Roleplay

{@Moonwater} [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13111810] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/131119/13111810_350.png[/img] [/url] "Hircine? The mulberry muffin? Huh! I liked him." [i]Doesn't mean I'll miss him, unless Evelyn is the type to be stingy on rations. How do they know [/i]when[i] he left, anyway? Maybe he said something in his note, or a night guard saw him. I'll ask.[/i] But he resolved to ask someone later, when he was finished lugging around the seafood basket, and had checked up on Tyadia. It didn't take long for someone to have a tragic, medically dire accident, as Nye knew. And as Azura had discovered shortly prior to entering the clan, it seemed. "You and Hades... If the two of you were standing in for your progenitors as a pair, I'll take the guess that he's your-" [i]current[/i] "-mate." Nye would have liked to ask how long they'd been together, to give him a point of reference for when it was that Azura had attended that party. Or any number of other questions that might entail what she had seen and done then. But probing much further into her personal life felt too overt. Nye rather needed her to trust him, even if he wasn't quite ready to trust her back. Not about this. His second-hand suspicion ran too deep. Back to practical matters, then, while the clan's clearing was approaching in view. "C'mon, let's hurry off to Evelyn so we can dump these cranky little scuttlers. I'm sure there's some cozy spot in the food pile waiting juuust for them. And then maybe let 'Don know we're done." It was too late to double back, but if Nye realised that if they went looking for Poseidon, there was a small chance that they'd find him or another clanmate still seeing off Azura's unnamed child, and he had no wish for either of them to go through that encounter again. "...Actually! I think Tyadia might have wanted me to stop by the library for something. Won't you come along, Azura?"

@Fuzzberry [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13201912] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/132020/13201912_350.png[/img][/url] "Yes, Hircine will definitely be missed." Azura said quietly, as they entered the clearing. "But again, you need not worry. Evelynn will take care of us food-wise. Just put the basket there, thank you." Azura took the basket away from Nye, and dragged it in front of the kitchen. It was empty, but that simply meant that Evelynn was busy doing something else at the moment. It figured, after all, since Diana wasn't there. Evelynn and Diana were almost inseparable. But Evelynn liked cooking and Diana was made into the clan's treasurer, so if Evelynn wasn't busy with her pots and pans, she was helping Diana out. They were the epitome of best friends, and they were sisters. "Yes. He's my mate." Azura said, a tender smile blossoming on her face. "He's everything I could have wished for. Kind and sweet and gentle... he does most of the talking for both of us. He even once told me that he joined the clan with the sole intention of wooing me! He's such a romantic." Azura let out a happy sigh. "Have you a mate, Nye? I don't mean a mate simply because your clan needs offspring.. I mean a lifelong mate. Or at least, a mate that you plan to be with for your entire life." The happiness in her eyes dimmed a little when Nye mentioned Poseidon. On one hand, she wished to see her child off, but on the other, she didn't want to go through the tears again. Hades would be there, and that was enough. He'd be strong for the both of them. She was very happy to agree to Nye's offer. After all, Tyadia was her best friend. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13277727] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/132778/13277727_350.png[/img][/url] As usual, Tyadia rushed out to meet her. "Hi Azura!" She squealed, practically wrapping her coils around Azura. Instead, she simply coiled around Azura's feet. All as normal. "What are you doing here are you sick are you ill let me take a look at you oh you're fine so what are you doing here oh hi Nye! You know you were supposed to be back around fifteen minutes ago you're late and Vesta wanted us to take a look at her eggs to make sure they were healthy and I thought that since we were there we might as well make sure that my egg was healthy oh Azura did you hear? I mated with Malacath and we have an egg! We don't know if we'll be allowed to keep him or her but we're very happy together right now of course this isn't a [i]love[/i] mating Malacath simply wanted to have more children in the clan and also did you know that I'm thinking of leaving this clan?" "What?!" Azura exclaimed. {So here's the gist of what's happening: I love all my dragons very dearly, but I have a policy so that I'll always have some new dragons. This policy is that should a dragon fail to produce pretty offspring with three other dragons (which means they must have mated three times), they will leave this lair. Tyadia is on her third mate right now. I don't quite know how to explain this phenomenon in dragonish terms, so what I'm going with right now is that some dragons are just getting wanderlust and want to leave the clan... if you have any ideas, please feel free to tell me!}

