@Cryptnoch thanks for the clarification!
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Wouldn't this go better in raffles/giveaways? Since it's kind of a raffle
Wouldn't this go better in raffles/giveaways? Since it's kind of a raffle
@Flightstorm9
idk, i've seen art/lore contests here before but also in creative corner.
[emoji=ridgeback sad size=2]
He/him & they/them
I'm either gonna change this or add more to it, but I wanted to post something here. Also, with this post I can maybe come back later :) @Aontacht
Quote:
She could tell you what the inside of an explosion felt like.
First, she would say, it was warmth; Heat and energy raking through your veins and the feeling of literal fire being forced down your throat. In the height of the fever you can hear the ripping of the scales from skin, and the tearing of muscles from bones. Almost, she would say, because the sound of the storm being forced into your very being is too loud to hear anything else.
Then, there would be the cold. Your whole body is frozen stiff. After such trauma there’s no nerves left, they’re either fried or entirely vaporized. You can’t move, and the only sound you might hear is the crackling of the air around you. If you were to breathe at that moment you wouldn’t get any air, only electricity and the pungent taste of charred flesh.
That’s not anything to worry about, though. She would whisper apathetically. Behind her voice is the whirring of gears and the clicking of pistons. Her eyes are nothing but pools of static. The urge to cough is almost overpowering, the reek of ozone burning deep down into your lungs. You’d be ash before you could even scream.
First, she would say, it was warmth; Heat and energy raking through your veins and the feeling of literal fire being forced down your throat. In the height of the fever you can hear the ripping of the scales from skin, and the tearing of muscles from bones. Almost, she would say, because the sound of the storm being forced into your very being is too loud to hear anything else.
Then, there would be the cold. Your whole body is frozen stiff. After such trauma there’s no nerves left, they’re either fried or entirely vaporized. You can’t move, and the only sound you might hear is the crackling of the air around you. If you were to breathe at that moment you wouldn’t get any air, only electricity and the pungent taste of charred flesh.
That’s not anything to worry about, though. She would whisper apathetically. Behind her voice is the whirring of gears and the clicking of pistons. Her eyes are nothing but pools of static. The urge to cough is almost overpowering, the reek of ozone burning deep down into your lungs. You’d be ash before you could even scream.
I'm either gonna change this or add more to it, but I wanted to post something here. Also, with this post I can maybe come back later :) @Aontacht
Quote:
She could tell you what the inside of an explosion felt like.
First, she would say, it was warmth; Heat and energy raking through your veins and the feeling of literal fire being forced down your throat. In the height of the fever you can hear the ripping of the scales from skin, and the tearing of muscles from bones. Almost, she would say, because the sound of the storm being forced into your very being is too loud to hear anything else.
Then, there would be the cold. Your whole body is frozen stiff. After such trauma there’s no nerves left, they’re either fried or entirely vaporized. You can’t move, and the only sound you might hear is the crackling of the air around you. If you were to breathe at that moment you wouldn’t get any air, only electricity and the pungent taste of charred flesh.
That’s not anything to worry about, though. She would whisper apathetically. Behind her voice is the whirring of gears and the clicking of pistons. Her eyes are nothing but pools of static. The urge to cough is almost overpowering, the reek of ozone burning deep down into your lungs. You’d be ash before you could even scream.
First, she would say, it was warmth; Heat and energy raking through your veins and the feeling of literal fire being forced down your throat. In the height of the fever you can hear the ripping of the scales from skin, and the tearing of muscles from bones. Almost, she would say, because the sound of the storm being forced into your very being is too loud to hear anything else.
Then, there would be the cold. Your whole body is frozen stiff. After such trauma there’s no nerves left, they’re either fried or entirely vaporized. You can’t move, and the only sound you might hear is the crackling of the air around you. If you were to breathe at that moment you wouldn’t get any air, only electricity and the pungent taste of charred flesh.
That’s not anything to worry about, though. She would whisper apathetically. Behind her voice is the whirring of gears and the clicking of pistons. Her eyes are nothing but pools of static. The urge to cough is almost overpowering, the reek of ozone burning deep down into your lungs. You’d be ash before you could even scream.
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Okay, I couldn't help it- she's just too pretty!
Sub5?
