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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jan 4, 2024 13:53:11 GMT -5
Rena hums softly to herself as she flies high above, savoring the scant hundred feet of height she can manage, wings flared wide and occasionally flapping to give herself a bit more air as she the countryside from above. Nothing of interest so far, but to be fair, she's paying far more attention to the way the wind feels on her wings.
She soars high above, casting a tiny shadow on the ground below as she closes her eyes, content to simply savor the feeling of the air streaming through her feathers. she's sure that her Tolling Bell is just as pleased, certain her little ones are alight with joy at the feeling of flight, despite their calcified containers.
She hangs there in the air for a long minute, humming softly to herself as she simply hovers for long, joyous moments, before finally folding in her wings and tucking into a dive. the air whistles past her, ruffling her feathers and forcing her to close the protective membrane over her eyes to keep them from drying or filling with debris as she dives down, down, finally snapping her wings out just in time to change her headlong dive into a shallow swoop that lands her just in front of...a newcomer to the isles, from the look of things.
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Post by Lucian Lucifen on Jan 4, 2024 16:13:30 GMT -5
The blue and yellow draconynh, or rather Lucian, arrived onto the shore, claws digging into the warm sand. It had been a long journey from the Luna Sea. He had taken a boat from his home settlement, and arrived in the Crescent Isles after several days. He took a long stretch, stiff from spending his time in the cargo hold. This was as far as the boat could take him, as he had run out of money. He certainly had quite a bit with him, but a journey from the Luna Sea to the Crescent Isles wasn’t cheap.
However, the sudden arrival of the aviankin, however, sent him stumbling back in surprise. Though she didn’t hit him with her dive, the air and her presence had been enough to throw the draconynh off guard. He quickly righted himself, a little embarrassed by his stumble. He brushed off his clothes a little, even if they hadn’t gotten dirty at all.
”Oh, uh, good morning, miss!” Lucian spoke, trying his best to be polite and formal despite his initial shock. There was still a slight wavering in his voice, but he had done his best to recover quickly to save face.
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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jan 4, 2024 17:02:48 GMT -5
Rena tilts her head, silver eyes glinting as she trills, looking the draconynh up and down before chirping softly, "...well now. not often we see someone come from this side o' the sea... though it is slightly less surprising, given your general features...haven't seen a sea dragon away from the fleets in...ever, really. but last I've heard of it was...two, three decades ago? the fleets sorta keep to 'emselves," the crow giggles softly, trilling and tilting her head the other way, "...that said, you are lookin' a wee bit unkempt there. everything alright?"
Rena takes a step back, specks of white in her eyes as she examines the draconynh once more, "...noble, but not too noble...not anything I've 'eard o' the fleet-drakes wearin'...little reminiscent o' the Starlight City nobility, actually...but this is th' wrong side for that..." she pauses, "...where are you from exactly, if'n y' don't mind me askin'?"
Frost crackles over the crow's fingers, slowly coating her hands in a thin layer of the stuff...almost like gloves, actually. Her bayonets shift in her sleeves as she shifts her weight from one foot to the other, tailfeathers flicking and wings twitching a little as she trills.
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Post by Lucian Lucifen on Jan 4, 2024 17:20:52 GMT -5
Lucian cleared his throat in a bit of embarrassment. He didn’t realize she had seen him stumbling until her comment, and he was all the more flustered because of it. It wasn’t becoming of a noble to so easily be caught off guard.
“I am fine, I assure you,” he clarified, his hands raised just a bit in indication that he really was alright. “And, well, I wasn’t raised in a fleet. I do come from the Luna Sea, I just simply was raised in another settlement.”
However, he tilted his head a little in confusion as she went on. Her assumption that he was from a fleet was certainly off, but still, she was reading him a little too closely.
“I’m merely from a small kingdom located on an isle in the Luna Sea,” he added. “No more than a thousand people. It’s primarily populated by humans, if that clarifies anything. I’m not exactly sure where their ancestors came from or how they got there, per say, but that’s where I stayed for a majority of my life.”
