Common Misconceptions (M)

[RedOptics]

It was shaped oddly, but rather small in her hands, "I never really knew myself. I think it's more of a symbol, because it means something to me."

Turning it over in her hands, she inspected it and made sure nothing was broken terribly. It was a doll, made to look like a dragon from the west.

"Here, look at it," Keona gently handed it over to him, smiling kindly. The object had a small enchanment on it, to make people feel a little brigter than they did.

[Wrathwyrm]

As soon as she handed it over, Travis did feel something, but more importantly he was surprised by the look of it.  Keona was essentially saying that it was a talisman, and it might very well be such a thing.  More to the point, this little thing was in the shape of a dragon, the non-serpentine kind.  She had fire and flame, and it was in her mind as much as it was part of her body.  She called it a symbol.  Maybe it was.  Maybe she was closer to the truth than he knew.  Perhaps...  He looked up from it to her.

"I feel like this thing has some sort of magic effect, something more subtle than a boost in strength.  The thing is, I gotta ask: How long have you had this?"

[RedOptics]

The effect had released her, so she was rather solemn about the subject when she spoke again, "My mother's last dying words were, 'Hide this item, and wait 12 hears before retrieving it.' I don't know what, but it had a strong effect when she gave it to me..., now it's watered down."

Twelve years ago, the talisman did more than make you happy. It also made you sing and dance, hence why her mother was loved so much. But it was torturous, because she'd get the urge to sing and dance when her feet bled and throat burned, but she kept a smile on her face nonetheless.

"I checked on it for twelve years. And today marks the end of the vigil." Her mothers death date was indeed today. But she didn't seem terribly sad about it.

[Wrathwyrm]

Such a specific thing to ask a daughter to do must have had some significance.  Judging by the fact that it had a lesser effect now than when it had twelve years ago, she must've known roughly when its power would run out, or at least weaken to a great degree.  There had to be some reason for that, more than for it to be made 'safe'.  He looked down at the dragon talisman and back at Keona.  This was an unusual article, to be sure.

"I can't help but think she was telling you to wait for its effect to die out for a reason.  It may have to do with your father somehow, and to do with...dragons."

He shrugged, unsure but currently not feeling annoyed for not knowing because of the talisman.

"I'm just guessing at this point.  If something happens when its effect vanishes entirely, it'll be so clear that you can't miss the message, but for now I think that this means something."

[RedOptics]

"Maybe the message is the image itself..." Keona said, thinking. The colour of the talisman didn't matter. He chose gold because it holds magic effects longer than other metals, "Clearly he didn't enchant it to be this way forever. Mother was onto something. Maybe if its magic is fully gone then it'll crumple to dust..." That's a good reason to be eager to leave sooner.

"Dragons roam the mainlands, right? Which part exactly is the most heavily populated with them?" She asked, keeping her eyes locked on the item. There had been sea serpents and forest dragons here before they left because of the volcano. Though a rare sight, some still remained. One of the dragons in the world is bound to look like this one, it was just a matter of finding it.

Maybe it wouldn't be so hard. Afterall, it is a smaller world that you'd expect.

[Wrathwyrm]

Dragons...  If the talisman was telling her to seek out dragons, then whatever potant magic her father followed - whatever discipline - might be connected to them, somehow, or it was even deeper than that.  It was hard to say, at this point, but the clue was what it was: It pointed to Dragons of the West.  As to where to find them...

"Dragons roam wherever they like, for the most part.  Dependent on the type, they could be in high mountais, low swamps, and anywhere in between.  Our best bet to begin with would be Adela, with their Dragonrider military.  From there, I'd say to head for Serendipity.  Lots of places for a dragon to be, there."

Of course, the problem with Serenian lands were that they had more ground to cover, in terms of civilized lands, where this guy would be, and he would blend in more, since Serenians are every hair color and skintone under the sun.

[RedOptics]

Humming in agreement, Keona thought of something, "I only know what his description says, we can't be entirely sure, but if anything he has black scars all over."

