Yeeeah, just gonna be putting some of my character stuff here. Mostly for my little dragon.
Because she's awesome.
Sorcha is tall, giving off a regal air of sophistication and nobility. She stands at a tall 5'9", dwarfing most of the men she has ever met. Her splendid white hair brilliantly reflects the sunlight, and it's obvious she takes very good care of it. Her skin, in places where she has it, is flawless in every since of the word, not a blemish to be found.
As far as her human traits go, she'd probably be the girl that caused everyone to turn their heads, and possibly even walk into a pole.
It is quite obvious she isn't human. Brilliant white wings cover her back, and have not tattered or dulled with age, and are just as pristine as the day she was born. A long, powerful white tail extends behind her, ready in equally pristine condition. Atop her head, are two sharp, pointed horns that protrude upwards. Where she doesn't have skin, she has white scales. They cover most of her legs and waist, curving around her sides and covering most of her back and arms with the durable armor.
Her eyes, a fierce, commanding red.
The armor she wears, was crafted by a nameless blacksmith in her old town. She wears it out of sentiment and so that she will never forget the pain of that horrible day where she lost everything she considered herself to love.
"You, human. I demand tribute. All of the junk food you have will suffice."
"I have been known as many names through my years, but you may call me Lady Sorcha." Name: Sorcha Ó Maoilriain she likes reminding people that it means 'Radiant' or 'Brilliant King'
Those she likes, meaning her master, may call her by her first name. The rest will address her as 'Lady Sorcha.'
Nicknames/Titles: "Goddess of the Heavens" "Bringer of the Storm" "The wandering Tempest"
Her favorite: "Thou who will smite thee with bolts of fury if thou maketh her angry"
Age: "I have fought alongside one of the greatest leaders and wizards of the ancient age, Fought against a mighty warrior in the freezing winds of the north, and was worshiped as a protector and god before those damnable religious zealots burned my village and attempted to slay me. I am a proud, noble being deserving of respect and will not tolerate such insolence and rudeness as you asking my age."
Gender: Female
Race: Dragon
"Hmm? I have no interest in such affairs with you little humans. That said...I have taken a human lover on occasion. But I only accept the strong, those strong enough to win my respect or force me into submission. I doubt you can do either."
Sexuality: She feels no such desires. However, she is attracted to strength. And if she views someone as strong...well, who knows? She might just say yes.
Year: N/A
Magic: Roar of the Heavens: Being a dragon of Thunder and Storms, she has minimal control over the element. While she can't 'breathe' it in the traditional sense, she can, direct a lightning bolt towards a target. In humanoid form, she can fire such bolts from her hands or glaive. However, she can not rapid fire them - they take a few seconds to charge, so to speak. The stronger the bolt, the longer 'charge' it needs.
Once upon a time, it is said that she was able to summon disastrous tempests that would blow away all but the most stalwart of men. She neither confirms or denies these claims.
Immovable Wall: Her scales are quite durable, and work well enough for a natural armor and to deflect blades...and are really gonna hurt something fierce if you get whacked with one.
Another rumor states she could at one point, take he form of a majestic scaled lizard, dwarfing the largest of man made buildings. Another rumor she neither confirms nor denies.
Strengths: It's lightning. You know, electricity. It'll mess you up fairly badly if you get hit with it. It's an incredibly fast projectile, and while it is been proven possible to dodge, one would need to be incredibly fast to do so.
Weaknesses: Lightning is drawn to high places. Not to mention, it can't pass through ground so well. Any earth-related element is going to find themselves at quite an advantage to her lightning. Lightning rods also work quite well for grounding her electricity. Works better as precise, targeted attacks and not so well as Area of Effect attacks.
Catalyst: A ancient, but well taken care of and strong Glaive, forged out of dragon scales. She always seems to have this with her, and seems to hold some importance to her. However, if asked she will simply give a wistful smile, and respond that it's simply a gift from a long dead friend. She never elaborates more on that.
Inventory: Her Glaive.
Master: N/A
Personality: Prideful. Stubborn. Arrogant. Those are the three words that would most definitely describe her accurately. Any dragon creature would share similar personality traits, and none so embody that fact like Sorcha. Honorable, Fair, and a lover of junk food shiny things, are just about all that encompass her personality. She will never tolerate an insult towards herself, or anyone that she so happens to deem worthy of being her master. To do so would severely tarnish her pride, and is something she would never let happen.
Tends to hold grudges because of her pride, should she lose or be insulted in some way.
"My history...is quite long, I assure you. I remember every detail of my life...even the painful ones that never quite heal."
Backstory: Her origins are shrouded in mystery, though one can confirm she was born sometime shortly before the birth of Christ somewhere in Scotland or Ireland. Her childhood is shrouded in much history, though she says she never knew her parents much - they were murdered when she was but a child and had to fend for herself through most of it and made sure to keep to herself and stay away from others - especially humans. Her parents had warned that they feared dragons, and would probably attempt to kill her, and she made sure to avoid them. Sticking to forests, caves, and never staying in one area for long.
And then, she met, A great wizard. He wanted a familiar, a powerful being. She of course, refused and the two fought, her ending up losing. And as an agreement reached before the fight, she became his familiar and fought, worked, and traveled alongside the wizard for much of his life, until they went their separate ways.
A few hundred years later, she found herself in the cold northern lands - somewhere what is around Denmark today. Having tasted battle fighting along a heroic king and her owner, she set out to make a name for herself in these lands she had never laid eyes on before - Terrorizing and plundering the landscape for any valuable she could find.
She claims it is one of the least glamorous chapters in her life, but she will not deny that it happened. Soon enough, she was challenged by a brave warrior, and the two fought each other in honorable combat. She killed all of his men, and fatally wounded the warrior, but not before receiving a near fatal wound herself. She managed to flee, but her wounds eventually got the best of her, and she passed out, unable to retain consciousness.
What happened after then, no one really knows. She has never told anyone - but it is known a few hundred years later she showed up in some small European village - with her Glaive in hand. She says she saved the village from a plague - some uppity mage or something was causing it. Normally she wouldn't care about such a thing, but the village offered a reward that quite intrigued the dragon.
Money. all of the Cities money, and their undying loyalty to the great dragon. She couldn't refuse such an offer, and within the next day, the mage lay dead and the plague stopped before it could spread any further. And for another few hundred years, she was praised and worshiped as a goddess by the people. The town grew and prospered under her guidance and protection. Until those religious zealots sought to kill her in the name of their god. They burned her village to the ground, killing all of the peasants and attempting to kill her. Fools ended up charred to a crisp from her bolts, but the damage was done. The entire town was decimated, nothing more than charred cinders and a grieving dragon.
This affected the dragon greatly. Over the years, she grew to care for the villagers - indeed, she even could say she had fallen for one of the locals.
On the night following its said her furious, grieving, cries could be heard through the entire countryside.
What happened after that, she never reveals, though she wandered and caused minor troubles here and there. She simply states she traveled, and has yet to take another master. Why she wants one now is anyone guess. Some with guts says she's lonely after being out of touch with people for so many years. Such people usually end up on the receiving end of her smiting.
They had travelled for several days, and every once in a while the pair would encounter a few others on the road. Irasacha decided it was important to lead by example, and always sought to treat them with respect, if not as equals. Sorcha seemed to be quiet for the most part, a large part of the lizard's boasting dissapearing overnight. The phoenix guessed after their last conversation that the teenager was deep in thought, which was a good thing.
The pair sparred every evening, and the goddess had to admit that her pet was improving. The dragon's physical strength was awesome, and she was gradually starting to learn about agility instead of just might and speed. Given a year, the dragon would probably be an equal match in a melee. Usually the older woman called the session off after twenty minutes when Sorcha's movements started to become sloppy, because training sloppy actions would lead to sloppy actions on the field.
And for now, the Phoenix avoided making sexual advances as well. She couldn't tell if that frustrated the dragon or not, but she could tell the younger one needed some time to think. If she asked about it, the red eyed woman would probably reward her again. After all, thought was a good thing.
They had heard news of a rampaging giant to the South, guarding the mountains between Antiquane and Austurias, and Iravis was considering this as a challenge for her newest pet. While pride was not good, others appreciating your actions was. It would also be a way for the pair to safely earn money.
Right now, it was nightfall at their camp. As usual, the blue haired woman delivered plenty of food into their camp while Sorcha was taking a post sparring nap. The older woman tapped Sorcha on the shoulder to wake her.
The dragon rolled over, onto her back, grumbling as she slept.
“Merrrrlin…I demand…belly rubs…” The Phoenix supressed the urge to laugh upon hearing this, and wondered what sort of dream the dragon had been experiencing.
The dragon yawned at the end of the sentence, opening her eyes slightly as she drowsily woke. She had at least gotten better about her sleeping habits fairly quickly in the few days she had been travelling.
Sorcha sat up, followed by another yawn and stretch.
