capeandcowllogs | (no subject)

[ She'll be late to her own funeral. Really, she will. But in this case the lateness is intentional! She wants to make a goddess wait, that seems like a Good Thing To Do. But not too late, because she suspects people like that may have very short attention spans.

So, just five minutes (or so, who wears a watch these days) after the appointed meeting time, Onyx pops into existence in the very center of the small field she'd chosen. She glances around, already tense and on guard, with the spell for her invisible shield at the front of her mind. Just in case. ]

[Aphrodite was getting close to leaving. She didn't want to be here after all.

Now that Onyx has shown up, she can try to remember what spell it was. It takes her a minute, but she remembers the golden apples. It wasn't that big of a spell. Well this woman was totally over-reacting.

She's not ready to reveal herself yet, and starts circling around the field. The grass rustles as she passed by it.]

[ She's never seen Aphrodite in person, but she knows that smell. That smell had been all over the apples. Rich and perfumey, almost overwhelming to a dragon-turned-human's senses. The scene is strong here, and -- and she catches the soft rustle of grass.

Well. She should have expected that a fight with a god wouldn't be straightforward. She adopts a casual pose, weight on one hip and a hand rising to curl a strand of hair. ]

And here I'd hoped gods would be impervious to cowardice. Mm, but maybe that only applies to real gods...

[Shows up right in front of her, in a flurry of sparkles]

Hey, I'm not the one who was late.

[ Does she teleport? Or was that merely invisibility? Well, not that it matters. She can deal with either one. There's a fierce smile cutting through her affected apathy as soon as Aphrodite is in sight. Her about-to-be-torn clothes don't matter. The secret of her identity doesn't matter. Just the revenge. ]

You showed up after all. [ And in the space of a breath, Khisanth has replaced Onyx, all gleaming scales and fanged grin. ] That was probably unwise.

[She looks far more annoyed than scared of the new form]

You're a dragon? Oh come on.

[ Well, that's not the right reaction. But there's no room for annoyance. She swipes a paw instead, looking to knock her down and pin her. Now, will she eat her, or simply claw her apart? There are just so many options... ]

[She's not sticking around to be hit by that paw. She disappears in the same yellow sparkles and shows up behind the large dragon...out of tail range]

Woah, just like that?

[ Hell, it must be teleportation. That just means she'll have to be faster. Khisanth's head whips around to find Aphrodite's new position, and as soon as she locates it her jaws are parting for acid. It won't be as satisfying as ripping her apart herself, but a death will still be a death! ]

[This is not the first monster who has wanted to do damage to the Goddess of Love. The second the head is whipping around, she has teleported again to the other side of the battle zone]

You are so overreacting!

[ As long as Aphrodite keeps speaking after she teleports, Khisanth doubts she'll have any trouble. Even if that is terribly frustrating. She growls, leaping forward with flaring wings to close the distance between them. ]

Stand still, you're only wasting both our time.

[God's can't get tired, she can keep this up until Khisanth gets bored...or dizzy whichever comes first. Disappears from the path of the dragon, but decides to stay invisible this time.

Her voice comes from a good 20 feet to the side]

Puh-lease. Like I'm going to let a dragon eat me.

[ She pulls up short, head twisting around to face this new direction. The fact that she doesn't actually see anything only puts her off for an instant-- she can smell her just fine.

She doesn't charge yet, though, but drops into a crouch, tail lashing like an angry cat's. ]

Can't you do anything but run? You're only confirming my suspicions, charlatan.

[ That insult will make her reappear and stomp her foot]

I am not! What part of 'Goddess of Love' makes you think I'm going to fight?

You've ruined a friendship, goddess. [ It's out in a snarl, and possibly more than she'd intended to say. Ah, well. If things go accordingly to plan, she doubts Aphrodite will exactly be telling anyone. ]

I wouldn't have thought that was under the jurisdiction of "love", but I've been surprised before.