Quote:
Mechanical whirs of engines starting greeted the mirror as she finally came to, thundering within her head as tried to focus her vision. It took a moment, but soon enough she could see a clawed hand waving in front of her, which then morphed into a skydancer that was grinning at her.
"Ah! There you are. Welcome back."
She tilted her head to the side as he spoke, cringing as it creaked like an unoiled piece of metal and a small spark of electricity sending a bolt of pain through her body. It took her a few tries to speak correctly, finding her voice sounded...wrong when she did. Like there was a slight buzz too it, robotic even. "Wh-at...happ-ened to m-e?"
"Oh, yes, that!" The skydancer said, adjusting the glasses by pushing then up a bit further and turning to grab his notes. "Netzach found that you had a lot of electrical magic flowing through your body when she was testing on you, so I asked Noel if I could take you back and try a little experiment! Funny, it was quite a shock to her, ol' Netty. She never believed mirrors had much to them magically. "
"Ex-pira-ment?" The mirror questioned, not entirely sure what he could mean. Overflowing with magic? Netzach? Noel? Why couldn't she remember any of these dragons?
The skydancer blinked. "You don't remember?" He asked, and he broke into a grin when she nodded before jotting something down on his clipboard. "What an interesting side effect! I didn't even do anything to your brain!" He slammed his quill down as though he had just remembered something important, raising his head to look at her again. "Oh! Right! I'd best introduce myself then, if you have no memory. My name is Saros."
"Sa-ros?" The mirror parroted, though she sounded unsure. When he smiled, she continued, this time pointing to herself with one shaking claw. "I a-m? I a-m?"
Saros gave her a puzzled look before her words seemed to click with him. "Oh! You want to know who you are?"
The mirror jerky nodded, tilting her head back and forth again afterwards as though trying to get a kink out of her neck. All that happened was the quiet sound of clinking metal.
"Hmm, I suppose you will need a name." The Skydancer said, looking back down at his notes. "What number would you be, hm? Net has subject one, two, and three...four escaped...so that makes you..."
He looked up at her with a smile. "Subject Five! You are Subject Five!"
"Fi-ve." She repeated, tasting the word on her mouth. It didn't feel right, but she didn't really know much else to be able to argue with him. "Wh-ere?"
Saros's eyes glinted in excitement at her new question. "Yes, of course! Why don't you let me show you around your new home?"
"Ah! There you are. Welcome back."
She tilted her head to the side as he spoke, cringing as it creaked like an unoiled piece of metal and a small spark of electricity sending a bolt of pain through her body. It took her a few tries to speak correctly, finding her voice sounded...wrong when she did. Like there was a slight buzz too it, robotic even. "Wh-at...happ-ened to m-e?"
"Oh, yes, that!" The skydancer said, adjusting the glasses by pushing then up a bit further and turning to grab his notes. "Netzach found that you had a lot of electrical magic flowing through your body when she was testing on you, so I asked Noel if I could take you back and try a little experiment! Funny, it was quite a shock to her, ol' Netty. She never believed mirrors had much to them magically. "
"Ex-pira-ment?" The mirror questioned, not entirely sure what he could mean. Overflowing with magic? Netzach? Noel? Why couldn't she remember any of these dragons?
The skydancer blinked. "You don't remember?" He asked, and he broke into a grin when she nodded before jotting something down on his clipboard. "What an interesting side effect! I didn't even do anything to your brain!" He slammed his quill down as though he had just remembered something important, raising his head to look at her again. "Oh! Right! I'd best introduce myself then, if you have no memory. My name is Saros."
"Sa-ros?" The mirror parroted, though she sounded unsure. When he smiled, she continued, this time pointing to herself with one shaking claw. "I a-m? I a-m?"
Saros gave her a puzzled look before her words seemed to click with him. "Oh! You want to know who you are?"
The mirror jerky nodded, tilting her head back and forth again afterwards as though trying to get a kink out of her neck. All that happened was the quiet sound of clinking metal.
"Hmm, I suppose you will need a name." The Skydancer said, looking back down at his notes. "What number would you be, hm? Net has subject one, two, and three...four escaped...so that makes you..."
He looked up at her with a smile. "Subject Five! You are Subject Five!"