Scars were distinctive, and something not everyone had in the same place. This was sure to help them, as well as the fact he always wears a mask and had white hair. Maybe he's a dragon rider? Or maybe... no, that couldn't be.

"So it's settled, as soon as the first larger ship arrives..." Trailing off, thinking of her home, "...we leave." Of course it wouldn't be easy, but there wasn't exactly a place for her here. She couldn't heal, see futures, grant wishes or enchant anything. Water was predominant here, and everything around her was flammable.

What about Ira? She would bring him along if they allowed it, because there was no way he'd live without her at all. And the same goes around. Glancing at Travis, her eyebrows furrowed for a moment, as if trying to make a hard decision.

[Wrathwyrm]

All that they DID know...didn't really add up to much, unfortunately.  Just a load of guesswork, if they were honest about it.  Still, like she said, the first chance they get to go...they go.  Travis could tell that she was weighing something, right then and there.  This was a big deal for her.  She had never been away from this island, and probably didn't know anyone who had been away either.  Once she was out, it was largely up to him to keep her well-informed about the nature of things.  With that in mind, there was one other thing...

"If there's anything that you feel should be handled before you leave, anything you would want to take care of before we head for the mainland, you should do so before the ship arrives.  Leave with as few regrets as possible, I say."

[RedOptics]

Shaking her head and taking a breath, Keona stood to look around, "I won't be able to return until tomorrow. These trips take a lot of energy from me, so unless I'm able to sleep for an hour or two in broad daylight, we won't be able to return until late or even tomorrow. Trekking these jungles at night isn't safe unless you know how to handle yourself."

Gesturing to take the talisman, she held it in front of her before stashing it into her bag. Spotting the fruit she had packed beforehand, her stomach suddenly growled and therefore pulled out an apple. She tossed him an orange, remembering he hadn't have eaten anything as well.

The puddles and damp stone began to dry as the sun rose rather quickly. It wasn't the item that did it, but she felt happier in the warmth as she threw the core away. Putting her hands on her hips, she studied the forest far ahead, seeing something move but not registering it quickly enough to catch it.

[Wrathwyrm]

Flying did tend to take energy out of one.  Travis just had more stamina from being no longer human.  Nevertheless, they'd moved over several islands, so it made sense that Keona needed either rest or time.

"Well, if you felt you could get any rest out here like this, I'd be alright making sure that nothing happened to you.  That's up to you, however."

He was basically a helping hand is all.  Speaking of which, this hand gave her back the talisman, and received in its place...an orange.

"Oho...  We meet again."

Because he had manifested a knife to cut apart his orange like last time, Travis didn't pick up the movement that Keona did, except as a little thing out of the corner of his eye that was easily dismissed.  However, he did see Keona looking as he ate his orange.

"Something there?"

[RedOptics]

Dismissing it quickly by shaking her head, Keona stuttered a bit, "I-it's nothing. I just thought I saw something is all. I just feel like I'm- we're being watched." She settled herself down in a crouch, looking eager to sprint and take off. The feeling off positivity from the item had no effect on her at this point as slight anxiety took over.

There were still large and scary and very real creatures out there that are known to tear off the wings of her people and break their bones despite how strong they are. Having encountered giant snakes, huge leopards and even an enormous bat at some point in her life. Just a normal day in Yoreiq. The only thing that truly frightened her were those-

"Shadows..." Keona whispered to Travis, locking her gaze on a specific area once the same image flashed through the corner of her vision again. They could very well due a lot of harm to her, to them if they weren't careful, and the dead animals were plenty of evidence of the fact.

[Wrathwyrm]

Come to think of it, there was this feeling in the air, that 'It's quiet.  Too quiet.' kind of thing.  Well, Travis didn't see it, but he was keeping a watchful eye out.  He was keeping his only eye out.  He didn't know the island like her, of course, but if there was something threatening out there and it came rushing in, he'd see it and have time to react, no doubt.  However, it was Keona who spotted first, or at least focused on a new spot which might've contained something.  Putting away the knife in his belt, Travis picked up a rock, hefting it for a second...before throwing it at the spot with greater-than-human strength!  ...would it hit anything?

