Cerenis was his biggest success yet. Carver got enough money to keep him sated for at least a week. "I just wish I had someone to share this money with." He thought while leaving the port town. His next stop was a much smaller town more inland. As he left the port scene and entered a slightly forest area he was stopped by a two people.
"Aye look at this guy being all mysterious and what not." One said to the other.
"That doesn't matter they got money. So we rob them none the less."
"Great bandits..." Carver thought. "Would you really lower yourself to rob a freak?" He lowers his hood and snakes his tail out. The bandit's faces go pale and they run for their life. Carver sighs. "That's what I thought." And he continues on.
'What a strange looking being,' Kirl Moonharber thought as she peered down on the man. She was perched up in a tree, her hyena, Oax, and dearest friend waiting below, crouching in the grass. Two bandits stepped out and confronted the man, but seeing the tail they fled. Kirl didn't sense this man as evil, so she leaped from the tree, landing gracefully on the ground and walking up to the being, Oax rose from the grass and followed, sniffing the air, smelling the scent of the strange man.
"Hello," Kirl said. "I saw how you scared those men away so quickly. I'm Kirl, the hyena is Oax."
Dragomir stalked his prey through the trees and underbrush. He saw it in the distance, crouching in the grass. He notched an arrow, and got ready to fire his bow at what appeared to be a large hyena. His eyes widened and he put his arrow back in the quiver when he noticed a woman hop out from the sky and land next to the hyena. It appeared to be... tamed. They walked forward, and Dragomir followed, at a distance of course. As he came to the edge of the trees, he noticed she was talking to a man, who looked terrifying. He had a large scorpion tail that made Dragomir shudder.
"Does she need help?"
He thought, as he put his hand on his dagger and came out of the trees saying,
"Hello. is everything alright here?"
So much was going on it made Carver's head spin. He looked at the girl who seemed no harm to him. "M-my name is C-Carver or you may know me as The Arachnid." He stammers. "I would shake your hand, but I don't think that will happen." He rolls up his sleeves to reveal his claws and gives off a nervous laugh hoping that wasn't a mistake.
A man then approaches asking about the situation. Carver knew this looked bad a monster and a woman out in the wilderness, at least she has a hyena so she doesn't look defenseless. "Y-yes everything is ok I'm just heading westward to do my show...I guess there's no point in you two going you already know the big reveal." With that Carver gives off another nervous laugh.
When the second man approached Oax spun around, growling, her teeth bared and hackles raised. Kirl turned around to see the man and she put a hand on Oax. "Calm down, girl," she said.
"Everything's fine," she said to the man, then she turned back to The Arachnid. "I was just introducing myself to-?" She listened as he introduced himself. "Ah, Carver. I't good to meet you."
Dragomir hopped back and got ready to kill the hyena after it growled at him, but the woman seemed to calm it down. He took his hand away from his dagger.
"Okay, i'm sorry for assuming anything... uh, Carver, right? If you don't mind me asking, where exactly is this show?"
He waited for an answer but instead said,
"Sorry, how rude of me. I am Dragomir Octavian Ragoriv, I hunt in these parts. You can call me Dragomir, but the people around here call me- Well, nevermind that."
He turned his head to look at the girl next to him.
"Oh, im sorry again. I forgot to ask, what's your name?"
Before Kirl answered Carver responds to Drogomir's previous question. "Uh basically on the streets I'm kinda a street performer haha." Carver took this all in it wasn't normal to have a normal conversation with people especially when he has already revealed himself.
Kril waited for Carver to finish before answering Drogomir's question. "I'm Kirl, Kirl Moonharber, and this is Oax," the young woman scratched the animal on the head. "She's my companion, I'm sorry is she scared you, she can be quite protective."
She looked at Carver. "A street performer? That sounds like it could be an interesting job, you would get to experience the personalities of many different people, though some can be downright nasty. I'm an adventurer, and kind of a ranger. I meet a lot of strange people on my travels. Do you enjoy your job? I know I love mine."
Dragomir was interested in Carver's job as well. He didn't want to get too close to these people however, because people that befriended him became disgusted at what he truly was.
"Wait, you make money for being- hope i'm no offending you- but for being a freak?"
Dragomir thought "If he can make money for being a freak, so can I."
He started to stare off into space, thinking about what he became... he wondered...
"He popped back into focus and asked a question directed towards Kril,
"What exactly do you do?"
" There he is. He is the one I need. He looks brave, and skilled enough. I need him," Karper Jacksmen thought as he approached the strange group. "Hey, whats up."
Dragomir put his hand back onto his dagger and glared towards the voice. He saw a man, with jet black hair, it was tinted red. He wasn't armed, which was peculiar. Dragomir didn't know why, but it seemed like this man was a huge threat.