His golden eyes scanned around the area, taking in the sights. It wasn’t too different from his home from where he came, but it felt… bigger, grander. It was as though he was a fish who left his pond only to end up in the ocean.
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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jan 4, 2024 17:50:18 GMT -5
Rena relaxes, eyes fading back to silver as she trills, "...fair 'nuff. hadn't realized there were any island nations out there. certainly not any outside the purview of the Sun Elves. Makes me wonder what happened that left you up for grabs-" she freezes, "-say, if that's where you stayed for the majority of your life, why're you here now? they aren't dead, are they?"
Stars, that would...not actually be the worst possible scenario. the worst scenario would mean this stranger needs to be put down before he can hurt anyone else, but that's unlikely...next down is that he's like her. Cursed and alone, forced to take a hag's deal to save his life in exchange for the sanctity of his soul...stars, she hopes that's not the case. and if it is, she honestly wants it to have been the same hag, so that there'd only be one running around making trouble...of course, her luck's only ever been that good when it came to her husband, and even that ran out eventually...
She shakes her head, trilling softly as she glances back up at the draconynh's face, "...sorry 'bout that. didnae mean t' pry...just...sometimes y' have to worry, y'know?"
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Post by Lucian Lucifen on Jan 4, 2024 18:00:51 GMT -5
“As I said, the island is rather tiny,” Lucian explained. “It… Really isn’t all that significant compared to many of the other countries and regions.”
However, at the mention of the possibility of his settlement being wiped out, his golden eyes widened in shock and surprise. His hands moved into the air, swiftly shaking back and forth in a gesture. Essentially, he was attempting to reassure her that such a thing was untrue.
“Heavens no!” He exclaimed, his voice showing his shock and almost fear at such a concept. “I simply left to explore the world. Or… well… Gain a better perspective.”
His mind drifted back to the meeting that had led to his effective… “vacation” the other nobles called it. But, truly, it was exile. Attempting to promote democracy and a democratic means of voting for the common people in the nobles’ parliament was a taboo. And instead of taking the hint, he had insisted upon it. And, thus, the other nobles decided it would be best for him to leave.
“Still, for you to imply such a thing, it makes me wonder what you’ve gone through to assume that a wipe-out scenario would be the case…” He muttered, before shaking his head, freeing himself of the thought. “But the isle I come from is small and isolated, so it would make the most sense to leave. The world is much bigger than such a small area, after all!”
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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jan 4, 2024 23:40:05 GMT -5
she nods, relaxing further, frost melting off her hands as she considers, "...I...suppose I've been through worse than most...but I rather think I'm used to tragedy following me around by now. one simply...grows numb to pain after a while."
the crow sighs, shaking her head and glancing him over once more, "...do you have anywhere to go at the moment? a friend of mine has been letting me stay at her place for the last little while...I'm sure she's got enough space for you to stay long enough to regather yourself!"
she smiles, trilling softly and tilting her head at the draconynh as her hand idly goes to the satchel at her side, playing with the button holding it shut as she seems to consider...something.
...this one seems lost - prey/meat/flesh - perhaps he needs help? she can help. help with food, help with hunting, with finding work even. she's come to know this place almost as well as her first homeland, so she can help a good deal. she could even - no, no, Bell might be her blades now, but that would still feel wrong - and besides, draconynh and aviankin don't get along quite like that...ta'f, now she's thinking about it and Bell's probably laughing at her misery in those blades of his.
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Post by Lucian Lucifen on Jan 5, 2024 0:33:13 GMT -5
Lucian let out a quiet, thoughtful hum as he thought about her words. He was absorbing the information, ruminating upon it.
“Even if you’re followed by tragedy, I do hope for you that you find enjoyment in the brighter things in life.”
His mind drifted again, thinking of the commoners of his settlement. He thought of the people going about their day to day, contentment upon their faces. He thought of the market, the smell of fresh bread and recently harvested fruit spreading through the open air. And he thought of the small joy of sitting by the sea, watching the waves crash upon the shore.
The thought of diving into the sea, and going into the depths below.
