Kryslin
[Has Delusions of Authorship]
- Location
- Mythic Iowa
I am also a very silly person.
Scaling Up
- Thread starter Kryslin
- Start date
You want silly?I am also a very silly person.
In Greek Mythology, Chiron was a half-horse, half-human doctor.
Did that make him the Centaur for Disease Control?
Leechblade
Orientation Nitpicking
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His
I'm more interested in the fate of Hunts-The-Ice.
Hunter Hebert perhaps?
Hunter Hebert perhaps?
Itsune
Eldritch horror, Ship's Cat, Emergency Gunner.
- Location
- Somewhere in King County Washington
Technically that is exactly what he was. Unfortunately the Disease was Weak members of the herd...
Ziz plot probably because:
This and is working on the idea of"More Dragons, Happier Dragon Gods. Happier Dragons More likely To Help Me".
- Location
- Neptune
If she collects enough dragons in a single place the chance that Steve Irwin will spontaneously reincarnate approaches one.
He didn't die, he ascended to a higher state so he could travel the multiverse for all those critters.
You're despicable.
Jonn Wolfe
(Verified Sarcastic) (Not a Wolf)
- Location
- Beyond Sanity Since 1971
I totally read that in Daffy Duck's voice.
I have not yet begun to pun!
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
I totally read that in Daffy Duck's voice.
I think you were suppose to.
My work here is done.I totally read that in Daffy Duck's voice.
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
Ah, I was right.
Guardsman_Sparky
The Clueless Wonder
- Location
- Virginia
Duck season, FIRE!I totally read that in Daffy Duck's voice.
- Location
- Twentynine Palms, California
.........WHY do I want to see Dragon-Taylor (or Dragonlor) try to trick some parahuman dumbass into doing something similar to him or herself?
Guardsman_Sparky
The Clueless Wonder
- Location
- Virginia
Because you are a man of culture?
- Location
- Twentynine Palms, California
...............I'll take that as a compliment. Thank you. That said, anyone on this thread think that they can make an "omake" with the idea of Dragonlor tricking a parahuman dumbass into pulling the aforementioned "Duck Season FIRE!" joke? Said dumbass could be a throwaway parahuman made up just for the joke. Would probably work best if it was one who recently joined the Merchants and was just blitzed from whatever drug he or she was on.
FaerieKnight79
Verified Pixie
- Location
- The Internet
Looney Tunes!
Why settle for a throwaway grunt?
"Either you release Squealer now, or it's Dragon Season," growled Skidmark.
Sighing, Naurelin took a look at the taser that Skidmark was pointing at her. Then she grinned, as she remembered a gag from an Aleph cartoon.
Grabbing the business end of the taser, Naurelin pointed it at Skidmark and said, "Her bail was accepted, but she chose to stay of her own free will. Either you accept that, or it's Merchant Season."
Clockblocker couldn't avoid a chuckle as he watched. "Hey Vista, this should be good."
Growling, Skidmark pointed the taser at Naurelin. "Dragon Season!"
Pointing the taser at Skidmark again, Naurelin said, "Merchant Season."
"Dragon Season!"
"Merchant Season."
"Dragon Season!"
Grabbing the end of the taser, Naurelin moved it in a circle before leaving it pointed at her. "Dragon Season."
Pointing the taser at himself, Skidmark said, "Merchant Season! Fire!"
After getting zapped by his own taser, Skidmark could only growl out, "You're...despicable."
Grinning, Naurelin finished off by saying, "Ain't I a stinker?"
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- Location
- Deep in the Badlands of Equestria
Ah yes, nothing like a case of Rods From the Gods to convince you that your presence is not wanted. Although, it says something that the shot managed to not take him out, which suggests that this was more of a very strong suggestion to move elsewhere. One might think that it was part of some plan or something....
4.5 Quaestiones et Colloquium
Kryslin
[Has Delusions of Authorship]
- Location
- Mythic Iowa
"Sensor 9 has detected activity." The mechanical voice was from his monitoring system, which took care of the day-to-day operation of any surveillance sensors he had left around a site. It brought up a couple of still images. He still couldn't see the creature, but he could clearly see the two individuals in the central chamber, and he had audio.
The audio was being automatically recorded, but it didn't sound like any language he was familiar with, or one that his system could identify. He thought he had seen the stocky woman before, but couldn't quite remember though it had been recently. He'd run her image through his software to see what came up. Her taller companion, however, he had seen before, though it had been in much older pictures.
The conversation between the unseen and unheard third person in the room came to a halt, and the taller one came over to look at the sensor. Armsmaster got a very good look at her face indeed as she looked at the sensor and picked it up. She said something, and he finally got a good image of what had taken residence in the building.
It wasn't very big, perhaps not more than four feet at the shoulder, with a long tail and a shorter neck. It was a mottled pale grey, blue and white, which made it easy to miss in the snow, ice and tundra in the far north. It had a slight beaked muzzle, a pointed chin, a few teeth showing at the edges of its muzzle. Its eyes showed an intent gaze, and it wasn't the gaze of an animal. Intelligence lurked behind those eyes. The wings were furled against the creature's sides neatly.
Then all three of them smiled, the creature showing an impressive set of teeth, as the tall one used the sensor to take a selfie. Then the creature disappeared from view, and the women vanished.
He sighed as the image and audio stopped.
