Are You Gonna Eat That?

[Draconian]

Tag for @Thia

When he'd flown over it, it was neat, sure. Now, with his feet sinking into sand. Now it was amazing. Wide eyed Avery stood at the beach, the water lapping at his feet and his toes sinking into the sand. Currently he was chewing on a piece of sea-grass, it wasn't that bad, still not as tasty as a fresh deer but... It was new, so he was gonna put it in his mouth. Down went the kelp. He continued to walk, the breeze blowing through his long hair.

Avery moved his wings, stretching them out before letting them rest half open. Letting the breeze catch the leather of his wings. He smiled widely at the water before he was up to his calf in it, having stepped into a lonely tide pool. He shivered at how surprisingly cold it was and quickly removed his foot, looking down at it, crouching.

The sun was high in the sky and he gave it a quick glare over his shoulder before he cupped his wings over his head to see inside the pool better. There was creatures in there. And then there was creatures in his mouth. First he tried the scuttling shelled claw bug, wincing slightly at the slight pinching he felt on his tongue before the crunch of shell. The oddly spiky ball got a look before he skipped it and then the very interesting one was the sticky star.

Avery plucked it out of the tide pool and stared at it on his hand and then found himself at a disadvantage. Quickly his features went from wonderment to slight irritation.

He only had one arm. The hands on his wings were far to cumbersome to pick a tiny sticky star off his hand and so, Avery stood up and stared at the sticky star on his hand, watching curiously as it slowly undulated itself to the back of his hand.

The creature here were odd.

Giving an audible sigh, Avery let his head tilt back and he gave a loud groan before shaking his hand violently in an effort to fling it off. Nope. Still there, slowly making its way up his arm. Maybe... Slowly he turned around to look at the ocean. Instead, he knelt beside the little tide pool and stuck his arm in it.

If this sticky star stayed any longer he'd have to name it and figure out what it ate. Was it him? Avery gave his arm a look. This thing better not start eating him, he'd have to squish it.

[Thia]

     Thia grinned as the sun shone on her face, steering her boat towards shore. She didn't like being on land that much but she definitely enjoyed the looks on people's faces when she went into port. Even if you've seen it before, it sure was a gruesome sight to see. Innards hung from the figurehead, a bit dry but there were fresh ones waiting in port, the bowsprit had heads speared along its length, some old enough to be skulls with a few bits of rotten flesh, and the ship was painted red with blood. The symbol upon her cheek painted on the sail in blood and the eleven word for murder carved into the side of the ship, as well as the other obvious signs, marked this as her ship.

     She inhaled the smell of salty sea air, though she would still smell it in port it just didn't seem to smell as good unless you were out at sea. Just as her keen eyes started to spot a hazy coastline, she heard her first mate up in the crows nest, Bruce,  shout out, "Land ho!" At least that's what it was supposed to be. It ended up more like, "Land ho-holy shit!" Now while her crew had seen some messed up things in their day, weird was what their lives lacked. Thia looked up to see Bruce sliding down the ropes, dropping down beside her. "Captain you should see this." He said, handing her the telescope. She took it and left the wheel to Bruce as she strode to the front of the ship.

     Thia frowned as she focused the telescope on the coastline, pointing it towards a black blur. As it came into focus the gears in her head started turning, contemplating the strange thing she set her eyes on. She couldn't make out exactly what it was or what it was doing exactly but it was unlike anything she'd ever seen. It certainly wasn't human. She folded up the telescope and put it in her pocket as she thought things through, slightly, until making one of many crazy decisions in her career.

    "Steer toward it!" She shouted, glancing back at Bruce. When he looked like he'd object, she bared her teeth and put her hands on her swords. He quickly started shouting orders to the rest of the crew as Thia watched the approaching coastline.

[Draconian]

That sticky star was slowly making it's way up his arm. Didn't it know the water was down there? Avery wiggled his fingers in the tidepool before sighing and standing up, maybe he could rub his arm against a tree and get rid of it? His head popped up and he looked for a tree. There were a few, but those weren't on the beach and he sort of liked not walking on big rocks and dirt.

