|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 7:49 pm
Her movements were fluid, nothing wasted. Her skin looked a bit odd until it became apparent she was covered in minute scales. She certainly didn't move like a civilian.
At the question she just quirked an ear and eyebrow. "He's old enough to care for himself, you on the other hand, I gotta wonder." Moving quickly she'd pulled his sword hand out and started checking his hand, then wrist. Maybe it wasn't Devi she was talking to about the easy way or the hard way.
Devi tried not to let the laughter bubbling up out. "Just go with it. She could hand both of us our rears before you'd get to the door."
He'd given fair warning, if the kitten wanted to take it was up to him. he kn ew better by now.
Hard to win an argument with someone who could flip a centaur.
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:01 pm
Dusty may not be the most experienced soul in this world, but he could tell when someone moved like a fighter - and if Devi was saying that she could take them both down, then maybe, just for the novelty, he could listen.
But that didn't mean he was going to keep his mouth shut.
"Hey, hey! I'm Fa'e, you know," the deerkitten informed her, barely tolerating her inspection of his sword arm (not that he was sure what she was inspecting - most of it was covered by his natural armor, anyway!) "I'm older than I look!" The easy fallback, and one that had cowed many a prying person on Gaia. An adult gives you a funny look because you're a kid with a sword on your back? I'm older than I look backs them down quick as spit, because you really just couldn't tell if you were meeting a child or a multi-millenia old demon on the street just from looks. The fact that Dusty was actually younger than he looked was irrelevant - he was plenty mature, and that was what mattered!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:10 pm
"So is he, doesn't matter. You fought, you got flipped via your sword hand you get checked over. End of story. And I don't give a s**t if you're two billion years old. You're not the only one who's 'older than I look'. You fought, you got flipped, you get checked over. Now hush up and sit still!"
Then she did something with her fingers that made gripping the sword easier.
"A knight is a fighter who knows when to fight, when to flee, and when to let himself be checked over just to be safe. I know what I'm talking about." There was a growl in her voice that brokered no argument. She checked him, poking certain places, pressing others and bit by bit any little strain or bruise seemed to let up.
Devi just tried to be inconspicuous. This could end one of very few ways. None of them quiet or the 'fluffy clouds' ending. Should be entertaining.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:19 pm
... Okay, so the wrist might have been a little sore. A little. But it wasn't anything Dusty hadn't felt before, and wasn't anything that he didn't heal from fast!... though some part of him might admit, okay, his wrist was feeling a little bit better now. Maybe more than a little. He wouldn't be thanking anyone for it, though!
"Oh, you know a lot of knights, then?" was the most snarky response Dusty could think of. In light of the situation, it probably wasn't very effective - particularly since he was still pretty much just standing there and taking it. But hey, a deerkitten had nothing, if he didn't have his pride and a smart mouth to whine with when it was injured.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:27 pm
Devi watched bemused as the deerkitten was run through the gamut that was Momma Dragon. He learned a long, long time ago to just not argue when Drac was like this. It never ended well for him.
Then Dusty had to make a comment about her knowing about knights. "Oh Hades, I'm not witnessing this." He firmly stepped back, covering his eyes with one hand.
Before he got much time to speculate Drac moved, cleanly flipping him over her shoulder and into the ground. Somehow she managed to make it so he landed on his arms with them trapped under him, knees on either side of his body pressing hard enough that he couldn't get them loose. Her tail was wrapped tightly around his legs at the knees, holding them completely still. One of her hands fisted in his hair pulling his head back as a sword that seemingly appeared from no where rested against his throat.
Drac looked pissed. "I have fought and bled alongside my brothers and sisters in Battle. I have lost battles and I have waged war and won. You, child, do not get to make comments about knighthood on me."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:36 pm
Some people, when finding themselves abruptly thrown around and pinned on the ground, would realize that it was time for them to shut the hell up. Something about the situation, between being immobilized and having a blade at their throat before they could do more than squeak protest, would convince them that they were messing with someone they did not want to mess with, and that they needed to pull their head out of their a** before it was removed from their shoulders.
