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Lady Asherah had placed the creatures emotion perfectly. It was sad...it was very sad, though as Ryugi had guessed it was now also quite scared. It recognized weapons, but had none of its own. No knowledge of combat, no ability to do anything other than run fast and far.

But it didnt.

As first as they neared it retreated a few feet, its feet shuffling backwards in the sand leaving behind blank shakey footprints in the same hardly recognizable as any animal form. "Arms" drapped around the docks support strut as it took up shelter behind it.

Though as a more positive turn of fate, its new home placed it directly in a beam of moonlight, revealing its form. As the two neared they would notice the true oddness in this beasts construction. Its skin was not simply shiny, it was reflective, like liquid metal melding into a humanoid form. And yet there was something organic laced with it and without its form like patchwork. Grey shark-like covering, overlapped by fishy scales of a myriad of colors. Fins rose off its arms, feet and back, its hands were both web and covered in a thin fishy fin membrane. It was some sort of freakish amalgamam of oceanic creatures, and some sort of silver metallic substance.

As both adventurers spoke, it seemed to evolve before their very eyes, its face peeled open across the jawline forming a mouth containing a front row of baleen and in an inner row of teeth. It seemed to try and speak, at first mimicing the draconic. As opposed to moving its mouth, its glowing green eyes faced Ryugi, and its jaw hung open and still with sound pouring from it. Its voicing sounding less like an actual vocal chord movement, and more like a radio caught between two stations, both playing a broken jumpy record, and both buried underwater.

H-h-hu-ur-ur-t...

Its hand, claw, fin, or however one might perceive the unique fusion of all of the above, moved toward its chest, where its heart should lie. It turned to face Lady Asherah, closing its mouth and opening it again, this time tuned to a different station.

Li-t-t-t-tle w-w-won...

There was a pause, a slight one its head slowly evening back out as if it had come to some sort of recognition. Though with the exception of the lipless slit that served as its mouth its face was as nondescript as a mannequin.

Li-Li-tt-le-le one.Hur-urt.

Its voice seemed to ever so slightly even out.

....help....

Ho-o-o-o-

It understood and yet it didnt. It knew there was no attack meant on either of their parts, and yet it was lost to their deeper meanings. Was Asherah lost too? But she wasnt like him she was something else, but what else? And the other, he reached out with open arms, was he alone too? Did he want or need something to fill the space in his grasp. All these questions and so much more, how did the smaller one shed its flesh like that? What was "swim"? All of this while it tried to process one single word. It lacked so much data, it just lacked so much...The creatures eyes blinked again rapidly and its voice stuttered and repeated before it simply froze in place before crashing entirely. Its body falling limp against the strut yet again. This time for a bit longer than the time before, its eyes just barely regaining there glow.

-Ho-ome...

It said, straining for a moment as it gestured out again toward the sea. A light crackle emanating from inside it, as its eyes shifted from glowing green to white, the light casting against and past the length of his arm, just barely projecting an image out over the water. It was a patch image at best, covered deeply with static, with holes in the picture, and rapid sporatic blinks in which the picture seemed to fade or falter. It showed the dock on which they stood, and then zoomed forward across the water outwards until it reached a ice covered shore. The image was barely recognizable except to perhaps an individual who often sails, swims, or flys over the ocean.. But it showed something, it seemed to be an aerial view of "something", panning inward. A castle, an over-sized pillar, a tower? The image zoomed innards through a snow covered landscape seemingly scattered with buried white juts of something which one stood tall. It managed one word.

...source.

And then it faded entirely, the whirring sound from within the creature and its white eyes fell entirely dark and cold. Only a single twitch in the hand Asherah had touched remained, and a barely visible orange glow seeping from inside its chest.

Perhaps. I could let you borrow my coat I suppose. As for transportation to get us there...well... THAT might be a little more difficult...

Ryugi didn't want to let on that he was a dragon, and could probably transform and carry all of them to Guldor. Besides, who knew what effect magic would have on this obviously weakened creature. It might have just been safer to rent a boat and sail the three of them there...

(From the Arena thread, to Latent Hospital ER)

Rain was brought into the Latent Hospital in the arms of one, Maximos, and delivered promptly to a hospital bed, doctors rushing to his side. Being mostly still up to this point, he no longer put up any resistance. That was, at least, until Maximos had severed physical contact with him via the man's right arm.

Rain's right reached for his belt, grabbing at a steel canister there; but due to the fact that the hand was broken, he was unable to get a solid grip on it and it fell to the ground, clanking before rolling across the floor. Rain swung his left out, knocking over a tray of medical operating tools. Just as the doctors moved to restrain him, his back arched tightly, as if the weight of all these men was nothing.

Then he went limp. The heart monitor hooked up to his chest showed a flatline.


(Meanwhile, inside Rain's head)

Inside the sealed room was what appeared to be a library. There were dozens... no, hundreds of books here, all identical to one another with the same red binding. There was an unlit fireplace, not needed due to the ambient light the inner psyche provided. And most importantly, by the unlit fireplace, was an old man in a rocking chair, reading a book.

He looked a lot like Rain, plus about 30 or 40 years. He had very thin, white hair, many wrinkles and liverspots adorning his visage. His features were more defined than Rain's though, with more of a crooked nose, and his eyes were a soulless black, rather than a bright blue that Rain normally possessed.

He continued to read a bit more, before looking up from his book. "Whoever's out there, I see your snake. Just come in already, I don't bite." And after that, he went back to his book, seemingly uninterested by this new guest.

All the violent chatter that was echoing in Rain's head was fading away now, weakening until it was barely audible.