placed it on my Ice companion here. Apparently it had a splash effect, and it effected both of us. My...buddy...here thinks somebody was watching us while I was using the spell, so whoever was watching us are the captors. We're just more victims. I sat there thinking for a few seconds. So they weren't the guys responsible for this. Who was? Huh. I simply said. Wellll there are more victims like us! GUYS, IT'S SAFE. I shouted back to the others. I wriggled back to them, the duo following ---(???)--- Great. Another round of transformations done. And I got to kill somebody. The soulmancer sat atop a crystal, wiping off the blood from his scythe. Cleaning it was never fun, but hey, it had to be done. His Bloodbound Soul buddy was out scouting, trying to pinpoint new targets to transform. Well, his female companion didn't consider them targets, but not like it mattered to him. His ears flicked; when was he getting back? Well she's here. His wolf ears pressed against his head and he stood up, his cheeks slightly warm. Hey Harley. L hasn't been back yet. Any idea what could be holding him up? He inquired to his female friend, his tail slowly swishing Share this post Link to post
Posted June 29, 2015 Despite the gray's initial aggression—who can blame her? Certainly not I, I can definitely relate—upon seeing me, I pulled my lips up in a smile as she stopped, then dropped the smile in a surprised expression as she broke down in front of my eyes. Still singing, I got closer to her and patted her on the shoulder. "This is all just a dream, right? I'm going to wake up in my own bed, and we're going to have scrambled eggs, and toast, and some juice, and I'm going to go off and read in school and procrastinate on boring homework..." I didn't know how to reply... So she was a human too, grabbed from her home and her normal life and dumped here——Who the just grabbed kids and do things like this to them?——And for what? What is so important that people's lives were torn and possibly ruined? My dragons! What happened to my dragons?! Tinselwings, Little Snowy, Bright Stars.... "What's this dragon business?! Why us? Why me? What are we supposed to do? Is this some cruel joke? I don't know anything about dragons! I know the common colors and some theories, but... but..." As I was calming myself down, reminding that I can't do anything if riled up, the gray snuggled into me. I flinched slightly, then realized that she didn't have any ill will, she just needed someone to support her for a bit. By now, I had stopped singing, keeping my mind quiet as I can in terms of telepathy. I let the gray stay, patting her in a hopefully comforting manner on occasion. " Maybe I just need some sleep, you know? Like... something to do." "Perhaps," I murmured in reply. She stayed by my side—she seems much more calm now—and I looked at the other occupants of the room that were currently awake. A cassare was in deep conversion with a giant green, a hyperactive winter magi—huh, he's rather chubby, but I don't think he's chubby enough to ignore pain, so why does he seem so unconcerned with that blood?—and.... Echos of telepathy, from farther in the cave. " Um, hi. Sorry about that. Uh... Fala. That's my name, I mean. Do you know what we're doing here? Why I'm a dragon?" I turned my head back. The gray had calmed down, and was now awkwardly staring at me. "呵, 你—I blinked. That confirms it, when I think in words I think in—what, that's supposed to be a surprise?—"Hello. I'm Pyro. And.... Unfortunately, I can't answer any of the questions you have. In fact, I'm curious as well....." I closed my eyes for a moment. Very curious and of course, very angry. Whatever they—correct? Yes, there was a magi and a reaper/mage/person—were thinking, this was akin to kidnapping people! And considering that they probably destroyed my carriage, what about the collateral damage to whatever they did? And of course, what did they do to my dragons? Considering that whoever they are, they just dumped us in a cave.... “GUYS, IT'S SAFE.” I instinctively clapped my hands to my ears, though that doesn't work so well with telepathy. "Can you be more quiet? Shouting is not appreciated when it is echoing inside you head, you know," I said in an annoyed tone, and the tip of my tail flicked。I looked at the direction the thought came from... The same direction that the earlier whispers were heard from. That winter magi, still bleeding—maybe I'll ask him what he eats later if that amount of chub already makes him impervious to pain—along with an ice and a moonstone. He was doing some kind of odd wiggly.... Walking.... Motion.... Thing—yeah, I'm not so sure on how to describe it either—while the ice and moonstone were walking normally on all fours. What an interesting slight. Share this post Link to post
