|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 12:58 pm
A specter passing through the trees was not so noticeable, as was the intention, but a strange blob of flickering blackness writhing on the ground was a bit less discreet. Yes, flickering. Like a light bulb; the shadows surrounding Selini seemed as if they couldn't decide whether they wanted to embrace her or shove her away, and she herself was crouched upon the ground, rocking as both hands tried desperately to cover her ears with as many layers of cloak as they could grasp.
After all, painful sounds to normal humans were excruciating to those acutely attuned. By the Great Void, if something didn't silence that monstrosity soon SHE would! Assuming she didn't go deaf first.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Mar 16, 2009 4:13 pm
The park was a little too large for Tak's liking, navigating the many paths was such an annoyance, but nevertheless his vigilance paid off when his opaque crimson hues fell upon the shadow-woman. He had yet to make his presence known to all of his arriving comrades. Now was the time to do so.
As silent as death the dark entity made his way up behind Selini, but instead of a friendly tap on the shoulder to get her attention, the creature chose another way to reveal his presence. His hands snapped up from his sides and clamped down hard on her little neck, before she could react he seized her body with two rapid, but controlled, jolts of negative energy. Her heart would continue to beat, be it slower, and her lungs would draw breath, but otherwise she was a rendered hapless.
"I have seen the power of the others that follow me, but whether or not you are worth anything is a mystery. I chose you because you follow the darkness like myself, but let me say this... if you fail... I will take your life. If you succeed, then you have your dreams to gain."
Tak was an extremely dysfunctional creature, threatening the life of a comrade was the surest way to lose them. However, he had recruited Selini because he had seen the bitterness living in her heart as her search for justice grew colder. She would not likely leave.
A wide toothed smile, unseen, drew across Tak's face as he released her from his grasp and once again vanished into the darkness of the park. No sign of his presence remaining.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 7:51 am
Finding Vince wouldn't be hard for Arian, nor would it be hard for anyone else if they were to just pay attention to the hulking form standing towards the middle of the park. Rather, the hulking form was no longer human, nor did it stand on two feet. It stood on four powerful, stocky legs which were attached to massive clawed feet, the claws looking more like talons than anything else. If one were to look up from the monstrous feet, they would see a thin, green-scale covered body that extended back a good one-hundred feet or so. The body was built much like a cat's, the shoulder blades popping up in the back at the base of the neck, meaning that when the creature lumbered forwards, they moved past one another.
From the back end of the creature, a massive tail protruded, reaching back a good one-hundred and fifty feet from the end of the body, the top side covered in the same type of scales, though, the tip was darker and grew into a lighter, emerald green as it climbed atop the creature's back. The underside of the tail, and the underside of the belly was a smooth, white fleshy substance, mostly just muscle; not a whole lot of scale covering to protect the creature from the underside. The creature's head was not placed atop the shoulders as one would be expecting, instead, a long, tube-like neck attached the wedge-shaped head to the body. The length of the neck was about thirty-five feet.
The creature's neck was stretched out infront of it, the head swaying lazily back and forth as it viewed it's surroundings lazily, viewing for who it was waiting for. If people were to pay attention, they would notice a few things about the monster's appearance. From it's back, near the shoulder blades, two massive wings were folded against the things side, both of them leathery in appearance. If the thing were to unfold them and stretch them out to their full length, together, from tip to tip, they would equal one-hundred eighty feet, roughly about eighty-five feet in length each, considering that the back of the creature was wide.
The most majestic thing about the creature, however, was it's chest, and the top of its head. The top of the creature's head contained hornlets that sprouted out over its serpentine eyes, coming up in an arc to the top of its head where it met with a large fin-typed structure that looked as if it were made of some sort of grass. It wasn't really, as it was made out of a thinner type of scale, but anyway, it continued down the thing's back, ending at the end of the tail where it had slowly gotten smaller until it was part of the tail again. The creature's face was a giant snout, massive teeth hanging out from the mouth, a sight that terrified most people when they came in contact with it.