It didn't take long before he got a match. The first had come from the CIA, of all places. Aleshin, Kira, former RNI, Special Warfare Operator. Currently a naturalized citizen of the US, immigrated after Behemoth laying waste to most of Moscow in the mid 90's. Has a husband and a daughter, currently living in Brockton Bay, NH.
The second was from Interpol. The woman had no known name, but had been seen in several areas of ancient ruins in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. When approached, she would simply fade from sight, but there were several pictures of her. She was known for mercilessly and brutally dealing with people looting the sites or attempting to destroy them. Also known to have made several generous offers for Sumerian and Assyrian artifacts in museums under several aliases.
He looked at the list of aliases, and shook his head. Tia Thaláttē was the most common of them. No criminal record, or crimes committed. Wanted as a person of interest. There were several calls from Islamic organizations for her death, considering those groups had been responsible for trying to destroy the ancient sites, and had suffered greatly at her hands. He gave a small snort, as he paged through the data. Not a legitimate authority in the eyes of the world, he thought to himself.
Colin had been warned to not ask Naurelin anything during her two weeks of down time, lest the Youth Guard push for more penalties to be levied against the PRT ENE. The list of questions he was compiling was getting lengthy indeed, though some of the questions he had come up with he had found partial answers in other questions being asked, and by scraping PHO, of all places, for data.
That would change next week, when Naurelin was allowed back into the PRT building for classes. He could arrange for some of her time then.
The son of the famous World War 2 veteran laid his hand on the shoulder of the student. "Anything going here I should be concerned about?" he asked in a friendly tone.
"Sir, No Sir." was the errant student's reply. For some reason, every student answered his questions like that, especially when he had that look on his face.
"Very well, then," Mr. Blazkowicz said, nodding. "In the future, please keep your hands out of other's belongings. And Ms. Hebert, that's an impressive growl." He nodded, and continued on his way back down to the gym, and whatever school team he was coaching.
"Still, seems kind of mysterious and all," Vicky commented. "I mean, no one does scrolls anymore, except maybe Uber and Leet after that one fantasy themed show they did. Gawd, what a mess that was, but the free dinner was a nice touch. I gave Dean a break, and took him out to dinner."
"I remember that one," Natalie chuckled. "They actually managed to slime you."
Vicky shivered, remembering. "Thank you for reminding me," she said. "It took me days to get that stuff out." She glanced at her phone for a second. "Anyway, I gotta fly; Mom just sent me a reminder to make sure Amy gets down to the hospital on time."
In her peripheral vision, Taylor saw Amy roll her eyes, and look somewhat stressed, then scowl. Something going on there, Taylor thought. Vicky picked her sister, and flew off, presumably towards the hospital.
"That girl is not happy," Natalie said, dropping the overly curious act. "She's seriously stressed, and something bad's gonna happen. And yes, I know who sent you that scroll. Restraint and subtlety are not things she does."
"I kind of figured that," Taylor muttered under her breath.
The hand writing on the scroll was impeccable, and the calligraphy was superb, worthy of being hung up as a piece of art. She read:
"Naurelin:
For some reason that I will investigate, a young white dragon has moved into your area. Should you encounter it, please try to restrain him and not kill him. You may simply overwhelm him with your presence, and he will submit easily. There is the chance that he may decide to fight you to defend his territory. While it would not end well for him it wouldn't be very good for you either.
You have probably already sensed him in the area, as he has likely sensed you as well. Normally, he'd steer well clear of another dragon's territory and humans in general, but something with this doesn't sit right.
Oh, I might visit.
Tia."
Taylor rested her head on her desk. She hadn't said anything, and things were getting worse.
"Taylor," her father called from the front hall, "I'm home!"
"In the kitchen, Dad," Taylor answered.
When Danny walked into the kitchen, he could see Taylor, her head on the table. "Is something wrong?"
"Remember the letter you showed me, written by Mom, in case I triggered?" she asked, her head still on the table. "It's getting weirder." With that, she waved the scroll in the air with an arm.
"Why don't you start getting things ready for dinner while I read this and go through today's mail, okay?"
Proving that nothing was really wrong, Taylor got up and started in on getting dishes and things ready. "We've got plenty of leftovers, that going to be okay for dinner?"
Her father mumbled something in the affirmative while he was reading the mail, and then finally got to the scroll.
"So," he said hesitantly, "the thing that has taken over an abandoned warehouse in the docks, and left dead, frozen gangers frozen to fences, buildings, and other structures around it, is a young, white dragon?"
"That's what the scroll says." was Taylor's answer. "Do you want the lasagna, the casserole, the fried rice, or the seafood?"
"Lasagna for me. You can sense other dragons?"
"Yep. If you're curious, Lung was enough of a dragon to qualify. We passed him and his daughter that first Sunday we were out after I triggered."
"Not only does this Tia want you to go easy on him, she's going to visit?"
"Apparently so, I just don't know when."
"You were right, it's getting weirder." Danny picked up the mail and the scroll and placed them on the desk. "I can't deal with this right now, let's just eat and worry about mythical creatures and beings afterwards, OK?"
"That suits me just fine."
Taylor knew immediately who had entered the house.
"I'm agent Hannah Washington with the PRT ENE," she said, showing her ID. "I'm following up on a report that Taylor may have been involved in a very minor parahuman incident at school today, and would like to ask a few questions."
"Taylor," he called out, "Someone from the PRT to see you!"
"I'm right here, Dad," she answered, causing him to jump unexpectedly. "So, agent Washington, was it?" At Hannah's nod, she continued. "What's this about?" She offered a seat at the table to the agent, who, to her, was obviously Miss Militia in her civilian ID. "Can I get you something?"