He shook his head of the daydream turned almost nightmare, refocusing on her question. Right, she was asking if he had somewhere to stay.
“Ah, I don’t exactly have anywhere in particular to go,” he replied, with a small shake of his head. “I spent the majority of my funds on the trip here, and I don’t know anyone here. I was thinking about wandering and exploring in the meantime.”
He neglected to mention that he also had no map and therefore had no idea where he would even be going.
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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jan 5, 2024 13:05:25 GMT -5
The crow tilts her head, trilling softly as she nods and smiling a little - very strange expression on a beak - as she hums in thought, "...well, like I said, I can probably work something out so you're not sleeping on the ground until you've got some funds again"
Rena chuckles, shrugging a little as she chirps and trills, idly spinning a bayonet in her fingers - when did it get there? no idea. how is she not cutting herself on that obscenely long blade? no clue - before slipping it up her sleeve in a sleight of hand moment the draconynh has some difficulty parsing.
The crow turns away, silver eyes glancing over her shoulder to see if the dragon-kin makes to follow as she heads off toward her friend's house. Sylvari...should be fine with it? she thinks? absolute worst case scenario, she and the vampiress get a quick me - no, no, that's the Beast talking. worst case scenario, the newcomer winds up sleeping in the stables or something. which...would actually be kinda bad, given that he's confessed to being of noble blood already...
...eh, he'll survive. a little hardship is good for the soul, and a brief stint of poverty might be just what the healer ordered...
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Post by Lucian Lucifen on Jan 5, 2024 13:39:27 GMT -5
“Well, anything would certainly better than sleeping on the ground,” Lucian agreed. “We’ll see about the possibility of me gaining funds, however…”
He couldn’t help but frown. Right. He’d need to eventually gain funds. He didn’t exactly have many skills that could really be capitalized upon. Not unless there was an audience for a magician who could only produce flashy lights or quickly teleport something from elsewhere back into his claws. Well, there could be, but there was clearly magic more advanced than this. Such a showing would be insignificant compared to the level of magic that mages outside of his settlement likely had.
However, the movement of the bayonet temporarily mesmerized Lucian. His golden eyes focused on the blade. He quickly shook his head out of the distraction once Rena had put it away.
The draconynh begins to follow the aviankin, his claws digging into the earth as he walked. The dirt left behind him as he walked became torn up. His tail dragged behind him, fixing the torn up dirt and returning it to a flat state.
He soon realized something, though, and that was the two had yet to introduce themselves to one another.
“Ah, how rude of me. I completely forgot to introduce myself!” He exclaimed, raising a hand to his face. “I’m Lucian Lucifen, at your service.”
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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jan 5, 2024 19:43:20 GMT -5
"Pleasure t' meet you, m'name's Rena Brighteyes," Rena hums, trilling softly and idly unbuttoning the clasp of her bag, one hand reaching in to gently pull out a single blue-shelled, brown-spotted egg.
The tiny thing is only visible for a moment before the crow cradles it to her chest, softly chirping and cooing at the egg in her hand, eyes shining a soft silver as she smiles, trilling softly and just holding her little one close for a long moment before gently tucking it away.
While this is happening, she leads the way through the forest toward her friend and landlord's manor, softly humming and glancing around.
At one point, a snarling wolf with foam at the corners of its mouth charges out of the undergrowth, snapping and growling and lunging for the crow...and catching a flying bayonet in the eye mid-leap, spasming midair as the crow sidesteps the flying carcass.
the beast hits the ground mere feet from Lucian, one eye rolling madly as it spasms for a moment before finally going limp.
Rena sighs, turning back to retrieve and clean the blade - now that it's closer, he can see that the blade is coated in sharpened ice, which melts away after she finishes cleaning it.
"...rabid...stars, the poor thing..."
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Post by Lucian Lucifen on Jan 6, 2024 0:10:29 GMT -5
Lucian briefly took note of the egg and Rena’s care towards it. Was she its mother, perhaps? He hadn’t been raised around many oviparous races before, but he could only assume based on this interaction that they were family.