The chest was the most beautiful part of the creature, if, anyone could consider the thing beautiful. The scales piled up on top of each other, though, they subsided from green to a bright yellow. The scales stood out from the thing's chest and made it look proud, majestic. This is what was known as a crest, to anyone who'd ever experienced what this was before. As soon as the creature had sensed who it had been waiting for, it stretched its wings outwards and bent its head upwards to its full height. From the creature's foot, to the top of the head, the creature stood to fourty-five feet of terror. The wings outstretched, the head up, the crest outwards to show the creature as proud, the thing gave out a roar which would be heard throughout the park, and, would act as a signal to Arian.
She had wondered what a dragon looked like, and so, she would see one. She would see Vince in his finest form, in his finest glory; though, this was the only time she would see it, unless they became close friends, and she wished to see it more. Vincent, though this was his true, finest form, would not be using this body in the tournament. As true as it was that he would most likely have no competition in this form, it would not be fair, nor, would it make the bloodsport worth fighting for. Vincent would compete as a half-dragon and full-dragon only; he'd taken that vow, and would stick with it.
He just wanted Arian to see what he was, and that, she most likely would be afraid. If not.. choked up. As a green dragon, Vincent's breath weapon was a corrosive vapor which stuck to clothing, burnt it and flesh away, and if got within a person's lungs, would corrode them away from the inside. Definently not something that anyone wished to come in contact with. The vapor came off of Vincent's breath in this form, and if Arian were to come close enough, her eyes would water, and she would gag, and if she swallowed enough of the air around her, her eyes would burn. Though, she would take no serious damage unless Vince were to spit the substance at her.
Besides that stench, Vincentius smelled of fine leather; some people enjoyed that smell, not many enjoyed the smell of the acidic substance, though.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Tue Mar 17, 2009 9:04 pm
"Against the law?"
((Bear with me. Dead tired after working all night xD)
Having taken a branched off back, Arian returned to the main area some distance ahead of where Vince waited-and indeed, didn't take time at all to note the big...scaly...thing out in the middle of the park.
If the scales hadn't previously seen, on a smaller scale, she would have been out of luck identifying what the thing was. Dragon.
Venturing closer on the stones that made the path, steps and cloth boots soundless, Arian kept a safe distance away as she slowly circled the rather...well, HUGE a** M-nah.
Arian hardly defined monsters through physical characteristics. Vincent here, was nothing short of amazing. Face impassive, eyes alight with very clear wonder, Arian would eventually be in front of him, staring at the massive teeth, and just the SIZE of him in the first place-she wasn't standing particularly close in the first place, but indeed-even at that distance, she felt something funny in the air, and backed off further. Courtelli Natives were sensitive to such things, and Arian knew it.
When he moved suddenly, wings stretching, head lifting, Arian gave a slight start-but not one of fear, really, she just hopped back once, knees bent, posture that of a defensive fighter-not that she would have fought a dragon, armed with a pocket knife and then a sheathed larger one. Like hell-she would have run, if she honestly thought the impressive creature meant her harm.
Vibrantly colored eyes seemed to see everything at once, watchful-but they were curious as much as they were paranoid, and Arian lost the defensive stance, head tilted back to stare upwards, particularly at the artwork that was the Dragon's-Vince, his name was Vince-chest. Like mosaic. It was, indeed, interesting, pretty.
Arian was an odd sort, and she found beauty where others found only fear. It came, one might suppose, with growing up how she did, and more importantly-who she WAS when she did. You had to take what pleasure you could in the off thing-because there wasn't a hell of a lot to be had, otherwise.
Eyes traced upwards, feeling pretty God damned small, wondering how the hell he compressed or illusioned himself to be ONLY nearly seven feet tall when he was actually THIS big-He roared, and that did seem to startle her a little-though again, the same sort of bent kneed, watchful look, more reflex than intention-"Woooow...." She uttered, because even from her further back position-he was something to see indeed.
Long, long way away from home, the outlaw was. And now-her mind was brimming with questions.