{@Moonwater I got really stuck on an extra paragraph of this post and fiddled around with it for ages without getting anywhere, so I'll have to upload the second half involving Tyadia later on. Sorry! I'll get to it soon. Regarding your breeding policies, I'm sure we can play around it. For one thing, if Tyadia does have to leave (maybe to further her medical studies elsewhere?), Nye will try his hardest to bid for more of the healer's duties. You could also have a dragon who's leaving find out something sinister and have to be assassinated early by Nye, with accompanying suspicion from everyone else.} [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13111810] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/131119/13111810_350.png[/img] [/url] Nodding amiably and keeping quiet again did Nye's half of the conversation a world of good when listening to the palpable affection between Azura and Hades, though it took him a moment to recognise why he had nothing to say. [i]Sounds that Hades will have my ears in a sandwich if I don't have an alibi when harm comes to her, but this is jealousy, isn't it? Huh.[/i] He maintained a fairly honest pleased-to-hear-that grin as he listened, though part of it was driven by the vindictive idea that if Hades had really hopped clans for a girl, he was probably a fickle pigeon who'd grow bored and hop clans again for another one. "...Hm? No, not I." It had taken him a while to register the question, and Nye was tempted to be as curt as he felt and leave it there. Instead he let his vague frustration vent in a much more morose sigh. "I've just never met someone I can admire as much as I admire myself, see." He kept quiet for another few seconds, contemplating. Then he burst with a whoop of laughter. "Isn't that rich! Oh, it's a bright life, is mine." Nye bounced off to Tyadia's den with a spring in his step. "Let's go!" It was a joke, clean and true, and it was the single most honest thing he'd said to anyone that week. * * * * *

[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13111810] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/131119/13111810_350.png[/img] [/url] * * * * * Though he was growing comfortable with Tyadia's enthusiasm, Nye was still glad that her most aggressively friendly greetings were reserved for Azura. He poked gently at her coiled flank. "Well, she's not sick, but I could almost say that she's looking a little [i]loopy[/i]," he teased, but the pun was lost under Tyadia's itinerary of things to say. She did notice him, however. "Oh? I'd love to be on time, but we were doing some [i]very[/i] important work for Poseidon. It's true, just ask him," Nye offered, rather pointlessly. It hardly mattered. [i]Mm, I wonder how her kid will react to all this babble once she's a mother.[/i] Nye had seen Malacath on his tour of the sparring ground, and in his mind, it was almost a shame the two hadn't paired for longer. They shared immense enthusiasm in their own fields, and for Malacath, that meant having a medical professional nearby was a very good precaution. "Well, I guess-" Whatever he had to say fizzled away on his tongue. [i]Tyadia's leaving?[/i] "No, we didn't know at all," came the response with genuine shock, though not nearly as much as Azura showed at the prospect of losing a friend. "Do you mean leaving for a holiday, emigrating to another clan, or-" Nye raised a claw to the sun and spoke softly- "[i]Leaving?[/i]" All three options would do him good, but if Tyadia was considering exaltation, well, wouldn't that be ideal? [i]I can't bring my own occupation into this until she's made her choice,[/i] thought Nye in a hurry. For now, that choice was all that mattered. "I mean, if you do mean to go [i]forever[/i], I'm sure your god will be quite pleased- I mean, I know from experience that yours is a potent soul, if I may say so." Better plant that idea now and let her mull it over than finish the debate too early. "But that's all to the side. Is anyone else leaving with you?" {@Moonwater Here it is!}

