your hands protect the flames

[modforged]

Who: The Dragonsworn
What: The first arrival of the Dragonsworn goes a bit...awry.
Where: Scattered around the perimeter of Suramar.
When: Dawn on March 21st
Warnings: Please PM the mods if any warnings are needed

It is almost as if you've woken from a daydream when the ground meets your feet. The stench of fire is overpowering, and though dawn is just approaching in the canopies of Kalimdor, bright flashes of green can be seen between the branches of impossibly tall trees. If that doesn't snap you out of your surprise, then the sound of nearby spitting in demonic tongue may persuade you to get a grip and notice your surroundings -- you are not alone. There are others like you, huddled just a bit too close, with a somewhat familiar face keeping you from advancing further. Looking down at your hands may briefly reveal a momentary flash of color, but nothing lasting more than a few seconds.

The mages of each flight take the helm of their charges, and they are quick to notice any movement from their groups despite channeling some sort of spell to keep you protected. Stray fire will bounce off an invisible shield that ripples when anything make contact with it. There seems to be nothing in sight but your new comrades, and your guardian -- at least not on the ground. The sky has flying demons swarming a pack of dragons -- and the dragons are very clearly losing. Look just a bit farther, and you might find more dragons, though these clearly have different colored scales than the ones above your head.

While distracted, you may hear your guardian speak to you. "There may yet be wounded nearby -- if you care to, bring them here, and we will tend to them from the Sanctum." Briefly, they gesture skyward, toward the dragons flying overhead. "Do not bring to us any that are not our own, lest you invite their demise!"

But the mage is focused on casting -- they are in no position to halt your advance, and they know it. They speak with concern -- concern for you, concern for the dire situation at hand. The demonic cackling is drawing near. The forests are rapidly becoming overrun, and there are already a few dragons slain on the forest floor.

"Take care, Dragonsworn -- I am bringing us to safety, but it will take time. To wander far is to invite your ruin, and we cannot afford the loss of your life."

[OOC: You are free to mingle on this post as you choose, despite the flight groups being scattered through the forests around Suramar -- after this log, you will be separated into your sanctums, and your interactions will be watched much more closely. Attempting to enter the city itself will result in a vicious attack from demons that will kill. The Dragon Mages will be tagging sporadically to heroes of their matching flight, and the conclusion of this log will lead Dragonsworn through portals to their Sanctums.]

Comments

[agasm]

[ The words that she's hearing from this man do little better than agitate Zero. True, she was probably more eager to help than those of her flight... but the Intoner did not even grasp the basics of the war that they're enthralled in.

Only that there are dragons needed to be said, and her eagerness to do so was most likely fueled by the fact that the only beings she ended up actually caring about were dragons... ]

I'm not going be kicked out of this... [ What were they again? ] army or used as a strategical sacrifice because I was a dead weight.

[convictionary]

[He quickly weighed her words, the odds of suddenly being conscripted into another army with a leader as generous as Chrom and a tactician as nice as Robin, and suddenly...she had a point.]

You've got a point.

[One which he should probably consider himself, and so he looked at the wounded dragon with significantly more motivation. Even if he wasn't planning on sticking around, not needlessly pissing off the people in charge before he absconded was a good thing.]

Fine. I'll hold off anything that shows up, you heal it or do whatever you're gonna do.

[This was a very bad plan, but what was he supposed to do? Stab it to health? Help her carry it tog-...]

[agasm]

[ She was going to heal it? Zero's mouth narrows. His proposal wasn't too bad-- there were demons everywhere, and she was probably stronger than this man who looked like a bandit. This also wasn't the first time she was going to drag the weight of a dragon's body across a greater distance so she suppose that his offer would do. ]

Just get rid of any demons that get in my way. [ Zero begins to lift up one of the dragon's wings, carrying as much as its weight on her back as she can. Though she's not having the easiest time, it's obvious that she's stronger than she looks. ]

[convictionary]

Get rid of...? Er, right. Sure, rest assured that if any demons get in the way I'll introduce them to the sharp end of my dagger.

