Roleplay

I'll be good to start tomorrow! Might only get one post in though since I'm expecting my introductory one to run long and I do have a few things already on the agenda. ^^'

@VibinFrogFolk

Hello!
Do you think I could snag the last spot? I’ve been eyeing this for a bit but am still unsure about which dragon I’m going to use. It may take me a bit to get going but once winter vacation rolls around I should be relatively active!

@DarkMoon9 sure! I'll go ahead and start but let me know when you've picked out your dragon!

((I hope it's fine using another location nearbyish?

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[center]@pinglist-14560[/center] ((This is obscenely long (2k'ish). As per my usual for starter posts. My characters just met, so I just wanted to establish something between them, setting things up for the future, and well, [i]that[/i] happened. Abbreviated version at bottom. Don't feel like you have to read the text wall. Also idk if the longneck is even staying or not. Probably going to use her to get my gal to you guys in my next post, but I'm leaving it up to the narration where she goes after. For some reason I also decided to draw her instead of just using one of the familiars, so now I have a headshot and fullbody in the works.)) [center]<><><> [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/23678745][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/350/236788/23678745_350.png[/img][/url] [B][size=7]Nexus[/b][/size] Current Location: [i]Starfall Isles[/i] <><><>[/center] One moment nothing, the next everything. Nexus opened her eyes to see two startled, purple eyes staring back at her. “You’re alive,” the longneck breathed, almost a question. A gold pocket watch sat in her lowered hand, lid opened, a faint [i]tick-tick-ticking[/i] emanating from within. [I]The watch,[/i] Nexus scrambled upright from her sprawled position. [I]The one I opened right before–[/i] “Give me that,” the Skydancer leaned forward, looming over the longneck as she reached for the watch. The longneck, startled, stumbled back and fell; Nexus swiped the pocket watch. She looked over the clock face: it was vertically split between black and white, with gold ovals in the stead of numbers. There were no hands, and no obvious place for them to attach to. Nexus was certain it had some type of sleeping enchantment: she remembered discovering the little thing, opening it and hearing the ticking start, after a moment closing it, and nothing. Maybe her clan wasn’t so crazy for having a no-clock rule. This one certainly proved to be a nuisance. [I]How much time did I lose?[/i] Not much, she’d wager: her stomach wasn’t rumbling, nor did she feel the grogginess of a deep, long sleep. [I]Perhaps a day, day and a half?[/i] The longneck was still on the floor, staring at her wide-eyed, breathing fast. [I]Right, I did…that.[/i] “Erm, sorry,” Nexus offered awkwardly, setting the pocket watch down beside herself,”I…I’m pretty sure this thing put me to sleep when I closed it, and I didn’t want it to happen again.” The longneck blinked once, slow and considering, then grinned giddily. She stood up and brushed off her tunic, clapping the non-existent “dust” off her hands. “Sh’all right, no harm done.” She hooked her claws on her belt hoops. “Although,” she added, pondering aloud, “wouldn’t that thing have knocked me out if I had? I would’ve been the one to close it, this time.” “Well I…,” Nexus considered for a moment. She could see the logic in it. “I suppose that would make sense—we can't know for sure, though.” The longneck raised a brow, “That so? Well I don’t see why not!” And before Nexus realized what she was implying, the longneck crossed the short distance between them and snatched back the pocket watch, flipping the lid closed with her thumb. The longneck started to speak as it closed, but she trailed off at the first syllable; her body went limp and her eyes shut—Nexus couldn’t even guess the longneck’s words, too caught up in the shock of the unexpected action and her own attempt at catching the falling body. “Hey, [i]hey,”[/i] Nexus was left to call softly, heart in her stomach as she held the longneck with growing alarm, watching as her chest failed to rise or fall. Grabbing the pocket watch, her stomach having fallen to her toes, she flipped it open just [i]hoping.