"Some coffee would be nice," she said. "I'm following up a report on the message you received during your 3rd period AP math class today." The cup of coffee was set down in front of her. "Thank you."
"Before things get too much farther along," Taylor said, with a smirk, "may I introduce you to my father? He's signed the same NDA's I did when I signed up for the Wards."
Miss Militia nodded.
"Danny Hebert, Miss Militia," she said. "Miss Militia, Danny Hebert."
"I already knew that," Danny said. "Her costume doesn't hide much of her face, and I've interacted with the Protectorate enough to have figured it out quite some time ago. Your secret is safe, don't worry."
"That will make this discussion go much smoother," Hannah said, enjoying the coffee. "Aegis made a low priority report about the scroll that suddenly appeared and dropped onto your desk. We've also gotten a phone call from the administration to not deliver messages to you in such a fashion during classes. I'd like to know what happened."
"I'm not quite sure," Taylor explained. She turned around and retrieved the scroll, giving it to Hannah. "It dropped onto my desk, I got reminded by the teacher about note passing in class, got reminded by the vice-principal about the same, and had to fight off Glory Girl, of all people, who wanted to know what was going on. I didn't read it until I got home."
Hannah had been reading the scroll while Taylor had explained what had happened during the day. "Armsmaster has been looking into the killings around the Docks," she explained. "I suspect he'd be very interested in seeing this. May I?" At Taylor's nod, she filled out a receipt for the scroll. "I should have this back to you in a couple of days.
"I don't know if I should be worried or not that one of your mysterious benefactors is actually going to visit..." She was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Be very worried," Taylor said with a sigh. She got up and went to the door. Miss Militia looked at Danny, who shrugged.
Taylor walked into the living room with a pair of women following her. "Hannah Washington, be known unto Tiamat, Queen of the Dragons, and many other lesser titles. Also, her bodyguard, Kira Aleshin."
The audio was being automatically recorded, but it didn't sound like any language he was familiar with, or one that his system could identify. He thought he had seen the stocky woman before, but couldn't quite remember though it had been recently. He'd run her image through his software to see what came up. Her taller companion, however, he had seen before, though it had been in much older pictures.
The conversation between the unseen and unheard third person in the room came to a halt, and the taller one came over to look at the sensor. Armsmaster got a very good look at her face indeed as she looked at the sensor and picked it up. She said something, and he finally got a good image of what had taken residence in the building.
It wasn't very big, perhaps not more than four feet at the shoulder, with a long tail and a shorter neck. It was a mottled pale grey, blue and white, which made it easy to miss in the snow, ice and tundra in the far north. It had a slight beaked muzzle, a pointed chin, a few teeth showing at the edges of its muzzle. Its eyes showed an intent gaze, and it wasn't the gaze of an animal. Intelligence lurked behind those eyes. The wings were furled against the creature's sides neatly.
Then all three of them smiled, the creature showing an impressive set of teeth, as the tall one used the sensor to take a selfie. Then the creature disappeared from view, and the women vanished.
He sighed as the image and audio stopped.
It didn't take long before he got a match. The first had come from the CIA, of all places. Aleshin, Kira, former RNI, Special Warfare Operator. Currently a naturalized citizen of the US, immigrated after Behemoth laying waste to most of Moscow in the mid 90's. Has a husband and a daughter, currently living in Brockton Bay, NH.
The second was from Interpol. The woman had no known name, but had been seen in several areas of ancient ruins in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. When approached, she would simply fade from sight, but there were several pictures of her. She was known for mercilessly and brutally dealing with people looting the sites or attempting to destroy them. Also known to have made several generous offers for Sumerian and Assyrian artifacts in museums under several aliases.
He looked at the list of aliases, and shook his head. Tia Thaláttē was the most common of them. No criminal record, or crimes committed. Wanted as a person of interest. There were several calls from Islamic organizations for her death, considering those groups had been responsible for trying to destroy the ancient sites, and had suffered greatly at her hands. He gave a small snort, as he paged through the data. Not a legitimate authority in the eyes of the world, he thought to himself.
Colin had been warned to not ask Naurelin anything during her two weeks of down time, lest the Youth Guard push for more penalties to be levied against the PRT ENE. The list of questions he was compiling was getting lengthy indeed, though some of the questions he had come up with he had found partial answers in other questions being asked, and by scraping PHO, of all places, for data.
That would change next week, when Naurelin was allowed back into the PRT building for classes. He could arrange for some of her time then.
- = + [] + = -
The best word that could describe Taylor's mood by the end of the school day was annoyed. Nearly everyone in her classes besides the staff wanted to know what was in the scroll she had received. When someone had tried to grab it out of her back pack, she actually growled at the person, which caused him to stumble backwards right into one the waiting arms of one of the Phys Ed. Teachers, Mr. Blazkowicz.
The son of the famous World War 2 veteran laid his hand on the shoulder of the student. "Anything going here I should be concerned about?" he asked in a friendly tone.
"Sir, No Sir." was the errant student's reply. For some reason, every student answered his questions like that, especially when he had that look on his face.
"Very well, then," Mr. Blazkowicz said, nodding. "In the future, please keep your hands out of other's belongings. And Ms. Hebert, that's an impressive growl." He nodded, and continued on his way back down to the gym, and whatever school team he was coaching.