"You're seriously warning me of that? Seriously?"-Arian Lennox
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 7:41 am
She was not really scared, as Vincent had expected, yet, her natural instincts told her that the dragon was to be feared, and so, in reaction to his movements and his roar, she moved. Though it was not intentional, she gave off some sign of fear, which Vincent would mess with her about at a later date, but first, he would give her an attempt to ask what questions she wanted to know before he changed back into his human form. So, with a rumble, which if she'd known the dragon well enough, she would have realized was a chuckle, he moved his long neck forward and pointed his wedge-shaped head at the ground, moving within a foot of Arian's body.
"S'okay... Touch me if you wish, and ask your questions if you want. I know you're curious; it shows in your eyes." With those words, it was apparent that Vincent was using some sort of rough translation to speak. The words were harsh and barely legible, even though she would understand them. They were more of a growl than actual speaking, the jaw of Vincent's mouth opening very little, the words escaping through almost clenched teeth. Though, Arian, if she were smart enough, would figure out why. Every small opening in Vincent's mouth let out some of the corrosive vapor, and even though it would not actually harm her, it would be noticed; she would most likely cough a bit.
His head swayed gently as he moved his body slightly, pushing his legs upwards so that his body was straightened. His legs left a good six or seven feet below his stomach, large enough for a human to move underneath him if the need arise, yet, most people never dared; not after seeing the massive dragon and his weight. Then again, most people would never guess that he weighed eighty tons; then again, most people never knew that dragon bones and hide was tough and heavy, as the bones had to be to support that kind of massive size. Vincent turned his head slightly upwards so that his snout was almost touching Arian's chest, peering at her with his green eyes, careful of breathing the corrosive vapors.
He would not speak again until she asked him a question, and at that, he would not speak until his head was away from her body. He was doing it for her safety, as she would surely realize. He somewhat liked Arian, seeing as how she was a warrior such as himself, and had withstood the normal fear that swept over people as they came face to face with a dragon. It was... admirable.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 3:44 pm
Man, was this day turning sour quickly. One second she was enjoying a peaceful walk through the park, the next second she was on the ground in pain. What's worse, what she sensed were not things she'd prefer to be vulnerable around. The source of that writhing sound, a much much larger signature of ancient energy, and a vile signature of chaos.. heading straight for her. In fact, it seemed pretty intent on introducing itself considering she was out of the way of any path.
He may have thought his presence was hidden, but even though she couldn't hear him over the ringing pain of her ears she could smell the richness on his clothing, taste the hate saturating the air about him, and feel the chaos coursing within every limb that moved through the shadows. Her blindness was not a weakness; oh no. As long as she had her darkness she could see everything as plain as day. Of course, perception did not mean precognition, and even if she had known he was going to assault her she was hardly in a state to stop him.
Folds of cloak fell back to her sides, joined by limp arms, as she was grabbed by the neck and lifted to reasonable maniacal threat level. Again his idea of 'before she could react' was a bit flawed as she injected a bit of her own energy into his attack as it formed, significantly weakening it; but he didn't need to know that just yet.
Her body twitched from the shock therapy and her ears were ringing like mad, but she heard his little speech... barely. In response she too smiled, the darkness seeming to creep menacingly around them in this odd moment of clarity.
"Take my life?" she said shakily as her hand began to move upwards, invisible from under her cloak, "You may try."
With that her left hand came out of the folds of cloth and touched the man's left wrist. Even the small tap was all she needed to shoot her dark energies precisely into the nerve bundle at the back, cutting off all signals to his hand... he wouldn't be using that for a while.
Without the use of his left hand, whether it was intentional or not, Selini would fall to the ground in a heap, thankful as she felt him drift away. With the rest of her strength she made the effort to gather her cloak and cover her ears once more; and with that the darkness would fade, all light around her returning to 'normal', as much as the term could be defined.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 4:13 pm
Sorla plopped his lazy a** on a park bench that was right over there by that big thing next to the tree.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 4:41 pm
Treeline near the entrance
All this fluctuation of energy, though not able to be sensed by the man, could be plainly seen even in the shadows. All this flickering and injecting of kinds was all too much commotion to the nearby hunter who, until this point, was rather content with keeping to himself. Yet upon seeing the figures and noticing them as two of his own team the man could no longer stand by idly as they tore each other apart. All in all as he began his dash towards the treeline all he could think was why they were throwing all these energies at each other? Why would they fight at all? But really... who could say, but the man wasn't going to stand around and just watch the scene play on.
