(North of Azure caves, east of Racksom) Peace in the Everplains6th Board

Zack went back to squirming as Aaron bit at the branch that was holding him tight, feeling it stretch and bend, but not quite break. His cheek was really starting to burn underneath the acidic blood of the plant and it was distracting, otherwise he would have been more concerned about the fate of the others. He tried to reach a paw up to rub at it, but he couldn’t reach.

Still trying to reach his face, despite the obvious fact that he couldn’t, he didn’t expect Sill’s sudden movement, giving a little squeal of fear as he felt the branch he was wrapped in snap, the other letting go of his tail too. It relaxed and he flew up into the air, weaving drunkenly for a moment before fluttering down to the ground, pawing at his face. He gave a yelp as he touched it- there was a crackle and his claws came away burgundy and pale cream. It felt like the acid had taken off the top layer of his paper- That was the cream on his paws. And it was in his mouth too, it tasted awful. He spat, trying to get rid of the taste, but it wasn’t helping… Coughing and spitting, he looked up at the bigger dragons that towered above him.
“Aehh dun’t feel bery well..” He wrapped his wings close, trying to make himself as small as possible when more liquid from the bush leaked from the stump it had become, another dragon zipping into view. His paw was hurting too now, hot but also sort of fuzzy… Had the plant contained something that was making his magic fall apart?

Aaron tried to breath his best through the constricting vines he could feel his bones and even the rest of his body protest the pressure. Thankfully with the fur that coated his body he had yet to feel the stinging touch of the burning plant blood.He tries his best to spit out the acrid foul tasting plant blood that got into his mouth. He had the sudden need to lick something anything even a human.

Seeing Jitt come from no where and take out the carniverous bush. Aaron rolls around to get the still constricting but yet weakening vines off of him. Once out of the he rolls around in the grass to get most of the plant blood off of him. The bug that had been hiding there scatter into the air. Shaking the random bits of grass off himself, he looks Jitt over. "Thank you for helping us." Aaron takes note of the long scyth lick claws of the new dragon. He hoped just because he saved them from one disaster that he was going to begin a new one.

He looks to the other in turn to see what they could be thinking about the Scyth claw.

Once he had gotten Zack free, Sill had turned to help Aaron out of the mess that the dragon had gotten into, but something else had come to their rescue, apparently. He was more than a little surprised to see the bright red and yellow Scythe Claw, but as the humans said; don't look a gift horse in the mouth. He sat down gingerly, careful of the thorns that had managed to get through his fur and started picking off the vines still attached to him as best he could, his tongue feeling swelled and too large for his mouth. "Fine, I 'spose." He murmured with a definite lisp, clawing some of the vines out of his fur.

Sill's ears twitched in the direction of Zack's voice, his small blue eyes darting to find the tiny paper dragon where he was curled up on the ground. He got down on his forepaws, his arms on either side of the little dragon and examined Zack carefully. "Are ou ahrigh…?" The plant juiced seemed to be doing a number on the small dragon, and immediately he became concerned for the fate of the little paper dragon.

Terraea had watched Jitt with astonishment the whole time, and now she blinked and pulled herself together.
'My wrist is broken, but I'll be fine,' she said, taking deep breaths. 'But Zack...' She bit her lip and glanced around, then looked back at Jitt.
'I'm very thankful to you for taking care of that bush, but would you mind cutting a small, striaght branch off a tree for me?'

Jitt hurried over to the paper dragon and inspected him with alarm. Zack's whole tiny body was smaller than Jitt's head alone, so Jitt was wary of getting too close and squahing him or something- and he didn't exactly have the best control on his fire in the world, either.
'You don't look too great... What's that that's coming off you?' Jitt shook his head and mentally reprimanded himself; that wouldn't exactly reassure the dragon now, would it? 'I'm sure you'll be fine, though,' he added, before turning to look at Terraea.
'Uh, sure. I guess I'm glad you're all mostly okay. Uh, but doesn't that wrist hurt?' He obliging lopped off a suitable branch and used the blunt sides of his claws to pass it to Terraea.
'Is that good?'