Posted July 11, 2015 ((Yeah yeah)) I strolled into the room that Tulvir was in, Deki by my side. I hugged the soulmancer loosely, explaining, "That's for watching my back," and then stepped back and punched him in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. Anyone who's ever been hit by me knows that I pack a hell of a swing for a five-foot-tall 18 year old. "And that's for killing someone that's not part of the terrorist group!" I whisper-hissed through gritted teeth. “You know that we’re not allowed to do that! "I've got no idea where L is. I didn't see him on the way back anyway.” I sat down on the floor, studying a column. Deki sat next to me, gnawing on a fire mana crystal. “Who’s the next target?” he asked me, to which I responded, “I don’t know. We’ve got a few left. Depends the location. We have to get them all over here anyway.” ((I might just make a character character just because my posts are carp)) Share this post Link to post
Posted July 11, 2015 ((Your replies are fish? Yummy)) ---(Tulvir)--- Oof Harley was an example of the saying "don't judge a book by its cover." Just as Tulvir received a loose hug and started to blush, the girl knocked the wind out of him with a well placed punch to the chest. He fell backwards and groaned, slowly getting up. The guy was about to stab me with a farming scythe. I had to do something. Besides, he was getting in the way of the target. He grunted through sharp teeth. Hearing Dekis' question, the wolf boy sighed. I think we have enough of them transformed for now, we might as well explain their purpose to the ones who woke up. Who's explaining? He asked. They might force it on him, since he killed the father of one of their targets. Me "Can you be more quiet? Shouting is not appreciated when it is echoing inside you head, you know," The Silver had whined, which got an eye roll from me. Wellllllll it is probably good for.you to know that these two are not the captors! I semi-growled, my nasty antisocial self bubbling to the surface. The Ice and Moonstone seemed to just notice the blood smears I left, and they both had wide eyes. I wriggled around some more and rolled on my back. Sooooooooooooooooo what now? Share this post Link to post
Posted July 17, 2015 (edited) ((Carp is gross. Salmon or ahi is better.)) "You didn't have to break down the door either. The window was fine," I snorted, brushing my short, curly hair out of my eyes. I turned and pulled out my new notebook/diary from my bag, this one with a name after I lost the old one a week or so ago. It had a dark-maroon-coloured wooden cover with my first name on it, Harley, written on the top of the inside cover. I scribbled some small notes inside on the first crisp page and turned around. "I vote L, since he's late and probably got lost. Plus, they can't beat up a ghost." Quickly casting a temporary invisibility spell, I got up and grabbed the wolf-boy by the wrist and dragged him out of the room. "C'mon, I have the location of one more before we have to find others." ((I was reading the old YAAD OOC and I saw that Alex wanted her name to be like Evangeline or something and now I feel guilty for naming her something else. And I said her new name right after that post. :/ YAY MORE FISH)) Edited July 17, 2015 by MyaMouse Share this post Link to post
Posted July 17, 2015 (edited) ((Blegh, note to self, don't try to write while listening to lyrical music.)) Fala " GUYS, IT'S SAFE." I clumsily fell backwards, and the newly introduced Pyro clapped her paws to her head. " Well, that's one way to get a message across." I noted aloud. " Can you be more quiet? Shouting is not appreciated when it is echoing inside you head, you know." Pyro said snappishly. I simply nodded-practically took the words from my mouth! Or I guess in this case... head? I looked over to the apparent speaker-the brightly colored dragon I had crashed into. I hid my embarrassment and instead tried to keep my composure. " Wellllllll it is probably good for you to know that these two are not the captors!" The dragon retorted, yawning and rolling over. " Sooooooooooooooooo what now?" " Captors?" I immediately wondered. " Wait, you're saying we were captured? I thought for sure we were just... you know... misplaced." I faltered, feeling stupid. Of course you were captured, Fala, how else did you end up in this cave? " But we're not bound!" I burst out. " I mean, even if we were captured, we shouldn't worry, right? Whoever did this did a bad job of making sure we wouldn't cause any trouble, especially since we're dragons now. They're either very stupid or very nice." I looked around, hoping my theory was right. " So all we need to do now is get out of here." I tried to organize my scrambled brain so I could make some sense of the information in my head, and took a more studious look around the cave. The walls of the cave were smooth, eroded by water, and judging by the size of the crystals we were in a mana-rich area. But were there any hotspots I knew about? Hm... the Daggler System is pretty rich, but it's such a treacherous path up the mountain, and anyone traveling to the impressive caves would have to deal with the elements, fatigue, and wild beasts. Not only did it seem unlikely that anyone could drag a bunch of dragons into the caves, but the Dagglers had red walls from exposed, rusting iron deposits. These walls were grey, and glowing brilliant colors from the mana. Someplace close to the sea? Likely, but I never noticed a salty smell, a breeze, or a deep thrumming from waves crashing