"Fi-ve." She repeated, tasting the word on her mouth. It didn't feel right, but she didn't really know much else to be able to argue with him. "Wh-ere?"
Saros's eyes glinted in excitement at her new question. "Yes, of course! Why don't you let me show you around your new home?"
Okay, I couldn't help it- she's just too pretty!
Sub5?
Quote:
Mechanical whirs of engines starting greeted the mirror as she finally came to, thundering within her head as tried to focus her vision. It took a moment, but soon enough she could see a clawed hand waving in front of her, which then morphed into a skydancer that was grinning at her.
"Ah! There you are. Welcome back."
She tilted her head to the side as he spoke, cringing as it creaked like an unoiled piece of metal and a small spark of electricity sending a bolt of pain through her body. It took her a few tries to speak correctly, finding her voice sounded...wrong when she did. Like there was a slight buzz too it, robotic even. "Wh-at...happ-ened to m-e?"
"Oh, yes, that!" The skydancer said, adjusting the glasses by pushing then up a bit further and turning to grab his notes. "Netzach found that you had a lot of electrical magic flowing through your body when she was testing on you, so I asked Noel if I could take you back and try a little experiment! Funny, it was quite a shock to her, ol' Netty. She never believed mirrors had much to them magically. "
"Ex-pira-ment?" The mirror questioned, not entirely sure what he could mean. Overflowing with magic? Netzach? Noel? Why couldn't she remember any of these dragons?
The skydancer blinked. "You don't remember?" He asked, and he broke into a grin when she nodded before jotting something down on his clipboard. "What an interesting side effect! I didn't even do anything to your brain!" He slammed his quill down as though he had just remembered something important, raising his head to look at her again. "Oh! Right! I'd best introduce myself then, if you have no memory. My name is Saros."
"Sa-ros?" The mirror parroted, though she sounded unsure. When he smiled, she continued, this time pointing to herself with one shaking claw. "I a-m? I a-m?"
Saros gave her a puzzled look before her words seemed to click with him. "Oh! You want to know who you are?"
The mirror jerky nodded, tilting her head back and forth again afterwards as though trying to get a kink out of her neck. All that happened was the quiet sound of clinking metal.
"Hmm, I suppose you will need a name." The Skydancer said, looking back down at his notes. "What number would you be, hm? Net has subject one, two, and three...four escaped...so that makes you..."
He looked up at her with a smile. "Subject Five! You are Subject Five!"
"Fi-ve." She repeated, tasting the word on her mouth. It didn't feel right, but she didn't really know much else to be able to argue with him. "Wh-ere?"
Saros's eyes glinted in excitement at her new question. "Yes, of course! Why don't you let me show you around your new home?"
"Ah! There you are. Welcome back."
She tilted her head to the side as he spoke, cringing as it creaked like an unoiled piece of metal and a small spark of electricity sending a bolt of pain through her body. It took her a few tries to speak correctly, finding her voice sounded...wrong when she did. Like there was a slight buzz too it, robotic even. "Wh-at...happ-ened to m-e?"
"Oh, yes, that!" The skydancer said, adjusting the glasses by pushing then up a bit further and turning to grab his notes. "Netzach found that you had a lot of electrical magic flowing through your body when she was testing on you, so I asked Noel if I could take you back and try a little experiment! Funny, it was quite a shock to her, ol' Netty. She never believed mirrors had much to them magically. "
"Ex-pira-ment?" The mirror questioned, not entirely sure what he could mean. Overflowing with magic? Netzach? Noel? Why couldn't she remember any of these dragons?
The skydancer blinked. "You don't remember?" He asked, and he broke into a grin when she nodded before jotting something down on his clipboard. "What an interesting side effect! I didn't even do anything to your brain!" He slammed his quill down as though he had just remembered something important, raising his head to look at her again. "Oh! Right! I'd best introduce myself then, if you have no memory. My name is Saros."
"Sa-ros?" The mirror parroted, though she sounded unsure. When he smiled, she continued, this time pointing to herself with one shaking claw. "I a-m? I a-m?"
Saros gave her a puzzled look before her words seemed to click with him. "Oh! You want to know who you are?"
The mirror jerky nodded, tilting her head back and forth again afterwards as though trying to get a kink out of her neck. All that happened was the quiet sound of clinking metal.
