With everything that'd been going on,
Dragonheart had been mostly silent and contemplative. There was a lot of information to parse, and
Wu seemed to be handling the energetic Vulpo that was
Will-O-Wisp wonderfully.
His weapon was already back in his grip- he wasn't dumb enough to leave it stuck inside that kind of animal. It was likely that the twin swords exiting the beast's body would've sliced up its hind even more.
Good. It'll be dissuaded from hunting them for a while, at least. Until it's healed, if it heals fast.
So, let's recap..
An Operator was gone. That dog was straight up unnatural, and so were these woods. Things weren't good.
At least they didn't have to trek all the way to the crash site of Raven One to find out whether or not the occupants were alive or not anymore. Good.
Dragonheart would've mentioned that they were the only ones to escape Raven Three, but he bit his tongue- not in front of
Will-O-Wisp. Poor girl didn't deserve to have her hopes crushed like that. He'd speak to
Wu in private later, hopefully, provided they even got the chance to rest. He was doing an awfully good job of not voicing his thoughts aloud, too, which he secretly considered a win for himself. Secrecy, he felt, would assist them during their stay here.
Or, at least, being able to not blurt out every thought that came to your head, at least.
Victory aside however.. the knowledge that an Operator could be whisked away so suddenly only made
Dragonheart move closer to his companions. These woods were obviously far from normal, but he didn't need to tell
them that. First a freak storm, then the Originium shard that almost engulfed Raven Three..
Dragonheart couldn't help but wonder why nobody else had been taken, though. If these woods could abduct someone so quickly, why hadn't they all been taken? Had whoever was taken known something? For that matter, what had caused Sir Haynek to make those last minute adjustments? Was it related to the strange way that the Originium deposits they'd been sent to investigate?
No way to know now.
At least not yet, anyway.
Dragonheart had been mostly silent for the duration of their admittedly tension-riddled trip to Riventor. He was on edge- everything seemed far too calm, now. Too calm. He'd much rather have that massive dog in front of them. It gave him a tangible threat to focus on. He felt like there was a target on his back, and considering his track record, he'd be surprised if he
wasn't attacked in his sleep sometime soon. Riventor itself didn't provide much to look at, either. It was a small, secluded town full of Kuranta. That said, the mansion in the distance did immediately pique his interest, but his attention was dragged back to his fellow Operators when a voice broke through his thoughts.
"
Wu? Is that you?"
A pair of Operators that he thought that he vaguely recalled had appeared before them- the
Liberi who was currently burying herself into
Wu's chest, and an
Ursus who, for a moment, he swore he caught the whiff of alcohol from. Considering how far from her he was standing..
That said, he could use a good drink right now. He might have to bother her to share some later. Maybe. Probably not.
Depends how bad things get, he figured.
The sight of
Wu and his Liberi companion embracing brought a small smile to
Dragonheart's face. It was always good to have something to be happy about in times like this. However..
He shuffled awkwardly, keeping his distance from the others despite the cheerful reunion. More people had vanished, and the tension in the air was palpable.
Dragonheart kept his mouth shut as they began to move into the town. There were Kuranta everywhere, some of which weren't exactly giving them the most friendly of stares.
Odd. You'd think that they'd have been inside because of the earlier storm. Or at least be a little concerned about the crashing vehicles near their town. Or, perhaps, to the residents of Riventor, there hadn't been a storm at all.
His instincts were telling him to be suspicious, regardless. He hadn't lived this long by ignoring his gut.
That said, he kept up with the others as they walked into Riventor, though he fell behind them to keep a decent distance between himself and the group. Not too far, but not too close, either. He could whack someone with his weapon from this range if he had to, and that was what mattered.
The wretched stench of whatever dead thing the citizens of Riventor had left out in the sun hit him like a truck, and brought back some unpleasant memories, but it wasn't enough to make him recoil like his fellows were. In fact, unless you looked at him closely, you wouldn't be able to tell at all. He still kept that same stoic look on his face.
Step, step, step, stop.The voice that called out to the group caught his attention, and the first thing he noticed was that the voice didn't belong to a Kuranta, but to an
Archosaur. Odd, but not too unlikely- seemingly the only non-Kuranta in Riventor, but that remained to be confirmed. Then there were the distinct changes to his hands and feet. Originium mutations? Those weren't normal for an Archosaur to have as far as
Dragonheart knew. Hopefully he was wrong. Infection was never easy to deal with.
At this point, Dragonheart was more than a little on edge.
Whatever happened, happened, however.
As the others engaged in dialogue, Dragonheart stood back a respectful distance, 'keeping watch' or something like that if anyone asked him. His gaze drifted between the people, the houses, the mansion in the distance, and then back to his companions every now and again. He would respond if called, but until then.. well, he was stepping aside to let the more sociable Operators have a nice chat.
Or a not-so-nice chat.