He'd make it to Selini's side as the figure vanished, a rather anti-climatic scenario for sure, but one with less conflict in the end. With a bit of a shrug and jostle to boot, the man would gaze down to the crumpled figure of the shadowmancer who, in his eyes, seemed to be recovering from the attack she just suffered. So grazing down ever so softly the man would crouch down and balance on the balls of his feet, leaning forward ever so slightly as to examine the creature closer with his discolored eyes. Needless to say he couldn't see much through that cloak of hers, a garb that reminded him much of the formal wear of his clan's culture, yet they often wore much lighter textures than the darkened cloak of his friend here.
"Stand tall, don't show weakness." He'd say in a stern, yet potent tone. "When you do, they'll take advantage of you. When they do then we can't help you."
A strange sense of compassion to say the least, but the man was a warrior of sorts after all. It was likely that his words were the only bit of comfort this team would have, as the other two seemed to be far too into their own goals to progress the group's ideas together.
Still, to emphasize his point, the man would stand to his feet, coming to his full height with a proud, noble feeling encircling his entirety. There was no magic, no special powers, no visual effect. Just a man who took enough care to stand strong in his resolve.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 7:40 pm
"Against the law?"
Look at that! The movement of his neck and head had Arian's complete and total attention-she neither kept an eye on her right and left through peripherals nor did she think about who might be around she ought to be aware of-slightly widened eyes were fixed on his neck, mind producing imagined tendons and chain linked bones, muscle and ligaments.
Then she's no more than a foot away, scales and the smaller hornlets all the more closer for viewing-but so was the strange stuff, the stuff Arian was sensitive to.
Her eyes watered, and while Arian did not talk-her lips were pressed tightly closed, and she seemed...to have stopped breathing.
Well damn, this presented a problem, but not for long-she did not have her collar, but she did have on a turtleneck-which was folded down once. Arian pulled the cloth up and over her mouth and nose, which had an interesting effect in that it made her eyes all the more noticeable.
One hand to the collar, fingers at her right cheek, (Arian had long ago pocketed the small pocket knife), Arian's other hand moved at her side slightly as she listened to the odd sort of speech, looking over the sculptured artwork before her with a quiet sort of wonder-and it was, oddly enough, somewhat childlike, that curiosity and awe.
And indeed-it did show in her eyes. Everything always seemed to. She could hide nothing in them.
She reached out to touch him. Not something Arian typically MEANT to do, but once he was so close, and once he left the door open, she simply couldn't quite resist. Deft, graceful fingers traced down, following the natural pattern of his scales, eyes following her fingers, thoughtfulness taking hold in the vibrant little orbs so resembling tropical seas.
Her eyes still watered, but nothing bad. One would notice she had yet to blink tears away. Like for some reason she refused to, for any circumstance. He was not fake. She had wondered, a moment, but she trusted her senses more than any suspicion of illusion.
She took her hand back, but it was still raised slightly, fingers relaxed and so curved inward, small hand hovering a moment as he turned his head up a little. "...I cannot...decide...how you compress such magnificence into the two forms I saw earlier." She spoke, finally, the accented, exotic English hardly muffled, as the turtleneck was not pressing tightly against her mouth.
Indeed-this presented a problem. Matter couldn't be destroyed, right? She had read about Conservation of matter, and she had read some books on magic, and she had read about additive and subtractive magic-all of it.
Yet he had previously fit, somehow, into a nearly seven foot tall form. "And what are you expelling? Poison?" She did not sound alarmed at all by the suggestion or idea, merely curious, and with a brief glance to said vapors, depending how visible they would be to her. As if to ask if she ought to be concerned about that.
Though she really wasn't. "And you can fly? Is that hard? Can you do so in the other form? How do you GET in the other form? So much in so little?" She spoke slowly, but not so slow as to be annoying-one merely got the feeling she was carefully resisting going into a rush of words, seeming excited-
But her eyes again, they were not only curious-they were bright with that same amazement and...well...learning. She was learning, and took some great amount of interest in it, liked learning.