"Hmm, I suppose you will need a name." The Skydancer said, looking back down at his notes. "What number would you be, hm? Net has subject one, two, and three...four escaped...so that makes you..."
He looked up at her with a smile. "Subject Five! You are Subject Five!"
"Fi-ve." She repeated, tasting the word on her mouth. It didn't feel right, but she didn't really know much else to be able to argue with him. "Wh-ere?"
Saros's eyes glinted in excitement at her new question. "Yes, of course! Why don't you let me show you around your new home?"
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=54503352]
[img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/545034/54503352_350.png[/img]
[/url]
[img]http://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/dressing-room/scry?sdid=88364&skin=0&apparel=30829,30832,30837,30834,30836,30838,30831,30833,30835&xt=dressing.png[/img]
[outfit=894778]
[quote]Giselle was a dragon with problems. At least, that was what everyone told her. Maybe it was her special connection to her element, but she had always cared more for machines than other dragons. Get her talking about one of her interests, and she'd talk for days. Try to talk about anything else, and she'd give you a curious head-tilt and an awkward reply. She tried, really she did, but her unflinchingly honest attitude coupled with her seeming inability to follow the rhythm of a conversation made a fair few dragons give up on her.
Her parents just kind of accepted that that was just how Giselle was. They loved her and supported her, and steered her toward engineering, where she could focus on systems rather than other dragons. It took her father years to figure out that Giselle doesn't lack empathy, rather, she is just overwhelmed with the emotions of others. She soon got a job in another clan as their civil engineer.
Giselle didn't have many problems up to that point. Giselle acquired a massive problem in that clan.
It didn't take long for a drake named Starstrike to find and take a fancy to Giselle. Starstrike seemed nice at first. He listened to Giselle talk, he brought her her favorite drinks while she was working, he asked her leading questions about her interests... Giselle thought she had actually found a friend. Rare enough for her, sadly-- not everyone was willing to put up with her quirks.
The problem came when Starstrike declared his love for her.
Giselle tried to be gentle. She really did. She really, really didn't want to hurt him. She thought he was her friend. Giselle told him "No. You're a great friend to me. I could only ever be in love with a girl. You're a boy."
Starstrike saw [i]red[/i]. He'd put in so much time and effort to get close to Giselle, and he felt entitled to her, the way he would feel entitled to a trophy for achievement. He screamed at her. Brought up every time he'd had patience for her quirks, every time he'd brought her nice things... Giselle broke down and started rocking back and forth, but Starstrike wasn't done. He decided that the only reason that Giselle didn't love him back was that she had no empathy and never had. He left her there, broken and shaking on the floor, and came back with something in his jaws.
Starstrike physically overpowered her, held her down, and [i]forced a Skydancer breedchange onto her[/i]. It was the most physically and emotionally painful thing she had ever experienced.
He expected her to rush to his embrace afterward, but instead Giselle stumbled half-blind without her second set of Mirror eyes out into the hallway. The crush of everyone else's emotions was just too much for her, and her limbs felt alien to her, and even her mouth felt wrong. Flight felt different; feathered flight was so much different than the Mirror wings she was used to, and her legs were built a lot less strongly than her old ones. Giselle fled out into the wilderness, never to return.
For the next month, Giselle suffered. She'd never had any interest in how Skydancers worked. She had no idea how to clean her feathers, or what Skydancers even ate. She knew that the meat and seafood she'd loved made her sick now, and that it was so much easier to get dirty. She avoided other dragons like the plague, but her new instincts screamed to become part of a flock. Giselle found a little hole in the side of a cliff and made it hers. It was a rude existence, but she built a few machines to get by. At least she could still do that. She lost almost a quarter of her body weight during this time.
One rare sunny day in the Shifting Expanse, Giselle sensed [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/lair/109836/1584873]a flock of dragons[/url] flying overhead. Ordinarily, she would've just hidden in her cave, but something felt... different about them. They were all skydancers. Not unusual. Skydancers tended to travel in flocks. She sensed they were all women, and very insular, protecting their own more fiercely than any Guardian protects its charge. Giselle felt weak, and vulnerable, and like she could really use some protection. She tried to fight down her pang of silent longing before the flock sensed it.
The flock abruptly turned as one and started to descend toward her.
