<A> Dragon Bait (Sarka/Xun/Rio)

[Meepfur]

Sarka lay sphinx-like near the shore of a lake at the edge of the Pantheon grounds, an open basket of food beside her. She had picked a few things out of it, fruit mostly, but at the moment, it sat ignored while she practiced spells to pass the time. The liontaur was waiting for someone she'd never met, bid to do so as a favor for Love. She didn't consider herself his follower, but she did live with them, and because of that did feel she owed him for the shelter he provided. He didn't usually ask anything of her in return, but today he needed her help.

Deceiving and drugging gods wasn't really her area of expertise, and she couldn't say she was looking forward to it if they got caught, but it was rather exciting...except for the waiting part. Holding back a sigh, she cast another juggling lights spell and watched the multicolored lights whirl in the air before her.  

[A Wandering Esper]

The dragon Sarka was waiting for was, of course, completely unaware that he was being waited on at all. At least, the lion-taur had chosen the best place to wait for her unsuspecting victim - Xun Jiang was bound to be attracted to water sooner or later.

Thankfully for the liontaur, it happened to be sooner rather than later - through so far it looked like the dragon king hadn't noticed her at all. He had simply gone to the water and was prepared to dive in it.  

[Meepfur]

Ah, there! Rio had been right to tell her to wait near the dragon's element of water, and she was glad that it did happen to be sooner rather than later, though the blue-and-purple god didn't seem to notice her. Sarka quirked a sardonic grin - how ridiculous that she gotten so used to being noticed! Ah, humility. She had best remember it when she finally returned to her world and was no longer an unusual sight.

In an attempt to be at least moderately subtle, she didn't call out to gain his attention; rather, she pretended not to have noticed him, either. Dismissing the colored lights, she leaned down and dipped a clawed finger in the water and 'practiced' her frost spell, creating a very thin layer of ice over half the lake.  

[A Wandering Esper]

Of course, it was hard to go for a swim when most of the lake started to frost over in an instant.

Wait, that hadn't been part of the plan, not at all !

Well, not Xun Jiang's plan anyway - through Sarka's was working wonderfully - the emergence of the ice startled the dragon, and it was easy enough for him to follow the visual trail and finally see her.

Oh my. What was going on here ?

"Where you... ah, practicing ?" There were other lakes nearby, and he could go to these instead. He could have easily made her leave, but really, what would be the point ?  

[Meepfur]

When he spoke, Sarka finally 'noticed' the god, and let her golden eyes widen in false surprise. "Oh, I didn't notice you there!" Lifting her hand from the water and letting the ice disappear, she chuckled sheepishly. "My apologies."

"I was, but I can practice something else instead. Something less...cold."  

[A Wandering Esper]

"Oh, there is no need to move. I daresay there has to be enough lake for the both of us, no ?" The dragon looked amused now, falling straight in Sarka's plot. He had, after all, no reason to be suspicious of the mortal at all. Those who stayed this close to the pantheon usually knew, anyway, unless they were new.

From her reaction to him, she hadn't been new,

"And you would be ?" He asked, dipping his toes in the water as if to test it's temperature now that the ice had retreated.  

[Meepfur]

"Still, you would probably rather not have ice in your bath. I will entertain myself in other ways." So saying, she created a small ball of light in her hands and tossed it into the air. It burst several seconds later.

"Sarka dar Shampa," she replied, bending her torso in a slight bow. "And you?"  

[A Wandering Esper]

The water was still a little too close to frozen for the dragon's taste, so instead he settled to watch the mage's antics. Frost and balls of light... How strange indeed, and unusual to see mortals wield such power so easily. "I am Xun Jiang." He introduced himself. "The dragon king Ti Lung."

Really, it was almost too easy for her - there he just confirmed in a very obvious way that he was the dragon she'd been looking for.

"Are you some sort of mage ?" He asked, curious at her displays of power and unable to keep that curiosity tucked away any longer.  

[Meepfur]

"I am honored to meet you, Dragon." Sarka placed a hand over her heart and dipped her head. Xun Jiang certainly didn't look like a King, being still very femiine in body, but she understood that such was apparently the case for any god who began with a female host; or, she imagined, a goddess with a male host.

"I am a magic user," she answered with a nod. "I was studying to be a wizard, before..." She let the statement trail off.

"I'd like to return to it." The liontaur wasn't usually quite so quick to share, but since she was trying to keep his attention and, hopefully, get him to share some of 'her' food, it would help to be interesting.  

[A Wandering Esper]

Before... Ah. Well. Through her statement of wanting to go back to the world that had been her's made him think. "That would probably be possible, if your world still exists. By recreating the sky, my Master surely must have restored the links that once allowed world-travels through Universe..." He said, pensive. He wasn't certain, but... Wasn't it part of the point of such a restoration ?

"And if that's not possible, then there are other ways." He knew just enough to offer assistance, should she need it.  

[Meepfur]

"I intend to find out, soon enough," Sarka said with a nod. "Once I've made my preparations, I will try to open a portal." Once she was as sure as she could be that she wouldn't deposit herself somewhere other than Tarna. Again. But she'd been desperate the first time, in a hurry, and then the demon had attacked... This time would be different, and she would succeed. She knew what mistakes she'd made before, and wouldn't make them again.

The magic user reached into her basket and pulled out a yellow-iced cupcake to nibble on, then hesitated. "Ah, forgive my rudeness. Would you like one? I have another."  

[A Wandering Esper]

"I wish you the best of lucks, then." It was understandable that she wanted to go home, and then... maybe she'd mention the gods she'd met to her people when she did.

It was beneficial, really, and saw no need to try to stop her. Forced worship wasn't true worship, wasn't it ?

Capcake ? He wasn't a sweets fiend like Forest was, but it would be rude to refuse, wouldn't it ? "Certainly, that looks delicious." He said with a smile.

Bait taken.  

[Meepfur]

"Thank you."

Sarka's smile broadened then, as she was both delighted and relieved that he accepted. There wasn't exactly a back-up plan here! A calm spell was sometimes effective for sending people to sleep, but it probably wouldn't have such a strong effect on a god - and would be ridiculously obvious, to boot. She took the other cupcake, this one iced in blue, from the basket and offered it to the Dragon King.

"My friend makes them, they're very good." Usually not laced with something to induce drowsiness, but that was a minor, tasteless detail.  

[A Wandering Esper]

The dragon accepted the cupcake carefully - he wanted his cupcake without any extra grass, thank you, so it would do little good to drop it.

"Where is it that you come from ?" He asked, idly, as he peeled the wrapper away and took a bite, careful not to spread frosting all over his face. That would be hardly sophisticated and god-like, wouldn't it ?

Not that eating a cupcake was, in the first place, but the dragon king didn't seem to care much.  

[Meepfur]

"The world of Gloriana, a city called Tarna. It is a wonder to behold, truly, rising up out of the savannah on three tiers, and the Mto Kubwa river running beside it. The humans built it centuries ago, but it was near-empty when my people found it, after some great war from which little memory remains. We took it and made it our own, and protected what humans were left."

And subsequently made the outnumbered humans into second-class citizens, but that wasn't really a topic for polite conversation, and something she was personally embarrassed by.