Staring down at his elbow the best he could, his attention was drawn by something in the water. His orange eye flicked towards it and he studied in for a moment, frowning slightly. He knew what that was, didn't really understand the purpose besides travel for those less fortunate but he watched and took a few steps towards the shore, watching as the waves lapped at the sand before he spread open his wings and wiggled his wing hand fingers.

A sort of wave, if anything else.

Avery would be patient until they started to shoot things at him. He noticed them head towards him and he watched the boat curiously while the sticky star slowly made it's way up his arm to his shoulder. Damn thing really better not be eating him.

[Thia]

   Thia stood on the edge of her ship, holding onto a smooth skull to keep her balance. Bram his name was. Or was it Jim? Who knew after all these years. She frowned as her ship neared the shore, the strange thing coming into view. It had to be some kind of demon. Damaged but a demon nonetheless. And waving at her. Perhaps it was friendly. She wondered what color it'd bleed.

    She shouted back at her crew, "I swear if you crash my ship, your heads will be the next ones on the sprit!" She turned back around as they approached the creature...a him? The ship swept its way through the sand, grinding through a tidepool and getting stuck in the sand. It was inches away from him and Thia glared down at him, trying to be indimidating. "State your name and race, peasant!"

[Draconian]

With interest he watched her crash her ship onto the beach. His eyebrows went up and he took a step back when it got a little too close. Avery looked up, tucking his wings back, the hands sitting on his shoulders to stay out of the way. Mostly, he was just really confused.

Did he accidentally hail the ship? Nothing sharp was flying at him, perhaps they were headed this way anyway? That must be it and so, Avery moved to turn around... Nope. Definitely here to talk to him. Avery backed up a few feet to look up at the woman better. At least it sounded like a woman. He moved his hand to keep the sun from his eyes, the sticky star now on his elbow.

His name and race? Avery paused, frowning at her, confused for a moment, "Avery. To both of those questions." Maybe this was how she greeted people, so, Avery parroted her words back, "State your name and race, peasant!"

What was a peasant. He supposed he'd learn very soon what that was.

[Thia]

   Thia pouted a bit, as much as a scowling pirate can pout, and shook her head, tossing loose strands of hair from her long braid out of her face. "He's supposed to be scared of me! Terrified even! Instead he mocks me?!" She thought, jumping down from her ship and landing on her feet. She paused to examine him, though she planned on doing a closer inspection later she could tell that a) He must've gotten in one hell of a fight at some point in his lifetime and b) he had damn big wings. But at the moment, she had to deal with his insubordination.

   "Peasant? Peasant?! I am Thia Shadow-Stepper the Pirate Queen! Proud pureborn high elf! How dare you call me a peasant! I have a crew of 3 dozen men each on half a dozen ships that could bring hell to your life!" As she flicked her eyes over him she noticed something. He had a sea star stuck to him, slowly climbing up his arm. She frowned and drew one of her long swords, backing up a bit and stabbing the tiny creature. It might prick the demon a bit but it swiftly moved the star from his arm to her sword.

[Draconian]

Pirate Queen?

Avery looked at her head, looking for some sort of indicator of royalty. Then he just blinked at her, taking in all this information she presented, was he supposed to be frightened? He simply tilted his head and looked at her. "Bring my life...?" Avery threw back his head and laughed, his too wide mouth opening and eventually staying in a grin when he righted himself, still grinning at her when she plucked the sticky star off his arm.

The sting of the womans blade had him look at the wound left behind, a little slice that had his dark blood oozing out and dripping down his arm. He looked back to her and shifted his wings, a flick of his tail through the sand and he tilted his head, looking down at her. "Are you trying to intimidate me?" He smiled at her widely, "You're far too late for that, I'm afraid. Thia, yes? It's nice to meet you."

[Thia]

    Thia growled slightly, the mark on her cheek pulsing with red, glowing light. This man...thing..was not taking her seriously at all! It was angering her greatly and her crew watched from above her, ready to jump down at the slightest sign of trouble. She made a face and backed up slightly when he threw back his head and laughed, not used to people opening their mouths up that wide. Her eyes flicked down to his arm where purple blood dripped off of it.

She flicked the sea star off her sword and sheathed it, getting closer to the demon. She stared at the demon in the eyes...eye. it was a bright orange. Like a cat. She stared for a moment before giving into her curiosity and growling in a commanding voice, "Let me look closer at you, creature!"