[ And hey! Since she's visible again, she's going for a tail-thrash this time. ]

[ A friendship? At least know they were getting somewhere. She teleports out of the way of the tail, but stays in her line of sight to talk.]

Hey now, so you made an advance and he didn't reciprocate? I can totally fix that!

[ WELL THIS IS GETTING OLD. so this time she'll try a teleport of her own, appearing just behind Aphrodite and swiping a claw for her.

and at the same time, just to make sure it's totally clear: ] No. If it could possibly get worse, that would worsen it.

[ The teleporting throws Aphrodite, and she almost gets hit by that claw. In fact it glanced her before she actually teleported. Huh, teleporting dragons was a new one.

Know that she knows that will happen, she'll have to teleport somewhere safer this time. She stays invisible and still while she considers her options. Clearly, they just need to have a little chat about what happened and the dragon will calm down, and they can work on fixing it. So Aphrodite needs to get somewhere the dragon won't attack...like her back]

So let's talk about that. He's a good friend, but you don't like him that way?

[She says that from just below Khisanth's neck, very comfortably sitting with her legs crossed over her side]

[ It takes her a second to realize what's different. To find the newest place Aphrodite has teleported to. And when she does figure out the change, she freezes. For two instants, her whole black-scaled body goes stock-still.

It'd been one thing when Zevran had ridden her. He'd been invited. And, yes, it was a humiliating experience that she wishes she'd never asked for, but-- he'd been invited. This? Aphrodite could have actually scored a blow against Khisanth, flighty and weak as she is, and she'd be less appalled. This is just-- unforgivable. She hopes the Porter really does bring people back, because she'll relish killing this one as many times as possible.

As soon as motion comes back again, there's a scream. It's a bonefide dragon scream, ear-splitting and shrill -- higher than one might imagine such a deep-voiced animal could possibly go. Immediately afterward she's twisting, writhing like a snake to get Aphrodite off. She can't use acid on herself, but she can certainly twist her long neck around and try snapping. ]

[Even from across the City it would have been hard for Ysera to miss the feel of magic being thrown all around. But there was no way she could have missed it from her current location on the outskirts of the City. She'd spend most of her day in a wooded backlot off the end of a suburban housing community that backed up against a drainage culvert. Even after being back in the City for a few days, she still wasn't re-acclimated to the smells and pollution of the place.

Her attempts at dozing up in a tree were rudely interrupted by the way many spells in quick succession churned up the flow of magic that spilled out of the City from the Well. It hadn't taken long for her to figure out the source was a few miles distant. At first she'd considered just leaving it. But from what she could tell, it was fairly powerful.

Curiosity got the better of her, and so she phased into her daydream, and walked through dreams to the source of the disturbance. She phased back into the physical world, and stood under the cover of some trees on the edge of the field.

...Just in time for the Dragon across the field to scream and start thrashing madly around.

For an instant, Ysera's breath caught in her throat. Because it's another dragon. After so much time spent chasing legends and stories in Europe... and a real dragon was back here in the City.

...And then she realized it was a Black dragon. Of all the dragons that could have arrived in the City... it was a Black.]

[Aphrodite tried to find something to hold on to when the dragon violently tried to shake her off. She had shown up on giants' shoulders, and even the hydra's back once, and they had never reacted this badly. Sure they yelled a lot, but they always calmed down after a few minutes.

After a few minutes, it was very clear that the dragon was NOT going to be calming down any time soon. And those super sharp teeth were coming too close a number of times. It was time to disappear.

Teleporting takes some concentration to do successfully. Which is why instead of landing gracefully on her feet, she went flying with the same momentum she would have had from just letting go of the dragons back. The only difference was she started that flight from a good 10 feet to the left. She hit the ground hard and rolled a bit.]

Wipe out.

[ Finally, finally. Completely unaware of their visitor and by now too angry to even think of spells to fight more wisely, Khisanth darts forward with teeth bared and a paw pulled back. She'll pin her down, yes, stop that stupid teleporting, so like a buzzing fly. Pin her down, and then snap her head off. Yes. Finally. ]

[A Black dragon. One of Deathwing's accursed brood. Here, in the City, in this world of humans utterly unable to defend themselves properly.

