RP:Killer and Healer, Roles Reversed
You stand upon the stretch of sandy land, entitled 'Sandy Beach' by those who know it. Obviously a popular locale, multiple youths of Cenril wander about, socializing amongst themselves in simple, near-bare uniform. A man-crafted barrier of stone hedging works around the sandy lot of shore, standing at about four feet tall and a foot in width. The entire beach forms a 'C' shape, opening east to the sea, probably much of the reason why it'd be famous in Cenril. Skirting the barrier, the beach continues on north and south.
Characters:
- Satoshi, Kit-Vampire, Frost Singer.
- Emiur, Chaotically-Altered Couatl.
- Neema, Avian Druid.
- Twitchy, Myoclonic Blue Dragon.
Summary: Satoshi and Emiur meet Neema's new friend Twitchy the dragon, and Satoshi attempts to use her newly acquired healing ability on the somewhat willing avian.
Neema : The lost avian's precious bee-fox companion sat in the sand, just as she had done for the past few days. She was under the impression Neema was dead, but was still clinging onto a teeny bit of hope that she might be alive. Buzz whined, then curled up into a little ball. That's when it happened. Off shore in the distance, the water was rippling in a manner far different then the lazy ebb and flow of waves hitting the sandy beach. It was gurgling almost, and a massive dark shadow could be visible moving beneath the current. Moments later, a brilliant blue dragon broke the surface, accompanied by an involuntary spray of sea water in all directions and a thunderous roar. The dragon was eel like in appearance, shimmering scales coming into full view as its fin-like wings spread out wide as it made an awkward swoop through the air. It could be the fact that the creature had been held captive in the confines of an undersea cave for years, or the fact that it had uncontrollable muscle spasms rippling through its body, but the dragon's flight was awkward, and by no means a graceful sight. If one were to able to look closely at its head, you might catch a glimpse of an avian woman that was soaked to the bone, bloody, and clearly injured, with a mermaid's head tied about her waist by its stringy hair and a bladed staff topped with an octopus carved from a chunk of ivory clutched in one hand. The mermaid's face looked like it had been removed while it was in the midst of screaming in agony, judging by the way its tongue was hanging out. Her other hand held onto one of the blue dragon's curled horns for dear life, seeing as how her wings were so wet that flight on her own was near impossible. Buzz, Neema's fox, realized it was her avian companion right away. From her spot in the sand close to shore, she seemed to cheer happily at the sight of her friend, buzzing loudly and frantically like an over excited puppy or something. The dragon overhead writhed and twisted, finally finding balance in the air and flew properly, just inches above the water where he shook Neema off of his back and into the sand as gently as a dragon could possibly do. Basically he sent her in an awkward tumbling roll, definitely not good for her cracked ribs and the plethora of open wounds covering her body. Neema grunted, gasping desperately for huge gulps of fresh air that she hadn't breathed in days. Salty, but far better than breathing in the fumes of partially decaying corpses and rotting fish. Then tried wobbling to her feet when she finally stopped rolling in the sand with help of the staff, but stumbled. A sizable chunk of stringy hair tore from the decapitated mermaid's head held at her waist, and slipped off, rolling in the sand before coming to a halt near Buzz's tiny, striped feet. The dragon, affectionately named Twitchy, lowered himself back into the water behind her, watching her move with apparent concern on his strange face. His task was done, as far as he knew. They massacred the mermaids and he brought her to the surface. The bee fox pounced at her companion, weaving in and out of her sluggishly moving legs, before Neema ultimately dropped back down again, coughing up salt water and blood. A few more coughs gave way to nasty, salty vomit, and she finally collapsed face first in the sand, completing her dramatic reentrance back onto land after being kidnapped for almost two weeks.
Satoshi is in the midst of wandering the sands seemingly without aim. Truth be told, she's having a training session with Emiur, the couatl having buried himself beneath the loose sand before sending out a faint psionic pulse for the foxkin to detect and pinpoint. Unfortunately, Satoshi has no skill in mental detection and is left just wandering in hopeless circles, getting further frustrated with each step. Up until the sudden explosion of water off-shore, and the stumbling scene that quickly follows, all of which leaves the unmoving bard blinking dumbly. "Neema...swan?" she calls, musical voice soft yet easily crossing the distance between them. Emiur, as much a curious creature as his partner, can't refrain from making himself known after sensing the two new consciousnesses, and with the sound of sifting sand and rustling scales he rears his massive emerald head of crested rainbow feathers up mere feet from where Satoshi is standing. Black tongue flickering out inquisitvely at the dragon and avian, Emiur sends a mental private ping toward the vulpine, his unheard voice laced with amusement. ~You were close, Snow Fox. Friends of yours?~ Satoshi nods faintly in response, still eyeing Neema with curiosity abounds.