Fighting down a wave of panic, Giselle ran to the back of her cave and hunkered down behind a machine. She hadn't talked to anyone in a month, and her already-bad social skills had probably withered away to nothing, and she could feel an intense curiosity from these ladies that scared her more than hostility would. It was all too much, and her brain couldn't parse so many words in the air all at once, especially when the entire flock crowded their way into her tiny cave.
[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=53146727]One of the skydancers[/url] wiggled her way to the back of the cavern and sat down in front of Giselle, shielding her from the rest of the flock. "Let me take point on this one. Her brain's different. Could all of you wait outside except Blackwell?" Giselle's heart sank. They would think she was stupid. Confusion from all of them except [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=53448786]a yellow and blue one,[/url] but... they all left and gathered on the cliff outside, except the yellow and blue one, and the pink and white one in front of her.
"Hello. My name is Kekki." Kekki immediately backed off Giselle, giving her some space. Giselle felt... reassurance. Kekki was a calm presence. Kekki didn't think she was stupid. "Can you speak?"
Slowly, Giselle nodded.
"It's okay if you don't speak right now. Someone bad hurt you badly."
Giselle nodded again, tears streaming down her face. She rocked back and forth, thumping her tail on the ground. Kekki just waited. A lot of dragons hadn't seen the unique way Giselle dealt with overwhelm, but Giselle could feel that Kekki had seen something similar before.
"No, I don't think you're stupid for doing that," Kekki answered Giselle's unasked question. "Do that all you need to. None of us will mind." Giselle sensed that Kekki was telling the truth. She rocked more intensely and whipped her tail all around, twittering under her breath. Kekki and the other skydancer just waited for her to be done, without judgment. Whatever the reason, they sensed that Giselle just... needed to do that.
When Giselle was done, she blinked tears out of her eyes. "Thank you," she finally told Kekki.
"Relax. You're good," the yellow and blue skydancer piped up. No-nonsense, but not unkind. "I'm Dr. Blackwell. You look pretty sick and hurt. If you want, I can give you something to help you get strong enough to fly back with us to our coven."
"We like your machines," Kekki added. "You could teach us about them, if you want."
Giselle was wary. The last time she'd opened up to someone, she'd been forced into this form. She did, however, sense a lot different attitude about these skydancers. Most of them had been badly hurt at some point. Most of them had come to the group fleeing something. Most of them were only attracted to women, just like her. Wordlessly, Giselle nodded. It seemed almost too good to be true, but the alternative was scraping by in a cave.
She has settled in nicely at the coven. There have been a few misunderstandings just because her brain is so unique, but the other ladies are, for the most part, understanding. They also love all the improvements that Giselle has made in their lair. From overhead lighting to indoor plumbing to a mechanical sterilizer for Blackwell's surgical equipment, Giselle seems to make their lives better every single day. It seems like every day there is some construction project going on, but nobody seems to mind the results. There is a certain kind of joy in listening to someone talk about what they love, and even if they don't understand it, they're happy to listen. Giselle has struck up a particular friendship with Blackwell; after all, bodies are just machines made of meat, piloted by a soul.
The coven offered to change her back to a mirror, but Giselle decided against it. Her transformation was horrible, but she's always been excited to learn, including learning about her new shape. She's learning what she can and can't eat, and what she can and can't tolerate as far as food texture goes. It took a while, but Giselle is very, very happy living in the Coven with the witches that took her in. The day she got her very own witch gear was one of the best days of her life, and sometimes she will recount it for anyone who'll listen. Even though most of them were there. Because it's important to her, and that's just how Giselle is. [/quote]
Not Found
Quote:
Giselle was a dragon with problems. At least, that was what everyone told her. Maybe it was her special connection to her element, but she had always cared more for machines than other dragons. Get her talking about one of her interests, and she'd talk for days. Try to talk about anything else, and she'd give you a curious head-tilt and an awkward reply. She tried, really she did, but her unflinchingly honest attitude coupled with her seeming inability to follow the rhythm of a conversation made a fair few dragons give up on her.
Her parents just kind of accepted that that was just how Giselle was. They loved her and supported her, and steered her toward engineering, where she could focus on systems rather than other dragons. It took her father years to figure out that Giselle doesn't lack empathy, rather, she is just overwhelmed with the emotions of others. She soon got a job in another clan as their civil engineer.