And in this expression seen in her eyes, suddenly-you didn't get the impression of an a** kicking warrior, conservative and reserved and resistant as hell to all forms of flattery. Arian sure as hell was a paradox. Crazy woman.
"You're seriously warning me of that? Seriously?"-Arian Lennox
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 8:40 pm
With identified threats gone, something clicked in the machine man's head and he seemed to just hang there slowly rotating on his right wrist, dirt still peeling off his fingers.
"Ach... you alright mien boy?"
Hex merely crackled as a sudden flood of happy hormones pumped into what was left of his brain. If he still had the flesh, he would be sporting the world's hardest... attention.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 8:47 pm
Vincent watched her, and watched closely as her hand brushed against his head, following the pattern of his scales, or so it seemed. However, in this form, Vincent was oblivious to such small touches; if she would have pressed down hard, or hit him, he might have felt a very minor pinprick of touch, but with her being delicate, no. She might have noticed that though Vincent had appeared live and warmly in his human form, as someone who was cold would most likely be pale, Vincent was definently cold in this form. His blood ran cold in his veins, and so, cold did not bother him, nor did most extreme temperatures.
Vincent also took care watching at how she reacted to the vapor escaping from his jaw. She didn't appear to be harmed by it, and so, that was a good thing. After a second, Vincent pulled his neck back a good five feet and answered her first question. "A sort of acid, is closer.. though it does have poison properties, it's more acidic... " Truth was, Vincent was not entirely sure of what his breath weapon was made of. It was natural, created in sacs that were attached to the lungs, and when willed, secreted the vapor into Vincent's lungs where he could then send it forth in a deadly cloud of gas. Most people didn't even know what hit them as the stuff took it's toll, burning away flesh, skin, and rotting lungs.
Vincent had seemingly ignored her first statement, seeing as how it was not a question, yet, he had not. The dragon spent a time thinking on how to respond to that, while yet again answering another of her questions. "Yes, yes.. I can fly, in this form and that. This form is a bit strenuous, but.. My wings are strong, and they carry me with ease; I just tire easily. My other form is very easy, as my wings are simply downsized.." Vincent gave Arian a slight show in which he pushed himself off the ground with his powerful legs and gave his massive wings a flap, the air catching the two large limbs and holding his form off the ground for a second. The gust of wind created would likely be enough to make Arian stumble, but Vincent was sure that she'd be fine, as he wasn't purposely directing the wind or strength of the gust at her.
After a second of showing that he could in-fact fly, Vincent's massive feet touched the ground and his claws dug in slightly, tearing large ruts in the ground. Vincent shook his head slightly, the fin-like structure on the top of his head swaying slightly. Her third and forth questions, and her first statement made earlier, were to be answered as Vincent opened his mouth again. "It.. takes a lot of magical energy for me to compress this into that form. Though, it's not as if I were trying to walk into the body.. I shrink this form magically, and then fit. I just make myself smaller and smaller until it works. It exhausts me when I first get back into the human form, and, when I go from human to half-dragon, it's just as exhausting. Definitely a weakness, not something I'm proud of."
With that, the dragon gave Arian a wink and a rumble of a chuckle again, and leaned his head closer to her body again, careful of his breath. As his eye opened back from the wink, his serpentine slit of an eye narrowed back into it's original position, originally being larger when it was closed. "You won't tell anyone that secret, will you?" Vincent rumbled from behind a closed jaw, yet, she would hear it, simply because of how close she was and how loud his voice was. After-all, she was trying to learn, and if she were to learn, she'd have to listen closely.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Mar 18, 2009 9:13 pm
"Against the law?"
Once again, Arian seemed to take in information like a sponge, pardon the cliche. Vibrant eyes watched intently while she translated mentally, keeping up, understanding each word and phrase nearly as quickly as it was spoken.
She did not falter, really, or freak out or fall-merely moved with her body's natural inclination to move, right foot now becoming the lead while her left stepped back, forming a more solid base of balance.
