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It's All Fun and Games Until... (Open)

Started by Torunn Astri, November 17, 2016, 05:34:34 PM

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Torunn Astri

'Somebody gets a rock-filled snowball to the face,' the young Sionhai thought as she went about her daily routine.  The chill in the air seemed a little more noticeable then usual so early in the morning, though with the natural resistance to cold weather which was bestowed by her fur, it was just another day in the life as far as she was concerned.  Making her way towards the thin ice she was far too familiar with, Torunn felt one ear shift as a faint sound caught her attention, prompting her to duck the snowball one of the village's younger occupants had lobbed at her in an attempt to entertain themselves.

Life on the tundra was all she had known for as long as she'd been alive, and the white-furred young woman did not begrudge the village's children their fun and games when they weren't attending to chores, chores which were a daily occurrence and part of surviving in the cold land known as Hyoite.  Though she still paid careful attention as she strung the line for her fishing pole, as it would not be a pleasant thing to accidentally hook herself instead of the wriggling worm in one hand.  A rueful grin flitted across her face at this thought, as it had happened in the past, and it took very little time before most people learned what not to do.

Not if they wanted to eke out a living on the tundra.  Finished baiting the hook, she took the bone-hilted knife hanging from her belt and began seeking a good location to carve a hole in the ice, before settling down to wait for the first nibble - albeit in a location a safe distance from the frozen body of water.  A ripple of her fur and a grimace were the only outward signs of her recognizance that falling into freezing water would not end well.

Bunbun

The people of Hyoite had always fascinated Axia, from the day she'd learned of their existence. They had incredible willpower and work ethic, being able to survive in the most inhospitable areas in Le'raana due to its extremely cold temperatures. Despite the fact that most of them weren't adapted to live in such environments, they still found ways to make even the most barren lands prosperous. Watching the people go about their business was one of the dragon's favourite ways to kill time, and that was exactly what she found herself doing now.

She sat at the edge of the settlement, near a sizeable patch of frozen water. People sometimes came to this area in the hopes of catching a few fish, making it a good spot for Axia to observe. Sure enough, someone eventually showed up and started to create a fishing hole for themselves. However, they didn't look like any person she'd ever seen before. The most obvious difference was the white fur covering her body; Axia had heard about such a species existing before, but she'd long since forgotten the name. Filled with curiosity, she contemplated approaching the fisher, but hesitated when she remembered what kind of creature she was herself. Dragons weren't always the most peaceful of creatures, so one of them just showing up could cause a panic. Her particular species wasn't known for being for being violent, granted, but she didn't exactly look like the other members of her species. As such, she decided to stay put, watching the woman go about her business as snow slowly started to coat her scales.

Salzem

Aeizith had been using his time to test out the true limits of his new vampiric abilities, the main one being his increased speed and reflexes. So far, he had managed to fly from his home with Cybele over here in just under a half a day (discounting the time he slept of course) effortlessly. Now, the clouds were blocking the setting sun over the tundra, the little ice dragon-vampire thing shifted out of his dragon-form a good mile or so away from the settlement, morphing into his human shape in the middle of the air before landing deftly in the frozen earth of this environment. He was amazed at how powerful he had become... Before, he couldn't land like that in his human shape unless he wanted both his legs snapped and now... he could... just as casually as if he had landed from a simple jump. It was incredible.... he could hear and see farther too... It was as if he could focus on each individual snow-flake as they came down from the sky... He felt.... invincible for lack of a better word.

Nevertheless, he knew he was not a god... He was not above any of these other mortals in any way... Now, he wasn't hungry yet... he didn't need anyone's blood for himself, but walking around a village of people... that was going to be the true test, the one of self-control. The tests never ended with achieving the power one sought, but when one knew how to restrain said powers. Aeizith was nervous to say the least, refusing to even look at the villagers as he passed through, hands stuffed into his furry jacket-pockets. He always went to a body of water when he wanted to think... The stillness of ice was... peaceful... very calming and still... Frozen water had a certain serenity about it that helped the little ice dragon get his barrings. He sat down in the snow besides someone with a fishing pole, sitting a respectable distance away from the lake as she fished merrily.