The sudden appearance of the wolf sent him reeling, though. He stumbled backwards a bit. Instinctually, he summoned a ball of light to his claws, ready to defend himself. The motion was clumsy, as it was clear he wasn’t used to combat at all.
He looked visibly relieved when Rena managed to hit the beast, but horror quickly overcame him as the beast landed close to him. He practically jumped backwards when the corpse fell with a thud.
“Oceans below, that was-” Lucian started before quickly being overcome by his own horror and panic somewhat.
His heart was racing from the adrenaline, and his mind wasn’t quite the most rational at the moment. If he was, he likely would have brushed this off right away, but the encounter left him somewhat anxious. The light ebbed and flowed in his claws, as his mind was unsure if the danger had passed or not.
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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jan 6, 2024 1:57:35 GMT -5
Rena hums softly, looking over the carcass with pale, burning white eyes utterly bevoid of empathy or feeling. she lets out a cold, empty chirp as she cocks her head in thought, "...no, no, not worth the effort...we're not even resistant to disease, let alone immune...best to leave it, I think...we certainly don't have the tools to bury it deep enough..."
she sighs, back popping as she straightens and stretches, eyes shimmering back to shining silver as she hums, "...well, that's that. shouldn't be anything else in the area, animals tend to avoid their rabid fellows..."
the crow frowns a little, turning to glance at the draconyhn and blinking, eyes widening a little as she steps toward him, "...Lucian? are you okay? something wrong? what happe - ta'f, the wolf!" she curses, moving to gently pull him away from the carcass.
her eyes are filled with worry and concern. she lets out a soft, worried trill, gently tugging at the noble's arm as she pulls him away from her most recent kill.
ta'f ta'f, ta'f, she's screwed up, hasn't she. she's screwed up, and now the little one is going to be afraid of her, going to be afraid and terrified and hate her. it doesn't matter when she decided he was one of hers - the moment she decided to help, realistically - but now she's worried that he doesn't want to be.
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Post by Lucian Lucifen on Jan 6, 2024 3:15:07 GMT -5
Lucian was still somewhat shell-shocked from the situation, as his golden eyes continued to focus upon the corpse. Having it land so close to him had disturbed him. He felt sick looking at it, as though bile was trying to climb out of his throat.
Rena’s touch and being pulled away from the dead wolf, however, managed to slowly draw him out of that state. Right. He was safe. It was okay. His fingers twitched, letting the light in his claws slowly dim and fade away back into the void.
He closed his eyes and let out a soft breath, slowing down his heart rate. Everything would be fine, it’s okay. His tail swished across the ground rhythmically in an attempt to soothe himself.
Once he was calm, he finally opened his eyes again, turning to look at Rena. It was clear that he was still a bit anxious and shaken from the encounter, but at least it was manageable now.
“Ah, sorry for worrying you,” Lucian spoke, trying his best to assure her despite the wavering in his voice. “I just… It’s a bit of a rarity to have something dangerous jump out at you, at least from where I come from. So I got a bit startled by the wolf is all.”
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Post by Rena Brighteyes on Jan 6, 2024 12:59:30 GMT -5
she calms in turn as she sees him relax. okay. he...probably isn't afraid of her. she's not sure what she'd do if she scared one of her little ones like that. she shakes herself, refocusing on the situation before her, "I...that's good...let's...let's just go. 's not more'n a few more minutes off..." then the crow blinks, flaring her wings a little, "...ah...as the crow flies, I suppose..." she chuckles softly, "...might be a wee bit more'n that...okay, maybe a good bit with all the hills 'n forest, but still! not far! no more'n a day's walk! worst case we camp out here for a night"
she smiles, gently tugging him further away from the wolf as she speaks, trilling curiously, "...what was that spell I saw you charge? looked like a Purity Bolt t'me..."
if this little one can do that, he might just be able to handle himself with a little more help...help she's more than willing to give. just needs to inure him a little to the violence, train his reflexes a bit - he's already got good instincts - and maybe break him of his fear...definitely break him of his fear, at least enough that it's not paralyzing...
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