The Unraveled Unknown [Shea!]

[Juno]

Yes, it did look quite nasty. It was something she'd never expected to see of such a great creature; a dragon with a punctured wing. It just seemed very unnatural to attack something so majestic, and to her, awe-inspiring. Daza, of course, had no knowledge thus far that he was anything but a bona fide dragon.

With all that was happening, though, she couldn't understand why he, who was injured, was worried over her even a little bit. Stubborn and not wanting to admit that she'd thought she was about to fall to her death with him, she just raised a brow and gestured with her little knife at his wing. "I am fine. You just got stabbed! We need to find someone to fix this, don't we?

"Where did this thing come from anyway?!" she asked, kicking sand at the arrow on the ground.

[miss_sanguine]

As if in answer to her question, Akar came around their shelter of rock, weapon positioned on his shoulders to strike once more. His muscles were taut, ready to pull on the trigger at the base of the spring, in case the dragon waited for him. But the sight that met his eyes caught him off guard, and his grip slackened a little.

Standing beside the dragon, holding what looked like a small dagger, was a girl. Upon seeing Akar, the dragon rose up on its haunches, beating its wings--one of which had a hole in it--to keep its position. It screeched loudly, all sharp incisors showing, along with a black tongue.

It was beautiful.

And then, to Akar's further surprise, a voice bellowed out in his head. *Go away!* it said. The dragon's eyes blazed with the words. When Akar did not move, the beast dropped back onto its four legs and dropped its one wing in front of the human girl, protecting her.

He'd heard of some dragons being capable of telepathic speech. And some dragons had riders, though those sorts of people stayed in Adela. There was no saddle on this particular dragon, telling him that this girl had either been lured to it, or had chosen willingly to go with it.

"'Fraid I can't do that," Akar said, shaking his head. "Beast like you fetches a pretty hefty amount of coin. Now," he tightened his hold on his weapon again, "you can come dead'er alive. And I'd rather no harm come to the girl." He flicked his chin in the direction of the shielding wing.

[Juno]

All in one big whoosh, Tarik was suddenly standing. She stared wide-eyed at the roaring dragon for the briefest moment in confusion until wind-whipped sand was getting in them and making her all teary. Wincing, she stumbled back a bit as she furiously touched her fingers to tightly clenched creases, failing to notice the man standing just beyond. Hissing sharply for the pain, she didn't realize any of what was happening until she felt more air coming down upon her. Peeking through one eye as she worked with furious hands now, she realized Tarik was shielding her.

"What are you doing?!" she hissed, blinking red eyes at him now, though his gaze seemed fixed upon something else, something worthy of getting her eyes filled with sand. Then, she was hearing a voice, one she knew was spoken as it wasn't echoing in her mind as Tarik's had. It was a man, one she'd never heard before. Coin? Dead or alive?! GIRL?! ...so he saw me? Who is he? Why is he...putting his wing here?

"Tarik," she whispered harshly, poking at his wing as she looked up at him. "I...I got this, just hold on a second, I'll get us out of this mess!" With that, her split-decision already made, Daza darted out from around him with that little knife of hers clenched with an almost pathetic pride in her fist. Putting herself between him and this stranger, she eyed his weapon warily as she bared little human teeth in as vicious a snarl she could muster.

"You leave him alone! How could you be so worried about...about money?! It was you, wasn't it?!" She pointed her weapon at him accusingly. "You shot that thing at us! You almost killed us! You should be ashamed of yourself! Who ever gave you the idea to pick on a dragon?! He...he could kill you where you stand! A-and so could I! Now get back! Away! Shoo!" she barked, backing herself closer to "guard" the dragon's chest, fearing this man might shoot.

[miss_sanguine]

Beast? Tarik'd never been called that before. Dragons weren't simple animals to be termed in such a derogatory way. But what could he do? He'd never found himself in a confrontation situation like this before. Usually when a fight occurred and he stepped in to stop it, people backed down immediately, not wanting to face his great, scaly form. Here was an adversary with a weapon of considerable strength, challenging him.

Instead of the pain ebbing with time, it only increased, especially when he'd reared up on this man to appear intimidating. He'd felt the wound rip in the strain, causing more agony.

Before he could say anything further, Daza dashed out from under his protecting wing with her pitiful weapon held tightly in her hand and started snapping at their attacker.