This too, Arian watched and took in, head tilting slightly to the right, only her eyes left for expression-but they were what usually mattered anyway. Arian was very good at remaining impassive faced. Her expression came from her eyes.
At the explaination of magic, Arian thought over texts she had read, and people she had fought, and Vince's new information was added to what she already had stored, nestled neatly along the rest as she considered it. He said it exhausted him, and Arian took that as the compensation of compressing his form, and wondered at it. Like her, he was not one to embrace weaknesses. Accept them, but never flaunt them.
It was harder to translate the words he spoke next-but she did, after a brief moment of intense listening, understand.
Eyes were serious, and the native nodded. "No. It is yours." And indeed-not a soul would ever hear the secret of weakness from the native's lips, never. She let people keep to themselves what they wished, hide what they wanted to hide.
And the secret of weaknesses was never something to speak of. She herself would rather have a man dead than telling of a discovered weakness-of which she did, indeed, possess.
Some obvious. Some not so much. Either way-Arian did not much tolerate weakness in herself, and would not hear of it being heralded.
Vince's secret couldn't have been entrusted to more secretive lips and ears.
"Though I wonder-you fight in such a form?" And the way she spoke, the way her eyes were thoughtful, admiring rather than furtive-it was instantly obvious she found him not frightening, something to be scorned-but majestic in a way, possessing a beauty that was strange to her-as some things were-but no less appealing, interesting.
"...thank you for satisfying my curiosity." She remembers to say, amending, not wishing to make him feel like a freak, or some such thing-Arian was foreign. She knew the frustrations of being 'different', even from the most well meaning of people. "I am pleased to know of your magnificence. " And a nod, coupled with a slight bending of her back-it was nearly a bow, except her head was up enough she could keep her eyes on him.
For in Arian's land, a warrior never turned their back to you, or closed their eyes. It was a sign of disrespect, of superiority. And, in Arian's world of violence, of being an outlaw-of stupidity.
You could not defend yourself against an attack you never saw coming. Habit. She expected no attack here, but habit and tradition mixed kept her eyes on him in the nod of gratitude.
"You're seriously warning me of that? Seriously?"-Arian Lennox
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Thu Mar 19, 2009 11:01 pm
The world was spinning, like some video game with the words "You're Dead" hanging in the center of the screen. No, she wasn't dead. In fact, she was far from it, and although she suddenly felt rather tired, she was recovering well. It helped when you didn't have to take full damage from powerful attacks, but the ringing in her ears still bothered her to no end.
There was another presence about, and this one seemed to have interest in her as well.. boy was she popular today. This one didn't seem evil, however, so this time she was content to stay on the ground while she tried to convince the world to stop spinning so fast. Besides, it was way too familiar, she must be dreaming by this point.
"Stand tall, don't show weakness."
Yep, definitely a dream.
"But Father, I am so very tired." she mumbled idly.
"..they'll take advantage of you... we can't help you." it was a jumble of words, and about that time where things stopped making sense. Seriously, who was this guy? Who couldn't help her? Or, who would, for that matter? The concentration she had to put into that statement did manage to wake her from her daze, however, and finally she realized what was going on... somewhat.
Folds of cloak moved away from her head to reveal a sideways glance up, eyebrow raised. The gesture was a bit superficial, of course, since the blindfold was still tightly secured around her eyes and she didn't really use them to see anyways, but it would send her message well enough. This random lecture was perplexing, to say the least. Of course no one was going to help her; the darkness was a lonely place and she knew well enough how to survive on her own strength. If he was coming over just to tell her he wasn't going to help, why come over at all?
Picking herself up after him, she shakily brushed off bits of dirt and grass from her cloak and black outfit beneath, the dark, fair, egyptian-looking skin of her arms and face finally becoming clear now that the shadows weren't playing tricks on any eyes. Once she felt she had adequately stabilized her voice she fully faced him, her gaze feeling as if it could pierce through the cloth that bound her, and even his very skin.
"Who are you and what is it you want?" she asked at long last. Her voice was deep, but harmonic; making her slower, calculated speech sound more like a lyric half sung.