outside. Either we were very deep within the cave or we were somewhere else entirely. A forest maybe? The forests around my hometown were uncharted. Could there be any caves out there? Were we in one? " There ought to be an entrance somewhere. We got in here somehow." I assured myself. " Just find a breeze Fala. Dragons have good noses, right?" I spun around in a circle, searching for a wisp of fresh air, but all I saw were crystals of varying size and color all over the place, smelled nothing but the dank smell of an untouched cavern, felt nothing but the cold stone under my new dragon paws. And gee, let me tell you something, walking around on all fours was just weird. Though my sight was pretty good. I scrunched up my face when my shallow search was unpromising and tried to recall the abilities of a Grey Dragon. Great eyesight, okay hearing, bad sense of smell. Good job, Fala. I sighed, but paused before admitting that I didn't know the way out. " Anyone with a good nose might be able to find the entrance." I said. " My nose isn't so good." Nice to know it hasn't changed. I added to myself in amusement. I tried to find something to do in the meantime, so I cautiously approached the two new dragons, trying to figure out what breeds they were based on their appearance. One was covered in ice but didn't shiver. I could feel the cold aura it had from here. The other looked more like a mineral, very blue and white, kind of like what people paint a blue moon to look like. Ice and Moon Dragons? Do those even exist? Maybe they're called something else... As I shuffled through the encyclopedia in my head I paused a little ways away from them and the "Present Dragon", trying not to appear as awkward as I was. " So, who are you two? Do either of you know anything about why were here?" Edited July 17, 2015 by skwerl56767 Share this post Link to post
Posted July 26, 2015 ((Bump. Waiting on: Esko Esko again Possibly Ayes unless Doc doesn't need her response)) Share this post Link to post
Posted August 1, 2015 (edited) ((But we're all waiting on you)) Edited August 1, 2015 by MyaMouse Share this post Link to post
Posted August 4, 2015 ((I wanted to wait a few posts before I posted again but since Esko doesn't want to... Also, I'm testing something here for Pyro's words.)) “Wellllllll it is probably good for.you to know that these two are not the captors! Sooooooooooooooooo what now?” What a mature individual—Sarcasm, yes—he was, I noted as I sat up from the ground. Fala brought up a good point of us being unharmed and unlocked despite our status as "captured" however. I looked and rubbed an hand over the walls, noting its texture and the hard veins of opaque quartz. There was enough light from mana to see that the rock of the walls were grayish-blue, perhaps limestone and something else. Stalagmites, stalactites, and columns dotted the cavern, water pooling slightly at the base of the stalagmites, but far more abundant were the mana crystals of each and every element and size—Such magnificence... A place that humans have yet to touch... But all things must come to an end, and this place will be found. I touched some beautiful raw water mana and drew back my hand to see the smooth silver scales glistening. "It looks like we're in a very secluded place, I see no hint anywhere that this place has been tampered with. The veins of quartz look untouched and the mana here are all so huge that some probably blocks off entire sections of cavern." We were underground—yes, that probably has something to do with the reason—and the only light was from the mana.... A though struck and I walked back, past the ice and moonstone and that young winter magi to where I was laying when I awoke to see my bag laying on the ground. I put the strap around my neck and looked around for some smaller shards of mana I can break off for future situations. " Anyone with a good nose might be able to find the entrance. My nose isn't so good." I looked up at Fala, who had a sheepish expression. She seemed to reagin her composture a second later and addressed the ice and moonstone that appeared. " So, who are you two? Do either of you know anything about why were here?" I barely heard Fala's question to the odd duo—gah, I'm an idiot—the air of a cave changes... I took in a deep breath through my nose. I smelled earth.... Damp..... And that huge chunk of air mana over there was giving off too fresh of a scent for smell to be of any use—I scowled at the thing—danceit, we have longons to look after! "No, that air mana constantly "recycles" the air around it, unfortunately for us." If only I knew where we were. Useless, useless.... I can't Pathfind my way if I have no idea where I am, after all. But if I go wandering, I might get lost..... And there are monsters and other things in the caves—I have to risk it, not only for these people but also for my babies, we have a rope—right. I looked in my pack to see that everything was still there. Good. "I'm going to go in that direction to find any hint of an exit. Can someone please hold this rope so I don't get lost?" Share this post Link to post
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