[RedOptics]

There was an Earth-shattering SMASH! before the stone nearly shattered. Keona stared for a good moment, both majorly impressed and studying the section. A low warble escaped her throat as she slowly backed away as a sickening shriek emitted from the forest.

Anchoring herself out of petrifying fear, she watched as blackness melted from between the trees, and a hissed vibrated through the stone. The ends of her feathers flickered with a candle flame, and her amber eyes were wide as a-speaking of which-huge and double headed snake slither from the green. Its eyes were an evil purple, and its facial expression sinister upon seeing their target.

"It's huge..." Her voice shook as she whispered, getting lower to the ground as if trying to blend in with the stone.

[Wrathwyrm]

It was large and...strangely quiet.  Snakes had the uncanny ability to be rather subdued in their movements, even when they were bigger specimens.  It was an impressive feat, assuming one weren't agitated.  Then, it would be all about the hissing and the dangerous actions.  Well...looks like Keona was gonna see the inner-him, after all.  While she had ducked down to keep herself from notice, he was going to draw more attention to himself...by first walking off to the side so the snake-thing can see him there and focus on him, the moving target.  He was going to make certain of this happening by taking out the knife from his belt and throwing it at one of its eyes.

That would immediately piss it off, but fortunately...he was prepared for that.

Once he was most definitely separate enough from Keona and most-definitely the focus of this snake creature, there was a black impulse of energy that arose off of Travis' body as he turned black as night and reshaped into a different form.  It was some kind of armor-skinned demon, like a knight with metal face, glowing eyes, and horns.  There was a cape on its back and a large sword in its hand that possessed an unearthly glow.  Curiously, the right eye was glowing brighter for a moment, but it returned to the same level of glow as the other once the creature's free hand was raised and firing heavy wad of shadowy energy at one of the heads.

[RedOptics]

The knife would slice straiht through the eyes of one of its heads, causing it to rear back for a moment before vigorously shaking it. The area was now a hole that, ever so slowly, began to reform. These particular beings were made of loose particles, therefore making them mist. Normally drowning, burning or taking away their air would hurt them immensly. While Keona was being a coward, she managed to inch back slowly.

One of the snakes had caught her sight, and so the two began to conspire. While its eye was nearly finished healing, the other went for Travis, though seeming to have slowed down after seeing him change. Both hissed furiously before lurching out with a striking speed, but his power had gotten to them. It sliced through one of the necks, completely severing it from its body and landed on the ground. The remaining head wasted no time in attacking, still half blinded.

Keona watched in horror as the dead half struggled to form a new body while the other was busy protecting it. It managed to slither away through the cracks before it had fully formed. This was not good.

"Travis! Don't cut off its heads! It's a hydra!"

[Wrathwyrm]

Truthfully, the shadow blasts were just that, energy blasts which would blow apart things.  However, the intense one that had claimed the power from his damaged eye had been much stronger an attack than normal, so it fired right through one of the heads and severed it on the spot, leaving Travis to phantom dash aside to avoid the half-blinded head's strike.  He had just been about to cut it when Keona's cry rang out.  A hydra?  Aw, dangit.  Another creature that regenerates.  Well, not as badly as Revenant, but still...

Well, this required a bit more thinking.  The half he'd harmed had retreated to work on growing itself anew.  If he hacked and slashed at it as planned, this thing would by an army of serpent heads, and that wouldn't be good at all.  Okay then...different plan: Find a vital point that doesn't grow back.  So saying, Travis' demon wings swept out from beneath the cape as he leapt up and decided to plunge his sword down into the point where the two necks of the snake met!  Being a stab motion, even being wrong wouldn't cause another head to grow...probably.