But Dusty was a special breed. A special, and very stupid, breed of prepubescent child that felt entitled to the world and utterly secure in their own being. Drac was tougher than him - so what? If Dusty had all his memories, that wouldn't be the case. Dusty knew who he'd been, what he'd been, and he hadn't met anything yet that could trump it. And if Drac was going to be all high and mighty, going to shove her weight around and try to bully him into admitting that he wasn't what he was, he wasn't going to put up with it.
"You think I haven't? I fought wars, even if they're beyond what I remember! All because I don't know everything I used to doesn't mean it's not there," Dusty snapped, a growl in his voice as he tried to pull free - somewhat alarmingly, the deerkitten did not seemed worried about the blade, and was unafraid of getting his throat cut if that was what it took to assert himself. He was young, and he wasn't as strong as he should be - but that didn't mean he didn't deserve to be! That he hadn't earned it already, even if he'd lost it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:50 pm
"If this is how you react to being thrown to the ground and shown that you need to grow it is no wonder that you've been found lacking." Her voice came out a viscous growl. "A true knight does not assume he is the best! A true knight realizes that there will always be someone, somewhere out there, that can and will kill him if he lets it. That every defense has it's vulnerability. A true knight knows that knowledge alone does not win a battle. That strength alone does not guarantee victory. That a keen blade does not assure the fall of the enemy. A true knight knows that all of these must be applied properly. A true knight knows that you may win a thousand battles but it only takes one loss!"
By the end of her tirade her voice was a battle roar. Still kneeling over him her form shifted and grew. The sword that once seemed ridiculously huge seemed to fit now even as it cut in slightly where it rested against Dustin's throat. Wide wings spread tail unwinding from his legs and becoming reptilian with feathers at the end that buzzed angrily. The knees at his sides grew boned points at the end. Her feet grew and became talons that held his legs still. The hand holding his hair grew until she could easily hold his head in just her hand, making pinpricks on either side of his face.
Devi watched this, amazed that someone could anger Draconayzia so much. Then again, what he had implied was deeply insulting. "Who were you in your past life Dustin?" His voice was deeper, older. Dustin was not the only one who was 'older than he looked'.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:13 pm
It cut, but there was no blood. On this part Dusty had reason for his confidence - blades could hurt, and he probably wouldn't want to try cutting off pieces of himself, but their damage was limited. And he wasn't about to be bullied into acting like the coward he never was and never could be, not but at the expense of how he defined himself.
Even so, his ears were flat on his head, and his fur was standing on end. Drac was not an unimposing figure, and right now, Dustin would like very much to get away from her - but if only he could!
"I'm not stupid! Stop treating me like I don't know anything!" His limits were starting to get pushed now, though it wasn't as though they were very hard to find. He'd been stressed and angry before he'd even run into Devi; it had been that one loss that Drac spoke about, in fact, the one loss that had put his future in jeopardy. And then after losing the sparring match, his graciousness had been fairly well depleted. What did she want from him now? To shut up while she tried lecturing him endlessly, tried to tell him what he was doing wrong? His Guardian tried that. Arri tried it constantly. If Dusty didn't want to hear it, then he wasn't going to listen, and nobody could make him do anything!
So angry was he now, in fact, that he forgot that he was supposed to be tight-lipped about his past life. Never mind the consequences - he was hotheaded, riled up and wronged, unable to act now except through his words. His eyes flashed, his teeth were bared - "I was Excalibur," Dusty informed Devmani. "I have fought. And I've won - every time - until I wasn't good enough, and I tied. And I may not be the same that I was - yet - but I will be!"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:24 pm
"I will treat you with what you earn, hatchling. Knowledge and power are nothing without the wisdom to use it. If you cannot hold your temper you risk everything you care about!"