Giselle didn't have many problems up to that point. Giselle acquired a massive problem in that clan.
It didn't take long for a drake named Starstrike to find and take a fancy to Giselle. Starstrike seemed nice at first. He listened to Giselle talk, he brought her her favorite drinks while she was working, he asked her leading questions about her interests... Giselle thought she had actually found a friend. Rare enough for her, sadly-- not everyone was willing to put up with her quirks.
The problem came when Starstrike declared his love for her.
Giselle tried to be gentle. She really did. She really, really didn't want to hurt him. She thought he was her friend. Giselle told him "No. You're a great friend to me. I could only ever be in love with a girl. You're a boy."
Starstrike saw red. He'd put in so much time and effort to get close to Giselle, and he felt entitled to her, the way he would feel entitled to a trophy for achievement. He screamed at her. Brought up every time he'd had patience for her quirks, every time he'd brought her nice things... Giselle broke down and started rocking back and forth, but Starstrike wasn't done. He decided that the only reason that Giselle didn't love him back was that she had no empathy and never had. He left her there, broken and shaking on the floor, and came back with something in his jaws.
Starstrike physically overpowered her, held her down, and forced a Skydancer breedchange onto her. It was the most physically and emotionally painful thing she had ever experienced.
He expected her to rush to his embrace afterward, but instead Giselle stumbled half-blind without her second set of Mirror eyes out into the hallway. The crush of everyone else's emotions was just too much for her, and her limbs felt alien to her, and even her mouth felt wrong. Flight felt different; feathered flight was so much different than the Mirror wings she was used to, and her legs were built a lot less strongly than her old ones. Giselle fled out into the wilderness, never to return.
For the next month, Giselle suffered. She'd never had any interest in how Skydancers worked. She had no idea how to clean her feathers, or what Skydancers even ate. She knew that the meat and seafood she'd loved made her sick now, and that it was so much easier to get dirty. She avoided other dragons like the plague, but her new instincts screamed to become part of a flock. Giselle found a little hole in the side of a cliff and made it hers. It was a rude existence, but she built a few machines to get by. At least she could still do that. She lost almost a quarter of her body weight during this time.
One rare sunny day in the Shifting Expanse, Giselle sensed a flock of dragons flying overhead. Ordinarily, she would've just hidden in her cave, but something felt... different about them. They were all skydancers. Not unusual. Skydancers tended to travel in flocks. She sensed they were all women, and very insular, protecting their own more fiercely than any Guardian protects its charge. Giselle felt weak, and vulnerable, and like she could really use some protection. She tried to fight down her pang of silent longing before the flock sensed it.
The flock abruptly turned as one and started to descend toward her.
Fighting down a wave of panic, Giselle ran to the back of her cave and hunkered down behind a machine. She hadn't talked to anyone in a month, and her already-bad social skills had probably withered away to nothing, and she could feel an intense curiosity from these ladies that scared her more than hostility would. It was all too much, and her brain couldn't parse so many words in the air all at once, especially when the entire flock crowded their way into her tiny cave.
One of the skydancers wiggled her way to the back of the cavern and sat down in front of Giselle, shielding her from the rest of the flock. "Let me take point on this one. Her brain's different. Could all of you wait outside except Blackwell?" Giselle's heart sank. They would think she was stupid. Confusion from all of them except a yellow and blue one, but... they all left and gathered on the cliff outside, except the yellow and blue one, and the pink and white one in front of her.
"Hello. My name is Kekki." Kekki immediately backed off Giselle, giving her some space. Giselle felt... reassurance. Kekki was a calm presence. Kekki didn't think she was stupid. "Can you speak?"
Slowly, Giselle nodded.
"It's okay if you don't speak right now. Someone bad hurt you badly."
Giselle nodded again, tears streaming down her face. She rocked back and forth, thumping her tail on the ground. Kekki just waited. A lot of dragons hadn't seen the unique way Giselle dealt with overwhelm, but Giselle could feel that Kekki had seen something similar before.
"No, I don't think you're stupid for doing that," Kekki answered Giselle's unasked question. "Do that all you need to. None of us will mind." Giselle sensed that Kekki was telling the truth. She rocked more intensely and whipped her tail all around, twittering under her breath. Kekki and the other skydancer just waited for her to be done, without judgment. Whatever the reason, they sensed that Giselle just... needed to do that.