[Draconian]

So demanding. Avery resisted the urge to roll his eye and sigh because he figured this woman would take it as a personal offense and probably poke him again. He really didn't feel like ripping off her head so, he remained polite, like Zea had taught him. Since he was such a giver and she had asked so very nicely, Avery removed the hands of his wings from his shoulders and presented his palms.

All three of them.

He even leaned down a little and opened his mouth slightly.

While he was leaned in he looked at the mark on her face, curious. It was interesting sure, he was mostly curious as to why it glowed. "Why is it glowing?" He asked before making eye contact. Being polite and making eye contact was important.

[Thia]

   Thia surprisingly gently grabbed one wing-hand and examined it, bending the fingers and such before tugging on his wing, stepping to the side as she pulled, trying to extend it. If she managed to do so she would stroke the leathery looking surface. To be honest, a lot of her being a pirate, besides the obvious love of money and murdering, was curiosity about the world. She felt she had to put on a show most of the time but at this moment, the show crumbled and she looked like a child discovering a new toy.

    She dropped his wing and grabbed the man's chin, her obsidian skin turning slightly pink as she had hardly ever been this close to a man. Even if the man was a demon thing. She touch the edges of his extended mouth and pulled a bit at his chin as she peered into his mouth. "The mark on my cheek glows a bit when I get angry because that's usually when I use it. It grants me the power to cause people to be terrified of me. More than they already are anyway. Makes enemies easy pickings." She murmured.

[Draconian]

Interested Avery watched her examine him. Extending his wing fully so she could press her hands against them, the sensitive flesh making him even more aware of how dangerous it was for him to be near his wings while they were open. A wound on them and he was grounded for a while, everything else he could walk off, a wing tear? That took forever to heal.

Taken surprise at when she grabbed her chin, for a moment his eye went wide and he gave a slight growl which quickly died down. She was touching his face. Avery let her, opening his mouth when she directed him to with her hands. If he was polite, maybe she would be polite back.

Avery just blinked at her explanation, terrified? "You don't look terrifying to me." Avery tried to think of what was. Nothing immediately came to mind. Terrifying situations, sure, but... One singular thing? Or many? There was nothing. "Do you enjoy having people be afraid of you, Thia?"

[Thia]

    The growl did nothing but make Thia grin as she looked at his mouth, noting that he had many rows of sharp teeth. She let go of him and backed up, not a lot but enough to be out of his personal bubble. She gritted her teeth when he said she didn't look scary but to be honest, if you didn't know her reputation you wouldn't be scared of her at all.

     She gestured to the gorey decorations on her ships and smiled in amusement of her cruelty. "I may not look it but you haven't seen me in battle. I destroy and mutilate my enemies bodies and paint myself in their blood and flesh. I use the remnants of their bodies to decorate my ship. I burn villages if I feel in the mood and occasionally I like murdering children, especially in front of their parents. Ooh setting people on fire is fun too."

     "Of course I enjoy making people scared of me! It's fun to see them flinch away or try to hide their children when they see me approach and it makes it easier to toy with them!"

[Draconian]

Slowly, interested but not enthusiastically so, Avery looked to where she gestured. It was disgusting more than anything, though his expression didn't change. He looked from the womans ship to her and then watched it still, frowning slightly while tilting his head to look as far along the side as he could. "Are you ill?" He asked gently, looking down at her after raising to his full height.

He rose his hand, moved it to hover in front of her face and indicated towards the mark that rested there. "Perhaps that is what causes you to crave terror. Can you remove it?"

[Thia]

    Thia shook her head at his first question, slightly intimidated by the height of the man. Usually she was the one to tower above people and having the tables turned on her was making her uncomfortable to say the least. Thia flinched as his hand came closer to her face, so acclimated to combat that she was not used to any contact other than fighting.

    She frowned and rubbed her cheek, shaking her head. "I could not find a cure for the first curse put upon me so I felt it unnecessary to try to cure the second." She craned her neck to look into Avery's eyes, grinning a bit. "I have always been like this, even as a child. I tortured and mutilated farm animals when I was only 50 years old."