Devmani gave him a small nod. "Then you were a weapon. something designed to fight and win. But you were not the wielder. It was not your judgment that led the army, but the judgment of your wielder. You have the knowledge of where to swing, where to cut, but not the judgment of the wielder, or the temperament to know when to strike and when to fold when things are not going as you believe they should."
The woman-dragon snarled near his face, eyes still glowing before she abruptly stood. "Stupid, arrogant, hatchling! We all have things we 'deserve', that does not guarantee we get them!"
Her sword was back in it's scabbard, tail buzzing and lashing violently as she tried to calm herself.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 9:38 pm
Not your judgment that led the army....
That was a strange thought, and not one that Dusty knew how to approach. Excalibur had always made the king, not the other way around. Arthur was nothing until he'd taken the sword from the stone - and when he'd later found that sword to be an imposter, he'd struck out to find the real sword immediately. Without it, the king would have been false. If Excalibur made the king, then wasn't Excalibur the true power...?
It wasn't something Dusty was going to sit and ponder about, however. Drac had stood - that meant he was no longer pinned, no longer had a blade at his throat. That meant that the time for getting clear of the vicious dragon-woman was now. He scrabbled to his feet, a bit more quickly than he'd really intended, sorting out the wrinkles in his clothing and inspecting the new grass stains on his pants. Ah, they'd have to get washed. He'd just get C-A to do it, though, no biggie.
"We can't get anything if we don't try for them, either," Dusty grumbled, gently touching the new cut on his neck. Not deep, but still a bit psychologically disturbing, even for someone that was in no danger from it. "I know I can't do everything I want to yet, but I know that I'll get there, and I'll do better than before. That's what a second chance is all about, right?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:19 pm
"No, it isn't to do better it's to be better." Devmani gave him a grave look.
"The people will not follow the weapon, but the person who wields it. the weapon is a symbol for the man. It was not Excaliber's fellows that bled and died at his side but Arthur's." Drac's fist curled in frustration. It was now apparent that she was at least as tall as her 'son' when in her natural form. Right now that form was seeping anger, insult and barely restrained violence. One hand struck out at a nearby tree and left deep groves in ti's wake.
"I'm leaving before I let my temper get the best of my judgment. Devi, I'll see you at home." Turning she walked towards the forest, vanishing in the foliage. A moment later a winged shape could be seen over the tree tops, a loud howl, thick with grief and anger heard as it flew away.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:29 pm
Dusty should have been fuming. And part of him definitely was - but there was another part, somewhat detached from the moment, that observed with fascination the shape streaking away over the trees, and whispered to him small reminders of how very, very badly that could have gone just then.
Unfortunately for him, it wasn't a very loud voice.
"I'm going to be better," Dusty muttered. And he knew that he would - just as soon as he could catch up with what he was. But on days like today... that seemed like a far distance indeed.
It occurred to him that he should be done here. That it was better for him to leave now, than to wait and provoke whatever lecture Devmani was sure to be preparing for him. And he turned to do just that, but then paused. "... Devi. What about you?" the child turned to face the youth, both confrontational and curious. "Are you better yet?"
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:35 pm
Devi sat there, knowing that while she looked strong now later she'd be in a miserable heap, trying to push the memories back.
Old, old eyes rose and met Dustin's. "Not yet. At least, I don't think so. I was a teacher, a scholar, and a friend. I like to think that I've at the very least drawn even. But I'll never stop trying to improve myself. It's a life long work in progress."
Sighing softly, he drew a hand through his hair. "I won't lecture you, and I'll still spar with you, teach you, if you want. But there is something I'd like you to think about. A knight follows before he leads. Dustin, would anyone follow you right now?"
That said he turned his attention to his things, shucking the shorts and returning to his normal form. The staff was disassembled and put back in it's case, the pack thrown on his back, he got ready to go home.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Reply