When Giselle was done, she blinked tears out of her eyes. "Thank you," she finally told Kekki.
"Relax. You're good," the yellow and blue skydancer piped up. No-nonsense, but not unkind. "I'm Dr. Blackwell. You look pretty sick and hurt. If you want, I can give you something to help you get strong enough to fly back with us to our coven."
"We like your machines," Kekki added. "You could teach us about them, if you want."
Giselle was wary. The last time she'd opened up to someone, she'd been forced into this form. She did, however, sense a lot different attitude about these skydancers. Most of them had been badly hurt at some point. Most of them had come to the group fleeing something. Most of them were only attracted to women, just like her. Wordlessly, Giselle nodded. It seemed almost too good to be true, but the alternative was scraping by in a cave.
She has settled in nicely at the coven. There have been a few misunderstandings just because her brain is so unique, but the other ladies are, for the most part, understanding. They also love all the improvements that Giselle has made in their lair. From overhead lighting to indoor plumbing to a mechanical sterilizer for Blackwell's surgical equipment, Giselle seems to make their lives better every single day. It seems like every day there is some construction project going on, but nobody seems to mind the results. There is a certain kind of joy in listening to someone talk about what they love, and even if they don't understand it, they're happy to listen. Giselle has struck up a particular friendship with Blackwell; after all, bodies are just machines made of meat, piloted by a soul.
The coven offered to change her back to a mirror, but Giselle decided against it. Her transformation was horrible, but she's always been excited to learn, including learning about her new shape. She's learning what she can and can't eat, and what she can and can't tolerate as far as food texture goes. It took a while, but Giselle is very, very happy living in the Coven with the witches that took her in. The day she got her very own witch gear was one of the best days of her life, and sometimes she will recount it for anyone who'll listen. Even though most of them were there. Because it's important to her, and that's just how Giselle is.
Her parents just kind of accepted that that was just how Giselle was. They loved her and supported her, and steered her toward engineering, where she could focus on systems rather than other dragons. It took her father years to figure out that Giselle doesn't lack empathy, rather, she is just overwhelmed with the emotions of others. She soon got a job in another clan as their civil engineer.
Giselle didn't have many problems up to that point. Giselle acquired a massive problem in that clan.
It didn't take long for a drake named Starstrike to find and take a fancy to Giselle. Starstrike seemed nice at first. He listened to Giselle talk, he brought her her favorite drinks while she was working, he asked her leading questions about her interests... Giselle thought she had actually found a friend. Rare enough for her, sadly-- not everyone was willing to put up with her quirks.
The problem came when Starstrike declared his love for her.
Giselle tried to be gentle. She really did. She really, really didn't want to hurt him. She thought he was her friend. Giselle told him "No. You're a great friend to me. I could only ever be in love with a girl. You're a boy."
Starstrike saw red. He'd put in so much time and effort to get close to Giselle, and he felt entitled to her, the way he would feel entitled to a trophy for achievement. He screamed at her. Brought up every time he'd had patience for her quirks, every time he'd brought her nice things... Giselle broke down and started rocking back and forth, but Starstrike wasn't done. He decided that the only reason that Giselle didn't love him back was that she had no empathy and never had. He left her there, broken and shaking on the floor, and came back with something in his jaws.
Starstrike physically overpowered her, held her down, and forced a Skydancer breedchange onto her. It was the most physically and emotionally painful thing she had ever experienced.
He expected her to rush to his embrace afterward, but instead Giselle stumbled half-blind without her second set of Mirror eyes out into the hallway. The crush of everyone else's emotions was just too much for her, and her limbs felt alien to her, and even her mouth felt wrong. Flight felt different; feathered flight was so much different than the Mirror wings she was used to, and her legs were built a lot less strongly than her old ones. Giselle fled out into the wilderness, never to return.
For the next month, Giselle suffered. She'd never had any interest in how Skydancers worked. She had no idea how to clean her feathers, or what Skydancers even ate. She knew that the meat and seafood she'd loved made her sick now, and that it was so much easier to get dirty. She avoided other dragons like the plague, but her new instincts screamed to become part of a flock. Giselle found a little hole in the side of a cliff and made it hers. It was a rude existence, but she built a few machines to get by. At least she could still do that. She lost almost a quarter of her body weight during this time.
