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 Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 4:13 pm
Huh. The arcturus thing sure talked weird, and its voice was metallic and almost kinda sorta echo-y. But it still sounded nice, or at least, nicer than the crocodile-solara had sounded. The voice was vaguely male, although the creature itself smelled…well, it just smelled like metal. And thunderstorms. And there was something about its horn that made her fur stand on end. Not in a scary way, but in a thunder-y way. He was weird. But not a bad weird, she decided. In fact, she rather liked his type of weird. It was an acceptable kind. And he had introduced himself, too. She didn’t even know what the crocodile-solara’s name was. “Hi, Steelheart! I’m Magnitte. I’m not really from around here, so maybe it’s common knowledge, I’m sorry if I’m being rude, but, uh, what are you? I mean, you look a lot like an arcturus, but no offense, I’ve never seen an arcturus that looked like you before. You’re pretty shiny, you look really pretty, but arcturuses are normally like all other stars, y’know? All flesh and hair and stuff?”
Wait, wait, she was getting off-track. This wasn’t an intelligence mission, it was a capture! “By the way, I’ve been sent by someone to bring you back to the swamp. Technically, I’m supposed to ‘subdue’ you, but I’m thinking that it will go better for both of us if I try the friendly ‘hey-do-you-wanna-come-back-with-me-I-don’t-bite’ method first. If you don’t want to come,” she added, “I might just subdue you anyway. In fact, tell you what, I will subdue you anyway if you don’t agree to go back to the swamp with me.”
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Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 4:25 pm
Steelheart had never been hit with such a wall of text in all his life. Well, okay, his creator had talked to him quite a lot, but he’d never really had such a monologue offered to him in such a friendly voice. Monologues were supposed to be sonorous scolding, weren’t they? Thank you, creator, for my marvelous mind. I can catalogue all that it said, and play it back to determine what must be answered and when! “Well-met, Magnitte. I am not from around this area, either, having just arrived 5.79 days ago. I am an arcturus animus—a star forged from metal and powered by electricity, brought to life by magical means. I Fell just 6.2 days ago in search of fulfillment. I do not have flesh or hair, but I consider myself to be a star nonetheless.” That should satisfy that string of questions. Now for the difficult part.
“I am unwilling to enter the swamp on the orders of individual or individuals unknown. Swamps are difficult to navigate in and are often home to hostile organisms. The flora, fauna, and pedology of such terrain may compromise my functions. As well, I admit to a degree of perversity, and will actively rebel against attempts to subdue me for no other reason than that someone found the need for me to be subdued. I do not wish to harm you, but I also do not wish to make a foolish action that could compromise my function. Am I correct in assuming that the individual or individuals who ordered you thus was or were affiliated with the black dragon that inhabits the local swamp?”
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Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 4:29 pm
Oh yeah. That’s what a reptilian solara was called. Um. Yeah. Magnitte was unable to suppress a shiver as her blood did that metaphorical cold-running thing. Um. Oh. “Yes,” she said, in a much more subdued tone of voice. “I do believe that is what that kind of creature is called.” She was lucky not to be a bit of char right now! Oh man. Oh man. Oh man! She had to get out of here! She’d messed with a dragon! Well, okay, time to make a recovery. Then run like hell to someplace where that flappy thing could never find her again!
“I can see you are unwilling to submit, Steelheart,” she said. “I, um, am inspired by your strong will, and I think I shall back down at once.” She couldn’t help but take a nervous glance behind herself. “I don’t suppose that a one such as yourself might mind company on your travels…?”
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Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2014 4:32 pm
When he’d first seen this creature he’d been afraid. Now he found himself pitying Magnitte. As soon as he’d asked about it being a dragon, it had looked first startled, then terrified. So either it didn’t want to fight him, and thus thought itself likely to get in trouble…or it honestly hadn’t known that the master for whom it had been working was a fearsome dragon. Mere sympathy turned to actual empathy—not long ago, Steelheart had been working for a master who had put him in danger multiple times. It would be churlish of him to abandon Magnitte to an uncertain fate at the fangs of the dragon. “I would be glad for some company for a while,” he said, and he was rewarded with a smile and a small tail wag. That seemed to indicate that the strange star was happy. “Come walk with me,” he said, and with that, he turned. It gratefully followed along behind him.
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