Terraea nodded as she took the bough.
'Yes, but it's tolerable. I've dealt with a lot of injuries before. And that's perfect, thank you.' Her smile was thin-lipped as she spoke. She knelt on the ground and, carefully holding her broken wrist out of the way, withdrew a piece of cloth from her pocket. She knelt on it and used a knife, taken from her belt, to slit it at the bottom and then ripped the rest of the way using her hand. After sliding the knife away, she shivered slightly and took her bad wrist in her good hand. With a jerk and a whimper of pain, she levered it back into place. After a moment of feeling the wrist to check the bones were in the correct place, she unclenched her teeth form her lip, where they had drawn a few beads of blood, and tied the bough off the tree along her arm, wrist and hand with the cloth. She grimaced as she stood up, then made her way over to Zack.
'I don't understand,' she murmured with a frown. 'You're made of... paper... and the plant's sap seems to be eating away at it. It isn't normally corrosive, but it's poisonous and in large quantities can kill when consumed. But generally, it's just an irritant...' A thought struck her. 'Paper... You must have a spell keeping you alive. The plant's sap counteracts magic; we aren't sure why, but we suspect the plant has some magic of its own running in the sap. I'm sure you generally avoid water, but we need to wash this off.'

Jitt's horns twitched as Terraea mentioned water.
'There's a stream a little further up...' he interjected.

Zack shook his head as Sill bent close, moaning. Why, even when he had tried eating a furry caterpillar once he hadn’t felt as bad as this. Twisting his tail up so that it hugged his stomach, he looked at his paws for a moment, one looking much worse for wear than the other, before he pawed at his tongue, coughing dryly as dust flaked off his paw. As Jitt and Sill loomed large in his vision he shrank back, sliding between the shade runner’s paws like a snake as he twisted his tail further around him in knots. From what had seemed rather an exciting evening, watching the city but staying safely out of the way, things were quickly becoming miserable.

When the nightling looked closely at him, even her mumbled words sounding loud, he covered his head over with his wings, trying to block out the noise. He didn’t care what it was doing to him- He didn’t want to know if he was being corroded from the outside in (or the inside out, from the fuzzy feeling in his mouth), he just wanted to feel better again. At the mention of water though, he uncurled slightly, slowly focussing on the two-leg. He shook his head slightly, squeaking when his face crunched and cracked from the poisonous sap.
“Nooh… Wa’er no goot, gek my paper all weh…” He licked his lips, the words sounding hardly legible. “Cank gek my paper weh…”

((Poor Zacky is saying: "No, water's no good, it will get my paper all wet... I can't get my paper wet..."))

Sill crouched over the small paper dragon protectively, eyeing the other dragons as they crowded closer to get a look. He looked to the biped, the female's face far more white than what it had been before. She probably needed to see a healer, despite her reassurance to the Scytheclaw. "Ifh it's majik, coon oou undo it?" He mumbled around his lisp, hoping that she would be able to understand his question. It was awkward trying to speak with a swelled tongue, made even more unpleasant by the terrible bitter taste that the sap of the tree had produced. He was pretty sure that he had some of the bark stuck between his teeth… "'is pa'er can't get wet." Sill reiterated for the small dragon, hoping to get the point across. This really was quite the dire situation for the little creature, for Sill could smell the corrosion happening as the sap took it's affect on Zack.

After shaking off the remnants of the bush and picks out some of the thorns with his teeth Aaron walks towards the group that now circles Zack. "Why not take him to a tear dragon? Their tears are supposed to heal and all. Maybe they can heal him and in doing so fix the spell on him." It was a random thought, but he could tell Zack wanted nothing to do with being washed off in a stream. Aaron couldn't fault the little paper dragon. He wouldn't want to go near anything that could be certain death.

True he hadn't seen let alone heard of a tear dragon in a while but then again he hadn't seen man of the dragon he was with right now. Aaron walks closer to Sill's side, especially with protecting there little flitting friend. He glowers at the other dragons and the biped.