Ysera's hands clenched at her sides.

She would not allow it. It wasn't part of her duty, it wasn't part of her Aspect. But it was part of her kin - no matter how disowned the Black Flight was by the rest - so it was her mess to deal with. And she would not allow an insane dragon to rampage through the countryside.

Even as she started to change, she saw the woman go flying away from the black dragon with the ripple of another spell. Vaguely, she felt familiar, but Ysera spared no more thought to that, as the black dragon lunged after the woman.

Abandoning subtlety, Ysera lunged forward with a battle roar, jaws gaping as she fully extended her neck. Two hundred feet of green dragon cleared the distance across the field in no time. There was no room for a breath attack with the woman so close. But the black dragon was much smaller than Ysera.]

[By the time she was aware of the paw coming toward her, she didn't have time to teleport away. It is very hard to concentrate on where you're going, when a large dragon paw is getting even larger fast.

She drew her hands up over her face as if it might protect her, just as she heard the roar of the new dragon.]

[ More finally, and she's just beginning to anticipate the crunch, and to wonder what a god tastes like -- when her attention is snatched rather effectively away. No matter how deeply she loses herself into a fight, there's just no way to ignore a roar like that. With one glance over, her entire body freezes.

It's a dragon. It's a green dragon. It's an enormous green dragon. Since when had the City had other dragons, let alone ones of that size? Her orange eyes are wide with shock, but she's not new to fighting. She knows that giant green dragon is going to be the last thing she sees if she doesn't move.

So she does the first thing that comes to mind. Entirely abandoning her fight with Aphrodite, Khisanth disappears in an instant. It's not a teleportation this time, though. A tiny brown field mouse darts to the side from where she'd been, darting and scrambling to keep out of sight in the grass. ]

[Ysera's jaws snapped shut on empty air. She spread her wings abruptly to check her momentum, throwing the area into shade for a moment. But that much dragon is hard to stop on a dime. A quick half-hop ensured her claws won't land on the woman as her charge takes her through the space the black dragon and woman had occupied.

She twists around once past them, claws tearing up the ground, and gives a single beat of her wings to help the sudden direction change. She snarled and swung her head around, back and forth over the ground as she sought out the black dragon. Oddly enough, her eyes were closed. But Ysera could see more with dreamsight than most could see with eyes wide open.

And she could see the black dragon was still in the field - it's imagination ragged with it's fear of bloody death at Ysera's claws. But it took a moment for her to pinpoint the source of those imaginings. Most dragons rarely took a form so tiny, especially black dragons.

It wasn't long before she'd zeroed in on the area of the dreamer. She snorted and stepped forward, one clawed forefoot coming down between the dragon and the woman. The other reached out and clawed trenches into the ground beyond the black dragon in an attempt to cut off it's escape. The drakeling was smart to try to flee, but she wasn't about to leave it at that.]

[ To her eyes, it seemed like Khisanth had just up and vanished...which was fine by her. The new dragon was A LOT bigger, but it wasn't heading after her. Well the black dragon had been pretty violent, Aphrodite wasn't surprised that she had enemies.

She got to her feet, and then teleported several yards away from the scuffle. She wanted to see what was happening, but if the green dragon decided to go after her instead, she wanted a lot of room to be able to get out of there.]

Edited 2011-07-16 23:36 (UTC)

[ Oh, hell. Her scurrying comes up short at the sight of that foot in the way, and short again when she sees the trenches being dug in the opposite direction. That leaves just one direction for escape, and Khisanth no longer trusts that her small size will hide her. She needs wings.