- - - - - - - - - -
It was more of the same after school, except Vicky and Natalie didn't try and make a grab for it, just kept asking her about it. "For the last time, I haven't read it yet, and it's probably private, given that my name is written on it."
"Still, seems kind of mysterious and all," Vicky commented. "I mean, no one does scrolls anymore, except maybe Uber and Leet after that one fantasy themed show they did. Gawd, what a mess that was, but the free dinner was a nice touch. I gave Dean a break, and took him out to dinner."
"I remember that one," Natalie chuckled. "They actually managed to slime you."
Vicky shivered, remembering. "Thank you for reminding me," she said. "It took me days to get that stuff out." She glanced at her phone for a second. "Anyway, I gotta fly; Mom just sent me a reminder to make sure Amy gets down to the hospital on time."
In her peripheral vision, Taylor saw Amy roll her eyes, and look somewhat stressed, then scowl. Something going on there, Taylor thought. Vicky picked her sister, and flew off, presumably towards the hospital.
"That girl is not happy," Natalie said, dropping the overly curious act. "She's seriously stressed, and something bad's gonna happen. And yes, I know who sent you that scroll. Restraint and subtlety are not things she does."
"I kind of figured that," Taylor muttered under her breath.
- - - - - - - - - -
Upon arriving at home, Taylor settled in to do her homework first, just to get it out of the way. When she was finished, and had unwound from the shenanigans at school, she finally cracked the seal on the scroll, and read the contents.
The hand writing on the scroll was impeccable, and the calligraphy was superb, worthy of being hung up as a piece of art. She read:
"Naurelin:
For some reason that I will investigate, a young white dragon has moved into your area. Should you encounter it, please try to restrain him and not kill him. You may simply overwhelm him with your presence, and he will submit easily. There is the chance that he may decide to fight you to defend his territory. While it would not end well for him it wouldn't be very good for you either.
You have probably already sensed him in the area, as he has likely sensed you as well. Normally, he'd steer well clear of another dragon's territory and humans in general, but something with this doesn't sit right.
Oh, I might visit.
Tia."
Taylor rested her head on her desk. She hadn't said anything, and things were getting worse.
"Taylor," her father called from the front hall, "I'm home!"
"In the kitchen, Dad," Taylor answered.
When Danny walked into the kitchen, he could see Taylor, her head on the table. "Is something wrong?"
"Remember the letter you showed me, written by Mom, in case I triggered?" she asked, her head still on the table. "It's getting weirder." With that, she waved the scroll in the air with an arm.
"Why don't you start getting things ready for dinner while I read this and go through today's mail, okay?"
Proving that nothing was really wrong, Taylor got up and started in on getting dishes and things ready. "We've got plenty of leftovers, that going to be okay for dinner?"
Her father mumbled something in the affirmative while he was reading the mail, and then finally got to the scroll.
"So," he said hesitantly, "the thing that has taken over an abandoned warehouse in the docks, and left dead, frozen gangers frozen to fences, buildings, and other structures around it, is a young, white dragon?"
"That's what the scroll says." was Taylor's answer. "Do you want the lasagna, the casserole, the fried rice, or the seafood?"
"Lasagna for me. You can sense other dragons?"
"Yep. If you're curious, Lung was enough of a dragon to qualify. We passed him and his daughter that first Sunday we were out after I triggered."
"Not only does this Tia want you to go easy on him, she's going to visit?"
"Apparently so, I just don't know when."
"You were right, it's getting weirder." Danny picked up the mail and the scroll and placed them on the desk. "I can't deal with this right now, let's just eat and worry about mythical creatures and beings afterwards, OK?"
"That suits me just fine."
- - - - - - - - - -
As it turned out, they did have a visitor that evening. There had been a knock at the front door about an hour after dinner. Danny took a look out the peephole, noting that there was a PRT officer standing outside. He opened the door, bringing the officer inside. "What I can help you with today, officer?" he asked politely.
Taylor knew immediately who had entered the house.
"I'm agent Hannah Washington with the PRT ENE," she said, showing her ID. "I'm following up on a report that Taylor may have been involved in a very minor parahuman incident at school today, and would like to ask a few questions."
"Taylor," he called out, "Someone from the PRT to see you!"
"I'm right here, Dad," she answered, causing him to jump unexpectedly. "So, agent Washington, was it?" At Hannah's nod, she continued. "What's this about?" She offered a seat at the table to the agent, who, to her, was obviously Miss Militia in her civilian ID. "Can I get you something?"
"Some coffee would be nice," she said. "I'm following up a report on the message you received during your 3rd period AP math class today." The cup of coffee was set down in front of her. "Thank you."
"Before things get too much farther along," Taylor said, with a smirk, "may I introduce you to my father? He's signed the same NDA's I did when I signed up for the Wards."
Miss Militia nodded.
"Danny Hebert, Miss Militia," she said. "Miss Militia, Danny Hebert."
"I already knew that," Danny said. "Her costume doesn't hide much of her face, and I've interacted with the Protectorate enough to have figured it out quite some time ago. Your secret is safe, don't worry."
"That will make this discussion go much smoother," Hannah said, enjoying the coffee. "Aegis made a low priority report about the scroll that suddenly appeared and dropped onto your desk. We've also gotten a phone call from the administration to not deliver messages to you in such a fashion during classes. I'd like to know what happened."