Terraea dithered as Zack protested- she couldn't really understand his words, but it was clear to her that he didn't agree with the water idea. Sill-Vitas clarified this point only slightly, his own speech also impared. The dragon's question made her pause for a moment to decipher his words before she replied,
'Well, Nightlings don't actually have any magic of their own. The issue is more that the magic is being undone... Zack's magic. I suppose if there were somebody here who was competent in magic they could reset the spell, but I certainly can't.' When Aaron made his suggestion, Terraea pursed her lips in thought.
'It's not a bad idea... It most likely wouldn't work if Zack were made of metal or some such material, as it wouldn't be organic, but paper is... So it would certainly be worth a try, but I don't know where we could find a tear dragon, or a euphorn for that matter.' She gave a sigh, her brow furrowed- she would know what to do if only Zack weren't made of paper. After a few seconds she looked up again, chewing her lip.
'Well, I'll quickly sort something out for you,' she said to Sill-Vitas, not sure of his name. The Nightling returned to her bag and sorted through it, sucking in her breath and clenching her teeth as her face contorted with pain when she jarred her arm. She let her breath out slowly before turning with a waterskin in her hand.
'Can you, erm, wash your tongue off with the water in here? It won't help the swelling instantly, but it will prevent it getting any worse.' She then picked up another strip of cloth and knelt by Zack. She dabbed very gently at his face, removing the dark sap and a bit more of his paper- she winced when she saw the cream on the cloth, but continued to carefully wipe the dragon's head and paws until no more burngundy came off and there was only a slight colour stain left on the paper.

'I really don't know what else to do...' muttered Terraea, looking anxiously at the dragon. His paper would be dangerously thin now... 'Hang on,' she said suddenly. 'I have an elixir in my bag which helps to regrow skin; perhaps it would do the same for his paper.' She dug about in her bag once more and retrieved a vial of amber-coloured liquid. She removed the lid to reveal a pipette built into it, which she now filled with the fluid and then held carefully over Zack's face. She released a drop on each side of it as well as one on each of his damaged paws, then carefully stowed the bottle away and returned to Zack, watching anxiously to see the potion's effect.

Jitt crouched awkwardly a little way away from the group, unsure of what to do- if he ventured closer, he was likely to tread on one of the others and the way they were looking at him that really didn't seem the best plan.

As the sap continued to burn Zack, he couldn’t help but whimper, completely miserable. Sill sounded hardly better than he himself, and had it been any other situation, he would probably have been in fits of giggles by this point at the silly way the shade runner was talking. Everyone crowding close around was getting quite crushing, their worried faces butting in and out of his view around Sill’s face. The lion-maned dragon was the biggest of them all, and quite intimidating in the dark, but his words made sense through his fuzz of pain.

“Tear dr’gan?” he forced, his eyes pleading with Aaron, even though his words couldn’t. Any sort of healing would be good right now, and it sounded like Aaron might know more about the strange-sounding dragon breed.

Terraea’s words washed over him, too many to take proper notice of. He closed his eyes, twisting his tail further around his middle like a snake. His tummy hurt, it felt like he had eaten a whole bush of chillies. He whimpered again, hoping it wasn’t doing the same thing to him as a whole bush of chillies would. The thought kept him occupied until he felt something soft against his cheeks. Soft, but not soft enough, and the touch was still enough to make him squirm and squeal, which turned to hiccupping sobs as Terraea removed the bush’s sap from his face and paws. His eyes flickered open when she was finished, focussing fearfully on the nightling as she regarded him, then he squeezed them shut again as she fetched a little bottle from her bag, resigned as she dripped potion onto his burnt areas.

He was surprised when it actually made him feel a little better, and curled one paw experimentally to see the effect. His paper didn’t crack like it had before, which was a small relief, but it still hurt if he moved too much.
“Tum steeh ert alow.” He complained. “Cah relp?”

Guest

The chilled wind swirled about in the air, seeming almost to come forth from Racksom. Sharp eyes took in the sight of the city, far off. A sight of war. Rudindry Dynus shook his head forlornly, distaste in his mouth at the thought of the lives lost already in that battle. Yet, he knew it had cause. One side sought to command the island, the other sought to defend it. That was the way he viewed it, a Hobbit Dragon, a Trickster by his very nature and someone whom didn’t often take a fancy to the idea in meddling with human affairs. Only a few days ago though, he’d decided something…

Dragon’s Cove, and it’s fate, was NOT a Human affair. After all, dragon kind had lived upon this island first, and they were by no means defeated. Sure, he and their kind had many problems with the humans already here, but there was at least a status quo… but the humans that came to their island now… They were Not going to take their island, not without one helluva fight. Rudindri had decided that for himself. In a way, he realized that he was doing what he already did… but he only hoped that when his tricks turned deadly, he would be able to go back to the way he was. He’d hold on to everything he had, everything he was, as hard as he could until their battle was over.