One rare sunny day in the Shifting Expanse, Giselle sensed a flock of dragons flying overhead. Ordinarily, she would've just hidden in her cave, but something felt... different about them. They were all skydancers. Not unusual. Skydancers tended to travel in flocks. She sensed they were all women, and very insular, protecting their own more fiercely than any Guardian protects its charge. Giselle felt weak, and vulnerable, and like she could really use some protection. She tried to fight down her pang of silent longing before the flock sensed it.
The flock abruptly turned as one and started to descend toward her.
Fighting down a wave of panic, Giselle ran to the back of her cave and hunkered down behind a machine. She hadn't talked to anyone in a month, and her already-bad social skills had probably withered away to nothing, and she could feel an intense curiosity from these ladies that scared her more than hostility would. It was all too much, and her brain couldn't parse so many words in the air all at once, especially when the entire flock crowded their way into her tiny cave.
One of the skydancers wiggled her way to the back of the cavern and sat down in front of Giselle, shielding her from the rest of the flock. "Let me take point on this one. Her brain's different. Could all of you wait outside except Blackwell?" Giselle's heart sank. They would think she was stupid. Confusion from all of them except a yellow and blue one, but... they all left and gathered on the cliff outside, except the yellow and blue one, and the pink and white one in front of her.
"Hello. My name is Kekki." Kekki immediately backed off Giselle, giving her some space. Giselle felt... reassurance. Kekki was a calm presence. Kekki didn't think she was stupid. "Can you speak?"
Slowly, Giselle nodded.
"It's okay if you don't speak right now. Someone bad hurt you badly."
Giselle nodded again, tears streaming down her face. She rocked back and forth, thumping her tail on the ground. Kekki just waited. A lot of dragons hadn't seen the unique way Giselle dealt with overwhelm, but Giselle could feel that Kekki had seen something similar before.
"No, I don't think you're stupid for doing that," Kekki answered Giselle's unasked question. "Do that all you need to. None of us will mind." Giselle sensed that Kekki was telling the truth. She rocked more intensely and whipped her tail all around, twittering under her breath. Kekki and the other skydancer just waited for her to be done, without judgment. Whatever the reason, they sensed that Giselle just... needed to do that.
When Giselle was done, she blinked tears out of her eyes. "Thank you," she finally told Kekki.
"Relax. You're good," the yellow and blue skydancer piped up. No-nonsense, but not unkind. "I'm Dr. Blackwell. You look pretty sick and hurt. If you want, I can give you something to help you get strong enough to fly back with us to our coven."
"We like your machines," Kekki added. "You could teach us about them, if you want."
Giselle was wary. The last time she'd opened up to someone, she'd been forced into this form. She did, however, sense a lot different attitude about these skydancers. Most of them had been badly hurt at some point. Most of them had come to the group fleeing something. Most of them were only attracted to women, just like her. Wordlessly, Giselle nodded. It seemed almost too good to be true, but the alternative was scraping by in a cave.
She has settled in nicely at the coven. There have been a few misunderstandings just because her brain is so unique, but the other ladies are, for the most part, understanding. They also love all the improvements that Giselle has made in their lair. From overhead lighting to indoor plumbing to a mechanical sterilizer for Blackwell's surgical equipment, Giselle seems to make their lives better every single day. It seems like every day there is some construction project going on, but nobody seems to mind the results. There is a certain kind of joy in listening to someone talk about what they love, and even if they don't understand it, they're happy to listen. Giselle has struck up a particular friendship with Blackwell; after all, bodies are just machines made of meat, piloted by a soul.
The coven offered to change her back to a mirror, but Giselle decided against it. Her transformation was horrible, but she's always been excited to learn, including learning about her new shape. She's learning what she can and can't eat, and what she can and can't tolerate as far as food texture goes. It took a while, but Giselle is very, very happy living in the Coven with the witches that took her in. The day she got her very own witch gear was one of the best days of her life, and sometimes she will recount it for anyone who'll listen. Even though most of them were there. Because it's important to her, and that's just how Giselle is.