It's another instant change. This time even smaller, and in the next second there's a small orange dragonfly zipping up from the ground, shooting low over the grass on two pairs of wings. ]

[As the dreamer's mind shifted once again, Ysera drew her head back from where she'd been looming over the patch of grass the dragon was hiding in. She lost track of the dragon's exact location, the dreams fading and spinning out across the field in front of her as her quarry moved suddenly and erratically. With a hiss, she tried to catch the sense of the dragon's dreams again, but it was much harder - the dreamer's feel having changed to tiny and faint. Too vague and scattered for her to even latch on and force into sleep - not with how she couldn't catch a clear sight of her target.

She reared back and flared her wings with another roar before shouting after the black drakeling in draconic.]

"Flee, young one! But take warning! This City is not yours to ravage! Deathwing's brood will have no foothold here!"

[Aphrodite just watched the exchange with a bewildered expression. She didn't catch any of that last bit, it just sounded like hissing to her.

She might have been scared but, how did that go...the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Yeah that sounded like what Ares used to say.

And in case he was wrong...she'll just stand here and not draw attention to herself yet]

Edited 2011-07-17 02:16 (UTC)

[Ysera lashed her tail as the sense of the black dragon's dream faded and kept going. She knew the small one had heard her.

But now...

She turned to face the woman and crouched onto her belly to put her head more on her level. And as she turned her full attention onto her, she realized she knew this woman - who was not truly a mere woman. She had met this goddess of men once, some time ago in the City.

She inclined her muzzle to the Ancient in respect before speaking. Her voice is deeper and more resonant than her voice in her elven form, but fundamentally the same.]

Great Lady, why are you here? Why do you battle that black wyrm?

[ Now this is the kind of interaction she could live it. It almost made up for the whole fight thing. Almost, her clothes were still a little ripped and that was never okay.]

She was mad at me for some little thing she blew totally out of proportion.

Why are you here? Not that I mind...just kinda really good timing.

[Ysera cocked her head to the side and resettled her wings along her back. She gives a soft snort.]

You were not exactly quiet. There is enough magic roiling around this field to make a blue dragon twitch.

But what might you have done to anger one of Deathwing's brood? They are quick to anger, but their hate burns long. Though, few would challenge a power over nothing.

Nothing big at all.

She didn't believe I was a goddess so I proved it to her.

[Ysera rumbled thoughtfully before curling her tail around to her side.]

Strange that she would attack after proof you are a power. What might your proof have been, lady? Something small for you may not be small for her.

[If the dragon truly had been convinced the lady was a god, she would have been mad to attack her. And the black dragon had had enough sense to flee from Ysera. So it must have been something that made it target the goddess.]

[ Shrugs]

I made her experience love.

Not my fault if she started crawling over someone who didn't return her affections.

I even offered to make him, but she just flipped.

[...oh. Oh my. Well that was certainly unexpected.]

Ah... Perhaps forcing her to fall in love with someone she would not normally care for was the reason she was angry enough to attack you. Dragons are long-lived, and we do not give away our love easily or carelessly.

Finding a mate that sings deeply, and truly, in our hearts is a priceless treasure. Such a demonstration of your power... may have felt to be mocking that to her.

Hey, she started it.

[yes Aphrodite, way to sound like a goddess]

She was calling me names. Even after I proved it to her, she kept calling me a fake.

[While she has no love lost over a black dragon... Ysera can't help but think the goddess may have brought the attack upon herself. And yet... why would a black dragon get so worked up as to assault a deity over a love spell? Other flights, yes. But the Blacks were not known for treasuring or seeking love.

The black dragon had been fairly small, so perhaps it was young and foolish. That would be to Ysera's advantage to keep it from trying anything truly nefarious or subtle. After all, there was no real guarantee she could kill it and have it stay dead, since the Porter brought it in.

And there's a vague suspicion growing in Ysera's mind. Because, really, how many people in this City could have been personally wronged by a god and want to attack in retaliation?

Ysera nods her head in a surprisingly human gesture of agreement.]

Mortals can often be foolish. Even young dragons can be so, at times. I find it best to rise above such childishness and not respond in kind. It often helps to make them realize how foolish they're acting in the face of maturity.

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[Surprise guest, enter stage right!]

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Ysera laying the smack down

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