thebastion | day 304 » open

Entry tags:

myrrh,
paarthurnax

day 304 » open » one

Who: Myrrh & anyone else!
Open: Open!
When: Day 304, late afternoon
Where: In front of the Skyway bridge and wandering about the Bastion.
What: Myrrh
Format: Action tags preferred but I'll match!
Warnings: N/A

[Dragons flying back in from the Skyway shouldn't be a new sight to anyone who's been on the Bastion for more than a day—but the silhouette this time isn't the same; smaller, more lithe than the familiar grandpadragon, and as the form comes closer it's easier to see the lack of tatters in the golden scales and wings.

Light engulfs the dragon as it descends, and the form shifts and shrinks. By the time it touches ground and the light fades, there stands instead a girl, certainly no older than twelve or so—with familiar dragon wings on her back, extended to catch her balance as she staggers forward a couple of steps.

Myrrh clutches her dragonstone tight to her chest and glances about, wild-eyed. She can't find familiarity in anyone or anything, and she doesn't know what to make of this place.

They had been so close to Renais—just another day's march and they'd be at the castle, Ephraim had told her, but she had woken up and no one was there. She followed the presence of magic here, and taken on her dragon form when the beasts chased after her—but no, this does not seem right; as little as she knows about the world outside her woods, this place looks nothing like the rest of the paths they've traveled. She knows something is wrong.

When she starts to wander, she keeps her wings pressed against her sides and her dragonstone in her white-knuckled hands. She meets no one's stares, but halts at voices, even if she isn't being spoken to. Being on her own has only brought her trouble; she can't let her guard down.]

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[Patchouli just happened to be out and about. Maybe she came back from the Skyway a little while ago. But hey, she notices the lost kid, most importantly.

And her dragon wings. But hey, she's not about to ask questions.]

Are you lost?

...I don't recognize this place.

[That's...that's a yes. Her attempts to minimize how much she appears completely out of her element could probably be going better.]

I suppose you wouldn't, if you've just arrived.

But, you don't have to worry. As long as you're in the city, you're safe. [Plus probably everyone will think Myrrh is cute as heck. Also, dragon features? People at the Bastion seemed to love dragons! Most popular girl at the Bastion?]

[Safe—that the girl goes to assure her of as much relaxes Myrrh, just slightly.]

I...my company and I have been separated. I wish to return to Ephraim's side. [It may not be wise to declare allegiances in uncertain territory, but she'll never get anywhere tiptoeing around it, either. He's either here or he's not, after all.]

Hm...

[She... has to think for a second. Was there an Ephraim here?]

Sorry, I don't think there's an Ephraim here. Unless he arrived at roughly the same time as you.

[She catches note of the way she refers to him—"an Ephraim". And no reaction. Anyone in Renais should know of the missing, fallen prince, and certainly they should respond in turn regarding his presence. So why does this girl...

For a moment, Myrrh stays silent, considering.] No...we were separated not long ago. Please, so that I might get my bearings...could you tell me which direction the capital is in from here?

Well...

... slight problem there: I have no idea where that is. You're not even in the same world you were in.

[This is not going to be easy to explain, is it.]

[NOPE]

My...world? I...I need to return to Ephraim's side. It's very important. [She fidgets in place, glancing away.] I need to find my way back.

Sadly, that's not something that's possible.

[It's... not going to be easy to explain to her that her world is gone, either.

This just keeps getting worse, huh]

...Wh...why not? [Now she's just confused. She certainly got here one way or another; it doesn't make sense for there to be no way back.

The details are not going to help, but is anything, though.]

[Nope. Patchouli begins to say something, but comes to terms with this a syllable or so in.

Crap.]

It's... a long story.

[Expecting Patchouli to continue of her own accord, Myrrh doesn't press her further—but she doesn't, and Myrrh shuffles in place, wings curling a little closer to her body and dragonstone drawn a little closer to her.

When she speaks, she looks away and her voice is small.] I should ask someone else. [It's almost a question, but Myrrh thinks she knows the answer, and the last thing she wants to do is impose on such a hesitant stranger.]

Well, see... it's more that what happened is incredibly strange. I don't know if asking someone else will help. But... maybe it could?

[She's trying to explain that she has no idea how to explain to an average person -- she's approaching this as though Myrrh is basically an average person, aside from the dragon features -- that their home world is gone and they're stuck here, but without saying that because then she'll end up locked out of the simple explanation.]