"Who goes there?" He said, ready to attack.
" It is I, Karper Jacksmen! I saw you from afar, and you looked, so, odd i just had to see you up close. " He replied.
Dragomir grinned, revealing rows of sharp teeth to this man, and this man only.
"Don't make fun of my friend here. You'll regret it. Get lost kid"
He let out a menacing laugh.
"Bold of you, trying to protect your friends. But you aren't tough, water boy. If you must threaten me, do so. But I know that there empty. If anything, they're are filled with the sorrow of your mothers disappearance. There is a lot you don't know about me, so stay back."
Dragomir clenched his daggers hilt and thought,
"How does he know of my secret and how does he know about my mother?!"
He screamed very loudly as he lunged at the man,
"DON'T TALK ABOUT MY MOTHER YOU PRICK!"
Karper chuckled, as he side steeped the lunge. " What a move. Maybe if I was a tortoise, you would of hit me! If you want to fight, at least give me a little bit of a challenge. "
Carver saw this stranger defend him and call him his friend?" So he decided that an enemy of Dragomir is an enemy of his. During their fight he sneaks behind the man and wraps his tail around him, constricting him so he can't move.
"Ok, you got me. " He says as he edges his wrist towards his belt, so sly that no one can notice." Now what? "
Dragomir punched the man in his jaw.
"How did you know about my mother, and why did you call me water boy?"
" Just a hunch. And can you call off your freak behind me? "
Dragomir kicked Karper in the stomach, then holds a knife to his throat.
"Don't call him a freak you... you...ASS."
" I'm sorry, but he MAKES MONEY for showing off his 'abnormal' body! "
Dragomir cut his throat and smiled as he prepared for the blood to poor out.
His blood flowed as he smiled. " FOOL! " As the blood seeped through his neck, he hardened it into needles, and forced them all into the scorpions arms. He laughed as the blood obediently went straight back into his neck, except for the line that filled the cut. He cut his forearm and created his scythe. They all backed away. "I don't want to hurt anyone! BACK UP"
"Wh- what are you? Why are you here?!" Dragomir asked.
" I'm here for you. You have a special sense you don't know about. I would show you, if you wern't TRYING TO KILL ME all the time. "
Dragomir asked
"What do you mean... sense?"
"What in Korriana's name is going on?" Kirl said calmly but firmly, stepping forward, what was happening? A man appeared, made an insult and mentioned his mother, and suddenly Dragomir was trying to kill him, though his attempt had failed. "Will everyone just please calm down," the young woman said, holding up her hands, Oax growled softly but didn't moe from Kirl's side. "What is happening?" Kirl asked, she looked at the newcomer. "Who are you? And Dragomir, why id you freak out? Why did everyone freak out?"
Dragomir dropped his knife and looked at her.
"He talked about my mother's disappearance... and he called me water boy. You wouldn't understand."
"Of course I won't, If you don't tell me, but, believe me, I do understand loss and ridicule, my village may have killed me, my own family, if I hadn't left. Just for taking in a weak hyena cub,." Kirl looked to the man with the black hair tinted red. "And who are you? I know he tried to kill you, but I at least can be civil."
She looked into his eyes, her beautiful emerald green ones searching him.
Carver drops the man nursing his arm. "I have been called many things, chased out by mobs, had things thrown at me, and had bounties on my head for just being like this. But not once I have tried to harm someone for it...I thought this was due to previous encounters." He helps the man up. "I can be civil too I'm not the monster people think I am."
Dragomir looked away and his head down.
"When I was 9 years old... my dad imprisoned my mother within in a book. He burned the book, killing her, and anybody else he trapped. I ran away and had to live off the land by myself...
My mother, she was a sea naga that could turn human."
He lifted his shirt, revealing gills and took off his moccasins showing his webbed feet and flippers on his heels.
"My mother was the only one that ever loved me. Ever since the incident, if I touch liquid water, I become a naga. You... you wouldn't like me if you saw my naga form. I'm huge, 8 foot tall body and a 12 foot long tail. I have dark blue skin, im horrifying. It's terrible, really. He... he doesn't know my mother OR me. HOW DID HE KNOW ABOUT MY MOTHER... how did he know about my secret...
"Oh, horrible is a matter of perception," Kirl said. "Of course, I'm not saying you shouldn't care about your image, but, yes, I know this is cliche, but it doesn't really matter what you look like, it's who you are that matters, how your mind and your heart and your soul work. And believe me, I've seen some pretty nasty looking beings who actually were pretty nice people." Kirl smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry about your mother and father though."
She looked to the ma with the red tinted hair. "And who are you and how did you know about his mother?"