Neema let out a groan, one that caused her to take in a mouthful of sand on accident. Gagging at the gritty feel and taste on her tongue, she sits upright, and spits on the ground a few times in order to get the sand out. It works sort of. With dried tongue hanging out, she starts using her oversized sleeves to try wiping the miniscule particles clean from her mouth. Gross. Twitchy continues to watch from his position half in and half out of the water close by, but his attention is drawn toward the multicolored creature whose head emerges from the sand. Normally the territorial type, he would've snarled, but with not having any territory to claim as his own, the blue dragon merely watches to see if the couatl is friendly. Neema hears the bard's voice before taking notice of Emuir, and makes a half grin at Satoshi while attempting to hoist herself up from the sand with aid from the staff nearby. "Hey there, Satoshi.." She didn't really know what else to say besides that, what with being a bit confused herself about how she was pulled back to the surface. Losing chunks of time because of those mermaids had clearly taken a toll on her. A shaky hand moves to rub the back of the avian's head, when it hits her. Her hat is missing. Now she's more attentive and worried. "Uh..My hat? Have you seen it?" Buzz had taken it away to show Cerinii days ago, so it'd be a while before she found it. Hand went from her head to her side, the one which had cracked ribs. She groaned. It's safe to say Neema is in a whole ton of pain, but she's trying to keep from crying out about it, especially now that she's taken a glance at Emuir. "What's that? It's pretty.." Twitchy snorts. Was that jealousy? You bet.
Satoshi rolls her eyes in response to Emiur's sudden preening, the serpent having pulled himself further from the sand to free multi-hued wings and hold them half-flared at juuuust the right angle to catch the sunlight and dapple the ground in an array of colors. "Show off," the frost singer coughs, ducking her head to hide a grin at the couatl's suddenly crestfallen look before she looks back toward Neema. "Him? Name's Emiur. Et no, I haven't seen your hat." However, before the foxkin can say anything further, Emiur cuts in, exerting a faint mental pressure on those present by way of asking permission to speak directly to their minds. ~Forgive the Snow Fox. She has no manners for proper introductions. As she said, I am Emiur. My kind are called couatls. It is a pleasure to meet you, little avian. As well as you, cousin.~ Amber eyes flick toward Twitchy followed by a dip of his slender snout. Again Satoshi rolls her eyes, this time for her psionic companion's overly formal nature. "So, Neema-swan, you look like you've been dragged through Venturil and back by a rampant razor-beast. What in hellfire's name did you get yourself into? And who's your blue friend~?" As she speaks, the little fox can't help eyeing Neema's wounds. But for the first time it isn't the urge of vampiric bloodlust that leaves her trembling where she stands. Rather, it's her newly granted gift of healing, barely awakened and already pushing her to tend to the injuries, leaving clawed fingers flexing anxiously and water pools unnaturally in her palms.
Neema is practically staring at Emuir now, especially at his wings. Lots of different colors grouped together drew Neema like a moth to a flame, basically. She loved lots of colors. Probably why she wore so many kimono robes at once. Why pick just one when you can toss seven or eight on at the same time. Made perfect sense to her. While continuing to wince and stare -a bit of sand managed to get into some of the cuts littering her body- , the avian pretty much freezes on the spot at the presence of Emuir's voice. She had only recently gotten used to Twitchy's voice popping up in her head. Now another one? Yikes. For a moment, the avian looks absolutely perplexed. Twitchy had relatives that looked like they had been born from a rainbow? Dull eyes shifted over to the blue dragon, who had wriggled his way out of the water and was a shorter distance away, elongated body rippling with uncontrollable muscle spasms. "You're related to him?" Again, Twitchy snorts. Not from jealousy this time around, but as acknowledgement that he caught what Emuir had said and could hear Neema. - He means we're similar, in a way. I think. - His neck made a gesture akin to a shrug, oceanic eyes shifting to look over at Emuir. He seemed perfectly friendly enough. - Pleasure to meet you as well. - Neema fidgeted uncomfortably. All of this voices popping up in the mind business didn't sit all too well with her. Satoshi is given a grin, while she points over her winged shoulder at Twitchy. "That's Twitchy. He helped me get out of the underwater caves." Then, she launched into her story about being taken captive. "There were some of those fish people, the mermaids, I think? Yeah. Those. They took me to where they lived and almost made me kill myself for some octopus god.. It was really a statue, but I guess they didn't know. So..Twitchy and I killed them." She paused, indicating the mermaid head she brought along to the surface with her. "Well, Twitchy did most of the killing. I got two. That was their leader," another pause, the octopus-topped staff held in her hand given a little shake, "I took this from her after I hacked her head off."
