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 Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 12:33 pm
Jordan's daily weapons training was sort of on hold at the moment. With Ferros in his golem rather than being in weapon form, Jordan couldn't do the slow, ritualized forms that they'd developed together; instead, he had brought out his chain and was attacking one of the dummies on the field.
"I don't like it," Ferros grumbled from where he was sitting.
"I know you don't," Jordan paused to say, "but you're too big to use in close quarters and spars now, and I know you agree that I shouldn't be unarmed. It's a chance to practice."
Ferros rumbled unhappily and whapped his tail against the ground, creating a long furrow in the grass.
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Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 1:39 pm
This was so weird. So. Weird. Madison kept glancing over her shoulder at the surprisingly short, elegant young man who followed her - he kept being distracted by everything, scuffing bare feet through the grass. His skin was black - not human Black, but black as jet, faintly scaled when she looked closely. He was wearing robes in what she thought was a Japanese style, but by far the most startling thing about him was his face. Or face s, rather. He had four of them, one facing forward as 'normal', one on each side, and one on the back. He had a black topknot of hair in the middle, crowning his skull. And all eight yellow eyes flickered with eager curiosity. "Kouki. Kouki. Come on, you - you wanted to show me proper form, now's your chance! Come on," she said, aloud, reaching out one hand to tug at his robes. He didn't have to turn to see her; instead, the face closest to her smiled. "Yes, we were just remembering," he said, all four mouths moving in unison, producing sound. "We have not moved our limbs for a long time - we do not have limbs at all, in our true form. We are remembering..." Four brows furrowed in vague confusion. There was a limit to memory, as Madison knew well. Still, she managed to keep him moving towards the training field - and the figure she saw there chased any thought of sword training from her mind. "Jordan... Jordan?!" she cried out, releasing Kouki and running towards him, worry and delight mingled in her voice.
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Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 2:14 pm
Someone was calling his name, someone with a very familiar voice. Jordan turned, a bright smile appearing on his face, and held his free arm out towards Madison. "Maddie? Hey! Hi! How're you doing?" Ferros rose slowly from his spot on the grass, steam puffing from the pipes on his shoulderblades, and loomed.
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Posted: Mon Aug 20, 2012 5:44 pm
"You're okay - thank god, you're okay," she managed, wrapping her arms around him as tears stung her eyes. Only a few escaped, though, and she quickly wiped them away as she stepped back from the embrace, smiling widely. "I was worried... I thought maybe..." She shook her head hard without finishing the sentence. "But you're not. You're okay. You... you are okay, aren't you?" she added, peering at him with sudden fear. Behind her, Kouki took a step back. "We think you must be Ferros," the serpent-sword said, after a moment. "Yes?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:15 pm
Jordan hugged Maddie gently, feeling a sharp pang of concern and guilt. His disappearance had hurt her too. So many people worried because of him; but he couldn't take care of his people without caring for them. Something twisted painfully in him, but he managed to keep a smile on his face. "Mostly okay," he said. "Bad dreams, but y'know. It's a job hazard." "Yes," Ferros agreed. "I am Ferros. You are Kouki." It was less a question than a statement. The dragon stared at the serpent for long seconds. Then he exhaled a puff of smoke and said, "You are not to touch my hunter." Jordan half-turned, surprised. "Ferros, what?"
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 1:48 pm
"Yeah... yeah, I know that one, for sure." Madison made a face, then grinned sheepishly. "I'm glad you're back. Welcome home." Her eyebrows rose at Ferros' words; Kouki shrank back, inching behind Madison for a moment. Then the serpent-sword seemed to gather his courage and step away again, standing on his own two feet rather than hiding. "We will not. We do not wish to touch any other Hunter," he said, unease in his quad-toned voice. "Not even in this body." Eight yellow eyes flicked their gazes towards Jordan, though, as best they could given their varying positions around Kouki's head. "We are thankful for what was done under duress, then. We did not like it either, though we now understand the necessity." He sketched a bow in Jordan's direction. "... wait, I think they're talking about what went down in the Haunted House, that time." Madison said, with a sigh. She offered Ferros a wry smile. "It's nice to meet you directly, Ferros - I promise, Kouki doesn't want to steal Jordan. He's got more than enough to handle with me," she added, grinning. Kouki just nodded, though the movement looked really weird given that all four faces tried to nod at once, using the same head.
