RP:The Dragon and The Puppet

Synopsis: One year since being marked, Nasada finds her way out of the infernal dark forest near Vailkrin. A voice calls out on the wind and instinctively she is lead to the Xalious Mountain Range to meet the one that first took interest in her.

Characters: Nasada, Gheneroc
Location: Ancient Black Dragon's Den

Gheneroc rumbled from deep within the depths of his cave. The old dragon sensed something familiar enter his web and step into his awareness. A presence he had thought lost for weeks as the dark human was felt to be roaming once more. Nasada, marked by the ancient dragon had been missing to him for some time, but by the same token, the dragon had become less sociable as of late. He had retreated to this cave, and sealed himself off from most of the world. His red eyes gleamed in the gloomy black. The whelps were asleep, tucked away for the time being. He drew Nasada in, softly. Like a whisper on the wind. His greeting came as a soft, but intense rumble. His cadence, as usual, was almost painfully slow. "I thought you might have died..."

Nasada's footsteps had been fairly hurried. Her breath heavy and frantic. She was lost yet again. "H-Hello? A--Anybody?!" she cried out in the darkness, each step feeling as if it were about to collapse under her weight- as little as it were. A calm washed over the young woman as Gheneroc spoke, her pace now a mere tiptoe as she furthered into the gullet of stone. The glimmer of red she could make out was first greeted with "Who...?" before a dormant instinct kicked in. "O-oh. It's you..." She wrapped her robe tighter around her frail torso, then to address the beast's concern. "No... not dead. Although it is what I often wished. I ...I don't know what happened. I lost consciousness, only to end up back in that forsaken tower. The woods are thick and forever dark, the arachnids... they hunt me at all times. I didn't know how to get out." She took a deep breath, lungs almost struggling to inflate. "Forgive me."

Gheneroc canted his head, considering Nasada with a single eye. He could only peer into Nasada's mind, their connection was no where near fostered enough for much more. He rumbled, almost in a fatherly tone. It soothed the whelps often enough, perhaps it would work on Nasada. "You may stay here. I can keep you safe." Although he wasn't known for his altruistic nature, Gheneroc sensed something about Nasada he couldn't place. This required further investigation. From seemingly out of no where, a half-eaten deer carcass fell to the feet of Nasada. In truth, it had been flung by Gheneroc's tail from the depths of the cave. "You should eat."

Nasada nearly pissed herself when the carcass landed, her feet hopping backward in surprise. As her eyesight adjusted to the darkness of the cave, Nasada stared at the half eaten meal with heavy contemplation. After all, she had become accustomed to a steady diet of... rats. A loud hungry gurgle rang out from her stomach, the woman then falling to her knees to tear away at the meat of the animal. "Forgive me." she started, pallid gaze aimed in Gheneroc's direction. "I don't mean to sound ungrateful- because I'm not, but... but why me? I have always been told that those of your kind... and I mean that with utmost respect... feast upon the likes of me without much thought." She swallowed hard, fearing that she may offend the creature. "Why would you protect me?"

Gheneroc rumbled thoughtfully. Her words were true enough, but perhaps she did not know enough of the dragon to truly understand his intent. "Because, Nasada... You owe me for it. Debts of this kind are far more powerful than gold." Gheneroc loomed in a bit closer. "I take vagrants, and outcasts to repurpose. You are not special, Nasada." The dragon lied a little. "But you have agreed to render yourself to my hospitality." He was referring to the mark he left upon her body. The magic tattoo that pulsed a little. "So long as you bear my mark, so shall it come with my protection."

Nasada wasn't the most graceful eater. Loud. Sloppy. Disgusting. As fast as she could tear meat from bone too so would it be shoved into her mouth, teeth working overtime to make a swallowable paste. It may not have been a home cooked meal, but it was the best she's had in at least a year. Mouth full she began to speak, cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk preparing for winter. "Oh... da mork..." The mouth full of food emptied into her stomach. "What do you repurpose for? I... this is new to me. I have never been involved in anything like... whatever this may be. I am not even so certain as to what I signed myself to."