Satoshi momentarily distracts herself from the urges telling her to tend to Neema, peering at the indicated mermaid head and staff with vested interest. "Did you now~? From bodyslamming wolves to beheading mermaids, and befriending dragons. You're a fierce little bird, aren't you~?" Flashing a fanged grin, the vixen unconsciously shuffles closer, still looking over the decapitated head as a water-coated finger tentatively reaches out to give it a poke. The new proximity to the avian's wounds doesn't help her attempts at distraction however, and quickly the bard finds more liquid gathering around her hands, taking on an opalescent glow as the newborn power tries to come to full life. "Nyeh. Stop that, dammit..." Emiur, for the moment, remains silent, seemingly content to observe, fanned tail waving luxuriously, and keep out of his companion's mind. It's obvious to him that her focus is compromised enough without his interference.
Neema never thought that some time in her life she'd be considered fierce. Maybe it was true. She did do both all three of those things as Satoshi said, after all. The avian couldn't help but beam. Buzz, who had pretty much been ignored while trying to grab Neema's attention, trotted on over to her lanky companion's new friend. Judging by the way both dragon and pocket-fox stared blankly at each other, both had never seen one quite like the other. Buzz, the far more playful of the two, went from sniffing curiously right on to pouncing at one of Twitchy's clawed appendages, but couldn't for the life of her get him to respond in kind. Probably a good thing, though, seeing as how the blue dragon could easily crush Buzz with the weight of that appendage alone. Meanwhile, Neema watched Satoshi, clearly confused once she finally took notice of the water forming on the vixen's hands. Curiosity brimming, she can't help but ask. "What's happening to your hands?" She would've lifted a finger to point, but with holding her side with one hand, and the other still hanging onto that staff, that made pointing just a little bit difficult.
Satoshi looks almost uncomfortable at the question, momentarily hiding her hands up her sleeves before they reappear with something akin to hesitance. "Erm. A... 'gift' from three... gods, of sorts. Recently, I gave up a few things... they gave me a few in return. This es one of them." Her hands are held up, glowing water swirling between them in a rhythmatic dance. "I can heal. With water. Sort of. Not entirely sure -how- yet, but the damned urge is there nonetheless. Your injuries are calling it." It's a rare occurence for the kit-vampire to be ill at ease with her own abilities and that fact alone is enough to make her feel lost in the midst of adjusting to recent alterations.
Neema blinked with even more confusion and surprise. Gods were real? Well, there's something new to add to the list of things Neema didn't know. She figured they were just characters from old stories, or something. Her typically dull eyes lit up at mention of healing, what with being a healer herself. With her obvious weakened state, she couldn't exactly heal herself. Perhaps healing with water was similar to healing with the magic she used? Eyes fixed themselves upon Satoshi's hands, mainly at the water swirling around them. "You can? I can heal too, just not with water. This blue light..stuff. Not sure what it's called exactly," Neema shrugged, wincing when her hand made an involuntary movement that caused pain to shoot up her side once more. "Maybe you could try fixing my injuries? I could teach you, I think. They're just little cuts and bruises. Nothing too big, you know?" For a healer, Neema wasn't exactly bright, or that much of a teacher, for that matter. She forgot to mention the cracked ribs as well. It was only two, but still. They might get worse over time if they aren't treated properly.
Satoshi quirks an eyebrow at the offer. "You willing to be my test subject? Haven't actually used this yet, after all." Ah, there's her proper playful tone back, no hint of unease present within her smirk. It's only Emiur that can sense the tremor of nerves beneath the mischeivous facade and silently he sends a pulse of reassurance, urging her on in a fashion not unlike a father might nudge their offspring forward. Nodding then, more to herself than anything, Satoshi offers her liquid-covered hands out to Neema. "If you're daring enough. I can't promise I won't make it worse. Or give you frostbite. ...Speaking of... don't actually -touch- my skin, hm? It's got a tendency of doing that."