[He'd play along but...she must be delusional or joking. He's not sure which. Possibly dead serious, in which case he was prepared to revisit the 'sacrifice' angle she mentioned previously. It's also clear she's even more of a thing than he had first thought, what with lifting up that much dragon and all, which had the side effect of causing a bit more...distance between them, in a literal sense. Not enough that they had to be shout to be heard, but enough that five feet away became six and a bit.]

[agasm]

[ Hunched over and making progress... though slowly, Zero takes the moment to examine her skin more closely. Yep, there was a prominent greyish cast that wasn't there, and her voice sounded more than weird. ]

What other physical defects did this world's disease inflict on me? [ She asks him, a naturally loud voice carrying to wherever he was lurking. Zero really wished that she had a mirror on hand or that the members of her flight were more into dragon rescue missions. ]

[convictionary]

[Oh gods, it was some disease? He'd just walk away at this point if it weren't for the demons about, speaking of-]

Shh! Gods, the dragon's bad enough, you want to get us more attention? [Speaking of, if they're not somewhere with a lot of cover he's going to indicate they should get a bit more cover.]

You- ["...think we'll go faster if I help lift?" he was poised to say, but the revelation that it was a disease and possibly contagious made him amend it.] ...know, I got no idea, sister. The worst I've ever had just gave me a bad rash. [...] And a lecture from the local priest.

[agasm]

[ Zero doesn't respond to him at first, simply recognizing that he knew just as little as she. The only noise emitted from her is a decidedly unladylike snort at his condition.

If she was going to elaborate on her history with diseases (and she wasn't), her conversation is disrupted by attempting to miss a stray imp's scorch mark that leaves a trail of grass blackened near her feet. She strains her vision in order to how this man is going to respond, but everything else in her body movement ignores the small demon as Zero plows on. ]

[convictionary]

[The good news was that the sudden attack was easy enough to avoid - dodging was one of the things he could do reliably, and well, and repeatedly. Which was good because what he was less good at was taking attacks. Not his thing.

He reached for a small hidden knife to throw at the imp, mainly as a distraction. An attention grabber. Gaius nearly accidentally grabbed his small hidden stash of sugar candies he had, er, 'liberated' from the princess and threw those instead, but managed to correct himself in time...which was good, because if those had melted his scream of fury would've been enough to shake the heavens and his bloodlust would be insatiable short of having the entire demon horde at his feet.

He was prepared to do the stabbing thing but...please tell him that she's at least hurrying a little because otherwise he's going to start shouting stuff like, "Can't you carry a little bit faster?" Or maybe lure the imp away and have someone more...robust deal with it, grab a third person, come back, and have a three person hauling session.]

[agasm]

[ His suspicions that her words about the bandit being a sacrifice proved to be true as her gait quickened, at least he would be if he didn't manage to defend himself. Thankfully, there wasn't long before Zero could reach the feet of the dragon mage and leave his barely-breathing form there.

Having a dragon on her back took most of the breath out of Zero, who made her way back towards the direction that she came from, steady gaze landing back on him. Again, her voice is far from quiet or subtle. ]

Tell me you got rid of that thing.

[convictionary]

[He's intact, amazingly, although there's an interesting stain on his cloak that could be from all sorts of things. Mud. Dirt. Blood? That doesn't matter. The fact that she's not quiet mattered.]

Shh! Gods, haven't you heard of stealth? You might as well shout and have us act as decoys for everybody else. Yes, I got rid of it.

[agasm]

I want them to come. [ She pauses expectantly, turning on her heel as she looks towards the forest.

After a couple minutes… ] They’re the ones not interested.

[convictionary]

Why would you want some godsforsaken thing to come?

[Flat. Deeply perturbed, although a quick wit is best accompanied by quick reflexes and he's prepared to demonstrate that firsthand. Wow. It's like not only is she diseased in some horrific and possibly contagious fashion she's also crazy and trying to get them killed.]

[agasm]

[ Whatever gods existed in his world obviously didn't bless this one with brains, she thought. ] It's not obvious? Because I want to fucking kill it.