@Fuzzberry {No worries! It's good. :) So my policy with the whole three-mate-exalt thing has been revised. Since Tyadia and Malacath only had one egg, that egg will be treated as an improper judging of the parents' possibility of having pretty children, regardless of how ugly or beautiful it is. So Tyadia and Malacath are not going to be exalted for a while. However, I will let Tyadia go on a short trip to get herbs so that she didn't say that she was leaving for nothing.} [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13201912] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/132020/13201912_350.png[/img][/url] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13277727] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/132778/13277727_350.png[/img][/url] "Hmmm I'll have to take your word for it because I don't know what Poseidon was doing this morning but its okay I trust you not to lie to me about being on time or late." When Tyadia finally stopped to catch her breath, she heard Nye's question. "No, no, nothing as serious as that!" Tyadia exclaimed. "I'm sorry I probably gave you the wrong impression because I talk so fast but oh well what I meant to say was that I was leaving on a short trip to go collect herbs in the forest because we're running low don't worry Azura I will be back and you [i]still[/i ]need to come over for tea one day because you haven't at all recently but anyways during this time Nye you will be in charge of all the healing business and if you accidentally hurt anyone I'll have to fire you and request to Asura that you be made a janitor okay? Okay? Okay? Okay okay okay okay okay? She finally paused for a little bit. "I mean I'm considering exaltation and going to meet the Arcanist but all in all you know I don't really know Malacath is considering exaltation as well, so that's also something to think about but don't worry this trip is just me going to collect herbs I probably [i]do[/i] need to get someone to come with me but I'll ask someone that's not Malacath because he needs to take care of our egg and hmmmmm who should I ask Nye I can't ask you and Azura is busy with her duties here because she was ordered to help out a little by Krathadh so who should I bring hmmmmmmm I'll get Renger to come with me because he's the clan forager so he can get plants for food and the herbs for me." Azura exhaled in relief. "You really scared me there for a second, Tyadia! Don't treat leaving so lightly! For all we know, maybe you will be the next dragon to go to the Arcanist." "I doubt that!" Tyadia said. "You know Zeus and Ceres yeah Zeus went to the Arcanist a few days ago and they had children and the children are all grown up now but they want to meet their father and serve a higher being so they're leaving Ceres and going to the Arcanist Ceres isn't sad though she didn't really make an emotional bond because the moment they knew their father was gone they said they wanted to go after him and Ceres was really hurt for a day but then she stopped caring of course she cared for them and helped them grow up but... it's a little sad that the children were so callous towards her. I'm not sure if she'll ever mate again. But anyways, her children are leaving soon."

[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13111810] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/131119/13111810_350.png[/img] [/url] A small dent in his personal pride put other affairs out of Nye's mind for a second. "Woah, woah now Tyadia. That's a bit... Harsh." [i]A janitor? They wouldn't dare, would they?[/i] His attention sprang back to where it was meant to be as soon as he saw the absurdity of his concern. After all, he was here to hurt deliberately, and if he was caught at that, janitorial service would be a mercy. [i]Back to business, then. A few days gathering trip, eh? I can work with that.[/i] Nye let his thoughts wander between ideas as Tyadia planned her tour aloud. No need to rush straight to the [i]conclusion[/i], as he neatly thought it, none at all, of course, but perhaps he could sabotage Tyadia's ability to heal somehow, or leave some injury just a little less than perfectly healed, open some subtle opportunity for himself. The change in voice from Spiral to Pearlcatcher and back took Nye's attention back into the present, but Nye still didn't think he'd be wise to press further into Tyadia's personal affairs. Her speech changed audibly towards the end, though. [i]She just separated three sentences out of a single spiel; Tyadia's punctuating. What's wrong with her?[/i] "Ceres... A librarian, or similar, I remember. Are you close to her? Or her brood?" Maybe the concern had a deeper root, though, one he ought to educate himself of. "Or is it that she still holds some, ah, animosity towards her clan or god because of what happened?" Nye had not yet considered implicating the internal tensions of the Moon Water clan in his schemes, but maybe it was possible. {@Moonwater}

@Fuzzberry [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13201912] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/132020/13201912_350.png[/img][/url] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13277727] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/132778/13277727_350.png[/img][/url] Tyadia's face grew sad, but she did not say more. Azura glanced at her friend, and lay a pay on one of the Spiral's shoulders. "Ceres and Tyadia are good friends." "She's not as close to me as you are." Tyadia muttered. "I cried for three days when you told me your child was going to serve the Arcanist." "And I cried with you." Azura replied, patting Tyadia's shoulder. "But it's natural that Tyadia would be sympathetic towards Ceres. We've all had children that had to go to the Arcanist. After all, most of us here have loved and mated. Tyadia spent a lot of time with Ceres. But Ceres doesn't hate the Arcanist of the clan. She hates Zeus, and her children. That's why, when they grow up, she'll have nothing to do with them ever again. She would kill them herself, except Asura has forbidden murder. I think that Vesta is trying to take care of the children, but soon they'll be adults." "Rengar has got his eye on Ceres though." Tyadia commented. "I hope they'll be happy together I really hope so Ceres has suffered enough ooooh if only I could get my claws on those children I'd rip them apart for her and feed their entrails to the beasts oooooh they'd better leave this clan soon I can't believe how mean they were to Ceres I mean she's their [i]mother[/i]!" "Don't get ahead of yourself now." Azura murmured. "Rengar hasn't even made his move yet. No, it's better for Pluto to cheer her up soon. She spends most of her time in his library anways."