"I'm not quite sure," Taylor explained. She turned around and retrieved the scroll, giving it to Hannah. "It dropped onto my desk, I got reminded by the teacher about note passing in class, got reminded by the vice-principal about the same, and had to fight off Glory Girl, of all people, who wanted to know what was going on. I didn't read it until I got home."
Hannah had been reading the scroll while Taylor had explained what had happened during the day. "Armsmaster has been looking into the killings around the Docks," she explained. "I suspect he'd be very interested in seeing this. May I?" At Taylor's nod, she filled out a receipt for the scroll. "I should have this back to you in a couple of days.
"I don't know if I should be worried or not that one of your mysterious benefactors is actually going to visit..." She was interrupted by a knock at the door.
"Be very worried," Taylor said with a sigh. She got up and went to the door. Miss Militia looked at Danny, who shrugged.
Taylor walked into the living room with a pair of women following her. "Hannah Washington, be known unto Tiamat, Queen of the Dragons, and many other lesser titles. Also, her bodyguard, Kira Aleshin."
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4.6 Multum Disputandum
Kryslin
[Has Delusions of Authorship]
- Location
- Mythic Iowa
"Boy, they are arguing a lot," said Danny. "How's life been treating you after you retired?"
"Eh, pretty good," was Kira's reply. "We're getting ready to re-open the old resort we bought. Been a learning experience, that's for sure."
"Sonny doing OK?"
"Yes. This is really good coffee."
"Special blend the local grocer has. So, a dragon, huh?"
"All my very long life, Danny." She cast an eye to the enthusiastic discussion going on in the next room. "Excuse me a moment, I need to keep Tia from doing something unfortunate." She set her cup of coffee down and walked into the next room.
"Ow, ow, ow OW!" Kira came back leading her charge, ostensibly Tiamat, queen of the chromatic dragons, by her ear like she would a wayward child and began explaining to her in no uncertain terms, he assumed because he couldn't understand a word of what they were both saying, about what she had been about to do was a very bad idea.
"I am so sorry," came Taylor's voice, apologizing to Miss Militia.
"Not everyone here was blameless," Hannah answered. "I may have gotten a little carried away myself." She had been somewhat surprised when introduced to Tiamat. Hannah remembered all too well the mysterious woman in black robes that had walked through the refugee camp and quietly stalked around looking for something. When she had found what she was looking for, she asked that what had been removed be returned. What kind of an answer she got usually meant that person or persons lived or died.
When the special forces team had come to her camp, the group who had looted the ancient Sumerian ruins nearby were among the first to die. Not, however, before her brother had been killed. It had brought back unpleasant memories.
"Perhaps in the future I should call ahead, just to make sure ancient, mythical beings aren't visiting first?" Miss Militia sighed. "It's been quite the week so far."
"I suspect you're both here about the same thing," Taylor said quietly.
Kira led a suitably chastised and looking somewhat apologetic Tiamat back into the room. "I'm very sorry," she said, extending her hand for a handshake. "Being an evil, vicious avatar of greed has not prepared me well for dealing with people."
With an eyebrow arched, Miss Militia shook the offered hand. "I've not been having a very good day myself," she admitted. "Shall we try this again?"
Tiamat nodded as she sat back down. "Indeed. Despite the lofty and ancient titles Taylor introduced me with, I've been going simply by Tia these days."
And so, the discussion began again.
"You look like you've had a day worse than mine," he commented.
"Has yours involved a stocky Russian woman, a tall woman of indeterminate, Middle Eastern descent, and dragons?"
Ethan's face frozen in a combination of his normal grin, slack-jawed surprise, and shock. It wasn't often she was able to catch Assault like that. She smiled as she took a drink from her glass.
"I think I'm missing some key information here," he said, his brain finally restarting.
"I received a low priority report from Aegis about Naurelin receiving a scroll during her third period class today, one that appeared in mid-air and dropped in her lap. The school administration also complained about it as well. Imagine my surprise when I go out to follow up on the report that one Kira Aleshin and Tia Thaláttē show up at the Hebert household." She took another drink from the glass, then continued.
"The meeting didn't start off well," she admitted, "and I got reminded that I 'would taste good with a good sauce and a fine wine'. At that point, Kira hauled Tia out of the room, while Ms. Hebert apologized. After a short while, they came back in, and we tried again. At least, I got through it without getting eaten, and found out a few things."
"Having to do about a small, white dragon that has laired up somewhere in the docks and has claimed a substantial territory as its own?" Assault asked, grinning. "Armsmaster and I have been working on that one since Sunday."
Miss Militia nodded. "I've been told that he was driven from his home range, and flew south undetected to Brockton Bay, where he proceeded to raid the local fisherman's co-op market and a truckload headed for a grocery store."
"Yeah, that sums it up quite nicely," muttered Assault. "This little dragon has managed to kill six Merchants and two of the Empire. Rune was seen scouting around yesterday's raid on the truck." He chuckled a bit. "He's also collected all of Armsmaster's sensors that he placed around the site where its lair is. I suspect our dragon has started himself a new hoard. Anyway, around 1300 hours, two individuals walked into this creatures lair, and had a brief chat with it. Towards the end, they take a selfie with the sensor recording, and the creature drops the stranger effects covering it for a moment.
"It's not very big, but I wouldn't want to fight it." Ethan finished. "Especially in any location that it had chosen for its lair. Why do people do that anyway, attacking a dragon in its own lair?"
"You said that being an evil bitch had left you ill-prepared for dealing with people in general," was Kira's response.