“….I smell food.”
At least she's getting fast about this.
The blue haired woman leaned down towards the dragons, faces suddenly less than a foot apart. Suddenly a pot was shoved into her pet's hands, and a wide smile spread across Irasacha's face. "Yes, and tonight you're cooking it."
The Phoenix wasn't sure whether or not the dragon knew how to actually cook food, but for right now the goddess settled for bouncing away a few feet and sitting down cross legged, observing from a distance. If things started to go horribly wrong, she would step in.
“Wha…? Cooking?” She looked at the pot in her hands. “Uhm…if you…insist.” She tossed the pot aside, and walked over to some of the venison laying around the camp. She honestly didn’t have the first idea what to do when it came to cooking. Most of the time, she swallowed things whole, more or less, and since she could eat meat more or less raw…
She picked up one of the pieces of meat in one hand, and in another hand, a small ball of electricity formed…and she fired it right at the piece of meat. The venison was charred where the electricity impacted the meat. Still, most of it remained not very well done.
Didn’t stop the dragon though. She took a seat next to a tree, and tore some of the meat off with her teeth, and began eating.
“Done~” She seemed fairly pleased with her work.
Irasacha blinked once. Then again.
Well it was fast, that was a sure thing. And based off the geniune reaction the dragon gave, this wasn't an attempt at malice, but rather a complete lack of ignorance.
After a little thinking, the Phoenix realized that the dragon had never actually seen her cooking - the pet was usually involved in either pouting or sleeping ...
So instead of a long lecture, the goddess raised an eyebrow. "Is your quest to grant me illness? Does that meat actually appeal to your taste?"
The dragon cast a glance over to Irasacha.
“I swallowed humans’ whole. They taste a lot like pork.” She said through a mouth full of venison, perhaps a bit too casually. “I dunno, I’m not…I’ve never cooked before. Raw deer, sheep, pigs, and other things are pretty much my usual. Charred lightly with lightning, of course.”
Iravis found herself nodding her head in agreement with the first statement, then stopped and wondered why she agreed. Either way, she hadn't seen the dragon actually try and eat anyone yet, so perhaps this was a bit of teasing.
"What you're telling me is that this grand dragon can't cook a meal?" Underneath her breath, the goddess muttered something about Merlin being a failure as a parent. "If I show you how to cook a decent stew, will you make it for me at dinnertime?" All the time on the road was starting to wear the older woman down, and a short break would rejuvinate her a bit.
“…do I really need to learn?” She questioned, before promptly shoving her face full of the meat before she said anything else.
“I, mean uhm, s-sure?” Sorcha replied. “I don’t…mind, but I’m probably terrible at it. I don’t exactly have a good sense of taste…”
The goddess actually blinked at that response. At first she thought the dragon was just seeking an excuse to be lazy, but realized that she was actually willing to learn and probably geniunely couldn't taste the food.
Requesting her pet to cook when she couldn't even taste it was a bit sadistic for even Irasacha. A small smile ran across the goddess' face.
"Nevermind about that then. How about instead you deliver the meat before breakfast and before dinner, and I'll do the cooking? Hunt in your dragon form, of course. This isn't to waste your time."
“Wah? Really? Can I?” The dragon cast an excited look over to Irasacha.
Sorcha was very eager to go hunting once again. For one, she hadn’t had a chance to fly in ages. Two, she was weary of this human form. Three, she really wanted some time to herself at the moment. Using hunting as an excuse would work well.
“I can hunt pretty well!” She replied with a chuckle. “I’m probably the best hunter in all of Gotland~” She boasted as she bit into the meat, over half of which was now devoured.
The goddess smiled at Sorcha's grin. Honestly, it did make the older woman happy to see the teenager with some life again. Deep down, she felt Sorchy Sparky was a good person.
Three finger raised themselves though to silence the dragon's celebrations. "Three things though. One, I expect the meat to arrive before I wake up. Two, no raiding any humans out there, no matter how pesky they are."
The third finger went down as the goddess reached her last point, and some real concern entered her voice. "If you find anything unusual or strange out there, or something dangerous, do not allow them to trap you with your pride or honor. Swear that you will return to me for council before answering any challenges issued against you."
“Uhm…arrive before you wake up? Uhm…uhm…I’m not sure…that’s going to be possible.” She grumbled. Considering if left alone, she’d sleep well into the afternoon, it wasn’t a false statement. “But I can totally do the no human raiding thing.” The last thing though, might as well be the hardest for the dragon, though. She frowned, furrowing her brow as she looked at Irasacha.
“I don’t…I will…try.” That was the best response she could give to all of those conditions, honestly.
That was probably the best she'd get out of the dragon. Hopefully if some mage came along and decided to try and kill Sorcha, she would not engage him or at least think about the encounter.
Irasacha nodded as she picked up the pot, and soon with a little fire the brew was on it's way. After sharing some of her own cooking with the still hungry beast, the pair's appetites were filled.
The goddess found herself looking at her pet, wondering what the dragon would try and do if forced to start a conversation herself. Curling her legs up to herself and wrapping her arms around them, the Phoenix tried to look as non-threatening as possible. A slight head tilt of curiousity sent blue hair to favor falling to the left side.
Hopefully Sorcha would say something. It would be interesting to learn more about the dragon, even if she just tried to initiate another session ...
Where's my moon when I need her?
“U-uhm…Irasacha? Do…you, need something?” Sorcha asked, face turning a bit red.
The goddess simply shrugged her shoulders, not responding. It was far too early for even the dragon to be going to sleep, so this would be a fun game to play. The goddess didn't realize there was a sly smile spreading across her lips though.
Sorcha frowned, and for a few moments fell silent. Honestly? Sitting like this with Irasacha…was rather nice. Still, the silence was rather deafening, and she felt like something should be said.
“So…uhm…why did you…save me anyways?” She awkwardly started, a bit unsure what else to say. She was mildly curious. Most people would have probably run form a dragon. Even a dead or nearly dying one.
That question wasn't exactly what Irasacha was expecting, but after a few moments the older woman quickly recovered. "A little bit of curiousity, and because I had nothing to do then." Still though, that wasn't the complete answer. It would probably be the right thing to elaborate slightly. "The Sun, Ra, values and grants life, and seeing that drain away from one with so much youth saddened me. So I decided to grant you a second chance because I felt it was the right thing to do..."
The blue haired woman considered stopping, but decided to continue. Maybe it would help the dragonling ask more questions. "... So I moved us South away from what probably endagered you. When you woke up I initially planned on leaving, but a certain dragon felt that it was a good idea to threaten me ..."
…Ra? Again with these names of gods she didn’t even care for. Still, she supposed she should be thankful. If not, then she’d probably be dead now.
“I see…” Honestly, she was glad Irasacha didn’t leave her, even if she didn’t wish to admit it to herself at the moment. The dragon fell silent again, the silence returning as she tried to think of something else to say. “Uhm…so…uh, thanks.”
The dragon was completely baffled as to what to do at the moment, so she simply returned her gaze to the ground.
Irasacha smiled as the teenager delivered an awkward half hearted thanks, and after some time realized that the girl probably didn't know what to do in this siutation.
The Phoenix wondered if the dragon ever had any real friends. Merlin didn't really count, as he was more of an overseer. Did the reptile even have parents, or was the dragon born into the world without guidence?
A sigh passed the goddesses' lips as she stood up, walked beside the dragon, and lowered herself to the ground. The dragon would suddenly find herself gently pulled towards the warm body of the phoenix as she was embraced in a hug. "You don't have to thank me for that, silly."
She doubted Sorcha would respond, so perhaps another topic was in order. "You're my pet, and I don't know anything about you. If you don't mind telling me, what's your story?"
Sorcha had definitely not been expecting the warm hug, but it was a welcome gesture. However, she was completely unprepared for the question Irasacha asked next.
“My story?” Her voice sounded unsure. No one had ever seriously asked about her own past before. Merlin knew about as much as he cared to ask. Arthur simply didn’t care at all. Most humans tended to…well, flee from her.
“Hah, well,” A confident grin spread on her lips as she started. “If you must know, I was gloriously hatched somewhere in Northumberland. Merlin, sensing my potential for greatness, decided I would make for a lovely companion for Arthur during his uniting of Britannia and the fighting off of the Saxons.” She smugly stated, seeming quite pleased with this turn of events.
“It was a worthwhile deal. I got fed and got tons of treasure until Arthur didn’t have need of me anymore. Then I flew to Gotland, decided to sleep for a bit since defending a kingdom can be very exhausting. A thief stole from me, and now here I am.”
There was a lot of embellishment in that. It was painfully obvious.