[url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13111810] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/131119/13111810_350.png[/img] [/url] "Asura has forbidden murder. I see." Without knowing it, Nye shuffled just a little further from Azura as he repeated the comment. [i]Makes my job a little bit harder. Hah. Hah.[/i] That was not an edict to which he meant to pay much attention, but this... This was a new circumstance. Nye was unused to the idea of infanticide. Perhaps a small benefit of a culture which considered the value of offspring to be more monetary than emotional. Affection, as the tragedy of Ceres was quickly teaching him, could be an unstable currency. [i]But I could still deal in it. My services are here if Ceres is buying.[/i] The conversation had been valuable for Nye, but he could see that its use to him had concluded when Tyadia broke down. He'd get nothing more from the Spiral while she was still venting anger for her friend. He let a few seconds go by scratching idly in the grass, but when Azura had said her say- [i]And now I know where to find Ceres-[/i], he stepped up. "Mm, I think we could all use some time to simmer down after that story. We were just around the library, anyway, and I picked up a book just for you, Tya." He'd really grabbed the first vaguely plant-related scroll he could see to justify the detour away from the centre grove. A list of salad recipes, as it happened, but he hoped it was a nice gesture. "Oh, I don't know if you can stay, Azura, but Tya and I probably have some packing to do. And feel free to visit me for tea instead while she's unavailable. I might not be as exciting, but I'm just as pretty." He smiled a little in spite of himself, but covered it smoothly. "We can't spend too much time on the sad things in life, can we? We all have the future to look to." And his own had suddenly gained a few bright points. {@Moonwater I think a skip might be appropriate in a little while, but I'm not sure to when. Maybe Tyadia's send-off, or a little while after.}

@Fuzzberry {Let's have Boethiah come in and mess stuff up... and afterwards you could always have Nye seek out Ceres to see if she wants to kill her hatchlings. Maybe Ceres would begin to suspect stuff about Nye... :D Oh yeah, also... to shamelessly advertise, if you're into group mafia RPs, I'm hosting one. It's called [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/rp/1515429/]A Diplomatic Death[/url], so if you're interested, please check it out!} (TIME SKIP) [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13201912] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/132020/13201912_350.png[/img][/url] Azura was slightly mournful after Tyadia's send-off. Sure, she knew that Tyadia would only be gone for a few days, maybe a week at most, but she wasn't happy that her best friend had decided to leave on a trip. With her new mate, Malacath, nonetheless. However, Azura supposed that Tyadia and Malacath needed their time together... especially since they were both considering something very important that Tyadia had told her under the strictest confidence. She was happy the clan was expanding so much. Since Galio, Lissandra, and Akali hatched, she had been wondering if the clan had stagnated. But they'd invited so many new dragons to join them that they were once again facing the issue of lair space. Two pairs had joined them: Varus and Quinn, and Sherbert and Sorbet. Spirals flooded in, making the clan much noisier but also more comforting and homelike. Even a little Fae named Darius had joined. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13227465] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/132275/13227465_350.png[/img][/url] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13594447] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/135945/13594447_350.png[/img][/url] Azura stiffened when Boethiah and Artemis crept up to her. They stood on either side of her, watching both Spirals writhe through the air towards their destination. Azura expected them to speak, but did not say anything that would prompt them to do so. Finally, Boethiah turned to her. "Good morning, Azura." He said, very politely. "I was wondering if you could tell me where Nye is?"

{@Moonwater All good with me~ I'll take a look at Diplomatic Death when I can. Also, I like Azura's new accessories.} [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13111810] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/131119/13111810_350.png[/img] [/url] There had been a solid stretch of minutes spared from Tyadia's farewell for her to impart last-minute medical wisdom upon Nye. And he held a hint of pride at having caught and memorised all of it. It wasn't the first time she'd instructed him, but it became only a little less tiring after a while, and he would very soon have other matters on his mind, crowding together with all the problems that a hatchling's turbulent first few weeks could bring. [i]Other matters.[/i] Nye wasn't intending to wait for the gathering to disperse before he took his leave, and was feeling oddly tense. The more planning he could complete, the more time he could devote to waiting for a fortuitous moment. He turned his back on the streaks of colour on the horizon no sooner than a high voice ran past him, swinging fledging wings in imitation of the vanishing Spirals. As he traced the blur of movement with his eyes, they fell on a familiar figure in the background. A latecomer. A quiet latecomer, for him not to have noticed. A slippery, snaky one. Nye kept his pace, but spun easily towards the trio. Boethiah was a sly one, and if he'd let himself stand out like that, then he wanted to make something known. Better to check up on him than be surprised. Who was the other one? A Spiral, but they sat perfectly still. [i]I can't say I blame Azura for copying that.[/i] His heart doubled up a beat, maybe angry, maybe protective. "What do you want." He hadn't even heard the question.