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Fortunate Find [ Draco ]

Started by SanctifiedSavage, October 10, 2018, 12:57:18 PM

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SanctifiedSavage

If Sabzira were to have asked herself, roughly a century ago, if she'd be wandering the sandy dunes of the surface world, wrapped in thick linen to protect her red eyes from the bright sun, she'd have laughed. Then probably flayed someone nearby just because the sheer idea of it was so preposterous it couldn't have possibly been her idea.

Yet there she was. Her thigh high boots protected her skin as much as they bothered her. She'd wanted to put some distance in during the morning, when the desert was more forgiving than during the heat of the day, but morning did not last long. Already she could feel her breath in the linen wrap over her head starting to become too stifling.

Which meant she'd need to stop and set up the shade. Traveling when it was in the height of heat was just a waste of water. Sabzira as certain her camel companion would agree. "Aşağı" The camel complied with the command and folded its long, awkward legs and settled in the steadily warming sand. Sabzira went about pulling off the material for the shade and poles to set it up in the sand. It was rudimentary, but served both her and the camel during the blistering heat of the day.

The locals hadn't been kidding when they'd said crossing the desert would be a task. Once her small day camp was set up, Sabzira stretched out in the relative cool of the shade, on a swath of fabric since she couldn't just plop on the warm sand like the camel, and pulled off her boots. Let her legs and feet air out some.

At some point, Sabzira had ended up laying back and idly dozing. That was really the best use of the time during the high heat of the day. Sleep through it until later on, when she could continue on walking. Traveling. Her dreams were warm, of bright light and endless, rolling waves of shifting sands she sailed on a small ship that was furred. Like a camel.

Sabzira was jerked awake as she shade was ripped from the sand, the camel panicking. Something had set it off. The sun hadn't gone down nearly enough, so the abrupt exposure to the afternoon sun left her momentarily light-blind. It didn't matter she'd been on the surface for a handful of years – that did nothing for a near lifetime of being exposed to the dark.

Which meant she didn't see the death of her camel, but she heard the wet impact, the quick silence of her companion's panicked cries, and heavy thump that followed.

Sabzira cursed softly and crouched, low and ready, while she blinked and held her hands out. Her bare feet burned on the exposed sand, but that was extremely minor when it meant she could be the next squishy target to go down.

It wasn't the sound of foot steps that drew her attention, or the heavy impact of feet on the sand, but the sliding of something across the sands. A chill shot up her spine and Sabzira instinctively rolled back, just before there was a heavy impact near where she'd been. Or she assumed where she'd been, because she couldn't see damned thing.

Her weapons were on the camel. She'd grown far too complacent over her travels and hadn't thought to take them off too. At that moment, she thought she was going to die due to her own sheer stupidity.  Sabzira found her footing quickly and rubbed at her eyes, her vision returning slowly in the bright afternoon.

A blurred, brown shape was moving at her.

That was all the information she needed to dash away. Feet burning on the sands, she sought to find a bleary way around whatever the massive, slithering shape was and toward where the camel had went down. Thankfully, not on the side her short sword and serrated dagger were strapped. Relief washed over her as her hands found the hilts, but it was short lived when she was thrown off her back from a heavy impact.

The world spun as she tumbled in the air. Training alone kept her hands on her weapons and from her eviscerating herself in doing so. Sabzira might be out of her element but she knew how to fight. The slam turned into a very ungraceful roll that brought her to her feet, so she could finally see what she was to fight.

Some giant, scaled snake scorpion hybrid.

Nope.

Sabzira took quick stock of her surroundings and made a break toward the shadowed shaped is the near distance. She never wanted to camp at things she didn't know, but at this point any sort of cover that wasn't flimsy cloth sounded better than nothing.

Many jukes, half misses, and strained breathing later, the shadowed shapes resolved themselves into the ruines of a small building. That'd do. Sabzira jumped over a low wall and... then the ground gave out from under her and plunged her into deep darkness.

Damn it  was her last thought before she hit solid ground. Hard.

Draconian

Slowly, oh so slowly, Solaudrym cracked open his eyes. It'd been years since he woke up. Cursed to guard the city far below where he was, the endless winding tunnels that he'd been in for so long now he couldn't get lost if he tried. Sol tried. He tried desperately but... It was endless. Everything felt dry and cracked. He breathed out a long breath before he looked up and around, eyes taking a moment to adjust to the darkness.