"Yes, I know," Tia said, gesturing loftily. "Still, at least the coffee is good."
"Thank you," commented Danny. "I must say, you are not what I expected."
"And what were you expecting?" Tia asked with an arched eyebrow.
"To be honest with you, I'm not quite sure," Danny replied. "I'd never heard of you before, and had to do some reading." He took a drink of his coffee. "Considering we have people flying around with powers that could be taken from mythology – even modern mythology – I'm not too surprised that there are a few dragons still kicking around."
"At least you're honest," Tia said with a small laugh. "In places where I'm much better known, people usually run away screaming, or a very nervous city watchman asks what my business in town is, and politely asks if I could please leave when I am finished." She shakes her head. "One of the things being not-evil has taught me is to own up to my mistakes and misdeeds, and deal with the consequences.
"Makes getting a good meal or book rather difficult," she finished.
"You're rather more personable than I expected," he commented politely. "I figured you'd be more alien and inhuman."
"Danny Hebert," the former queen of evil dragons said quietly, "I have done alien, inhuman and inscrutable for longer than your species has been around on this world. I have been manipulated, betrayed, mystically imprisoned, nearly killed five times by mortals, and have had dozens of avatars discorporated. It got old and boring. And when you've lost everything, and have nothing else to lose, you try something completely different.
"I find it odd, and confusing," she concluded with a smile, "but the benefits outweigh everything else."
"Sure," Taylor answered. "It's unlocked."
Tia came in, looking somewhat apologetic. "May I sit?" Tia asked. At Taylor's nod, she pulled the rolling office chair over, and sat down before she continued. "I'd like to apologize, I guess, for what happened this evening. I should have given you more warning, but my handler didn't have your phone number."
Taylor thought for a moment. The only phone numbers she had were for her Dad and Lisa. Her Wards phone had her Wards contacts plus Amy and Vicky. She pushed the thought aside for a moment. "I would appreciate it if I didn't get any more letters dropped on me in school."
"Not going to happen again," Tia replied with a rueful chuckle. "I'll drop them on the kitchen table here between lunch and dinner time. Not angry?"
"Not really, no." Taylor answered, quietly. "I've been reading the first book you sent me, and you've never had to do friendly before. Even with what, the last 100 years, you still don't quite have the hang of things. Also, there's the time scales you're used to dealing with. You must look at a human lifespan, and figure anything you have to do with a human, has to be done right now, because if you blink, we'll be gone."
"Part of that is true," Tia admitted. "Still, humans have impressed me with what they're willing to do to accomplish their goals. Humans have defeated my avatars more times than I can remember, and that's not easy to do, even with magic and powers. The ones who have surprised me are the ones who have confronted me personally, and not an avatar, and very nearly succeeded in killing me.
"In the end, though, I lost everything – I had no followers, they were dead and scattered to the wind. All of my allies had betrayed me, and my followers were dead or gone. What I had left was family, who had been putting the 'fun' in dysfunctional since the dawn of time. If my brother was willing to take me back after all that I had done to him, I might still have a chance to make some things right."
"Sounds like we've got more in common than not, though I don't think I've literally lived in Hell because of it," Taylor replied.
"It's very overrated," Tia said, shrugging. "All deals are binding, and in general, you're screwed either way." She got up. "I'm really sorry we've put you through all this, Taylor. You weren't in very good shape after Crystrani got you home, and we did what we could to make sure you'd live through it. Between the injuries and infection from the locker, and the stress from the trigger event, you were effectively dead from when you were in the ambulance until you woke up in the hospital. Not because your body was weak, but because your spirit was.
"I won't go into meta-physical details, but your spirit was bound to a dragon's spirit, a young gold dragon whose mind was wiped blank before her body was destroyed. One of Tamara's last wishes was that we should not prolong her suffering any more than needed, and that she should be given a chance to live again."
Taylor was now sitting up, and listening. "So could that be why the name Naurelin seemed to be the perfect cape name for me?"
"Possibly," replied Tiamat. "I'd have to ask Bahamut about that one."
"Who is this Tamara you mentioned?"
"Her benevolence, Tamara, draconic goddess of healing and mercy," Tia stated. "As you said, do not mistake mercy for weakness. She and I are nearly the same age, separated by a few hours. Her sphere of influence was life, healing, and mercy. Should you have made a dragon suffer needlessly in life, she would be unstoppable in dealing with you. She's been gone quite a while now."
"Anyway, I need to be going," the ancient queen of the dragons said, rising from the desk chair. "I've probably made more of a mess of things than I ought."
Taylor got up as well, and without warning, gave Tiamat a hug. "Thank you," she said quietly.
Unsure of what to do, Tiamat simply returned the hug. She found the experience to be wonderful.
"About as well as can be expected," Tia answered with a shrug. "I told her what we did, and why we did it. She is right about one thing, we have more in common than you'd think, beyond the obvious points."
Kurya gave a low chuckle. "Yeah, I could see that. Still, we've managed to get everything on the list done. What was that between you and Miss Militia, anyway?"
"A number of years ago, I was wandering around in what humans call the Middle East; I knew it as Ashur and Nineveh. I was going back to the ruins of temples that had been dedicated to me before the Babylonians moved in. I was not happy to find that some of the sites had been looted or outright obliterated, so I spent some time tracking down those responsible, and placing a curse of misfortune on those who had done so. Miss Militia had been in the refugee camp where some of the looters had hidden, where some Turkish soldiers were kidnapping children to use to clear minefields. They got the same curse as the looters. Unfortunately, her brother had been killed before they had met their end."