"'Course it was me," the man said. "Who else would be out in the godforsaken desert? But I hadn't meant to harm you, lass. Didn't even know you was up there with 'im." Then he laughed, a throaty guffaw that made him tilt his head back. "Got quite the bite to you," he said when he finished. "But really, now. Step aside. This piece o' work could slide right through you without even slowin' down." He gestured at the weapon held over his shoulder. "Surprised that dragon's still standin', really. These arrows are 'specially made."

*You're making a mistake,* Tarik said, words coming to him faster now that there stood a threat to Daza. She was clearly not one to back down, and he did not want her ending up dead on his account. *I'm not a dragon.*

[Juno]

Scowling at how he'd laughed at her, Daza could only scowl right back through his threat of shooting despite her still being there. "You don't scare me, mister, I'm not--!" What was that? She didn't know if she'd heard right, but Tarik's voice had mixed in again and she could only raise a brow for what she heard.

Slowly turning her head, she gestured helplessly with her arms at his wings before poking at his scales. "Pfft. What do you mean, 'not a dragon'?! Tarik, you are the realest real dragon I've ever seen! Well, the only one I've ever seen, but it's what I'd imagined it'd be like! And we flew!" Suddenly the hunter was forgotten, her back turned to him now as she rambled on. "And you roar! And you do the...the mind thingy!"

[miss_sanguine]

It had come down to a desperate decision. Stay as a dragon and have a better chance of protecting Daza, or go back to human form—vulnerable?

For one second his bright eyes rested on Daza as she squalled at him, her apparent aptitude to fall under the easiest distractions proving her to be an easy target to their assailant. While going human meant he would be easy prey as well, it also stood the chance of calling off this whole business. A risk worth taking.

The shift back pained him, his injured wing melding back into his body with less ease than it should have. When he stood there a man, not a dragon, his legs buckled and he fell to his knees in the dry sand. He felt a sense of relief from the injury now being going, but there still burned an unnatural heat through his body, providing him with more proof that the arrow had been poisoned.

"Not—a dragon," he said through small gasps of air. He thought this would settle the matter, but when he lifted his head, the man still had his weapon pointed directly at him—and directly as Daza due to her standing in the way.

"Dragons are known to be able to shape-shift," was the response. "Can't fool me that easy."

Tarik blinked through the blinding sun—his human eyes were more sensitive to the rays than his dragon ones. "What—no." He shook his head. "Other way around. Human—can turn into dragon."

Maybe it hadn't been such a good idea to go back to human form. He'd thought his injury would vanish the moment he had, that usually being how it worked, at least for injuries to his wings since his human form had none to speak of, but poison was another matter.

Was he to die on this beautiful, sunny day? And would his new acquaintance be killed because he could not protect her? He doubted he had the strength to shift again.

He heard a click as the man cocked his strange weapon.

[Juno]

No, she wasn't quite sure what was going on now at all. Tarik had found her wandering hopelessly in the desert as a dragon. They'd talked, or sort of talked, at least, but he as a dragon. He'd offered his help to fly her where she was going and they'd gone up in the air, but again, he'd been a dragon. It was all she knew him as and had absolutely no reason to believe anything other than what she had already witnessed herself. Hearing from him now that he was something other than what she'd believed he was just had the stubborn girl confused.

Even as it was happening before her, she didn't understand what she was seeing. Daza had never been close with any shifter before, and while she knew they existed she did not know the details of shifting. She'd never seen it performed and if she'd ever seen a shifter in person before she wouldn't have known it, just as she would have continued on had Tarik not confessed what he was to them.

Seeing him there now, visibly weak as he slumped to the sand, she realized he was only but a young man. What...what sort of thing is this? Is he really a human by birth? Or is this some sort of...dragon magic? She also did not know enough to differentiate between the two, having also never met anything remotely dragon-like until today. All she had was his word.

Ah, his eyes are the same...is that how it's supposed to work? Listening to their exchange, she wasn't sure if he was just trying to get out of capture or what. She did know that she wasn't happy at all with the stranger, this man that had shot them down and now threatened to fire again. Angling her head to glance over her shoulder at the hunter, a disappointed frown was there now as she slowly turned to face him and that nasty weapon of his.