When the dragoness finished speaking, she'd feel an arm tighten around her and a hand ruffling her hair, petting with a good degree of intensity. As she did this, the goddess spoke to the dragon as if she was the most adorable and non-threatening thing on the planet. "My little King of the Heavens has been a busy dragon!" A little laughter escaped the Phoenix's lips as the intense petting eventually forced Sorcha's head into Irasacha's lap, where the ruffling turned into a slow and calm stroking of the dragon's hair, her left arm tightly wrapped around Sorcha's body and holding her close.
Perhaps in the future she would ask for a more honest and less ridiculous account of the true events, but since they'd only known eachother for less than two weeks the Goddess could understand the girl's need to have some personal reservations. Given time, her pet would probably open up. For now though ...
Fingers countinued to run through Sorcha's hair as the goddess spoke a little more personally. "You've been good this week. How about you take a nap for now, and after some time passes we can bathe eachother? My pet's scales are so dirty right now I feel compelled to wash them myself."
Sorcha’s grin continued as she was praised. The dragon certainly didn’t mind taking a nap here. Irasacha was certainly comfortable. Plus a bath later…she couldn’t say she wasn’t looking forward to that either. She was certain Irasacha would probably ask for more details later, but…she didn’t wish to completely drag up old memories.
“The royal scales could use some polishing.” Sorcha grinned where she laid.
The goddess rolled her eyes to the heavens, unsure if the dragon actually caught her teasing. Fingers countinued to run through her pet's hair, and the Phoenix decided to knock Sorcha's pride down a notch. "Those royal scales will be cleaned by my hand, but perhaps this time you intend to return that favor rather than leaving me unsatisfied, hmm?" The Phoneix was sure the dragon would catch her reference.
“Uh…uhm…” Sorcha’s face turned a shade of red as Irasacha spoke, immediately catching the woman’s meaning. It wasn’t that she was against it, but well, she had very little experience in such matters and wasn’t exactly good at it.
“I…c-could try?” She stuttered out, her gaze turning away from Irasacha, finding a blade of grass very interesting a few feet away.
"So do you want me to explain how to treat a woman's body?" Somehow, the goddess managed to keep the words from sounding seductive, and kept them on a purely academic level. Her fingers started drifting down to Sorcha's neck though, tracing the lines of it ...
She halfway expected the dragon would try and claim that she was the king of the heavens and that she already knew how, but perhaps her pet had finally figured out that advice wasn't a bad thing.
“I-I can do it perfectly fine! I-I’m good at everything!” She stuttered again, shivering a bit from Irasacha’s touch. “P-probably…maybe…not…well…” Her voice trailed off, the dragon fidgeting where she laid. Seems she was debating on whether or not she should ask for help in the matter. She probably should, but it was difficult asking for it.
Irasacha giggled slightly at this response, a smile crossing her face as the dragon seemed to contemplate her abilities in such matters. Her uncertainty and refusal to ask was cute, but this would need to be addressed sooner rather than later. "If a question comes to your mind or you require aid, do not be afraid to ask. I value curiousity, but false confidence has been many a brave hero's tradgedy. I swear I will not look down upon you for asking for help."
She hoped that would prompt the dragon to ask about how this stuff works. It wasn't entirely selfless either, because if Sorcha became well trained in such matters it would prove useful during their travels.
“W-well…U-uhm…” She frowned, fidgeting a bit more. Wait a moment, she had a way she could ask without asking! “F-fine! If you think it is important, you will teach me.” She looked up at Irasacha, her face betraying her rather haughty tone.
“…if uhm, you don’t mind.” She quietly added after that. The pair found themselves not only well cleaned, but the Goddess was actually incapable of walking.
For the first two hours, it was an educational section in the use of how to use a tounge to get to a woman's heart. After the first hour of practice, the Phoenix requested the dragon stop, but her pet seemed eager to continue practicing her newfound skill so the goddess didn't do anything about it. Thirty minutes later and some squirming, Irasacha told the dragon to stop more firmly.
And the beast proceeded to ignore her for the next hour and a half, the goddess finding it difficult to summon any of her powers while she was experiencing such incredible emotions. Eventually though, the beast relented and let her owner go.
She'd probably deliver a few spankings and repay the favor if she had the strength to stand, legs failed to move properly. So the Phoenix found herself laying on the ground in front of her pet, trying to regain control of both her body and her powers. She was trying to deliver a hostile glare towards the white scaled beast, but she knew it failed to be convincing.
Because she'd honestly not experienced anything like that in the past two years. Her heavy breathing and tired eyes were probably a hint of that.
“Hehe, don’t give me that look.” Sorcha replied, a rather mischievous smirk as she looked down at Irasacha, sitting next to her. “You were having fun. Or do I need to do more?~” Sorcha was honestly glad for that little lesson. She would probably not be using these skills that much…but the dragon was almost certain she found something she could use against Irasacha…and possibly get away with some things.
Heh~
The dragon herself didn’t seem tired at all, or even disappointed she didn’t get much attention during the lesson.
Tired ruby eyes looked at Sorcha as she shook her head in response to the second question.
A few second later, the goddess made an attempt to regain control of the situation. "Get closer so I can spank ..." A yawn. "... spank you properly." She tried to formulate a few more words, but her heavy breaths weren't helping the situation at all.
The air around her seemed cold, so she curled up instinctually after a breeze went by, shivering slightly. This was an unfortunate side effect of being put under such incredible ... strain ... and having her powers act up as a result.
Sorcha giggled. She was honestly enjoying seeing this rather…vulnerable side of Irasacha. It was adorable. Still, Sorcha couldn’t just leave her out in the cold like that, nope. So she laid down next to Irasacha, wrapping her arms around the other girls neck, giving her a rather tight hug.
“Ehe, you’re kinda actually cute when you’re all vulnerable~” Sorcha teased. It was clear she was enjoying being the one not on the receiving end of such treatment. Still, instead of doing anything else though, Sorcha wrapped one of her wings around Irasacha, hopefully helping her a bit with the warmth. They weren’t big enough to cover her whole body yet, but it would help a little, at least.
The goddess reached a hand behind herself to deliver a playful smack to the dragon's rear, but soon found both of her hands wrapping around Sorcha's arms, holding her pet there.
It was warm being beneath Sorcha's wing. Maybe sometime in the future a later incarnation of herself would run into the dragon, and the roles would be reversed ...
... but for now, Irasacha would give the dragon victory for this night. She'd been good for the week, so perhaps allowing the girl some control for an hour or two wouldn't be too harmful.
"... Cute? That's not a description normally tacked onto me ..." Another yawn. The ruby eyed woman wanted to close her eyes and slip away, but right now seemed like a good time to talk. Normally, her questions would be more ornate, but in this condition she delivered a direct question. "... are you happy travelling around with me?"
That question was not one the dragon had been expecting.
…happy? Was she happy? It was certainly a new experience for her. But…happy? She frowned, unsure of the answer, so she spoke honestly.
“…I don’t know.”
The goddess nodded, although frowned slightly. It was probably a new experience for the dragon, and a little scary because of it. Irasacha new how Merlin treated his pets, and compared to this it was likely a much more distant relationship between them.
It would probably take more time before she'd be able to get an honest answer, especially an honest one. "Despite how difficult you can be sometimes, I do enjoy your company on the road ..." The goddess closed her eyes a little, but was doing her best to avoid drifting off to sleep.
The blue haired woman's hands squeezed a little tighter around Sorcha's arms. "... you could always fly away while I sleep. I can't force you to stay ..." Despite her attempt to sound neutral on the matter, a little saddness entered her voice as she thought about that possibility.
"... I know you want to be a grand dragon, but happiness always comes first. Promise to remember that, okay?" A single finger started running slowly up and down Sorcha's arms, tracing the contours of her muscles.
“I will be happy when I am a grand dragon.” Sorcha rather firmly replied. “And we had a deal…and I’m not going back on my word so I’m not leaving.”
The fingers running across the dragon's muscles stopped, and her body pressed closer against Sorcha's for warmth. "... Perhaps ..." Before she managed to elaborate though, her eyes fell shut and Irasacha fell asleep, breathing deeply underneath Sorcha's wing as she drifted off to revisit old memories ...
Whatever she was going to say, Sorcha didn’t interrupt. She was going to take advantage of this to reclaim a few extra hour of sleep herself. She had already lost a lot of hours thanks to Irasacha, and she was at least going to take a few naps when she could get away with it. Soon, the dragon followed Irasacha to sleep.
Sorcha had woken up rather early. Definitely much earlier than she usually did. Ugh, she was definitely not a morning dragon. Or one that liked being active for extended periods of time. In the week she had been traveling with Irasacha, she had been really, really, tired though she didn’t show it so easily. Honestly, being that insufferable womans ‘pet’ was exhausting. She couldn’t say it was bad, really. She did honestly like Irasacha on some level, she just hadn’t figured out how much she liked her.
Thoughts for later. She was having too much fun right now.