Neema didn't like the sound of frostbite at all. That alone made her think that this probably might not be such a good idea. She gulped. Those wounds did need to be taken care of, though, and whatever negative effects, if any, caused from being healed by Satoshi wouldn't be intentional. She was sure of that. Her sense of unease disappeared while the avian forced herself to remain still, save for the constant gnawing of her lip between her teeth. Neema nods, going with the assumption that the nod Sato made was directed at her. "I'll just try and keep still. I bet everything will be just fine," she was saying this to reassure herself, "Healing is kinda hard at first, I think. It was for me." She recalled trying to heal cuts on Cerinii for the first time, and how she drained herself so much she passed out from exhaustion. That was awkward. After a little fidget caused from the unsettling memory, Neema's head made a second nod. "I'm ready when you are."
Satoshi takes a steadying, albeit unneeded, breath before stretching her hands out further, letting them hover just over Neema's torn flesh as she exhales. With the escape of air comes the faint beginnings of a song, as soft and intangible as the mist that bathes these shores each twilight. With the bard's gentle crooning the water responds, moving in graceless, coiling jerks along Neema's arm, her inexperience resulting in the wounds being purged of sand with the same haphazard roughness of an icy river's current--and she can't entirely stop the trails of frost that latch themselves upon the avian's skin in the process. By way of distraction for the beekeeper, Emiur presses lightly at her mind before speaking. ~Tell me, your saurian friend there... are you two close? Or is he merely paying a favor to you? I can't help being curious about what relationship you carry with him. Strong bonds between two-leggers and the winged-ones aren't common.~ Satoshi's song continues, soft yet more strained with each passing moment, as she cleanses the last of the open flesh. And that's just the beginning of the process for the new healer.
Neema was very, very glad she bit down on her lip before Satoshi started. The unfamiliar feel of inexperienced healing wasn't what bothered her, but the sand that was being wrenched free made her want to yelp out in pain. The resulting noise would've led to involuntary movements that could very well have caused Neema's injured flesh to brush against Satoshi's skin, but she tried her hardest to keep from doing so. The distraction of Emuir was a good one. Eyes shifting away from the vixen and her pleasant sounding song to look over at the couatl. To keep herself from staring, she shifted glances between him to Twitchy, then to Buzz, who now lay curled up in a stripy fuzz ball beneath the blue dragon's feet. With the inability to speak back to Emuir through her mind, she voices her reply instead. "I guess we're close. I mean, we did end up trapped in that cell together, right Twitchy?" His reply was a simple nod even though he wasn't too sure of what the couatl had asked, and a slight upturn of saurian lips that could be taken as a smile, if dragons could do such a thing. -It started out as a situation where we had to cooperate or else we'd both meet our ends, basically. Neema wasn't exactly pleased about it at first.- The avian looked embarrassed at what Twitchy said, but it was true. Neema was absolutely terrified of dragons, 'til she spent a lot of time with Twitchy in that cramped, dank cell. Add on top of that the incident where he accidently swiped her into a pool of water with a flick of his tail, and that just made things worse. After that, he promised to teach her water magic, and things were just fine between the two. "I'd say we're close enough, for two beings that have known each other for only a few days time." A nod of the twitchy dragon's head was a surefire sign that agreed.
Satoshi's song falters as she reaches the end of the sand-removal. What comes next? She's been healed so rarely herself--what with having an allergy to most brands of healing magic that leaves her in fits of giggles the entire time--that she can't readily recall the following step. "Hrm~." This absent, thoughtful hum proves the needed trigger, the music calling her magic up again and guiding it on its natural course. With a will seemingly of its own, the chilled water begins to drift down Neema's arm, pressing around cuts to close them, and leaving a smearing of slush over most like some frigid bandage. ~The ice. Be careful. You'll make her sick,~ Emiur offers solely to Satoshi before he casts his mental voice out to include Twitchy and Neema, ~Strangely obtained partnerships are often the best ones. If you two plan to remain companions, I may know of an organization of likeminded beings.~ Satoshi, with a frown of concentration deeply creasing her brow as she coaxes away the harmful ice, glances sidelong at the couatl wonderingly. Just what is he up to? Not that she has the energy to worry about it, her powers waning swiftly as they're put to uncommon use. And with only a few cuts actually sealed somewhat acceptably, on one arm. Poor Neema. Half her cuts aren't even closed, while a large portion of the others are uneven or overlapping. Satoshi is no artist as far as healing goes.