Strange or otherwise, I...would like an explanation, regardless. [Even if Patchouli isn't intending to run Myrrh in circles, it's frustrating—frightening, when she's alone and confused and so far from recognizing anything at all. Every second she remains in the dark exacerbates all of it.]

...I am sorry to have wasted your time.

Well, the lost little dragon should get a little more attention now.

"I see a new face," Colin says, walking up behind her. "Or at least a new set of wings that I haven't seen before. Hello there."

It takes the word wings to make Myrrh realize he addressed her; her wings start to flare out as she turns around, and she presses them against her sides again.

"Hello," she says. She adds, after a moment, "No, I...have not been here before. I don't think I know this place."

"I'd be surprised if you did," Colin says, shaking his head. "This is something of a nexus point, the lost seem to arrive here."

He smiles at her then, and gives an open-handed gesture towards her wings. "You don't need to be nervous," he explains. "You're not the only draconian sort here. Of course, you could just be scared, but... Well, there's nothing to be scared of here."

The latter observation is said with a slightly lowered voice, he's more talking to himself than her.

Other Manaketes? That's what she gets out of draconian, and her eyes widen. For a moment her curiosity trumps her confusion—but she can't leave Ephraim waiting.

Slowly, she says, "I am lost. But it's very important that I find my company. I...need to go to the capital." She can't have left Renais, right?

"That is probably impossible at this time," Colin tells her, shaking his head. "The calamity pulled people out of their home dimensions, and did a lot of damage."

He won't spring "Your world is gone." on the newbie, especially since he doesn't know how accurate that statement actually is. But neither is he going to give her false hope.

"This isn't the world you're from," he explains further. "As I said, it's a nexus point. The people who've been pulled from their worlds are winding up here."

Impossible—her mind struggles to wrap itself around the way he explains these other worlds, but she picks up it's probably impossible to go where you came from easily.

"N-no, I..." She shakes her head and, for a moment, doesn't speak; she can't decide what to say. "It—it's very important I find Prince Ephraim again." The name, perhaps, might mean something to him. "He will be looking for me. We were all very close, and I—I do not remember being separated..."

"None of us do," Colin tells her gently. "We've all been pulled away from our families and friends here. My crew is gone, and my wife and family are all off in some other world that I can't get to right now. I'm confident that someday, somehow, we'll find a way to fix things, but right now... it's beyond our abilities."

Yep, this is going to go badly... Where's Paarthurnax when you need him?

"S...someday..." she repeats. But there's no time for someday with so much at stake, and when all her friends are but human. Her hands twitch around her dragonstone, but she refuses to wipe at her eyes; she blinks and blinks and blinks to keep from tearing up. Even so, her voice falters when she says, "There's—there's no time, not with—...is there really no way at all? You...you have been here for a long time...?"

"I've been here a couple of months," Colin tells her with a carefully soft voice. The youngsters, assuming she actually is young, are always a little harder to tell about this stuff. "If we could get back home, I think just about everyone here would have taken the opportunity ages ago."

For a few seconds, she doesn't answer. When she tries, all she manages is a small, "ah," of acknowledgement. The rest of the sentiment dies in her throat; what is there for her to say? They will be more than fine without her, once the search is given up, she's sure—she can't decide if it would be better for them to assume something awful happened to her and worry, or that she left and think less of her for it. Either way, longing already grips her.

"Another girl told me the same thing," she says, voice dropping lower as his does, "and I was not sure whether to believe her. ...But I understand now." She takes half a step back and squeezes her eyes shut, blinking back the feeling of tears trying to well up.

Looking away, she says, "Thank you. For taking the time to explain this to me."

"I'm sorry I don't have better news for you," Colin tells her quietly. "It's all a lot to take in. Is there anything that I can do to help you here?"

She shakes her head; even if she could bring herself to request anything of this stranger who has done enough already, there is nothing she could think to want or need now but the company of Ephraim and the others.

"Thank you. But I—" Myrrh has to swallow before she can continue; the syllable sounds too choked for her liking, and she can't allow herself to cry in anyone's presence. "But I think it may be better for me to be—elsewhere..." Not alone, even if that is what she means; she's already alone.

Colin doesn't miss that swallow. He's seen it before, often enough. Wordlessly, he reaches into one of his many pockets and produces a hankerchief. He holds it out to her, and he nods in understanding.