The process of waking up from his hibernation wasn't too long. The scent of fresh meat hit his nose and the rumbling echo from the cave in made his skin vibrate. Goosebumps rose on his flesh and Sol took a few slow steps towards the nose. Towards the scent. At worst it was a meal. At best it was... Well, a meal. Sol wasn't hungry but he knew that he'd been a sleep for a while. Quite a while. Juding by how much dust he was covered in. Practically white with it.

Knowing the tunnels so well made the journey to the source of the scent easy. The hole in the ceiling of the cave made him hiss slightly but eventually he just squeezed his eyes shut, turned his head away away and extended one long spider leg to drag the body of the woman closer by the middle. A delicious meal, it seemed.

Solaudrym was an interesting looking creature. Hard chitin from the waist down, cursed in the form of a half spider monster. A curse he punished himself for as much as he was being punished for. A simple denial of a request from his mistress put him in this state. From the waist up he looked completely normal, at least for a drow. Dark dusky skin, his hair was unkempt and white, a stark contrast to his skin. It was long and tangled, some chunks braided and some held together by decorations of some kind or another. Bright red eyes were perhaps the only colour on him, though with his curse his eyes had gone strange, like the iris was slowly eating the sclera and turning that red, too.

Once he'd dragged the body from the light the hole let in Sol examined her. Propped her up on one side of the cave while he hunkered down at the other, eyes wide and giving her a thorough visual examination. She looked normal. He breathed deep, taking in her scent and he stared at her. Maybe if he woke her up and scared her she'd shuffle away scared. Sol hadn't truly hunted anything in ... So long. He could forgo a meal if it meant he could hurt. His blood vibrated for it and he reached between his chitinous legs and picked up a pebble before tossing it at the woman. She was drow, which meant that would make eating her all the sweeter. He could imagine his Mistress in her place. Sol licked his lips, which tasted dusty and he wrinkled his nose.

"Wake up, Little Mouse," He whispered, tossing another pebble, eyes bright and body ready to spring into the hunt. Surely she'd be afraid, in fact, Sol was counting on it.

SanctifiedSavage

Waking up was a disorientating process. For the longest of moments, Sabzira didn't know where she was. Who she was. All she remembered was running, the need to get away, and that it was very important she find her weapons. The highest priority of any drow that was waking up in any sort of unknown.

When he hands closed on nothing, her red eyes snapped open. Dark. Thankfully. Memory crashed back into her and she shifted painfully in place. Someone had said something...  Sabzira moved to push herself up, but one of her legs didn't respond readily. Was it it broken? Sprained? Damn it.

Sabzira got up, slowly, and only with the help at the rock behind her. Her left leg was stiff and slow to respond. Not broken, bet she suspected her ankle was sprained. She couldn't put any weight on it. Which was really, really, really unfortunate when there was a drider watching her from across the cavern.

Her very red eyes only left him for the briefest of moments, glancing to the pool of light where she'd fallen in. Her silver short sword and serrated, red dagger lay there. As though the heavens themselves were alighting on them and reminding Sabzira that they were her only hope. With her bum ankle, the distance seemed impossibly far away.

With a drider across from her, she'd fuckin' try.

Sabzira, in her two centuries as a priestess, had never directly dealt with such a creature. She knew what they were, and why they were made. Stories circulated and she fully understood that what across from her was more a monster than anything else. Intent on killing her just because.

From one fight to another. She steadied herself a moment before dashing toward her weapons in the light, using her good leg to push her as quick as she could.


Draconian


Movement had him snap up like a many legged puppet lifted by a string. Many feet clicking against the stone of the cave floor so he could track the woman. Sol breathed quickly, eyes bright with intent and interest before he jolted after her. Easily his arm slipped around her middle and he pulled her to him, her back to his chest before he quickly turned around. His tongue darted out, licking along where her neck met her shoulder and he purred softly before he dropped her down to the ground.

Sol had placed himself between the woman and her weapons. A glint in his eyes, chest rising and falling visibly at the hint of a hunt. "Little Mouse," He purred, voice too low to echo through the cave, "I've been down here a long time." Sol bent forward to loom over the woman, hair falling around his shoulders and he licked his lips repeatedly, savoring the taste of her flesh on his tongue. He took another deep breath and let it out slowly.

"You smell wounded," He glanced at her leg, slowly dragging his eyes up along her form. He should hate her. Loath her completely. Want to tear her limbs off and eat them but... Being without companion ship for so long. Having nothing but the rocks to talk to made him hesitate. Sol shuffled side to side, his hands moving up to touch at the collar and mantle around his neck. This could be a companion maybe. Someone to talk to. Then, when she died he could eat her. That would be fine right?