But, as he drew closer, he knew that the battle had been underway for far too long… and he had traveled too far. His wings ached with the strain of flight for so many miles, and his mind was not the sharp dagger it would need to be. If he flew into combat headlong now… he would be dead within minutes, without a doubt.

He scoffed at his own ignorance. If he’d come to this conclusion earlier, come to Racksom’s defense, then he would be there, now, trying to save their land. He closed his eyes for a moment, searching with his mind--a skill he used otherwise to find people in somewhat unsavory moods in order to attempt to play a trick upon them and lighten their demeanors--for anyone in his range. Darkness enveloped his mind as his steady wing-flaps drew back in the haze of focus. Animals, insects, the feeling of plants, that was all that he could feel with his mind, the only thing that beckoned him to the ground.

He nearly stopped looking when he felt the spike of pain on the ground…

Rudindri banked his wings, coming down gently and flapping his wings, slowing his descent. He crept down through the trees, finding a gap and managing to maneuver through it, just as he would if he was flying through a forest or the ilk with an angry dragon chasing him. He landed softly, well away from the group he set down to investigate.

Fatigue, in a word, was what Rudindri gave off in waves. He opened his mind to the group before them, eyes surveying them in the dull, eternal moonlight beneath the branches. Rudindri did not speak, though he hoped the sheer exhaustion that came through with his mental link was enough to let anyone know that there was no way in hell that he would be much of a threat. Azure blue eyes picked up on the small white figure resembling what might have been the tiniest dragon he’d ever laid eyes upon…

I may be able to help… Rudindri offered weakly, looking to the three dragons, and the one two-legged around the small dragon. If you’ll allow?

OOC: Sorry for long post, got carried away in the details ^_^;

Aaron quirked a brow as he tried to figure out what the little paper dragon was trying to say. "What are you trying to say Zack?" He was getting worried about the little one. If only he knew of a tear dragon, his tail twitches behind him like an angry house cat. Would it kill the powers that be to give a little dragon a hand? Not like he was asking for a tear to dropout of the sky or anything.... ok well maybe. Just a little.Drumming his claws on the ground he tries to think of any other solution to their current situation.

(up to you guys but i do have a tear dragon if you want me to bring it in up to you guys)

Sill growled at the small biped female when she got close to Zack, not wanting the creature to touch the small paper dragon for fear of doing him more harm than he already was. He watched all of her movements carefully, ready to swipe at her if any of her actions proved detrimental to Zack's health, but contrary to his prediction, Zack seemed better for the treatment. He relaxed a little, grateful that the dangerous smell coming from Zack's melting paper had lessened considerably now that the Nightling had put her magic water on him, but was no less guarded. At the mention the he should wash off his tongue with water he considered it for a bit, then finally gave in. "Fine." He stood, feeling a little crowded on the ground with everyone standing around him, leering at Zack and took a protective stance over the little guy while he writhed on the ground in pain. Carefully, he scooped the little dragon up in his paw, carful not to scratch him with his large claws and was about to set him down on his head in relative safety from the others when he heard something beyond the trees.

His huge ears swiveled to catch the noise, sniffing the wind to catch a hint of the intruder. Wing beats. The scent of earth. Some sort of dragon? Then came the crackling of trees as whatever it was landed and started walking their way. His sensitive eyes picked up the dragon just seconds before it sent out a broad mental call announcing his presence. Another well-wisher? "Wot's yeh porepos?" Sill called over the distance that separated them, still slurring his speech a little bit with his swollen tongue.

Seeing that her elixir had indeed improved Zack's condition somewhat, Terraea gave a slight sigh of relief. At the very least, he wouldn't deteriorate further now. When the tiny dragon spoke, she listened carefully and just about managed to work out the gist of what he was saying.
'Oh... Your... Your, uh, stomach hurts? Um... What can I do to help with that. Let me think a moment.' She sat back, chewing her lip thoughtfully. She didn't generally have to deal with people swallowing the plant's sap. After a few seconds, the nightling rose, flicking her eyes across the trees which surrounded them. 'If I can find...' Terraea's words were murmured, scarcely audible a she searched for the right plant. 'Ah, there.' She hurried over to a tree with a soft, reddish trunk and grasped a large ridge in the bark. Giving it a sharp tug and removing a strip, she explained, 'This helps with stomach aches when it is chewed. I hope that it will help Zack.'