She soared through the skies, the wind rushing past her scales as her wings carried her upon the winds. This was a feeling she had so greatly missed while traveling with Irasacha. She could cover so much more distance every day like this, and she could still not fathom why Irasacha demanded they walked. At this point, Sorcha wouldn’t even mind carrying the other woman just so they could reach their destination with the swiftness of a storm.
She climbed the air as high as she dared. The world looked so small from up here – so small indeed. Such a small, fragile world that she wanted for herself. As a grand dragon, the entire world was hers after all. Perhaps it was a little foolish to think of it like that, but she couldn’t help it. At least, those would have been her thoughts before meeting Irasacha a week ago. Now, she wasn’t so sure. At least, she was doing some thinking.
But she banished those serious thoughts from her head. She was going to have some much needed fun before she returned to Irasacha, so she dived, heading right for the ground.
She fell, not bothering to slow herself until she was high enough to slow her descent just enough that she would survive the impact. She wasn’t aiming for a pretty landing – she just wanted to feel the rush of the wind on her scales.
She hit the ground with a loud thud, skidding a few feet in the ground, covering her otherwise immaculate scales in a layer of dirt.
The dragon simply laid on her back, giggling quietly to herself. She had half a mind to do it again, but she was out here for a reason – to hunt. If she kept making a ruckus like this, most of the animals would probably flee, and that would be no good.
So the dragon rolled back over, and shook off some of the dirt from her scales .She reached a claw up to her nose, scratching it before sneezeing.
Note to self: Nose doesn’t like dirt in it.
"Blegh, sneezing aside…I needed that~” She giggled. Now that she was alone, she was much less reserved about her actions and keeping up a regal appearance. “So let’s see…some delicious little deer should be around here somewhere….” She lifted her head, sniffing the air and looking around for any signs of prey.
How hard could actually hunting be? She may have made a bit of a exaggeration when boasting of her skill. Most of the time she stole from humans because she was honestly terrible at hunting. She had never really learned how.
But she could do it! She was certain. She was a grand dragon – she could do anything, no matter what Irasacha might call over confidence or not.
The dragon moved as silently as a one ton lizard could. Flying would have been even noisier, considering landing would have been involved. So she opted to stalk the forest as quietly as she could, her claws creating impressions in the soft earth as she walked. There should be a deer here somewhere – she could smell one. Just a bit further…aha! There it was!
She eyed the deer from a few yards away. It was oblivious to her presence as it munched on some berries or something from a bush. Hopefully it was, at least. Right. Hunting. She could do this. Just remember those old stories Merlin told you. Should be easy, right?
She positioned herself as close to the dear as she could, but luck was not with the dragon today. As soon as she approached, the deer shot its head up, looking right in the beasts direction. It seemed she wasn’t as quite as she was hoping she was being, and before she knew it, the deer ran off in one direction.
The dragon didn’t miss a beat, and followed after it, her heavy claws shaking the earth with each step.
The chase was on.
It was easy enough for the dragon to keep up with the deer. Over some trees, rocks, and even a little stream she followed it quite well. She was gaining on it, too. She may not be all that fast as a lizard, but she did have endurance, strength, and honestly – running like this was just enjoyable. She was enjoying the chase about as much as someone good. She found herself laughing a bit as she chased the deer.
That was until, she made a grab for it with her teeth and the deer made a sharp left and she slammed right into a tree. She even uprooted the thing a bit. Well, that deer was gone.
Her body fell limp as she was put into a small daze, trying to regain her senses.
Second note to self: Never use head for battering ram.
“Ugh…when I am a grand dragon…the first thing…I’m going to do…is burn the trees.” She grumbled, holding a claw up to her head. For later though. Now, she needed to hunt. One missed deer isn’t too much to worry about. There were bound to be others! She just had to find one.
Unfortunately, her following hunts went just about as well as the first. She lost one to a pack of wolves. One time her feet got tripped up and she face planted into a stream. Another time she wasn’t looking where she was going once again, and ended up repeating the first hunt.
After about thirty minutes of this, the dragon was completely at a loss for what to do.
She laid on the ground, near the tree line. Sorcha wasn’t sure what she should do here. She had promised to bring back Irasacha some food. But at this rate, she wasn’t going to be able to. She was honestly feeling a bit...down at the moment.
She laid on the ground, resting her chin on a claw, unsure of what to do.
What could she do? She wasn’t some expert hunter who could kill a deer from fifty yards away or something. The dragon shook her head. Meh. Depressing thoughts weren’t going to get her anywhere. She needed an answer to this food problem.
It was then…she noticed a wooden fence in the distance. She recognized it easily…and the little white puffs of wool behind it.
Sheep.
Chances were, they belonged to a human. Sorcha stood up, staring at them from a distance. Everything was telling her to just take the sheep and bring it to Irasacha…she wasn’t going to be getting anywhere hunting like this.
But…she had promised Irasacha she wouldn’t.
The dragon frowned, claws digging into the dirt in frustration. She couldn’t just not go back either…but…what should she do?
What could she do? Either she took a sheep and broke her promise of not stealing, or she came back empty handed. Either would be breaking her promise to Irasacha. She tried to think of something she could do to solve this. She could attempt to find the Shepard, but he’d likely run at the sight of her and attempts to acquire a sheep from him would likely be futile. She could resume hunting, but that hadn’t gone so well.
Annoyed, the dragon roared. Quite loudly.
She gave an impatient flap of her wings. UGH! She shouldn’t be debating something so trivial to begin with.
But…what could she do? The dragon grumbled, and laid on the ground. Maybe. Just maybe if she waited a bit one of the sheep would wander outside of the fence and she could take it before anyone noticed.
Some time passed, and the dragon didn’t know when she had fallen asleep, but she had indeed, fallen asleep watching the sheep. The lizard was snoring softly, quite content to sleep for some time it seemed.
When Iravis woke up, she looked at the sun. It was already well in it's way across the sky. The goddess had slept in.
The goddess looked around for a few moments, and wondered what was missing. Sorcha and breakfast both weren't there ...
... Did she wait for me to fall asleep and run ...?
It wasn't entirely unexpected. The Phoenix wondered if perhaps she'd been too cruel, and maybe she should have played a bit nicer earlier on. Was the girl's recent silence simply an attempt to catch her owner off guard?
Irasacha shook her head. It wouldn't be useful to dwell on uncomfirmed possibilities. If Sorcha chose to leave, she chose to leave. But perhaps it would simply take the beast longer to hunt than she expected, so for now she avoided panic and sat on the grass, waiting for her pet to return.
After two hours the goddess admitted to herself that her initial assumption was probably right. Perhaps it was time to start hunting for food. She'd have to make her own breakfast again today. Her eyes drifted towards the ground, but she wasn't sure why.
Flying over the forest, she searched for deer and was surprised by a strange absence of wildlife. It was as if something had come in and scared everything away. There just wasn't anything to ...
Ruby eyes were drawn towards something white and shiny. Looking at it more, she realized that it was a medium sized dragon.
Asleep.
It was eleven in the morning.
For some reason, the beast's tardiness didn't bother her right now. The Phoenix swooped down in front of the sleeping dragon, and transformed back to her mortal form, overlooking the scaled creature in front of her.
"Morning! Ten, Nine, Eight ...." The countdown had begun.
Sorcha definitely was having a nice dream and didn’t wish to wake, but the sound of Irasacha’s voice immediately woke the dragon from her slumber. The lizards eyes shot open, and was immediately on all fours, stumbling backwards as she realized she was probably in a lot of trouble.
“I-I wasn’t sleeping! I was…listening for prey!” She blurted out, quickly taking a look at her surroundings. “Ah…uhm…Irasacha…uh…hi?”
The goddess started tapping her foot, "Hi! So, you've been listening for prey for quite a while, but all I see are that poor farmer's sheep. If that is your goal, shouldn't you be further into the forest?"
Of course, she could guess at what happened, but she wanted for the dragon to explain for herself.
Anyways, it was hard to spank a gigantic lizard.
“Uhm…hehe, funny story…about that.” The dragon fidgeted. How could she explain this? She had basically failed both of her promises, and that well…made her feel kind of terrible. Well, lying would also be terrible, and would likely not get her anywhere and would only make her feel worse.
“I guess…I kinda…overestimated my hunting abilities…” She grumbled, eyes cast towards the ground. “I kind of…well, never even done it before to be honest…” As much as it was difficult for the dragon to admit, she really had never done any hunting before.
“…I saw the sheep and was hoping that one might…get uhm, lost…but…I kinda well…fell asleep.”
Irasacha blinked, geniuinely suprised that the dragon actually admitted to her failure. The goddess had to use her divine will in order to resist the temptation to pick on her pet, and simply start teaching her.
The easiest way to teach a flying creature would be to fly as well, so Iravis started walking away, putting a good twenty feet of distance between herself and the dragon before spinning back around. "Stand back."
A thin wall of fire came out from where Irasacha had been standing, and smoke took it's place. A sudden gust of wind cleared the fumes immediately, and in it's place stood a avian creature.