"I won't eat you if you don't try to kill me," He said, voice still soft. Blinking at her softly, he glanced over his shoulder to her weapons again, looking back at her. Desperation kept him from consuming her right away. He was already hungry, what was a few more years without a decent meal? The odd rat would keep him. 

SanctifiedSavage

Sabzira liked to think, even though she was injured, she was quick. She'd lived as a priestess, in a cut throat society, and had received personal training. Then, cast out, she'd thrived alone in dark tunnels and on the surface. She was, at base, a survivor. It's what she did. All of her life, she relied on her own ability, her own quick reflexes, stamina, and strength.

So, it said something that he was faster. Snatched her up like the mouse he referred to her as and had his mouth on her skin before she could so much as think to protest. To fight and struggle.

All in all, Sabzira should already be dead. The contact didn't bother her in so far that he touched her – driders, at base, didn't – but it bothered her to know that she was severely out classed. Fighting him wasn't going to be an option. So, when she was dropped, she did not seek to try again. She kept her weight on her good leg and watched him, balanced easily.

When he remarked that she smelt wounded, Sabzira nodded. No point in denying. He knew, she knew. Lying wasn't high on her list when it was obvious.

What he said next, though, did surprise her. If... he wouldn't eat her, if she didn't fight him? That was a bargain easily made. Sabzira glanced around, found a rock about the right height, and shifted slowly, so as not to spook him into thinking she was going to do anything untoward, and claimed it as a seat. Her good leg was thankful. "I think that's something I can agree to," she said with a heavy sigh. Relief, exhaustion, and the adrenaline of the last... however long since she woke up... starting to leave her. Then, if that was to be the case, she offered, "My name is Sabzira."

Draconian

Curiously, Sol watched the small woman. His eyes tracked her smoothly before he turned his head to watch her move. Being so near her made his mouth water and her taste still rested on his tongue. Still, he could wait if it meant company. Being along for so long meant he needed some form of companion because otherwise... Well, Sol knew he would eventually go insane down here. Lose himself to some strange primal beast that Driders became.

He was amazed he'd managed to cling to his own sanity for so long. This would make him last longer. Then once she died of starvation or dehydration he would eat her and he could hunker down and wait for another random person to drop in. It seemed like a good plan. So far it had helped him. Sol's hands moved to the collar and he traced his fingers down the clasp in the middle, shifting slightly to move closer to her.

Sol 'knelt' in front of her, resting his large body on the ground, which made him only Incredible Tall instead of Unfortunately Tall. "Sabzira," He said, trying the word out on his tongue before he decided he liked how it tasted. "I am..." Sol paused, having not had to introduce himself for a long... Long time, he frowned softly, looking off to the side of the cave before he bent forward, hand reaching out for her leg.

"Sol..." He said, "Sol.. audrym," He sighed and reached farther. "You know you're going to die down here," He said softly, "There's no way out within a weeks worth of travel. Little water." Sol smoothed a hand over her leg, feeling for damage though mostly it was to feel how warm and alive she felt, "But I won't eat you until after you die. I promise."

SanctifiedSavage

Sabzira worked to make her breathing steady. Her head had already returned to a semi-normal pace. Now she just needed to... somehow... relax with a giant drider in front of her. Having him say he wasn't going to eat her, and him being right there, was just... Well. Sabzira liked to think she was a logical woman. Even she needed a moment to adjust.

Her eyes couldn't help but follow his hand when he traced the collar, though she couldn't guess what it was for or why he had it. Clothes? Did drider wear accessories?

She appreciated that he had a name, or at least remembered it. There were stories that most didn't. That they were little more than base animals. That he talked at all was... a blessing. Sabzira didn't know who was looking out for her, or who to thank, but she was counting herself quite lucky.

Sabzira did tense, reflexively, when he reached for her leg. Another breath, and she relaxed at his touch. He was either going to eat her, kill her, or not. Sabzira couldn't fight him right now. Resisting was just going to make the conversation unpleasant. "I've traveled the under-tunnels before," she said, frowning at her ankle. "Granted, not handicapped, but I can... brace it. I have... had water up by my camel but..." Her eyes flicked to the bright hole and how far she'd fallen. "Food up there too." She sighed heavily and leaned back on a hand, closing her eyes.

She wasn't going to let this defeat her. She had not survived the death and destruction of her family, traversed dark, twisting tunnels alone, went up on the surface and adapted, only to die in a hole. "I'll figure out something," she murmured, though it was more to herself than the drider.

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