Dragomir screamed at her,
"I'm not me when im a naga. I'm a death machine. I go on rampages and wreck villages. The only way i've found to stop turning into this... this thing is to prey o my mother's amulet at night. I dont know what it does, but it stops the raging beast within."
"I think you need to control your temper!" Kirl stepped forward, angry. "You need to stop assuming everyone knows what you know! How was I suppose to know what you become when you're a naga?" her voice softened. "But I am sorry for your misfortune nonetheless."
Carver stepped forward between the two. "Please we all have our woes, but that doesn't mean we have to fight. Why don't we all try to band together...you know like an adventuring party of outcasts." Carver gives off a weak smile hoping this will help mediate things.
Dragomir stepped back and stood straight with his head down.
"I'm sorry... it's just t-"
He stopped himself, not wanting to cause anymore trouble. He turned to face Carver.
"Well... if you want, we can travel together. I do need to ask of one favor. If I become that... that thing. Don't be afraid to kill me right then and their. Deal?"
He asked with a nervous grin, as he put a hand out for Kirl to shake and his dagger out for Carver to shake.
Kirl shook his hand. "Believe me, Mr. Dragomir," she said. "If you turn into a Naga, I will do everything I can to not kill you while not getting myself or any others killed."
Carver looks at the gesture as a pleasant surprise and shakes his dagger. "I won't kill you either, but I can temporarily paralyze you...which I think will result in a better fate for all of us."
"I didn't mean any harm, but I NEED him. If only you knew why. But I can't. None off you would understand but, Dragomir , was it? He is the only one who would know anything about why I need him."
"Try me," Kirl said, crossing her arms over her chest. As if to mirror her companion, Oax sat down on her haunches, holding her head high and looking the red-tinted haired man in the eye. "I might understand whatever you need him for, I've seen a lot of different things on my travels, and seen the world from a lot of different perspectives."
"Well my family is a little, well. Let's call it 'Mixed'. I am the Son Of Loki, born in the underworld. Has Dragomir told you what happened the day his mother went missing?" He said as they all took a breath and calmed.
Dragomir looked confused and questioned
"What would you - somebody from the underworld - want with me?"
Dragomir didn't like this guy. He didn't trust him, he didn't believe him. Knowing the con men around these parts, this 'Karper' guy will probably ask for money later on in their adventure. For now, Dragomir would sleep with one eye open. He took the twine out of his ponytail, letting his shining, black hair fall to his shoulders. He put the twine in his bag in case he needed it for a project later.
Kirl didn't trust the man eather, but neither did she trust Carver or Dragomir. She wasn't going to trust anyone unless she had reason to. For all she knew, this was all some scheme set up by the tree others in her company to steal from her. Though she did doubt that.
"He's told us about his mother," Kirl said, looking at the 'Son of Loki'. "Why do you need him?"
" It's his choice, but we can find his mother. She wasn't killed, or lost. She is locked somewhere, hidden in the depths of the underworld. Also, we might be able to find his father also."
Karper didn't know about bringing them to finish this, but he assumed that Dragormir wouldn't come without them, so he had no choice.
D--------------->
Carver interrupts meekly. "Er we're not actually going to the underworld right?" He gives a hopeful look to Kirl and Dragomir.
Dragomir just stared shocked at Karper. If he was serious... if this man was telling the truth then he could save his mother. He looked at Carver and said,
"This is my chance to find out what happened to my mother. This is my chance to save her and get her back!" He turned his head to Karper and took a step closer to the point where he could feel Dragomir's breath on his face, "But if you're lying... I will kill you and I won't hesitate."
Kirl raised her eyebrows at the man's words. "Oh, come on," she said, raising her arms and then letting them fall back to the sides, "can't we all just be a little more civil? Not all these death threats?"
Dragomir kept his body facing this devil with his fists clenched and turned his head to Kirl. He gave her a big happy smile and said,
"Yeah, I can be civil."
He looked back at the devil and flashed him an angry look.
Kirl crossed her arms. "I've got no doubt about that," she said. "I'm sure you can be civil, I just need you to be civil now."
Oax laughed to accentuate Kirl's words, the hyena's laugh reverberating eerily through the trees.
Carver shrinks into the background. "Ok...so um this is gonna happen...ok. I'm not the best fighter and I know nothing about demons, but I can help as much as I can."
He gives off a sheepish smile while he secretly prepares his tail to be ready to hold Dragomir or Karper back if they do anything brash.
Dragomir picked up his bag and his bow. He turned away from the demon and asked curiously,
"So how exactly do we start this thing?"
Kirl looked to the demon, her eyes asking the same question. "This is your quest, but I'm willing to help, so, yes, where do we start?"