A towering winged beast, blue feathers extending from it's body, shades turning brighter and brighter as the feathers approached the edges of it's wingspan. Ruby eyes like the soul of a fire starred out at the world, taking it in.
A bard could spend a thousand years describing the creature, and would still fail at describing her divine appearence.
If a bird's face could give off a sly grin, the Phoenix was doing it now as she stared at the dragon. Comparing their sized, the avain creature had at least double the wingspan of the dragon.
Sorcha had expected to be reprimanded in some way. So she was quite surprised when she wasn’t and was instead told to stand back. She took a few steps back, unsure of exactly where this was going. And that’s when something rather unexpected happened.
A thin wall of fire pulsed from where Irasacha had been standing. Sorcha instinctively used her wings as a barrier from the flames, unable to react quickly enough to avoid them. It was soon followed by a gust of wind that was even greater than what Sorcha could currently kick up with her wings.
When she unfolded her wing, to look at what had just happened. Whatever she was expecting, wasn’t the thing standing before her.
The only word Sorcha could use to describe the creature, was simple. “Beautiful…” She folded her wings against her side, and simply stared at the creature before her. She knew Irasacha wasn’t a normal human…but she wasn’t even human judging from the look of…whatever this was.
The dragon fell silent for a few moments as she tried to regain her thoughts. She had always assumed she’d at least have the regal sight of her dragon form over Irasacha but now?
…she really wasn’t anything compared to Irasacha, was she? Still, at least she didn’t look like a giant chicken.
“Uh…so. You’re a…giant chicken?” She replied, somewhat suddenly.
…Crap. She hadn’t meant to voice her thoughts.
The Phoenix blinked once or twice. Birds really couldn't laugh, but the tilt of the bird's head suggested she at least considered that response interesting.
"At least I'm not about to be well-cooked lizard." Suddenly, the grass around the Phoenix started to burn aggressively.
Sorcha took a few large steps backwards, away from the burning grass. Her scales were resistant to most forms of damage, and she was certain a little amount of fire wouldn’t harm her too much, but she’d still like to avoid burning herself.
“C-can we not well cook the lizard?” She stuttered out. “The lizard likes to not be well cooked and probably tastes horrible.”
The Phoenix looked up to the sky. It was probably time to stop teasing the dragon, and get started on work. Still though, it was a lot of fun. "Let's make an agreement. I'll teach you how to do this, and you'll bring me dinner. If you fail at that task, I assure you I refuse to go hungry."
A predatory glean entered the goddesses eye as she stared at the Dragon, waiting for a reply from the young pet before her.
Sorcha stared at the phoenix, a slight look of annoyance formed on the lizards features as she grumbled, looking towards the ground.
“I should be the one doing the eating…” She grumbled. “But fine! I won’t fail!” She confidently stated. She was still confident in her abilities. And well, if her ability to learn in their ‘sessions’ was anything to go by, she’d ace this in no time. Yesterday, Irasacha had been convinced the dragon was a fast learner based on her ... performance. Today though, frustration had been building for the entire day.
The first time Sorcha tried to attack a deer to make breakfast, she slammed elegantly into a tree. The sound of that scared off most of the wildlife, so it took the Phoenix thirty minutes of patiently flying next to the slower dragon in order to reach a spot where the wildlife wasn't aware of their hunt.
This time, the teenager enthusiastically dove after the venision, and instead of hitting flesh instead made quite the impact on the ground. After making sure she hadn't suffered any serious injury, the hunt countinued.
Six hours later and after much discussion, the dragon finally managed to catch piece of dinner. It took some time, but the beast was starting to learn the definition of the word Patience.
So, the two were back at the campfire, and Iravis had turned the creature into a nice, savory stew. The goddess passed a bowl over to the dragon, trying to resist the urge to laugh that she'd had for the entire time.
Well.
Sorcha was definitely satisfied with the outcome of today hunt. She was quite pleased with the results. The stew was definitely delicious by her standards, but well, being a lizard meant she didn’t exactly have high standards.
Sorcha took the stew gratefully. Honestly, she was starving and she could go for a very nice nap right about now, though Irasacha would probably veto any thoughts of that, so she’d simply eat the stew for now, and brag about her newest learned skill
“See? Told you I could do it.” She smugly replied. No reason to eat the lizard, then.
Irasacha smiled back at the dragon. It was time to tone down that ego. She moved next to the teenager, running a hand through the younger girl's hair as she petted the beast.
"I never doubted you for a moment." The Phoenix spoke sincerely, but her next lines had a teasing tone with them. "Well, MAYBE I did a little when you fell asleep on the job. A bit when you crashed into that tree, a little more when you decided to take a plunge in the river, maybe just a bit of doubt filled me when you went face first into the ground ..." The hand that was in the teenager's hair started ruffling the girl's hair, making a mess of things.
The dragons smug look immediately turned into one of embarrassment as Irasacha recounted her failures, not minding the hand going through her hair.
“W-well, It doesn’t matter because I succeeded!” She harrumphed as she started eating the stew to distract herself.
The goddess nodded. "There is some wisdom in that statement of yours." A light kiss planted itself on the dragon's cheek. "We'll find a cave to stay in until you improve this skill sufficently, though. It's harder to improve when the terrain constantly changes around you."
The Phoenix lowered her gaze into Sorcha's eyes. "Do you want me to watch tomorrow as well, or do you think you can handle this on your own?"
“I-I can handle it.” Sorcha replied, though her voice wavered a bit, betraying her confidence. “So there’s no need for you to get up or anything.”
The goddess nodded. The dragon didn't realize it, but she just gave the Phoenix a reason to sleep in. A single finger traced itself down Sorcha's chest towards her stomach though, and another kiss landed on her pet's cheek. "Find us a cave with some privacy then ..." A look up towards some clouds revealed the incoming of incelment weather.
Suddenly the Phoenix's voice became seductive. "This rain may end up locking this Phoenix in there for a while with you. Should give me plenty of time to treat this naughty pet properly after what she did last night. Wouldn't want anyone else stumbling in on that, would we?"
Inclement weather?
Honestly, Sorcha loved both the rain and thunderstorms. She was right at home in such winds and storms. Doing that during it…actually sounded like it could be-gah! No stop it. Stop that line of thought Sorcha. Bad lizard, no no. Bad.
“U-uhm right. Wouldn’t want to…uh, be caught doing that out in the rain, nope. So, I uh, I’ll go find one.” With that, Sorcha freed herself from irasacha’s grasp. It didn’t take the dragon long to locate a shelter big enough for the both of them.
A week.
A week passed and Irasacha had taught the dragon how to hunt efficiently enough. She wasn’t the best, to be sure, but she had a fairly good sense of smell and hearing. Finding prey was never hard, but catching them always proved to be somewhat difficult for the dragon. Either due to her own clumsiness, carelessness, or other mishaps she always managed to botch up one hunt, but for the most part she was able to at least hunt well enough for the both of them.
They were probably going to head out soon, going wherever Irasacha wanted too. The dragon still didn’t have much of an idea of where exactly they were going or why, but she’d continue to follow Irasacha for now.
Why? She couldn’t exactly say.
She was too busy laying on the floor of the cave, on her stomach, doing nothing productive to think too hard on the subject. Sure, Irasacha had at least gave her a reason to get up early, but other than hunting in the mornings or…playing with Irasacha or doing whatever else the flaming chicken wanted, the dragon still wasn’t the most active sort.
Irasacha's eyes opened, memories of a time spent defending Hellena from the Zorostrian Empire fading away. By now, she was guessing the dragon had started to realize that dreams were ... intense ... for the Phoenix. So far nothing utterly terrifying had come up.
Despite her age, there were still days where she'd find herself curled up in the corner begging for relief. She wasn't sure what they'd end up doing if that occured. Her pet would probably at least look down on it.
The goddess wasn't exactly sure if the dragon understood the Phoenix's natural form of immortality, but so far the dragon didn't seem overly interested. Perhaps that was a good thing.
For now, time to focus on the present. A small pile loomed in the corner of the cave.
"Three deer this morning! You haven't started cheating, have you?" Despite the teasing words, it was obvious Irasacha was at least a little proud of her pet's achievements.
Sorcha yawned, feeling less motivated than ever to move now that she was in a familiar territory with freshly captured deer. It was a pleasant cave, after all. Nice, cool, and the rain made a pleasant noise when it fell upon the earth. She felt…comfortable. Content. She didn’t really need anything more, aside from a nice pile of treasure to sleep on, but she’d work on that over a few years.
“Huh?...” Sorcha replied to Irasacha, apparently half asleep. “Oh right…deer. Right. They were delicious.” She had munched on one herself by the time Irasacha had woken.
Breakfast went by quickly enough, and soon the pair had gathered their things and left the cave once more to head south. "To Tolouse we travel. We'll be there within three days."