"That is your right," Kurya said quietly. "At least, you went about it as subtly as you do things in the short term. A shame about the boy."
"Eh, pretty good," was Kira's reply. "We're getting ready to re-open the old resort we bought. Been a learning experience, that's for sure."
"Sonny doing OK?"
"Yes. This is really good coffee."
"Special blend the local grocer has. So, a dragon, huh?"
"All my very long life, Danny." She cast an eye to the enthusiastic discussion going on in the next room. "Excuse me a moment, I need to keep Tia from doing something unfortunate." She set her cup of coffee down and walked into the next room.
"Ow, ow, ow OW!" Kira came back leading her charge, ostensibly Tiamat, queen of the chromatic dragons, by her ear like she would a wayward child and began explaining to her in no uncertain terms, he assumed because he couldn't understand a word of what they were both saying, about what she had been about to do was a very bad idea.
"I am so sorry," came Taylor's voice, apologizing to Miss Militia.
"Not everyone here was blameless," Hannah answered. "I may have gotten a little carried away myself." She had been somewhat surprised when introduced to Tiamat. Hannah remembered all too well the mysterious woman in black robes that had walked through the refugee camp and quietly stalked around looking for something. When she had found what she was looking for, she asked that what had been removed be returned. What kind of an answer she got usually meant that person or persons lived or died.
When the special forces team had come to her camp, the group who had looted the ancient Sumerian ruins nearby were among the first to die. Not, however, before her brother had been killed. It had brought back unpleasant memories.
"Perhaps in the future I should call ahead, just to make sure ancient, mythical beings aren't visiting first?" Miss Militia sighed. "It's been quite the week so far."
"I suspect you're both here about the same thing," Taylor said quietly.
Kira led a suitably chastised and looking somewhat apologetic Tiamat back into the room. "I'm very sorry," she said, extending her hand for a handshake. "Being an evil, vicious avatar of greed has not prepared me well for dealing with people."
With an eyebrow arched, Miss Militia shook the offered hand. "I've not been having a very good day myself," she admitted. "Shall we try this again?"
Tiamat nodded as she sat back down. "Indeed. Despite the lofty and ancient titles Taylor introduced me with, I've been going simply by Tia these days."
And so, the discussion began again.
- - - - - - - - - -
Back on the rig after a long and arduous talk, Miss Militia was sitting in the cafeteria, staring at the glass filled with amber liquid in front of her, as Assault walked in. "Hello Ethan," she said as he entered.
"You look like you've had a day worse than mine," he commented.
"Has yours involved a stocky Russian woman, a tall woman of indeterminate, Middle Eastern descent, and dragons?"
Ethan's face frozen in a combination of his normal grin, slack-jawed surprise, and shock. It wasn't often she was able to catch Assault like that. She smiled as she took a drink from her glass.
"I think I'm missing some key information here," he said, his brain finally restarting.
"I received a low priority report from Aegis about Naurelin receiving a scroll during her third period class today, one that appeared in mid-air and dropped in her lap. The school administration also complained about it as well. Imagine my surprise when I go out to follow up on the report that one Kira Aleshin and Tia Thaláttē show up at the Hebert household." She took another drink from the glass, then continued.
"The meeting didn't start off well," she admitted, "and I got reminded that I 'would taste good with a good sauce and a fine wine'. At that point, Kira hauled Tia out of the room, while Ms. Hebert apologized. After a short while, they came back in, and we tried again. At least, I got through it without getting eaten, and found out a few things."
"Having to do about a small, white dragon that has laired up somewhere in the docks and has claimed a substantial territory as its own?" Assault asked, grinning. "Armsmaster and I have been working on that one since Sunday."
Miss Militia nodded. "I've been told that he was driven from his home range, and flew south undetected to Brockton Bay, where he proceeded to raid the local fisherman's co-op market and a truckload headed for a grocery store."
"Yeah, that sums it up quite nicely," muttered Assault. "This little dragon has managed to kill six Merchants and two of the Empire. Rune was seen scouting around yesterday's raid on the truck." He chuckled a bit. "He's also collected all of Armsmaster's sensors that he placed around the site where its lair is. I suspect our dragon has started himself a new hoard. Anyway, around 1300 hours, two individuals walked into this creatures lair, and had a brief chat with it. Towards the end, they take a selfie with the sensor recording, and the creature drops the stranger effects covering it for a moment.
"It's not very big, but I wouldn't want to fight it." Ethan finished. "Especially in any location that it had chosen for its lair. Why do people do that anyway, attacking a dragon in its own lair?"
- - - - - - - - - -
"That could have gone better," Tia grumped, sitting at the kitchen table. Taylor had gone upstairs, to do some reading before bed.
"You said that being an evil bitch had left you ill-prepared for dealing with people in general," was Kira's response.
"Yes, I know," Tia said, gesturing loftily. "Still, at least the coffee is good."
"Thank you," commented Danny. "I must say, you are not what I expected."
"And what were you expecting?" Tia asked with an arched eyebrow.
"To be honest with you, I'm not quite sure," Danny replied. "I'd never heard of you before, and had to do some reading." He took a drink of his coffee. "Considering we have people flying around with powers that could be taken from mythology – even modern mythology – I'm not too surprised that there are a few dragons still kicking around."