It was a legitimate question. After all, she had yet to meet anyone on her team, with the exception of that cynic a moment ago, but that hardly counted as a 'meeting'. She had been approached by Phalanx representatives, and since she was pretty much sold with the promise of riches and (most importantly) a wish, they didn't bother to give her much information beyond the where and when.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 1:48 pm
To be honest, all he had to go on were a few descriptions as far as recognizing people goes. So Zen, in tact with his true nature, always studied up a little bit before going in for his work, this time being the study of his own team mates of course. Needless to say a shadowmancer of sorts wouldn't be hard to spot, so long as you looked at appearances alone. Though the extent of her powers and how they worked eluded his studies all together. Then again he only truly looked for a reference of how they appeared, as the meeting would do the rest of its work in the end.
He'd eye her with his discolored eyes, a trait she likely couldn't see being blind and all. However were she able to distinguish things such as color and depth the woman would 'see' that his eyes were different from one another, one being a pale blue color while the other a pitch black. And were she able to 'see' the tattoos upon his body she'd notice that the man was covered from head to toe in various tribal markings which likely told some sort of tale or story of some kind. Who could say? Regardless of what they meant, the drawings seemed to be significant in some way and were she able to sense spiritual powers she could tell that they came from the respective origins.
"Zen." He'd say simply, obviously being a man of few words. "You're on my team, are you not?" The man's speech didn't lag at her piercing eyes, though he did feel the pressure a slight bit. Were he not used to dealing with disgruntle spirits so oft she might have gotten to him a bit more. But that's beside the point, one way or another he'd allow himself to continue on.
"Being acquainted or not doesn't matter." He'd note dismissively, leaning against the nearby tree as a gesture of his passive intent. "But as I said before... don't show your weaknesses so openly. Because this is no longer about any one of us and a single goal, but all of us pushing through to the end as victors."
The hunter had to admit, his team hasn't been too inspiring so far. Tak seemed to be assaulting the rest in some sort of systematical motivation attempt of some kind, the Shadowmancer seemed fine to openly reveal her weaknesses and cynicism, and the man was willing to bet the last representative wouldn't be much better than the others. Needless to say Zen felt that this team had a long way to go before they were even close to working together, much less winning this tournament.
"And if your goals are so weak that you're willing to put yourself and the team at risk... you're better off going home."
A bit cold, to say the least, but it got his point across rather clearly.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Mar 20, 2009 8:47 pm
And so Vince watched as she gave him a bow and tilted his head down towards the ground in his own type of bow. At the same time he did so, however, he began whispering something in a strange language which consisted of many gargling sounds and deep growling sounds which were actually the draconic language. At the end of Vince's whispering, his body began to shrink and his neck began to get smaller, along with his tail. Vince's body was basically sucking itself back into the torso. His legs became smaller as his body shrunk down towards the ground. After about thirty seconds, Vince's body was small, and then, a single word was mumbled among the transforming mass and the human body appeared in the small dragon's place.
However, the human body was not in the place that it was likely expected. It was not standing up, but instead, it was on all fours, hands and knees. Vincent was breathing hard, gasping for breath and covered in sweat. It would be a few minutes before he gained enough energy to stand or move away from his current position, but he was fine with that. He was sitting there on all fours wearing only a pair of shorts which he'd materialized along with his human body. He would put actual clothes on later, but it wouldn't matter. It was only Arian, and he was sure that she'd seen a finely toned man in nothing but athletic shorts before.
"You... Are... welcome.." Vincent managed to spit out between deep breaths from which his body shuddered as it tried to get oxygen to all of his large muscles. His body required massive amounts of oxygen, and if it wasn't well supplied, his body was useless, as it was now. It would be, like stated earlier, a few minutes before he would be able to stand and physically exert himself once more. True enough, if someone wished to harm Vincent, it would be easy while he was in this position, yet, for whatever reason, he knew that he would be protected. Whether that protection came from one of his team members or from someone else, he wasn't sure.
"The downside.... to my... body..." Vincent wheezed again and let out a cough of a laugh. Vincent moved his neck slightly in an attempt to peer upwards, but his neck muscles wouldn't even respond to that, so, he was stuck looking at Arian's shins.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