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 2:14 pm
"Thanks." Jordan's smile was more genuine this time. "Good to be home." Ferros stared at Kouki for a few more seconds, then huffed, shaking his shoulders so that the metal plates rattled. "Good," he grumped, and seated himself on the ground again. "He is my hunter. As she is yours. We like her," he added. Jordan laughed a little. "I haven't thought about that for months," he said. "Good to have it settled, I guess."
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Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2012 2:20 pm
"Yeah, I haven't either - well, uh. I mean, I was kind of unconscious at the time, so..." Madison shrugged, then smiled at Ferros. "Thanks. I like you, too - you keep this guy out of trouble," she added, reaching out and tousling Jordan's hair. The weapon hadn't said she couldn't touch, after all! Then she tilted her head at Ferros, studying him. "I've never seen anything like you before," she admitted, glancing at Jordan, and then back at Kouki. "Or like Kouki, for that matter. Kouki says he has, um, a true form... do you have one too, Ferros?" Maybe it was just the golem thing, but like Kouki, Ferros looked a bit... off in translation. Like something way bigger poured into a human body that couldn't quite hold it.
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Posted: Wed Aug 22, 2012 12:39 pm
There were people who were allowed to touch Ferros's human without getting so much as a blink from him, and Madison was one of those people. It was only Kouki he had had a problem with, and that had begun with the single, simple incident at the Haunted House and grown irrationally into a grudge. The reassurance in Kouki's own words had eased that unreasonable fear, and Ferros now studied the serpent with interest. So this was that Kouki was and had been. The dragon twitched one headfin at Madison's question, surprised. "Yes. I should be much bigger," he answered, a trace of sulkiness in his voice. "And I do not like having legs." He dug his footclaws into the grass, raking long furrows. Jordan laughed. "As far as I can tell - well, the sense I get of his self-image is building-sized," he explained. "Whether that's literal or ego ... ?" Ferros huffed, offended. "Literal," he replied with great dignity. "I am made for smashing things." "I know. I'm pulling your leg." "I don't like having legs." Ferros whacked the ground with his tail again.
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Posted: Sat Aug 25, 2012 10:28 am
"We do not like legs either," Kouki offered. "We never have... we don't think." Again that odd head-tilt (or series of them), as the serpent-sword attempted to chase a flicker of memory and hit a wall. "Serpents are not meant to walk. We slither. It is much better." "Yeah, I kind of figured you would be, somehow," Madison mused, looking at Ferros. "That big ol' hammer, and all that." She shook her head, grinning at Jordan. "This is weird, isn't it? I wasn't expecting anything like this when they said testing. It's kind of fun, though, getting to see and talk to everyone's weapons..." "Fun for you, perhaps," Kouki said, with a hissing sigh. He sat down with a thump, his robes puddling out around him and making him look rather drowned in fabric.
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Posted: Sun Aug 26, 2012 4:19 am
"I walked," Ferros said. "But not with legs like this." He flexed the claws on his feet again. "I think ... " He tilted his head, the glow of his eyes muting briefly with embarrassment. "When I first had legs," he said, "I fell down." An echo of memory flickered in his mind, a distant fragment that bore a familiar affection and faint longing, but when he tried to grasp it, it slipped away like fire between the fingers. He sighed faintly and plucked a clump of earth out of the ground, irritated again by his inability to recall what felt somehow important. "Really weird," Jordan agreed. "Makes me glad that Ferros likes me, too. We had to rescue Jerry from Roar," he added. Ferros puffed steam. "Soon we will be out of these bodies," he told Kouki reassuringly.
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