Gheneroc narrowed his gaze. "It's simple. To do as I ask. Thus far, most of the vagrants I have come across have become my eyes and ears across the land. Their knowledge becomes my knowledge, through the mark." The dragon rumbled again, only to draw breath though. "You must trust me, as I trust you, Nasada. What you have agreed to, put simply, is to be my servant." He watches as she stuffs her face with the venison. "You will have no duties until you are fit, however."

Nasada crammed more of the dead animal into her face. She was starving; But the truth was, even if she weren't starving- she truly loved to eat. There was an inner chubby kid in there. "Oh." she stopped eating. "Well..... Very well, I will trust you as.. you trust me. No one else has offered me shelter nor food..." Her lips, usually twisted into a state of sadness and despair, curved into a warm smile. "If you continue to give me good food I am sure I'll be fit in no time!"

Gheneroc felt rather content as Nasada ate. The dragon tossed a glance behind him to see that the whelps had not finished two more meals. His gaze would shift back to Nasada just as more bare bone were showing from the animal carcass. "Food is plentiful here." The dragon paused thoughtfully for a few minutes. "What are your strengths, Nasada?" The dragon shifted his position to lay flat upon the cave floor, as he did his scales lay in such a way the dragon looked more like a pile of rocks, save for his head, than an actual dragon.

Nasada 's hungered pace slowed. She no longer shoveled food, instead taking the time to chew slowly. "Strengths?" she mouthed softly. Truthfully she weren't exactly sure anymore. It had been so long since she were exiled that most of her training had gone neglected. The fact that she lived in a prolonged state of fear and dwindling sanity, as well as nearly starving to death didn't help matters either. "Well. It has been some time.. but I know a little in the ways of spells and arcane arts. I am not entirely strong, but I think the potential is there. I never had the opportunity to select a major branch of learning. I also dabbled in... minor practices is darker magic. Maybe a little... " her next words were hushed. "Necromancy?" Her gaze darted around, almost fearful of any sort of negative reaction to such revelations. "But... my lessons were cut short." A sliver of flesh rendered from the deer as she continued. "I can be... very personable. I get along with others and can gain trust easily. Or. Rather... used to... before I think, my accident."

Gheneroc rumbled. The answer seemed to satisfy the extent of Gheneroc's inquiry. "Dinok lu." He said, thoughtfully. It was draconic, an ancient term for necromancy. It translated literally to 'Death Magic'. "I have never practiced, myself. However, I will not hinder your progress. But first, you must attain your grasp of magic." Gheneroc rumbled again, it was so cumbersome to speak so voluminously sometimes. "The Art, as I have known it, is a power. It flows through everything, and exists everywhere. It is an energy to be harnessed. Words craft its power and define its use. You must focus your intentions to be carried out."

Nasada finished the last of what she would consume for the time being, the hood of her robes drawn up and over the messy unwashed locks of hair that graced her pale skull. "Yes, that I understand... I just... I'm not sure where to begin. I have never been very far from home before, and without my mentor, I just don't know where to start."

Gheneroc rumbled again. "Start with a simple mantra. Voth suleyk fid dii fen." The dragon spoke the magic words in draconic, but it was the method in which he himself learned how to wield power. "Feel the meaning: With power send my will." The dragon brought forward another deer carcass, tossed from the back of the cave. This one splatted a few feet away to Nasada's left. "Use it to move the deer."

Nasada nodded slowly. Staring at the newest carcass to grace her presence, Nasada slowly repeated "Voth...suleyk...fid dii..fen. With power...send my will." She stared intently, once more repeating those words. "Voth...suleyk...fid ...dii..fen. With power...send my will." Her stare intensified and for a moment, she thought she saw a limb move. Once more she repeated "Voth...suleyk...fid dii..fen. With power...send my... my..." this time she could not get the words out. Fatigue had set in. The cavern began to spin. The pale woman toppled into a heap, consciousness lost to physical weariness.

Scene end due to ooc reasons for leaving.