"H-hi..." Aeizith spoke, already far more confident in himself than he would have been without his vampiric abilities. The little dragon smiled softly, nervously, cocking his head to the side just a bit as he looked at her. "D-do you mind if I s-sit here...?"

Morgan Droud

While Indre trudged through the frozen tundra, the snow around him melted, courtesy of his bloodfire. He had come to Hyoite some time ago, though he couldn't recall the reason. He could vaguely remember a conversation with Esderand about something hidden within the frozen lands, but he couldn't remember.

So he continued on, meaninglessly wandering in the snow.

Torunn Astri

It was only a matter of time before the worm's fruitless squirming attempt to get free of the hook drew something's attention, and the hand-carved fishing rod began jerking towards the hole.  Knowing a moment's hesitation could result in losing whatever had gotten curious enough to take the bait, literally, Torunn rose to her feet and moved to grab the twitching pole before it got yanked into the water below.  Once things were well in hand, her attention shifted towards the person who'd plopped themselves down next to where she had been sitting.

Dipping her head in a nod to the man as she hauled her catch up out of the water, the furry fisher fox severed the line with a claw before attaching another hook, and laid the still-flopping fish out on the unrolled length of linen she'd brought for just that purpose.  Turning to look at the human, she did her best to smile back at him, without baring any of her teeth.  It was something that had been made clear to her very early in life, that most people didn't react well to getting an eyeful of clearly carnivorous teeth.  "Make yourself comfortable, we don't get many visitors this far north.  For obvious reasons."  Her gaze flitted briefly skyward and then swept over their surroundings as she trailed off, a wry tone underlying the remark.

Finished attaching the new hook, it too was plopped down into the hole, after the knife was used to
break the quickly-forming ice once more, and this time the young Sionhai weighed it down with a sizeable piece of wood she'd brought with her.  Returning to where she'd been sitting, and plopping back down, she turned her head to such an angle that it would be apparent something had caught her attention.  But she wasn't quite sure what, and so she propped her head in her hand as she'd seen humans sometimes do when they were staring at something intently, trying to figure it out.

Glancing in her companion's direction, a hand lifted and gestured in the general direction she was looking.  "I don't suppose you notice anything in that direction?"

Bunbun

It didn't take too long before another person showed up to the frozen water, this one being distinctly more human that the woman. They exchanged a few words (presumably friendly ones, from what Axia could pick up on) while the fisher jumped up to rescue her fishing pole from meeting a cold, watery fate. The dragon watched as she removed the freshly caught fish from the water, laying it down to the side before immediately setting up to catch another one. In a way, the whole process was sort of inspiring; sure fishing could get kind of mundane, but that just made watching someone so focused on the task more interesting. Even if it was just the same thing over and over again, Axia could probably sit there watching it all day.

However, her peaceful mood was quickly replaced by one of worry. After returning to her resting spot, the fox-human-something looked over in a certain direction- more specifically, Axia's direction. Had she already been discovered, despite her efforts to not interfere? That definitely seemed to be the case, given the way the lady was gesturing. On the other hand, though, she didn't look all that worried. Maybe she wasn't sure what she was looking at, or perhaps she truly wasn't afraid? In any case, the dragon didn't want to risk moving just yet, as scaring the people off was the last thing she wanted to do. Instead, she did everything she could to remain as still as possible, allowing snow to continue covering her body. She held her herself in place, the only movement being a result of breathing. Of course, if one of the people decided to approach her at this point, they'd probably end up being more surprised than they would have if she'd revealed herself right away.

