Roleplay

I look as the Pearlcatcher asks the Skydancer to stand down. 'What are your names?' I ask, less threatening. The dragon from earlier seemed to be gone.

Illiad had increased her walking pace to a trot, despite her legs protesting with dull ache. The scent had gotten stronger. There was not one, but two dragons. The excitement of seeing any other face gave her hope that maybe they knew something about where she was. However... said excitement blurred her rationality. What if these strangers didn't know any more than she did? What if they were hostile? Such a thought of having to find her way out entirely alone made her stomach sink, but she quickly shook the feeling away. She had size, dewclaws the size of sickles, a massive steel cleaver, and her 'affliction'. She was fine taking care of herself. But still...

She was practically on top of it now, and she doubted her approach was a quiet one. Voices were clear now. At least two... no.. three? She hadn't smelled a third creature, and still couldn't. But undeniably there were three voices. They didn't sound particularly malicious. She took a moment to summon the most non-threatening demeanor and voice she could, and spoke before she could see anything.

"Hello... Hello?"

Ridge questioned giving the wolf her name, but while she was thinking, she realized it would be no harm. She lifted her head high and responded softly with a quick, “I’m Ridge.” Ridge was just about to ask the mysterious wolf it’s name, when she heard something approaching. She turned her head toward the noise and stood up, “anyone else hear something coming straight toward us?”

The sudden questioning hello that rang out just after came as a slight surprise. Ridge looked over at Hyacinth and the wolf, before responding, “Hello? Who’s there? Show yourself!”

She thought for about her response. What was the best way to ease tension as quickly as possible? Name first, or a role?

"Illiad...," She spoke tentatively, stepping through the mist and crossing the final murky wall to where she could see both dragons. And a strange something-else. "I apologize if I'm interrupting something. My name is Illiad. I'm just looking to find my way," She continued, ducking low in greeting. She stayed a good distance away from the others, wary. There were three voices, yet she only saw two dragons, a cat, and a familiar. Where was the third?

A pearlcatcher and a skydancer made up the dragons she could see. She breathed a half-sigh upon looking down at the two, whom she towered over. And... the thing she couldn't smell. Just like the mist that shrouded her, the wolf had no scent. Not one that she could pick up, anyway. The gold, shimmering pearlcatcher wielded nothing but a small lute and its trademark pearl. The skydancer didn't carry any visible weapons. Regardless, the armor she sported burned itself as a mental note inside the ridgeback's mind. She deemed neither of them a particular threat. Unless perhaps the pearlcatcher decided to throw the pearl at her. And the mist wolf. Beauramont had told her of its kind. Native to Bamboo Falls, among other regions. Other than that, she knew nothing else, it was likely a familiar to either of the dragons.

"Could either of you direct me to the fastest way out of here?" She addressed the group, and asked with admittedly a bit too much wishful thinking.

I grinned, again, wolfishly. 'You can't get out unless the Mist lets you. And if you don't listen, you won't get out. Ever.' I knew the ways of the Mist, the hidden pathways and the animals living here.

Ridge watched as the truly horrifying image of the dragon stepped forth. The oozing goo that emitted from its scale made Ridge cringe. But she tried to brush it off. The tone the dragon spoke with seemed rather apologetic. It seemed Ridge’s adventure would not have as many battles as some of her others, and for that she was pleased. The wolf still had Ridge on edge, but that was only because of the initial meeting.

“So your stuck here too,” Ridge commented, as friendly as she could. Ridge then turned to the wolf, with an unamused expression, “what do you mean, if the mist lets you out? are you saying we could be lost in this place for more than 3 months?” Ridge didn’t realize until after she said that, how suspicious her specific time was. It was true that the 3 months were significant to Ridge, but it wasn’t anyone else’s business to know that.

'Yes. You could be stuck here for over a year. I know one dragon who was rude to my pack and they took about four years to get out, even with our help.' My voice catches on the word 'pack'. I was the only Mist Wolf left.

I was confused at the specific time, but I didn't mention it.

She was awestruck at who answered her first. The wolf could speak? That was the third voice? She understood that some feral- presenting familiars still had the capacity to speak draconic, such as sphinxes, so perhaps Mist wolves happened to be one of them? She shook off the initial shock quickly and focused on what it said. Now was not the time to be pondering the why, only the where and how.

Only if the mist lets you out? Addressing it like that only raised questions. The idea of never getting out of here made her stomach drop.

The skydancer responded quickly afterwards. "So you're stuck here too." She mumbled, and spoke to the canine again, asking exactly what Illiad was thinking. "What do you mean, if the mist lets you out?" she continued, "Are you saying we could be lost in this place for more than 3 months?”

Illiad quickly became crestfallen at the skydancer's response. It seemed that the trio were all in the same boat. However, from what the wolf said, it seemed like it knew what it was talking about. The wolf went on to address her question.

"Yes. You could be stuck here for over a year. I know one dragon who was rude to my pack and they took about four years to get out, even with our help."

Her stomach sank even lower. It seemed even the wolf didn't have total control of its surroundings. Still, the fact that it mentioned helping other dragons in the past gave her hope.

She ventured, "So, if we listen to you, you could help us get out of here?"