[/i] [I]Tick-tick-tick. [/i]The longneck opened her eyes. And grinned at Nexus, bright and carefree. Nexus shoved her onto the floor. “Ouch,” the longneck said, with no real conviction, sitting up, “what was that for?” “You weren’t breathing,” Nexus replied shortly, glaring over the longneck’s shoulder, “and that was stupid, what you did.” The longneck shrugged. “Maybe, but I knew you’d just wake me up like I woke you up.” She rubbed the back of her neck, under her scarf, eyes trailing to the floor. “You weren’t breathing either,” she admitted quietly, “when you were asleep. I didn’t know what to think, but I definitely didn’t think you were alive.” Nexus’ gaze softened, drifting back down to the longneck. “It’s not…okay, really–just don’t do that to me again.” The longneck glanced up, nodding her head in agreement. There was a lapse in conversation, as each of them took a moment to recenter themselves. “You have a lot of trust in strangers,” Nexus noted, “I wouldn’t have been so sure I would have opened this thing back up, if I was you.” She gazed down at the pocket watch in her hand, keeping up its near endless ticking as the gold dots seemed to stare back at her from its face. “Now this thing is attached to me again, I think.” “Want to do something stupid?” “[b]What?[/b]” The longneck gazed up at her, a gentle smile on her face as she offered her a wide spread hand. “I can close it again, and we can see who it puts to sleep: the one it's attached to, or who’s holding it.” Her smile turned mischievous as she winked, “All you have to do is trust a stranger.” Nexus stared at her, at the longneck with the ever-present smile, the outstretched hand waiting patiently, and the eyes that seemed to show every inch of her soul. Something passed between them. The longneck was rash, perhaps a bit stupid, and maybe a little brave. She trusted easily, and liked to help, regardless of personal cost. Nexus lowered the watch into her hand. The longneck grinned wider, all sunshine and teeth. “Thanks.” And snapped the watch shut again. The spell’s effect was instantaneous: one moment Nexus was awake, the next she was blinking back to consciousness from the floor. “Guess we know the answer,” the longneck said with a nonchalant shrug, propped up against the wall and holding the watch high to study it. “And this,” she stated definitely, “is mine now.” Twining cloth around the watch’s hinge to prop it open, she placed the item in a pocket of her belt. A warmth blossomed in Nexus' chest at the act, and she knew she’d made the right choice to give her her trust Noting the small smile on the dragon’s face, the longneck grinned back at her. “So, now that we’ve completed our little ‘trust exercise,’ I think we deserve each other's names, don’t ‘cha think?” The Skydancer laughed, amused and just glad to be done with the watch—at least for now. “Sure,” she agreed, “I’m Nexus.” “Dorian,” she gave a bow, “tis a pleasure to meet you. “Now how about we get out of this cave and back into the big wide world?” Dorian turned around to lift a flickering torch off the wall before heading towards the room’s entrance, glancing behind her at the dragon; she followed. Nexus gave the room one last look as she left. It appeared to be dedicated to nothing but storage. Nexus and Dorian had taken up the only real free space: the room was filled with brimming chests, overflowing shelves and teetering piles of sundry items, too random to have any organization behind their placement. The room smelled old, it seemed even mustier than when she came in now that she was paying any mind. The walls and floor were stone, crudely chipped away at yet the edges smoothed down. Beside the sconce Dorian retrieved the torch from, Nexus saw no other place dedicated to a light source. Which was odd, considering they were in the middle of Arcane’s territory, and Arcane dragons didn’t have the affinity with darkness that she did: the ability to see as if in broad daylight with only the slightest flicker of light. Something engraved into the hallway’s walls caught her eye, and she stretched out a wing to brush against it, probing the runes etched in the stone and wishing she could activate them; here was the answer to her question, where the needed light came from, but her magic did not meld with the intent nor design of the enchantment. As unnecessary of a thing as it would have been, she wished she could have lit up the path for her companion. A few minutes of walking later, the pair made their way through the twisting tunnel and out into daylight, pushing aside vines and stepping around rumble as they squeezed out of the collapsed entrance. Dorian collapsed onto the grass, rolling around on it like a wayward seafarer who’d lost hope that they’d ever see land again. Personally, Nexus thought the whole act was a touch dramatic. Yet that something was there again—like when she looked into Dorian's eyes and saw her soul. The Skydancer quietly tucked the scene into a corner of her mind—a puzzle for another day. Taking a moment to enjoy the outdoors after who-knows-how-many-hours in those tunnels, Nexus closed her eyes and lifted her head up towards the sun. The breeze gently blew through her fur, playing with her mane, and she could hear birdsong from the treetops. She opened her eyes as she let out a peaceful sigh. “[b]What,[/b]” she stated, gazing around wide-eyed and confused before twisting