TEST DRIVE MEME #4

[fairyfoes]

TEST DRIVE MEME

Considering apping to EACHDRAIDH? Why not give the setting a test run here! OPTIONAL SCENARIOS 01. ARRIVING IN THE DRABWURLD. The Seelie and Unseelie courts welcome you with mirthful revelry and hearty food. After you have been briefed on your purpose here, you will find an endless feast and a night filled with entertainment to placate your concerns. Mingle with new arrivals, sneak down the castle halls and make sure your eyes are always on your glass; fairies and imps have no bias when it comes to tricks! 02. THE STATION. Looking for a little slice of home? The Station gives you all that and more. Take advantage of the wifi, have a cup of fairy-brewed coffee (the one they didn't spit in) or sit back and relax on the patio. You can even move your things into one of the available rooms! 03. WILDCARD. Your own scenario! Explore the Drabwurld or simply take advantage of your Locket!

Comments

[curser]

A valkyrjur? I don't think I've heard that before. What are they and I can better answer you.

[She let out one indolent flap of her wings, the pair of them caught on an updraft that had her able to mostly soar beside him and his curious little dragon. Such a small thing, it was, but she could see the intelligence in its eyes.

It made her miss Diaval.]

[smithwork]

A valkyrja of the valkyrjur, they ... Uh, if you don't know what they are and do then it's probably safe to say you aren't one, it's not really a forgettable sort of job. Involves dead souls, sort of. Long story.

[ Toothless soars beside their new travelling companion, big green eyes watching her as he gives a gummy smile. He gets a pat on the head as Hiccup sits up, all the better to see her too. ]

I'm Hiccup and this is Toothless, we were exploring when we flew near you.

[curser]

[She laughed at the hint of a long story, wings folding to let her turn in midair and roll before they snapped open and she adjusted them with little tweaks to come back alongside the pair. She reached out and ran a finger along the dragon's neck, eyes moving to find the man's.]

Hiccup and Toothless. Such strange names men have. I am Maleficent and I am also... exploring.

[Half a truth. She was still attempting to find a way home, but she was feeling that possibility trickle away. If she'd not found it by now, she had little hope of finding it further out.]

What do you intend to find in your explorations, mm?

[smithwork]

Something ... interesting, hopefully. Maleficent.

[ Looks like they've already found it, judging by the way Toothless veers into the mid-air petting, a happy croon rising onto the wind by way of an official welcome. Her name is odd, Hiccup thinks, but he can't really talk on that note. ]

There wasn't much to see above the Unseelie lands, it was too dark, so ... here we are. Plus, y'know, evil imps and shadow monsters, not the best location to stick around in.

[curser]

Are they so evil?

[Maleficent wasn't certain she followed the 'evil vs good' mentality she'd heard around Caer Glaem before taking to the air. What one called evil, another called good. She herself knew the validity of that, so she would be less likely to use those labels so flippantly.]

Have they no fair folk where you come from, Hiccup and Toothless? Or is it all men and dragons and... valkyjur?

[smithwork]

They're not as charming as you or me, I'll say that.

[ He gives a chagrined chuckle, taking off his helmet altogether to let the wind stir his hair, itching his neck. ]

Well, the latter are mostly ... myth, I think. I'm not sure, it's hard to see the fair folk, as you put it. [ Not that he doubts Thor and Odin, etc, but. C'mon. ] It's mainly just us and dragons, yeah. Do all the people you know have those beautiful wings? Really, you're amazing.

[ Give him a pair pls plsss. ;; ]

[curser]

[Flattery will get him everywhere and she smiles, giving another beat of them before settling back to soar.]

Some have wings, yes. Some do not. None have ones quite like these, though.

[For better or worse, Maleficent was a singular entity in the moors, no other fae coming close to her. Perhaps it was why she was so curious about the humans.]

Do all men where you come from have such bonds with handsome dragons?

[smithwork]

[ Toothless wants to show off and Hiccup isn't about to stop him, letting the dragon careen into a lazy arc overhead of Maleficent. ]

You'll never get rid of him if you talk like that. [ It's like watching a puppy play, if said puppy was a hulking one-thousand-seven-hundred-and-seventy-six pounds of lizard with a wingspan of over forty-five feet. ] Toothless is a Night Fury, he's the only one of his kind left. Those big eyes he's batting at you are a sign he's usually nocturnal, like his colouring.

[curser]

[Maleficent turned to drift backwards, a hand lifted to touch the curved snout before she righted herself and went back to beating her wings lazily in the light winds they had.]

Now, why would someone want to get rid of such a beauty?

[That he was the last of his kind struck that sympathetic chord in her, her eyes lifting to find his and give him a knowing look before she turned her attention back to his rider.]

He's a lovely boy and it's easy to see that he's more than fond of you.

[smithwork]

It's something of a mystery, we don't know why all the Night Furies started to go extinct. Toothless is the smartest dragon I know though, so maybe they all just flew to a nicer place.

[ I hope.

Toothless is more than happy, despite the subject matter. With a switch of the prosthetic tailfin's angle, courtesy of Hiccup's pegleg-latch where a foot should be, the dragon tumbles and rolls through the sky encouraging Maleficent to play. Hiccup is more than enough of a good sport to be an enabler. ]

Are any of your friends around? I'd love to meet them.

[curser]

I would like to hope that's the case.