"He isn't a dragon!" she barked, standing her ground still between them, doing what she could to guard him. "What dragon out here would be as kind as he is? Aren't they fearsome and cruel? Making toys of humans? He is not! He found me out there!" She waved her little dagger out in some random direction beyond the outcropping, not even remembering where they'd come from by now. "Now leave us alone, would you?! I'm not about to die over your inability to tell a human heart from that of some beast, as you call it!"

[miss_sanguine]

Akar admitted to having been taken aback by the dragon's sudden move to human, but it hadn't lasted long. He'd been hunting dragons for a long time, and while rare to come across one such as this, it wasn't unheard of. A shifting dragon was worth more than a wild, mindless one, and even better that this one could talk. Maybe someone in Adela would buy it from him for a nice price. If he wanted to, he could retire after this big fella. But he was a hunter, and young. Life would be meaningless without this job.

"You haven't met many dragons, have you, girl?" he asked as he eyes the dark figure crouched behind her. "Not all of 'em are like what you say. 'Fact, those're the rare kinds."

As he spoke, a small smile tugged at his lips. The boy was starting to show signs that Akar's special mixture was kicking in. Silent, no longer breathing heavy. What a stroke of luck that the beast had chosen to go human. This would make things much easier.

His eyes traveled back to the girl and narrowed in suspicion. It wasn't common for a young person like this to travel with a dragon that wasn't hers. She claimed that it'd found her out in the desert, but that didn't seem plausible. After all, why would a young lass be out wandering the desert with only a dagger to speak of?

Another dragon, maybe?

"What brought you out to this desert, anyway, lass?" he asked, voice low now with suspicion.

[Juno]

What? They're rare?! Well, damn. How was I supposed to know that?! Maybe he's just lying, I've heard stories about mean dragons! Daza tried to remain as fierce-looking as she could, though. She'd just wanted to get where she was going, but it had turned into this strange situation so quickly. Now she wasn't sure why this man was asking about her, though, when he'd been so focused on Tarik and shooting at them before.

"What brought me...? Nothing brought me, I got lost...I was trying to find Essryn and...I guess I went the wrong way." She wasn't about to tell him readily it was her first time wandering out this far south or what her business had been there, but she had no idea why he was even asking. "And he was helping me find it!" she added, looking over her shoulder down at him, but his stillness was disturbing.

"Erm, Tarik?" Oh no! You idiot, he probably still hurts a lot! Maybe he feels sick...maybe he needs some water? Maybe...

[miss_sanguine]

Taril couldn't move, couldn't even blink voluntarily. Try as he might, he couldn't even move his eyes, which were fixed on the sand hugging at his hands. It reminded him of looking out a window; one couldn't move the window to have it fix on what one might want to look at. At first he mentally tapped at the windows that were once his eyes, willing them to move with invisible fingers, but then, as he realized the seriousness of his being paralyzed, the tapping turned to furious beating.

As if through a thick wall, he heard Daza speak his name. He wanted to shout out to her to run, to open his mouth, even just a little, to warn her, but his tongue would not budge, nor his lips.

What was going on?! Tarik wasn't one of big words to begin with, but the option to speak had at least been available to him. Was this some kind of magic?

"No use talkin' to 'im," he heard his attacker say. "He won't respond. Now," the sound was muffled, but Tarik felt the movement more than he heard it--the man had stepped forward, "Tarik was it? Go ahead and get to yer feet."

And, as though moved by some outside force, Tarik felt himself stand, saw his body move against his will though his eyes remained locked on the ground.

[Juno]

Won't respond? Daza's eyes flickered back-and-forth between irritation and confusion. Such a simple thing had gotten so complicated in no time at all. Looking between the two men, she stood her ground in a semi-protective stance. "What did you do to him?" she demanded. "Why won't he move?"

As if in answer, though, she turned to watch Tarik obeying the man's command. "...Tarik?" she asked, concerned now as she drew closer to put a hand on one forearm. "Hey." She stared at those distant eyes, an odd chill running through her now that something was indeed terribly wrong with this situation. "Tarik, what's going on? What are you doing?" She didn't yet believe that her questions would go unanswered, especially being told by the man who'd shot them down.

[miss_sanguine]

But Tarik couldn't answer. He wanted to. Oh, how he wanted to. All he could do was stare at the sand and feel his body move against his will. It was the strangest and most alarming feeling, one he hoped to never experience again if he survived this. His body was his, something no one else could own; yet here he was, unable to move the one thing that had always belong to him and no one else.