[RedOptics]

Shadows worked differently, but it was best to try all they could. Keona watched for a moment more beofr ehearing something to her left. As soon as she turned, a searing pain slashed across from face, just missing her right eye and lips. She roared in pain and jumped away while bleeding profusly from the deep gash. That was all it took her to go into rafe mode. The still-forming snake already towered over her, but that wasn't enough to intimidate her before she hissed right back at it.

The snake that attacked Travis was distracted for a moment, as if watching the two before his blade stabbed into it. Roaring out in agony, it recoiled its tail to try and fling him back to recover. Opening its jaws to the point of unhinging it, a black fluid sprayed out from its fangs and onto Travis's armour, wear it immediately began to burn and dissolve (or at least tried to) the metal.

With fire in her hand, Keona clawed at the beast's neck vertically. It hissed and twisted its body around her, tightening itself to have an asier kill. Enraged by its attempt, Keo's wings burst into flames and it immediately dropped her before retreated, but not before she grabbed its tail. With the strength only a Yoreiqi could have, she let off a warcry before turning to throw it at the other snake. They collided and writhed for a moment, and that would be the perfect time to strike.

[Wrathwyrm]

The whipping tail had come down and Travis backhanded it with enough force to bat it away and leave some shadowsteel spikes sticking out of it, like it'd struck a porcupine.  However, the cry from Keona had distracted him enough to be spat upon by the thing's evil venom.  Travis was struck, and there would be this low-voiced groan of anger as he rolled off of the snake, with Tenebrous opening its wound further, to avoid any additional strike.With part of his body swizzling, there was a new unearthly glow about him as demon energy was called to him from the hellish depths.  Pain was a conduit by which power may flow.  This was not the worst thing he had ever experienced, but gods dammit, corrosives hurt!

As soon as Keona through one snake against the other, Travis spent the pain energy to create an expanded darkness beneath himself and the snakes.  From there, shot up a number of impaling shadowsteel spikes large enough for impaling and not for cutting.  In short, he made a bunch of stalagmites, which he felt would do excessive damage to all things snakey and slithery, to render the creation and regeneration of serpentine creatures disabled by not performing the action which would cause such a thing to happen.

[RedOptics]

The blood evaporated slowly as the wound cauterized to a singly deep canyon in her face. At this point she didn't care.

The spikes pierced several parts of the hydra's body, both heads screaming in terrible pain. Keeping their heads above the ground, they writhed and tore themselves apart just to try and get away. Keona came up and used a blast of angry flame to finish the job quicker. As their mass burned away, they started to get smaller and smaller before the screams were tiny squeaks, then nothing.

Dropping her her knees, she rested for a moment, catching her breath and trying to find her bearings. Her face hung with her hair falling over, hiding away in shame of her new scar. The flesh burned in coldness before flesh slowly built up from the deepest point of the chasm. Plopping back on her rear, she rubbed her face and screamed something uncomprehending at the forest. Clearly she was fed up from all of this as she stuffed her face into her arms and began to sob.

[Wrathwyrm]

Travis would've been content to let the things die, writhing in agony, but Keona ended it quicker with her flame power.  However, the toll on her was a steep one.  The physical toll was a scar on her face, a blemish which made his blood boil to see.  He didn't want this to happen to her.  He didn't want her to be hurt, not at all.  Not one tiny scratch on her beautiful face, not one bruise on her body.  He knew that that thing would try to sneak attack them, so he drew it out instead, but it still ended bad.

The demon watched in cold smoldering anger as the girl cried out her frustration.  He approached quietly...sort of.  Well, nothing to be heard but the dull thuds of his armored footsteps against dirt.  The jagged sword, Tenebrous, vanished then, followed by the demon form itself.  Basically, it was the transformation in reverse, revealing naught but Travis as he was when he was in human-like form.  However, there was a singular difference.  He had two eyes now.  He came to her side, knelt down, and - without even thinking about it - held her comfortingly.

"I'm sorry.  It's my fault.  I should've done better.  If I can find someone to remove the scars, I will.  I promise."