“Tolouse…you keep saying that but I still have no idea where it is.” The dragon continued, another yawn, following after Irasacha.“And I was almost asleep again, too…” She grumbled. “Can I get another hour?”
The goddess provided a single sharp smack of encouragement to Sorcha's rear. "Toulouse is the capitol of the Duchy of Antiquance within the Kingdom of the Franks. It's location is close to the Medditerranean, so it will be a good place for us to start following the edge of the sea." The goddess provided the background with a scholar's tone, like she had taught this before formally.
Her next words were more stern, and less open for debate. "Additionally, you have something you'll be doing there. Have you been listening to the travellers we've been passing?"
Well, that smack immediately woke the dragon up.
“Uhm…maybe.” Sorcha replied, giving one final, rather loud yawn. No, in fact, she had not. She could care less about the talking of human people that she didn’t directly deal with, so she had mostly ignored any travelers they came across.
Telling that to Irasacha though…would probably end badly. Or at least another spanking of the not-so-fun kind.
The goddess rolled her eyes. Despite the dragon's obvious time alone, she still hadn't learned that humans weren't stupid. At least she had stopped talking about eating them or raiding them though.
For now, the Phoenix decided to play along with the dragon's false confidence. "By the divines, what a change in my Sorchy Sparky! I'm so proud of my little pet!" A hand ruffled through the dragon's hair, petting the lizard ferociously.
"In that case, can you explain what your plans are when we arrive? You surely already know your task." It had taken some acting, but Irasacha did her best to pretending to act innocent.
The dragon grumbled, still not entirely liking being called ‘pet’ but she didn’t protest at least. She was getting used to it. Or that horrendous nickname. Really. Sorchy Sparky. Lame. She’d at least like one befitting of a grand dragon. When asked what her task was, though, she was obviously caught off guard, not even knowing what it was she was supposed to be doing.
“Uhm…” She hesitated a moment before answering, fidgeting nervously because she really had no idea what she was supposed to be doing.
“…eat your foes?” She said that with the best serious smile she could possibly muster.
The goddess's face sudddenly appeared a little uncertain about that. "Even given your appetite, that'd be a difficult task for you. And I'm not sure how tasty it'd be in this situation either. We aren't going to be camping there for months while you devour this meal, you know." Inside, Irasacha was wondering how much that managed to scare the dragon.
“Uhm…I can eat my weight in around a day or two.” Sorcha replied, quite seeming quite serious and unfazed. “So he’d have to be kinda…really big for me to take a month to eat him.” Really, she knew that was a bit…abnormal even for a dragon, but well, she really didn’t care. She just ate a lot because as a grand and superior dragon, she just needed more food and energy.
Yep, not because she was a little glutton at all.
“So uh, unless he’s the size of like…I dunno, a mountain or something-” She narrowed her eyes as she spoke. “Heeey. Wait. Is he that big?” She interrupted her own sentence. She sounded almost a little excited.
Was her pet getting ... excited? Irasacha was almost certain that this would be a difficult challenge for the young dragon, but perhaps she'd have to ramp it up next time. For now though, she'd maintain the act. "I understand it's possible you've never seen one, but the travelers haven't been lying. A small mountain would be only slightly taller than this ..."
If it’s bigger than her, then it’s obviously stronger than she is.Therefore, she must kill it and prove just how strong she was. Maybe. maybe, if she could kill this thing without any problems, Irasacha would recognize her actual strength! She hadn’t even gone completely full out, yet.
“A small mountain? Well what are we waiting for!” The dragon excitedly replied, seeming motivated now. “Come ooon, I wanna go eat its face! It sounds like a worthy opponent for my greatness!~”
The goddess smiled at the dragon, "I'm sure my pet will make me proud." It was a large city to behold, and the goddess was fairly sure that Sorcha hadn't seen it's like before.
Fields streched for miles outside the walls, and within it was obvious there were at least ten thousand inhabitants. As they were walking down the road, people shot Sorcha strange glares, believing a bat demon had come for them.
Eventually the pair arrived at the gates, and were quickly granted entry. The Phoenix had a leash and collar in case Sorcha's prescence became an issue, but people were oddly pacified around them. Aside from the stares, even the guards seemed not to care about the dragon's prescence, as if there was a bigger issue than a demon wondering through their streets. "So, what do you think?"
This was the biggest city Sorcha had ever seen.
She had never ventured outside of her home in Britannia much, unless Arthur had called her to a field of battle. She had seen such cities overhead whilst flying, but they always looked so small form above. So…insignificant. She had never even paid them a second thought. In Gotland, she had never even seen such things either.
She didn’t even mind the stares she was getting, and in one instant, that haughty, arrogant attitude of her almost seemingly disappeared.
She was so busy trying to take in everything that was new, she barely heard Irasacha’s words, which brought the dragon back to reality.
“Oh. Uh…it’s nice…I guess….for a human town.” She harrumphed, face reddening in embarrassment as she regained her composure.
Iravis couldn't help but surpress a slight grin. Sure, she was a Phoenix. But in this life she remembered her orgin as a mortal. She couldn't pass this off as a simple portion of education. "This is fairly large for a regional city, but Rome is far more impressive, currently holding ten times the numbers here."
For this lifetime, the imperial capitol had close to 750,000 people within it's walls, but currently than number had been reduced to 100,000 for various reasons.
Eventually Iravis headed down a small allyway, beakconing for Sorcha to follow. Soon they arrived at a small door which the goddess opened, leading the pair into a small ritual chamber.
Within was a small gathering, and various statues that Sorcha wouldn't recognize. A priestess wearing a toga blinked when the Phoenix entered, but bowed after a brief double take.
"We are honored by your prescence here."
Sorcha, seemed entirely oblivious to the priestess’s reverence, or at least didn’t care much for it. Even if she knew Irasacha was considered a god, she’d likely care very little. After all, as the dragon stated earlier the only gods (and people) she cared for somewhat, were the sons and daughters of the Allfather, Odin. She could care less for the southern peoples’ gods, and thought even less of the gods themselves.
Though, Irasacha could possibly change her mind, at least a little.
“So…what, are you like a....important person or something?” Sorcha said, a bit bored now that she was off the streets. “Because I know she’s not bowing to me.”As she spoke, the dragon gazed around the ritual chamber. She didn’t recognize any of the statues, but they certainly looked…expensive.
Like they should be hers.
Laying in pile of treasure in her home.
If they stayed here too long, Irasacha might have to give the dragon another lesson in not stealing.
The priestess' mouth dropped as Sorcha spoke disrespectfully towards her owner. "Who is this ... creature?"
“Sorcha Ó Maoilriain!” The dragon replied with a smug grin, tearing her eyes off the rather pretty statues. She always made time to introduce herself to an ignorant human if they wanted to know. “Grand Dragon and companion to King Arthur, and familiar to the great Mage Merlin.”
The human blinked in confusion. "Who's Merlin? I've heard of Arthur, I think? And you are a dragon?"
Irasacha simply facepalmed at this point. "She's my pet."
The priestess seemed more confused by this point, and after a few seconds managed to stammer out some words. "But ... she is very ... um ..."
"Prideful? Arrogant? Don't worry, she'll have the chance to prove how grand she is soon. New has reached me about some problems with a giant, recently?"
Sorcha was oblivious to the preistess’ confusion.
“What? Can’t tell from the scales and wings?" She replied with a somewhat annoyed huff. “This. Is why. I hate this stupid human form.” She grumbled. “I get no respect! None from you stupid humans! No I am not a bat, and no I am not a demon.” She had half a mind to show her just how much of a dragon she was, but well, Irasacha would probably skin her alive.
“Meh, fools...you’ll see once I kill whatever that is in one blow.”
Irasacha nodded. "We have all the confidence in the world in your capabilities, Sorchy Sparky." The priestess had a doubtful look on her face, but nodded her assent.
A small tremble ran through the ground a minute later. Then a slightly firmer one after a few seconds. Panic rushed through the streets outside, screams, cries of people searching for one another, bells of alarm and for prayer ringing out over the sounds of rushing feet.
And the ground countinued to shake. The priestess and the rest of the congregation had a panicked look on her face, but the Phoenix smiled. Firm words from the blue haired woman's lips pierced the surrounding choas. "Fear not, for Sorcha, Radiant King of the Heavens, has sworn to eat this foe in my name."
The ground shook. That was never a good sign, but whatever was doing the shaking was obviously strong. The dragon couldn’t help but to be a little excited at the thought of fighting something after going so long without doing any serious fighting, aside from the lessons with Irasacha.
“Ha! Let’s see what’s making you puny little mortals scared.” The dragon grinned, making her way to the door and exiting the ritual room, back into the alley.
All confidence the dragon had, was immediately lost.
“A J-Jotun!?” The dragon shouted, eyes widening in response. Not just any one, either. He was an absolutely massive one. Irasacha hadn’t been lying when she said he was the size of a small mountain, but more importantly…she wanted her to fight a denizen of Jotunheim? A son of Ymir?