As she sat back down again by Zack, Sill-Vitas picked the smaller dragon up. The nightling glanced up with a slight frown, but made no comment and once again sorted through her pack. This time, she withdrew a pestle and mortar. Of course Zack would not be up to chewing the bark himself- besides, his jaw was likely not strong enough. Terraea dropped the bark into the mortar and then grabbed the waterskin which the Shade Runner had used to wash out his mouth. 'Oh, is your tongue any better...' The words lacked a questioning tone as Terraea quickly poured some of the water in with the bark and then began to crush it with the pestle. The liquid was just starting to acquire a rusty tinge when she was startled by a voice in her head.

The nightling jumped, dropping the pestle in her fright. Who could the voice belong to? Likely a magic user, seeing as they knew how to make mental contact... Quite possibly another dragon, not that that would make any difference seeing how thoroughly outnumbered she was already.

When the dragon- as it turned out to be- emerged from the trees, she watched him warily, unsure of his true intentions. He seemed like he wanted to help, but you never could be sure. It seemed that Sill-Vitas shared her mistrust, and she let him ask his question before she presented her own. 'And help in what way?' she inquired cautiously.

As the others all fussed over Zack, Jitt continued to sit and watch them. He smiled when the paper dragons condition seemed to be improved somewhat, but made no move towards the others, knowing his clumsiness would not be an asset.

When the new arrival spoke, the scythe claw's head snapped up and he frowned at the dragon. What breed was it? Not a common one, to be sure... It looked a little peculiar, with tufts of hair and large feet, but not unfriendly. The biped and the Shade Runner weren't exactly welcoming, so he gave the newcomer a smile.
What's your name? And if you don't mind my asking, what breed are you?

Now it didn’t feel like his paper was crumbling with every passing second, Zack could concentrate a little better on what was going on around him. All the strange faces pressing in around the little frame made by Sill’s legs was quite crushing, and he was glad for the bigger dragon’s protection against so many strangers. He yelped in surprise as the shade runner scooped him up in one paw, looking around him fearfully as Sill popped him carefully on his head. Zack wrapped his tail around one of his ears, hanging on as tightly as he could as they looked in the direction of the strange bodiless voice that suddenly came from a little way away. He didn’t like the fact that another something had just come out of nowhere, and seemed to know that they (or at least he) wasn’t in the best of places. At least there were three big dragons around to keep him safe if the new dragon was malicious- Aaron and Jitt looked like they could put up quite the fight when it came to it. There was a clatter beside him as Terraea dropped her pestle and he winced at the sound, the movement making his stomach ache. He didn’t want another dragon staring him down and watching him squirm, and, worst of all, testing out even more new cures that might or might not work on him. So far Terraea had been lucky, but the thought of another person messing around with his paper when it was so fragile made unhappy snakes wriggle around in his belly.

“Nomar fiddlik.” He said, shaking his head. Oh, every word he said was sounding less and less like what it should sound like! If Aaron had had trouble interpreting what he had said before, then what he was saying now must sound like gobbledegook. “Dumwa coors dat do noofunk.”

This was all simply too much for Sill. There were too many people poking and prodding, the lonely secluded cliff that they had stopped on overlooking the burning city quickly becoming entirely too crowded for his liking. His fur stood on edge, and after bearing the closeness of all the others for too long in his estimation, he had finally had enough. Standing, Sill made sure that Zack was securely sitting between his ears, and simply started walking away. "Wite, this has been fun, but I gowta go get 'im fixed." His walk became a trot, and he glanced up, though he couldn't see the small paper dragon nestled between his ears. "Hold on. I'm gonna run." With his warning administered, the shaderunner lowered his head and took off at full speed, winging through the night on light paws in search for a magical cure for his magical little friend.

-((Consider this board assassinated. CAAAAW))-

» (Azure Caves) Meet me at the Caves (21st Board)
» (Western Everplains) Expedition or Shirking Active Duty (24th Board)
» C1 Racksom~~~~And then, there was War~~~~(5th Board)
» Tremors in the Earth....C1, Racksom (4th Board)
» (C1, Racksom) The Making of Men (12th Board)

(North of Azure caves, east of Racksom) ~~~~Peace in the Everplains~~~~6th Board

(North of Azure caves, east of Racksom) Peace in the Everplains6th Board