to look up at the mountain she’d been asleep beneath, “is this. What happened to the mountain?” She turned to Dorian and gestured in a sweeping motion, “Why are the trees like that?” She paused, closing her eyes to take one more deep breath. “And why does it feel so…so dead?” “I,” Dorian looked around herself but was no less bewildered, “don’t understand?” “The mountain is barely pink! Where’s the chalcedony?” The…Starwood,” there was an odd uptilt to her voice, “is all…weird, different colors and stuff. And the air just doesn’t feel right.” Dorian tilted her head. “It’s all normal, though?” She looked around. “It’s exactly how it was when I went into the cave.” “No, no, no, that doesn’t make sense,” Nexus shook her head, tail whipping in agitation, “I’ve been living in that ‘Strand,” she aggressively jabbed at the trees, “with my clan for months now. I know how it looks.” “I-it doesn’t look like this,” she said, voice hitching in distress. “I need to find my clanmates.” Nexus spread her wings, crouching low to the ground. A look of dawning realization came over Dorian’s face. “Wait!” she shouted as Nexus began to take off, running at her and wrapping her arms around her neck. Nexus didn’t wait, seeming not to notice the passenger as she flew back to the clangrounds. Dorian hefted herself up and wrapped her legs around the Skydancer’s chest, wrapping her hands tightly in the dragon's mane yet careful not to pull. A minute passed, then two, and Dorian started to relax. She watched the ground as they flew, blurring both from their speed and the tears in her eyes caused by the whipping winds. It was beautiful up here, and the whole world seemed so small and insignificant—as well as all the problems that came with it. She could see why the harpies loved the sky so much. Eventually, Nexus started to descend until she was skimming the treetops. She flew in widening circles; Dorian could feel the dragon growing tense under her. Nexus grumbled incomprehensibly to herself, until finally she landed in a place where the trees thinned. The Skydancer looked around as Dorian slid off her back, slowly growing more frantic with each pass of her gaze. She turned her eyes to the longneck, brow furled and expression pensive. “I know this is the right place—it’s all wrong but [i]I know it[/i]. So where is everyone? They wouldn't have just left me behind.” She frowned. “I don’t think so, anyway.” Dorian put a hand on the dragon’s shoulder, rubbing soothing circles. “I’m sorry,” she started, forcing the words out around the lump in her throat; Nexus startled at the unexpected apology, before gathering herself and refocusing on the longneck’s solemn voice: “I…I think you’ve been asleep for longer than either of us thought. I could be wrong—I don’t know everything, ancients know I don’t—b-but your clanmates, your clan? “They’re gone. “There’s not any dragons left, besides you. So there hasn’t really…been, anyone, to make a clan in a long, long time.” [center]<><><>[/center] ((The abbreviated version: Nexus wakes up. There’s a Longneck holding a pocket watch. She snatches it because it’s what put her to sleep. Together they do “trust exercises” and discover the stop watch is attached to whoever opens it and will put that person to sleep if it is closed. They introduce themselves to each other. Dorian holds onto the watch. They leave the cave Dorian found Nexus in and fly to where Nexus' clan should be. The clan is not there. Dorian explains that Nexus has been asleep for a long, long time.))

((apologies for the drag-- things have been a lil crazy life wise but i will get a starting post out tomorrow morning :}}c ))

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It would have been impossible to assign the exact moment The Scroll began to stir.

There were centuries of darkness where it might have started, perhaps the horrifying shattering of the marble case that had once held them, or, maybe, the years spent pressed in stacks of others texts or between the pages of heavy, officious tomes. It might have been from the passing of ownership between claws and then coarse, calloused skin or the tickle of feathers against the faded enchantments etched into the ancient parchment. Even the night air might have triggered something, superficially, within them-- an idea, the imagining of what it was to smell the purls of smoke or feel the Plain cool under their feet.

Regardless though, of when or where or why or how, The Scroll was stirring. Something in the text-- long lost and faded illegibly-- shifted. The symbols and glyphs shimmered in the long, dusky shadows cast by the firelight on the Mirror's claws. A singular word in an unknown language, over and over again.

?????????????????

The edges of the parchment shuddered slightly, as if something were taking a tiny, experimental breath, and then The Scroll was still again.