"Right. I'm gonna need yer to turn back into your dragon form," he heard the man say, and, like before, felt his limbs obeying almost instantly.

The transformation was slower than usual, his mind fighting against it with all the strength he had. When he stood there as a dragon, the wound in his wing had vanished, though he could still feel the burn from where it had been. His great form took growling breaths, as if in protest to the violation it was receiving.

A chuckle came from the man, who now held his weapon at ease, slung over his arm. "With a wingspan as wide as yours, we'll reach Adela in no time," he said to himself, shading his eyes with his hands as he looked up at Tarik's spread wings. "Grab the girl and we'll get going."

It went against all that he felt morally correct, reaching out and grabbing Daza so forcefully. He felt her pressed against his massive chest, her fragile human form like paper.

Before he knew what was going on, the man had somehow climbed up onto his back between the ridges of his wings and was patting him on his shoulder. "Take us up!"

And so he did.

[Juno]

Dragon? Again? She couldn't fathom why he would prefer the form with the sharp teeth, pointy claws, and weight over him to the fairly quiet young man he seemed to be. Her eyes widened in surprise to watch Tarik obeying, though, and she began to take steps back away from him. The low sounds rumbling through him made the hair at the nape of her neck stand on end, despite the heat.

She wasn't quite sure what Akar had done to him, what was compelling Tarik to listen to him, but she definitely didn't trust him in the slightest. "Adela? ...grab what?! Hey!" Before she could even get her legs to move, though, she was snatched up. Claws became her cage as she panicked and writhed violently against the strong hold. "Let me go! Put me down right now!"

With the hand that wasn't forced down against his chest, she pushed at him, squirmed, and let loose a frustrated cry at the failing of her efforts. "Tarik, put me down!" They were going up now, though. Straining her neck, she twisted to look down at their previous location. The problem was, it was becoming increasingly smaller as he took them higher and away. She didn't want to fall to her death if she got away. No, that would just be pointless, but she just wasn't understanding what was going on just yet and only knew that Tarik was somehow being controlled by the man she could not see from where she was sandwiched.

Daza's mind was working furiously to figure some way out. Adela... that's an awfully long way. Straight from the desert. At least I won't be stuck here wandering around, but what's going to happen to us? Is he taking Tarik there to kill him? Riding his horse to slaughter? Why? Oh, what is going on?! Why am I involved in all of this?!

[miss_sanguine]

Tarik couldn't feel her feeble squirming, a bug in the grasp of a giant that--if the giant were not careful--would be squished without any effort involved. It frightened him. He'd never held someone against their will before, and it rang of irony since he, too, was being forced against his will. His dragon claws and arms were not made to hold a person like this, but he was glad to note that even though he could not control himself, he still managed to make sure his hold on her would not harm her in any way.

Gods, what if he dropped her? Or what if . . .

His heart practically stopped. What if this man commanded him to drop her, to kill her, and he could do nothing to stop himself from committing a terrible murder? The idea sickened him, made his dragon stomach twist and writhe until he felt he might belch flames of anguish.

But the man made no such order. Just remained on his back, guiding him with his legs in the direction he wanted him to go. Not a word was spoken.

And that's when he's realized something. He was in dragon form now! While not in control of his body, he was in control of his mind.

*Daza!* he roared in her mind, so overcome with his relief to speak with her again that he said it more loudly than intended.

[Juno]

Save for the noise of whistling wind in her ears again, everything was relatively quiet. The man above hadn't spoken another word to her and now she could only imagine what might happen next. The very real danger she was in of being so easily squashed or sent falling to her death hadn't even entered her mind yet. She was still trying to figure out just how all of this had happened so quickly in the first place.

Hearing Tarik's voice boom in her mind again had her both surprised and miffed and if she'd had the free arms she would have covered her ears instinctually. "What's going on?!" she pleaded. "I don't know how you're doing that, but, well, why are you doing this?!"

[miss_sanguine]

Daza's words cut him. She thought he was doing this to her of his own volition?

*I'm not doing it,* he said, voice much softer in his hurt. *For some reason I can't control my body.*

It had to be the arrow that had struck him earlier. There was no other explanation. But he'd never come across an arrow such as that before. He could still feel its burn, though the wound was clearly gone.

*Wherever we're going, I want you to run the moment you can.*

[miss_sanguine]

Closing this due to inactivity. If you want to start it up again, PM me.