Salzem

"Y-yeah..." Aeizith responded with a nod, though clearly not at all disturbed by the subzero temperatures of the frozen north. Being both a frost dragon and an undead, his body was so well insulated, he was actually feeling rather toasty in the heavy winter-gear of his. It was surprising how well of a turn-out becoming a blood-sucking super-undead could actually be. With the help of Cybele, he was learning to control his bloody cravings easier and easier as well as managing his new powers... Even as the snow fell from the sky, resting gingerly on his shoulders and amongst his snow-white hair, Aeizith felt as warm and as comfortable as he would were he sitting in front of an open fire. The little ice dragon held an open palm out in front of him, a small pile of snow quickly building upon his gloved hand. He smiled softly as the powdery wet substance morphed into the a crystalline pattern, not unlike that of an individual snow-flake. It was only a few inches in size, but it was one of his best creations yet, it's beautiful and perfect symmetry being a true testament to his practice.

"It's a bit cold up here... huh?" He noted as the snow continued to fall around them. He leaned back, watching the furry fox lady fish patiently in the icy lake, intrigued at how well she kept her composure. For the ice dragon, he would've found it exceedingly frustrating to just sit in place and wait when he could just freeze the entire lake solid. Aeizith had a lot of patience for a lot of things, but sitting here and waiting for something to bite your bait was not one of them. It was then that the fox-lady turned to him, seeming to stare in his direction with interest. With a gesture of her hand, she asked if he noticed anything in that general direction and to that, Aeizith nodded. He had known about the figure for some time, it's massive body and breathing being something hard to ignore, actually, with his newly improved senses. Another dragon loomed just behind him, hidden among the enviornment, but the little ice dragon was not afraid. If anything, he seemed somewhat happy.

"It's big..." He said, cocking his head to the side as if he were listening to the rhythmic heartbeat of the dragon.

Morgan Droud

"This, is tiring..."

At some point, the snow beneath Indrae's feet changed to ice, and he found himself on what appeared to be a frozen lake. He still had no idea where he was going, but he felt he ought to speed up, as the ice beneath his feet seemed to be melting.

Torunn Astri

Shifting her attention towards the snow in the man's hand, Torunn's interest was piqued as it changed shape and structure, though her attention shifted when he posed his query.  Giving another toothless smile, the young Sionhai issued a shrug in accompaniment since she wasn't too bothered by the frigid air, before replying aloud.  "I suppose it is?"  Her fur rippled as she said this, both ears shifting slightly as a faint voice caught her attention, though the remark about size wasn't unheard.

Sniffing the air in the direction which she thought the voice had come from, her head swiveled to and fro, between the "big" entity, and the source of the voice.  A bit of a wry chuckle preceded the next remark she made, her voice pitched to carry a small distance.  "Welcome, visitors!  Careful of the frozen lake."  A thread of amusement wove its way through her words as she said this, and then she fell silent to wait for any reactions.

It seemed that any fish still in the vicinity of the wriggling bait were either being cautious, or they had fled...for whatever reason.

Bunbun

From the reactions of the two people that Axia had seen so far, it was pretty obvious that they were aware that they were being watched. Not only did they know that she'd been sitting there for a while, but neither of them looked the slightest bit concerned. They certainly acknowledged her presence, and were entirely comfortable in doing so. In fact, the fox lady seemed to address her directly as she spoke, sending out her greetings and warning about the lake. As reluctant as the dragon was to come out of her hiding place, it was clear that staying put hadn't been very effective. Besides, she couldn't just completely ignore someone who was speaking to her.

Slowly but surely, the dragon began to rise from her hiding place. The thin layer of snow adorning her scales started to slide off, causing her to lose much of her camouflage and revealing her true form. Taking a few moments to shake the rest of the snow off of her body, she then glanced over at the frozen. The warning issued by the lady had been a fair one, considering the fact that the ice would put up very little resistance against someone as heavy as Axia- she'd learned that the hard way. Her eyes remained glued to the ground surrounding her as she cautiously approach. She did so not only to make sure she wasn't stepping on any ice, but also to avoid intimidating the curious duo.

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