"At least you're honest," Tia said with a small laugh. "In places where I'm much better known, people usually run away screaming, or a very nervous city watchman asks what my business in town is, and politely asks if I could please leave when I am finished." She shakes her head. "One of the things being not-evil has taught me is to own up to my mistakes and misdeeds, and deal with the consequences.
"Makes getting a good meal or book rather difficult," she finished.
"You're rather more personable than I expected," he commented politely. "I figured you'd be more alien and inhuman."
"Danny Hebert," the former queen of evil dragons said quietly, "I have done alien, inhuman and inscrutable for longer than your species has been around on this world. I have been manipulated, betrayed, mystically imprisoned, nearly killed five times by mortals, and have had dozens of avatars discorporated. It got old and boring. And when you've lost everything, and have nothing else to lose, you try something completely different.
"I find it odd, and confusing," she concluded with a smile, "but the benefits outweigh everything else."
- - - - - - - - - -
Taylor's reading of the tome she'd been given was interrupted by a knock on her door. "May I come in?" Tia asked.
"Sure," Taylor answered. "It's unlocked."
Tia came in, looking somewhat apologetic. "May I sit?" Tia asked. At Taylor's nod, she pulled the rolling office chair over, and sat down before she continued. "I'd like to apologize, I guess, for what happened this evening. I should have given you more warning, but my handler didn't have your phone number."
Taylor thought for a moment. The only phone numbers she had were for her Dad and Lisa. Her Wards phone had her Wards contacts plus Amy and Vicky. She pushed the thought aside for a moment. "I would appreciate it if I didn't get any more letters dropped on me in school."
"Not going to happen again," Tia replied with a rueful chuckle. "I'll drop them on the kitchen table here between lunch and dinner time. Not angry?"
"Not really, no." Taylor answered, quietly. "I've been reading the first book you sent me, and you've never had to do friendly before. Even with what, the last 100 years, you still don't quite have the hang of things. Also, there's the time scales you're used to dealing with. You must look at a human lifespan, and figure anything you have to do with a human, has to be done right now, because if you blink, we'll be gone."
"Part of that is true," Tia admitted. "Still, humans have impressed me with what they're willing to do to accomplish their goals. Humans have defeated my avatars more times than I can remember, and that's not easy to do, even with magic and powers. The ones who have surprised me are the ones who have confronted me personally, and not an avatar, and very nearly succeeded in killing me.
"In the end, though, I lost everything – I had no followers, they were dead and scattered to the wind. All of my allies had betrayed me, and my followers were dead or gone. What I had left was family, who had been putting the 'fun' in dysfunctional since the dawn of time. If my brother was willing to take me back after all that I had done to him, I might still have a chance to make some things right."
"Sounds like we've got more in common than not, though I don't think I've literally lived in Hell because of it," Taylor replied.
"It's very overrated," Tia said, shrugging. "All deals are binding, and in general, you're screwed either way." She got up. "I'm really sorry we've put you through all this, Taylor. You weren't in very good shape after Crystrani got you home, and we did what we could to make sure you'd live through it. Between the injuries and infection from the locker, and the stress from the trigger event, you were effectively dead from when you were in the ambulance until you woke up in the hospital. Not because your body was weak, but because your spirit was.
"I won't go into meta-physical details, but your spirit was bound to a dragon's spirit, a young gold dragon whose mind was wiped blank before her body was destroyed. One of Tamara's last wishes was that we should not prolong her suffering any more than needed, and that she should be given a chance to live again."
Taylor was now sitting up, and listening. "So could that be why the name Naurelin seemed to be the perfect cape name for me?"
"Possibly," replied Tiamat. "I'd have to ask Bahamut about that one."
"Who is this Tamara you mentioned?"
"Her benevolence, Tamara, draconic goddess of healing and mercy," Tia stated. "As you said, do not mistake mercy for weakness. She and I are nearly the same age, separated by a few hours. Her sphere of influence was life, healing, and mercy. Should you have made a dragon suffer needlessly in life, she would be unstoppable in dealing with you. She's been gone quite a while now."
"Anyway, I need to be going," the ancient queen of the dragons said, rising from the desk chair. "I've probably made more of a mess of things than I ought."
Taylor got up as well, and without warning, gave Tiamat a hug. "Thank you," she said quietly.
Unsure of what to do, Tiamat simply returned the hug. She found the experience to be wonderful.
- - - - - - - - - -
"So how did it go with Taylor?" Kurya asked as she and Tia were walking around after leaving the Hebert household.
"About as well as can be expected," Tia answered with a shrug. "I told her what we did, and why we did it. She is right about one thing, we have more in common than you'd think, beyond the obvious points."
Kurya gave a low chuckle. "Yeah, I could see that. Still, we've managed to get everything on the list done. What was that between you and Miss Militia, anyway?"
"A number of years ago, I was wandering around in what humans call the Middle East; I knew it as Ashur and Nineveh. I was going back to the ruins of temples that had been dedicated to me before the Babylonians moved in. I was not happy to find that some of the sites had been looted or outright obliterated, so I spent some time tracking down those responsible, and placing a curse of misfortune on those who had done so. Miss Militia had been in the refugee camp where some of the looters had hidden, where some Turkish soldiers were kidnapping children to use to clear minefields. They got the same curse as the looters. Unfortunately, her brother had been killed before they had met their end."
"That is your right," Kurya said quietly. "At least, you went about it as subtly as you do things in the short term. A shame about the boy."
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Leechblade
Orientation Nitpicking
- Pronouns
- He/Him/His