[It would be a shame if such a lovely creature went extinct. She laughed at the dragon's antics, eyes drawn to the curious contraption that was where the man's foot should have been. She knew of losing parts of oneself, though she'd never have thought to do what he'd done.]

Friends? No, I seem to be the only one from my land that found their way here.

[And she wouldn't give the moniker 'friend' to many. Diaval and Aurora, but the others were mostly charges or comrades.]

How good of a seat do you have, Hiccup?

[That was all the warning he got before her wings folded into herself, tight against her back as she rolled and arrowed downward, inviting both dragon and rider into a little air play.]

[smithwork]

[ That's a little sad, to hear she's alone here. Perhaps with the way he and Toothless immediately dive after her, she won't feel so alone. Arrowing landside, long black wings stretch out to help Toothless pin-wheel around Maleficent, Hiccup securely latched in his saddle via his flightsuit. ]

How good of a seat do you have?

[ Swooping upward with a laugh, they twirl rapidly like a spun coin heading toward the clouds again. Racing her, if the sudden beat of those wings is any indication. ]

[curser]

[She'll be no match for the dragon in speed, but she can maneuver closely enough that with a turn and a series of eager wing beats, she's coming up to tug the tip of his tail, using it to pull herself up along him and give the beast a tickle on the stomach.]

You're quite good at this. I'm impressed.

[And pleased. She'd had no one but the birds to keep up with her back home and another she could talk to while playing was an unexpected surprise.]

[smithwork]

[ The gurgling laugh Toothless gives is a parody of a human one, pawing at her arms playfully in a game of tag. Hiccup surrenders to his dragon's mood as easily as just another muscle on the Night Fury's body, making sure his best friend can move as freely as he pleases with the shifting of man-made latches matching his natural tail's flicking. ]

I taught him a few tricks.

[ Hiccup yelps with a laugh of his own as Toothless snorts and gives him a buck. ]

Are you headed anywhere in particular? Where can we find you again?

[curser]

[The pair are clearly bonded and it does her good to see it. The dragon isn't abused or lacking and the man isn't overly aggressive or demanding in his interactions with it. It's a good pairing and it lightens her to know it exists.]

I have been called here by the Seelie, it would seem.

[Not that she cared. She bowed to no king or queen and she'd not fight a battle just because she was told to.]

Though I'm not certain I'll accept their offer of housing. I'm used to... other lodgings.

[Trees. She sleeps in trees.]

And you? In case I've need of a flying companion.

[smithwork]

The Unseelie brought us here, but we're not ... keen on them. This whole war thing, it's a waste of time and effort.

[ Thinking for a moment, he smiles as he realises that it won't be so simple to run into Maleficent this easily again. ]

We'll be around, I want to see if there really aren't any native dragons here. There are always those lockets though, we could use those to get in touch with each other now we know which name to ask for.

[curser]

[More surprises from this one; a man who didn't see war as a favorite past time.]

Perhaps there are other Night Furies here if they chose to find elsewhere to live.

[She could give him a small hope for that, if nothing else. That he didn't seem inclined to follow to the lines of 'us vs them' that the courts seemed to prefer made her think more kindly of him -- not that she didn't already enjoy the company of him and his dragon.]

Ah, yes. The lockets. I was told they were for communication, but I've always preferred scrying bowls myself. Are these to be trusted?

[smithwork]

[ She prompts him to relinquish a grateful smile upon hearing that, rubbing Toothless's cheek when the Night Fury perks up. ]

You hear that, bud? Maybe we will find more of your kind around here after all, if Maleficent thinks so too. [ And even if they won't, which he rather believes, it's good for Toothless to have that sliver of hope.

Taking his own locket out from under his chestplate, it glints in his palm under the sunlight. ] I wouldn't tell anyone my deepest and darkest secrets over them, but they're undeniably useful. I'll be using them again, definitely.

[curser]

I doubt I'd tell anyone my deepest and darkest secrets, let along a locket.

[Perhaps Diaval, but even then... One must put on the guise of control even if one didn't have it.]

Perhaps we'll not have need of them. If you continue to explore, it's very likely I'll run into you again. I much prefer flying to walking.

[Not to mention her wings were far too large not to drag.]

[smithwork]

How about the next time one of us finds the other, the slowest has to catch lunch?

[ Fish will definitely be on the menu if Hiccup loses, heads up. ]

[curser]

[She thought about that, wind ruffling her hair as she dipped and rose back up to eye level on an eddy. She couldn't match the dragon in speed, but she had other... perks.]

You have yourself a deal, dragon rider.

[smithwork]

[ She's so graceful, as fluid in the air as a Scauldron in the water. He blinks when she rises up again, looking her over from her horns to her toes and back again with a flicker of a glance. If Odin does have shieldmaidens, Hiccup thinks they would resemble Maleficent very well. ]

We'll see you around, then. [ Toothless beats the air as he arcs backward to give himself room for one last twirl, a hand raising in a wave from Hiccup. ] It was nice to meet you. And for the record, we both like salmon!

[ Just teasing saying. Off into the wide blue yonder they go. ]

[curser]

[He should see her fight. She'd do a fair imitation of a warrior shield maiden then; fury and feathers and righteous anger.

A laugh left her at the cheek of him and his mount and she lifted a hand to blow them a kiss.]

I'll keep that in mind. I'm fond of honeycomb.

[She watched them go before turning to continue on her own path, feeling lighter for having found a kindred spirit of sorts in this strange world.]