Neema shivered. The feeling of something cold pressing against her healing wounds was enough to attract her attention. She glanced down at the arm being mended by Satoshi. For what had to be the hundredth time for the night, the avian's face looked like a cross between puzzled and curious, but she continued trying her hardest to remain still. The wounds that were successfully healed caused her to make a little grin. They weren't neat, but they could probably be fixable once Neema felt capable enough to actually try healing herself. "You've got it, Satoshi! Keep going, but try to make the skin where there's open wounds…realign with itself, I guess?" she said in a reassuring tone, or what she hoped sounded like one. She never was good at giving advice. Back to Emuir again. Both Twitchy and Neema had their attention set on him, especially at the word 'organization'. The only organization Neema was associated with was the Fold, but after events before her capture, she was certain that she wasn't going to be associated with them for long. She unintentionally caused trouble, and to her, that was a signal that just screamed it was time to move on. Both creatures' interests were piqued. "Organization?" -Organization?- Dragon and avian exchanged an amused glance when they said the word simultaneously without meaning to. It wasn't every day that happened. Maybe it was a sign they were supposed to be partners. Neema went on, "What organization?"
Satoshi begins to grind her teeth in frustration and concentration, resulting in her hum taking on a growl-like note. This is far more complex than she imagined. Who'd have thought coaxing two thin strips of flesh back together was more difficult than calling up a condensed blizzard? ~Precision requires more strength than a display of raw power, Snow Fox,~ Emiur mentally murmurs by way of explaining her vexation. Sometimes he can't help wondering just how young Satoshi actually is, with her occasional childish reactions to situations. But such wonderings can wait for another time, as the little avian woman is asking him a question. ~It's called The Eyrie. There are others partnered with dragons there. Satoshi and I are also a part of it. Just a moment, please.~ The couatl's abrupt remark is swiftly followed by him dipping his head low to catch Satoshi as she slumps backwards. If snakes could 'tut', Emiur would be doing so right now as he eyes the foxkin draped half-limp across his snout. ~Overdid it. I warned you you'd burn yourself out quickly with this kind of magic. You're not used to such finesse.~ "Oh, shut up, you," the bard croaks out, throwing an arm over her eyes to block out the searing light of the sun as she feels a headache coming on.
Neema had never heard of The Eyrie before, judging by the blank expression overtaking her face. Same with Twitchy. He looked just as confused as Neema did at hearing the unfamiliar name. The avian liked the sound of it right away, and it looked like Twitchy did as well. She had other winged companions also, that would likely grow up to be as big as her new dragon companion too. Her obvious interest was making itself more apparent. "What about cockatrices? I have two of those under my care..Not fully grown, tho-" Her speech is cut off when she sees Satoshi falls back, a troubled frown making itself apparent while she begins to move to see if she's alright. Her movements come to a halt midway when Emuir catches the foxkin, but continues to watch her with concern. "Are you alright? She'll be alright, right?" She clearly looked alarmed. Becoming drained from healing wounds was something she was familiar with, but it didn't happen as often as it used to for Neema so she kind of forgot what happened, or pushed the troublesome thoughts out of her mind. Perhaps she could try healing herself, but the ribs would have to heal on their own without magical assistance.
Satoshi waves off Neema's concern with the hand still lying across her eyes. "I'll be fine. Jus' need rest. Hellfire, this is as bad as that time I fed from Cuki. Anti-magic... blegh." A peculiar rattling hiss comes from Emiur with the words, and it can only be assumed this is a serpent's form of laughter. ~Yes, yes. You have a penchant for temporarily crippling yourself. But your saving grace is that you recover as swiftly as you learn. We should return you now, you'll need a meal.~ The low grumble from Satoshi is the best she can manage for reluctant agreeance, but she does still muster enough energy to speak to Neema as Emiur dips his tail in farewell. "You'd like The Eyrie, I think. You'll want to talk to Portea. Go to the northern edge of Gualon's swamp, find a tall tower. He'll be there. Or his dragon. Tell them Satoshi and Emiur sent you." ~Do take care until we cross paths again, Miss Neema and Master Twitchy. It was a pleasure.~ With a strange reversal of the earlier pressure, the psionic couatl withdraws from their minds, flicks his tongue, and begins the steady slithering course that will take him and his prone partner to their shelter for the rest of the day.
Neema wondered to herself whether or not she would be able to mend her own cracked ribs. She wouldn't try it yet. Smaller cuts had to be taken care of first. She made a little grin at Satoshi, even though she was still a bit concerned, but nodded along anyway. The new name it looked like Neema was going to have to remember was repeated a few times right after Satoshi spoke it, just to make sure it stuck in her head. She never was good at memorizing names, especially if there wasn't a face to go with them. Spelling names was practically impossible for her as well, but she wasn't going to be writing letters any time soon, she hoped. "Right. Portea.. I think I've got it." She flashes another grin that held just a hint of pain from her remaining injuries, and waved to both vixen and couatl. Twitchy did the same, but it was with a little twitch of one of his electrified whiskers. "See you around, and thanks~" -Take care.-