All strength left the dragon, replaced only with poorly hidden fear.
“I…I’m not sure I-I can.” Her voice trembled slightly as she immediately returned to the ritual hall. Fear was something she hadn’t felt in a long time. She had said she would, however, and going back on her word was not something she fancied doing.
But killing a son of Ymir and possibly offending the residents of Jotunheim in some manner? That…that was not something she wanted to do.
“I…Irasacha, I don’t…think I can. E-even if I somehow did, offending the Jötnar is not on my list of things I want to do.”
The goddess shrugged. "I found you on the way home from a conference between Vahalla and Olympus. According to that conference, we have the right to slay the giant." The Phoenix decided to see if the dragon would decide to fight then, or admit her weakness once more. "You told me on the road you intended to eat this beast. Are you backing off now?"
“N-no!” The dragon quickly replied. She’d never back down from a challenge, even one like this, if she absolutely must. But, well, chances were…she’d end up very, very, very, dead. And she rather liked living.
“You didn’t tell me it was Jotun!” She shouted, perhaps a bit too forcefully. If Valhalla agreed though, then chances were she wouldn’t get into trouble with them…but she wasn’t worried about them. Agreement or not, she had no intentions of ever offending or fighting the Jötnar. “Yeah, I’m strong. I’m a dragon. We’re strong by nature.” She continued, voice becoming a bit more confident as she spoke. “But there are some things I refuse to fight. A Jotun could snap my neck like it was nothing! Even if I somehow…miraculously defeated one…I do not wish to take the chance of making them upset!”
She turned her head towards the ground as she finished and added a bit forcefully.
“…if you really want, though, I am obligated to fight.”
The Phoenix placed hands on each of Sorcha's shoulder. "Although I intended this to be your first challenge while I watched over you ... never fight for something you don't believe in, understand? You'll never be happy if you start doing that." Screams were getting louder and more panicked. It was obvious the giant was getting close to the walls.
To the great concern of the priestesses, the blue haired woman headed outside, going straight towards the defenses nearest the assaulter.
That was the first time the dragon had heard something quite like that.
Certainly she had fought for causes before. But the only reason she did, was simply for one thing – the chance to put the fear of god into mortals, and shiny little treasures. But something she believed in? All she cared for was shiny treasures and sleeping. Not much to fight for there.
If anything, the only reason she’d ever fight a Jotun was simply because it woke her from a nap and she was being particularly grumpy about it.
“Something…I believe in?” She echoed, unsure of her own words. She stood there for a moment, a little lost in thought as Irasacha headed outside.
She…she couldn’t be intending to fight it, could she?!
“I-Irasacha, wait!” She called after the phoenix. As much as she didn’t want to fight Jotun, letting Irasacha fight the thing alone? That was not something she was going to let happen.
The goddess slowed down slightly, allowing her pet to catch up, before doubling their pace again to the point where they may as well have been jogging. Guards were running in all directions, some seeking to man the walls and others seeking to flee certain death. Civilians were in a constant flow towards them, but somehow the goddess simply had the prescence in her movement to make people part before her.
If Sorcha bothered to check, a serious expression was on the goddesses face, hair casting darkness onto Irasacha's face.
Sorcha caught up to Irasacha, trying to think of something to convince her to not fight the Jotun. However strong she might be, there was no way she could fight it without getting horribly injured, was there? Before she could form a proper sentence though, Irasacha picked up her pace, causing the dragon to have to quicken her own as well.
And when she saw that serious expression on Irasacha’s face…Sorcha grabbed Irasahca’s wrist, not caring that she might get reprimanded for it.
“…are you crazy? That Jotun will kill you.” She said to Irasacha, her expression quite serious. Why she was even concerned about this? If that Jotun killed her, well…then she’d be free to go about her business as she saw fit. Yet, for some reason imagining such an event gave her an uneasy, unpleasant feeling in her stomach.
That last piece of affection suprised the goddess falter a little, stopping for a moment. Irasacha had lost her prescence in that moment, and member of the crowd stumbled into the goddess. Apparently that set the Phoenix back on track, because she started moving through the crowd with the same pace as before.
A finger pointed towards a small child being carried away by what was probably her mother. Despite stumbling in the crowd, the parent regained her feet and carried on.
"Perhaps the Jotun will. A few minutes of time that could mean saving a thousand though. That child and mother would have no home, but at least they would have eachother."
The wall was less than two hundred yards ahead at this point, the crowd dissapearing as they hit the other side of the fleeing feet. Irasacha was looking for a staircase up onto the wall, the giant looming over it as it approached. It'd make contact within two minutes easily.
This only frustrated the dragon. Her somewhat concerned look turned into a scowl as Irasacha continued. She was talking about mortals again. Why should either of them care so much about the lives of so many puny few who couldn’t protect themselves? These men and women were even less impressive than the sons of Odin. At least they were honorable, and didn’t let others fight their fights for them!
That soldier…what was his name? Beowulf? He was a perfect example of bravery, honor, and human dignity. He was a human she could actually respect somewhat, even if she had only known him all of a few moments.
“And why should we care?” She said, spotting the child Irasacha pointed too. She felt nothing but scorn for the humans weakness. “I don’t know what you are, but you’re not a human. You’re better than these humans. They should take care of this problem themselves.”
The goddess hardly offered Sorcha a glance as she countinued, now breaking out into a run since they were past the crowd. The Phoenix broke the dragon's grip on her wrist as they went up the staircase.
A single word was muttered in possbily the most insulted tone a person could manage. "There ..." The goddess shook her head though, the words becoming flatly stern instead. "I believe humans are worth protecting. If you don't believe in that, sit down and watch as an idle spectator. You will not be punished for doing so." Eventually the pair reached the top of the staircase, looking over the wall.
The mountain countinued to move towards the pair. There was about forty five seconds left until it arrived.
The phoenix started to mutter words in a tounge that would certainly be considered foriegn to Sorcha.
Idle…spectator? Well, she certainly didn’t care for the humans running about.
Honestly, Sorcha had no idea what she should do. She wanted to help Irasacha - she did. But she also didn’t to die herself, just for the sake of helping some idiot humans who were too busy running and screaming to defend themselves.
She watched Irasacha start chanting in some foreign tongue, and started at the ground, a conflicted glare threatening to burn a hole in the floor.
A glace was tossed in Sorcha's direction. Thirty five seconds. It would be painful, but she could save these people and their homes before the massive creature reached the walls. It wouldn't be a problem if she had more time, but ...
The dragon had very little faith in her.
"Ra, grant this sinful soul your prescence." The sun seemed to become larger in the sky, drawn closer by some invisible hand. "Hear this plea from your vassal. Lend strength to me so I can preserve life which you value so much." Irasacha's eyes started to glow gold, her blue hair gaining highlights and defying the laws of gravity. Ten seconds.
That name again. Ra. Some foreign deity or something, form what she had gathered from traveling with Irasacha. Whatever she was doing, it certainly was impressive. The sun seemed to grow brighter in the sky, though she was still too busy glaring at the ground to really notice it much.
Preserve life? Were these humans really that valuable? To even some foreign god?
For all the treasure in her old horde, Sorcha couldn’t figure out why. Why were humans so valuable? The more she tried to come up with an answer, the more annoyed the dragon became. No answers came, only more frustration and anger. Soon, her glare turned into a scowl.
"By my divine plea, SEND THIS FOOL WHO STANDS BEFORE OUR WRATH TO ASHES!"
When she had finished speaking, the fist was coming down on them. Apparently the Jotun recognized a threat. A half second before it impacted however the giant suddenly started to disinigrate, small pieces of fire piercing it's skin. The small mountain first lost it's limbs, falling but never hitting the ground as it's torso and head were consumed before they made contact. A large pile of ashes collected at the base of the wall, gradually being flown away by the wind.
If Sorcha bothered to look, it was quite obvious that this was at least exhausting for the goddess as she leaned against the crenellations, looking sick after a few seconds.
The contents of breakfast were sent down onto the pile of ashes as the goddess collapsed on the wall. With more time, that spell would have been easier, but finishing it rapidly like that took a considerably larger amount of effort.
Soon, her scowl turned once again into a look of amazement. The Jotun’s fist came down. She could feel her body moving on it’s own. She wasn’t going to let Irasacha be crushed by that thing. Her actions though, were completely unfounded.
The thing disintegrated into nothing but ashes.
The dragon trembled a bit.
Such…power. Something that was able to take a giant…a Jotun out in such a little amount of time…how? How had she done that? It was…
“I-Irasacha!” She shouted, rushing over to where the phoenix had collapsed. She didn’t look good at all. That impressive display of power lingered in her mind, but for now she just wanted to make sure Irasacha was alright.