"You ever want to talk to me, you can find me over in that workshop over there," he tells her quietly. "I can leave you be for now, if you prefer. It's a lot to take in."

For a moment she can only stare at the offered handkerchief and let him speak—it's a small gesture but still more than she is used to, more than she would ever expect to receive in the face of her weakness; even Ephraim has not seen her teary-eyed and terrified.

"Thank you," she murmurs, so low she barely hears it herself. Myrrh hesitates another moment before allowing herself to take a hand off her dragonstone, precious and priceless and apparently all she has of any home she has ever had now, to take the offered cloth. In an instant she draws it back to her, clutching it close. Again, she says, "Thank you," and doesn't trust herself to speak further to answer his offer, but she nods.

Colin gives her a gentle smile that he hopes is reassuring. He suspects that a smile won't mend her heart, but there's very little else he can offer her at the moment that she's likely to accept.

"When you've taken care of what you need to, come and find me again," he tells her. "I can show you around and help you find a place to stay, if you want."

He takes a step back then, giving her space before he departs. He knows that right now, she needs to find some grounding, and it's hard to do that with strangers around.

It's sometime after that Myrrh has likely talked to other people and learned more about the Bastion that there's the sound of flapping wings- much heavier than what her own had made. Paarthurnax is back from his daily hunt, he lands by the lakeside where the Horkers eye him suspiciously but seem content to give him his room.

Likely, Myrrh will see him. Paarthurnax is not a subtle individual.

The sound of wings makes Myrrh jump—she eyes the dragon in its flight, expecting the worst; true dragons, rare and scattered as they may be, are monsters as she knows them. But no panic arises from anyone nearby, the dragon seems passive enough right now, and she was already told about other draconian residents... Maybe it is another Manakete.

But goodness, is she nervous. What if she just kind of...lingers around the edge of the lake. Eventually shuffling between nearby trees and things is going to get her noticed and acknowledged, right?

For a while, it seems as though Paarthurnax is content to just drink his feel before laying a while. Eventually, however, his long serpentine neck twists until he can calmly glance in the direction where the young one is fidgeting.

"Drem yol lok." His voice is aged and calm, a low rumble issuing out from his throat. "It seems that you are new here, young one."

"Yes," she answers, voice quiet, and spends another couple of seconds fidgeting in place before she approaches the very edge of the river, closest to where he faces. True dragons, in her world, do not speak, though his voice lacks the familiar echoing resonance she knows from other Manaketes.

That he speaks gently to her is enough, though. Her wings stay comfortably unfurled, though not to their full span, at her sides. She adds, "I only found this place a few hours ago."

A fond puff of air is blown her way from his nostrils, the best way he can show his affection. As far as he can tell, she is much like Ryu- another with traits of his kind yet more human in appearance than himself.

"You have found good luck, then. The Bastion has much work to be done to it... Yet it is the safest haven we have found. Hopefully, you will feel at ease here."

The gesture has her flinch at first, but in barely a second she starts giggling; her first smile since her arrival. This place still is unfamiliar and strange, and the absence of her companions weighs down her heart—but she could learn ease here, perhaps.

"Everyone has been very kind to me," she says, the bright warmth in her expression still lingering. "I am very grateful." After a moment, she adds, "Ah, forgive me for forgetting my manners—my name is Myrrh." She curtsies low as she says it; the gesture, reserved for her elders, has been unused since she set out with Ephraim, but this kindly old dragon is more than deserving.

"There are many kind individuals here. They will gladly offer any help you may need in the passing days." He gives a shallow bow of his head in turn to her.

"Including myself. I am Paarthurnax."

"I am honored to meet you, Paarthurnax, and I'm fortunate to have your aid. Thank you. But this place..." Her voice falters, just so, and she glances away from him, clutching her hands against her chest. "It is so different. I don't know where to begin."

"There is much to learn here." Another reassuring puff of warm air. "If you wish to stay with me while you adjust, I always welcome the company of others. I can share what I know."

"It truly wouldn't be an imposition?" Even as he says it, though, her excitement gets the better of her; her wings flutter and she lifts herself a couple of feet off the ground, not quite crossing over to him but ready to. "I...I would be very happy to. Thank you."

"We must be there for one another, yes?" He can't puff some air at her without likely blowing her away or off balance, so Paarthurnax instead gives a simple low happy rumble.

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day 304 » open » one

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