[Draconian]

At her flinch, Avery pulled his hand back. He watched her, taking a few steps back to give her the space she silently craved. He noticed. If he was one thing besides intimidating he was observant. His head tilted and he kept his hand at his side, his wing hands on his shoulders. At the information that she was killing and mutilating things when she was young he frowned slightly, "Why would you do that?"

[Thia]

   Thia pouted and crossed her arms, turning away from him slightly. She didn't like people examining her lifestyle because she really never even thought about it. She just did what her impulses always told her and turned off her emotions and never really listened to logic. She opened her mouth to answer him and then closed it, blowing stray hairs out of her face.

    She shrugged and mumbled, tugging her hat down slightly over her face, "I dunno...I just do what I feel like whenever I feel like it and don't feel and don't listen to logic." She stepped from one foot to the other and leaned against the boat. She didn't like thinking about her existence. It was depressing to think that all she did for her life was end others, when she really thought about it.

[Draconian]

Avery watched her, curiously reading her body language. The way she turned away, the beginning of an answer that turned into a puff of air. His eyebrows had gone up and he was watching her with some surprise. Had she gone shy? Perhaps she hadn't been expecting Avery to be so... Himself. "When you saw me," He moved to crouch a little, giving the woman some sense of not being towered over, "What were you expecting?"

[Thia]

   Thia sniffed a bit, not crying, not yet, and looked up, relived to see that her crew had retreated to below deck for now, though they'd return at any sign of commotion. She took off her hat and held it by her side, looking down at it and the sand. She whimpered at the crouching man and answered him in a quiet voice. "I...I dunno. An enemy. A fight? Less likely but possible another evil man as an ally..."

    Thia closed her eyes so she didn't see but her appearance flickered between her cursed and her true appearance. As she opened her eyes the obsidian skin returned and she sighed. This man was getting through to her squishy insides, something nobody in her whole life ha been able to do. She didn't want to allow him and she was resisting it but it was inevitable. With all his curious, innocent prying she was thinking about her life for the first time in her entire life.

    She was born to be a villain. Everything pointed towards this. The storm at her birth, the mark, her impulses and urges...And she just did everything that life pushed her towards. Was her life a lie? Thia sank down, sliding down the ship to sit on the ground. And for the first time in her life, - "A lot of firsts today huh?" - Thia cried. Not just cried, sobbed. Heart-wrenching, wailing sobs of a woman who hasn't cried for 400 years.

[Draconian]

There was no surprise at her initial opinion about him. Avery the creature had done unspeakable things before. Here though, this here those things weren't the norm. Those things weren't acceptable. There had never been any thrill for him, it was just how it was done. He looked up at her from his crouched position and simply watched her, curious as to the change in her appearance but saying nothing.

As with any man, be it a timeless mage who lives in a tower or a young man who accidentally did it, Avery suddenly felt awkward about the crying.

"Uuuuh..." He stood up then to look down at her, sobbing on the ground. What was he supposed to do? He looked at the ship, waiting for someone to come down and try to kill him. Maybe they weren't her minions? Did he comfort her? Did he risk it? Avery knew that he was the most important person to himself, he was selfish enough to recognize it.

Maybe this woman was pretending to cry so she could stab him? He looked down at his arm, the cut there where she'd speared the sticky star on her sword. So, he went to the tide pool, plucked a sticky star out of it and returned to her with it on his palm. "Don't cry." His voice was gentle and he smiled at her, presenting the sticky star to her as a gift.

That was how this worked right? Give a gift to someone and they stopped being sad?

[Thia]

    Thia's crew did not come back despite the commotion mostly because they head the crying. If they heard crying a) Avery was crying  and that meant she had it handled, b) Their captain was crying and no matter why she was crying, they wouldn't risk seeing her cry. If they saw her cry they knew that meant they'd die. So her crew stayed back and acted like they didn't hear it.

    Thia was not Thia the pirate queen at the moment. Thia was Thia the woman and a woman needs comfort when she crys, whether in food or people. And Thia choose people. She grabbed the hand that offered the sea star to her and tugged on it, meaning to pull the demon into a hug. Unfortunately, in her state she forgot her strength and pulled him down...(Figure out what happened from here!)