While everyone's confused, you should find someone to pickpocket.

[convictionary]

[That earned her another step back (although it was played up as though he'd heard something from...over there, had to move over a bit to be all scouty), as he shifted from she's contagious, ain't she to something more like she's one of those BLOOD AND DEATH types, ain't she. Still.]

Huh. Didn't think I'd ever hear someone suggest that. Thought about it, but why put people on edge? [Before he had to, at least. The sly eagle hides his claws.]

[agasm]

[ That earns a smirk from Zero, an expression that simply conveyed that she was entertained. Putting people on edge was what she was good at; she made sure that idiots would think twice about crossing her. This man, on the other hand... ] I thought you might have wanted to indulge in what bandits are good at: loot and plunder.

[convictionary]

Don't get me wrong, Gray- [And here he took out a knife and sort of flipped it in...you know how sometimes people pull out knives and flip them about in totally badass ways that cause everyone about them to gasp in amazement at their dexterity and skill? Not like that. There was competency, but it was more like a 6 or 7 on a 1-10 scale, not 11. There'd be polite applause, but not swooning from the audience. Anyway, the point was waggled at her. Mainly because there needed to be something waggled in her direction. A sucker would've worked too but he was getting the feeling that those would be rare commodities very shortly very quickly and very harshly and was trying to ration the sweet supply.] I've pillaged my share before, but-...you hear that?

[Is there something to actually have been heard besides the generic cries of dragons, shouts of people, and stuff like that? Good question. The lady can answer it.]

[agasm]

[ In truth, Zero didn’t hear a sound outside of the ordinary. She was too distracted by whole display that had ended with a knife pointed in her direction. Nostrils flaring as she sneered, she placed a hand on the sword by her side. ]

I’m listening to a fool and what I’m seeing is his death wish.

[convictionary]

What? Listen, lady, if you think I'm going to just die to a demon or whatever the hell else is out there...you may be right.

[Doesn't get it.]

[agasm]

[ Squinting at him, having to take a moment because his response to her made absolutely no sense whatsoever... ] Wait... what?

[convictionary]

Look- [Waggles the aforementioned knife in the direction of the imaginary(?) demons who're not in her direction.] The way I see it, I try to take on one of those things on my own - you know, one of the big ones - and I'm probably dead. I'm just a thief, lady. If you think I'm gonna use this thing- [Waggles the knife.] on one of them? Yeah, no. You're right, I'd have a death wish. That's why, gods, I'm being real careful to not piss off the people standing between me and them, even if it means I'm holdin' off on the pillaging thing for another time.

[...still doesn't get she was actually mentioning the death wish for another reason.]

[agasm]

[ She scoffs loudly at the conclusion she's reached, entirely from his speech. Which to him, might seem like an entirely bizarre one to reach. ] What you're telling me is that... you're a bandit that has a problem with killing the people you steal from.

[convictionary]

[Actually, it's extraordinarily on the mark and he's going to carefully put away the knife, even more carefully pull out a sucker because they might be a limited supply but he needs sugar right now. Pop it in his mouth. And after a pause, very deliberately:] So what if I am?

[agasm]

And that's your problem, right there. [ Less to worry about once they're dead. At least most demons didn't have the brains to hatch revenge schemes and report them to the local authorities... though, they should be killed as well. ]

[convictionary]

It's only a problem if you get caught. [Which...he had, actually, and nearly hung for it more than once and he had the brief impulse to rub the branding (hidden beneath several layers of cloth and leather, of course) but stopped himself and so all of this was expressed in what could be best described as a slight flinch that shifted into a cringe before calm aloofness took over once more.] 'sides, life's usually easier if you don't get involved in sticky business like murder. Trust me on this.

[agasm]

I know more than you think. It's probably why I look like this. [ Not that she cared. Not that she really thought she ever had a choice about the matter. This guy wasn’t her nor was he actually from her world, so she entertained the idea that the rules were different where he came from.

Though, Zero highly doubted this is likely. ] And it's probably why I'm here right now.