“Ah…uhm…you, uh, don’t look to good.” A look of actual worry crossed her face as she stated the obvious. “Uhm uhm uhm what do I do. I’m no healer I can’t heal I don’t even know how to patch myself up…” And then, well, something rather unexpected came out.
“You idiot!” She harshly said. “I mean, what were you thinking! You could have…died and I…would…have…” Her sentence trailed off into a quiet grumble realized her words would probably mean little.
The blue haired woman looked up at Sorcha, and after a few moments someone interupted her words as she managed to gain her feet.
Well, not someone. Someones. At least five hundred people had been close enough to see what had happened. Two women alone on the wall incinerated the monster that had been pestering them for the past year.
Loud cheers exploded from the base of the wall, a challenge in volume to the previous footsteps from the giant. Some of the more responsible gossipers ran around, seeking to tell those who had fled that their homes were safe to return to.
Overall, there was a lot of joy. Irasacha had a smile spreading across her face, and waved calmly to the people. She could afford to be sick later.
Since Sorcha was close though, she yelled to the dragon. "Going ... back ... temple ... after." She extended an arm, seeking to use the dragon for support. Standing was a challenge right now, and her pet's aid would be helpful.
Sorcha accepted Irasacha’s arm, supporting her as best as she could. The dragon said nothing else, and merely helped Irasacha through the crowd back to the temple. What could she say? She was pretty sure she had just disappointed Irasacha.
…
The dragon frowned, and still said nothing as she helped Irasacha back to the temple.
Eventually they arrived, the crowds seeming to only increase in volume. At the temple entrance, the priestess was nice enough to inform them that her condition would be reported on at a later date, and to go home for now.
The moment the crowd dispersed, the Priestess took Irasacha's other arm, although her strength next to Sorcha's was unnecessary. After unlocking a door, the pair moved into a back room where the priestess placed Iravis onto the bed. After a quick look over at Sorcha, the priestess possessed an irritated glare as she noticed the pet's lack of problems, but left to go retrieve medicine.
When she returned she seemed irritated beyond belief, glaring at the dragon. "I hope YOU were useful to you mist-"
"Sorcha did ... everything I requested of her loyally ... do not insult her." The words came out sternly, but not threateningly. It wasn't a lie, but it certainly was bending the truth. It seemed that the priestess wanted to question her goddess further, but at that point the Phoenix screamed in pain and began to cough up ichor.
At that point the priestess quickly filled a glass of water from a bucket and stirred some medicine into it, working as quickly as possible. Irasacha had managed to close her mouth, but was obviously sweating considerably.
Sorcha simply looked on uneasily, unsure of what she should do. She felt terrible. Her inaction on the wall already made the dragon question her own honor and decision. She shouldn’t have let Irasacha fight that thing. Irasacha was her lord, and she should have fought the thing unquestionably.
That’s what soldiers, knights, and loyal soldiers of the king do.
And here she was, her lord injured because she was too busy questioning herself.
The fact that Irasacha had covered for her, only made her feel worse.
So all the dragon could do, was watch as Irasacha was tended too.
…
She really was ultimately, useless, wasn’t she? Maybe that’s why Arthur never liked her and why Merlin left her. Just a stubborn dragon who couldn’t do anything other than sling around her titles and accomplishments and hope they meant something. For the love of Odin, she couldn’t even keep a single promise or oath to someone who had saved her life.
…she wished she had a nice, dark, cave to curl up and sleep in.
Soon the priestess had completed her concotion and after a moments hesitation and cursing, headed over to the bedside and forced the tastless brew down the goddesses throat. After a few seconds, the Phoenix passed out.
The servant of Olympus set about cleaning the place, including finding new sheets to replace the bloodied ones. She left the room for a short time, but eventually returned with two stools, placing one nearby Sorcha with a respectful bow.
"Apologies for my inappropriate conduct. If there is anything you desire, we will bring it to you." She backed off, placing her own stool on the other side of the bed and observing her patient, granting the dragon silence if she desired it.
“O-oh…uhm, it’s fine.” Sorcha quietly replied. The bow she received didn’t make her feel any better, even though it usually would have.
“Thanks…” She took a seat on the stool, unsure of what she should do. So the dragon simply fidgeted nervously on the stool, trying and failing to collect her thoughts. As the silence dragged on, the dragon couldn’t remain silent. She needed something to distract herself from her thoughts.
But what?
Asking something from these people didn’t feel right….
“So. Uhm…will she be alright?” She asked the question without really thinking.
"Most likely. The Phoenix tears aren't the only thing regenerative about her, and wounds normally heal quickly. Given that, the goddess will be asleep a day or two, and resting for a week would be my recommended option." Oddly, the Priestess seemed ... calm about this.
Phoenix…tears? Goddess? Asleep for a day or two?
“Uhm…goddess?” She tilted her head in slight confusion. Irasacha may have mentioned such a thing before, but considering her disdain for most of the southern gods, she had hardly been listening. “Is that what Irasacha is?”
She likely would continue to not care, but well…She could possibly learn a bit more about Irasacha now that she thought about it. She didn’t know anything at all when it came down to it. “And…how can someone sleep for two days? The most I’ve ever slept was for a day and a half.” She seemed rather proud of that statement.
The Priestess nodded. "Not the top of the pantheon for sure - Zeus, Posiden, and Hades claim that title according to us, and according to Egypt Ra claims it, but she is in fact a member of both. The Phoenix can't really die, but I'm sure she's already offered an explanation about that." Based on her tone, it wasn't likely that she was trying to insult Sorcha's lack of knowledge on the subject, but rather believed her pet was informed.
With Sorcha's claim, the woman laughed slightly, then seemed to feel guilty about doing so. "Part of the medicine's purpose was to knock her out. Considering her strength, it's hard for me to guess how much is neccessary. I guessed she'd be in ... debilitating pain for approximately two days, so I administered enough medicine to do so. Afterwards, I'll attempt to gradually have her be awake more and more, until treatment is unnecessary."
“Ra?...Zeus? Sorry, those uhm…aren’t familiar names to me. Odin and Frigg are the rulers of the Æsir, er, gods, where I’m from. I even met Thor once. He was…nice to me.” She quietly replied, and shaking her head, casting a glance over to Irasacha.
“She…uhm, hasn’t told me anything about herself really.” Sorcha replied. “She just…sort of saved my life then kinda dragged me with her after I lost a bet.” She looked to the ground as she said that. “Not that I mind…she puts up with me, and most people tend to sort of…uhm, flee when they see me.” She chuckled bitterly at that.
It was good to hear Irasacha would be alright, though.
The priestess listened to Sorcha's story intently. Now that she thought about it ... the dragon was rather youthful. And obviously troubled. The Roman leftover walked over to the cabinet, quickly preparing a glass of water before returning. "Maybe you should have something to drink if you intend to continue."
“A-ah…uhm, thanks.” Sorcha said, gratefully accepted the glass of water. She downed it almost shockingly fast, taking the lizard all of a few seconds to do so.
“…I-I’m not sure what to…talk about though.” She continued. “I uhm…I’ve never really had a…conversation with a human before. Usually I just eat them…or kill them…or…crush them…steal…from them…” She cast her gaze back to the floor as she continued, unable to meet the humans own.
“Not like I have any choice…everyone’s always like ‘Run from the big scary dragon lest it eat you!’ or ‘I’m here to slay you and steal your hard earned money because you stole it and obviously it’s mine now!’…” She frowned, bringing her feet up to rest on the edge of the stool, resting her chin on her knees as she wrapped her arms around her legs.
“It’s…all I know how to do. All I’ve ever…been taught to do. And…I want to help Irasacha…she’s…nice to me and…if it wasn’t for her I’d be dead but all I do is cause trouble. I can’t even hunt properly! I always mess something up no matter how hard I try to learn…I can’t cook either because I honestly have zero sense of taste and I can’t even…can’t…even…stop her from getting injured…”
The priestess smiled. "... If you deserve punishment, prepare for her wrath. For now though, stop worrying and go to sleep. You look exhausted, and it's been a long day for you ..." There was a gesture to hop in with Irasacha. There was enough room for both of them, and it was obvious they were close.
…sleep. Yeah, that was always good. Always made her feel better in the end. A nice, long rest sounded lovely.
“Hah…right…sorry…” She apologized. Not like the human actually cared really. “Sleep…sounds good.” The dragon sluggishly got off the stool, noticing the gesture to get in the bed with Irasacha. The dragon sighed, supposing there wasn’t anywhere else she could sleep. She’d honestly prefer to sleep alone.
So the dragon simply shook her head, and found a nice quiet corner of the floor and laid on her side, curling up into a little ball.
The priestess raised an eyebrow, surprised the potion worked so quickly. For now though, it would be appropriate to give the dragon some accommodations. She returned with a pillow and blanket, placing them on the dragon for a bit of extra comfort before leaving the room.
The dragon pulled the offered blanket around her, and was soon fast asleep.
