Iden was just Iden, but what that meant had Pyrrha stumped. She didn't know a lot about Valland - her island was entirely spared from their rampage across the continent thanks to the dragon Belfyire's protection of the island. She knew her history and stuff, but recent history was something she was a bit more fuzzy on. That she'd been brushing up on through personal experience and lessons given from Belfyire herself as she learned things from her drake minions that wandered the lands in her service.
"I'm from a mid-sized Island up North," Pyrrha echoed. "I don't know a lot about this Valland place, or even Fiore, but I'm a fast learner," she puffed up proudly. "That island is where Dracoknights like me come from. To uh, put it simply... dracoknights are girls like me who serve lady Belfyire, who's a beautiful and wise and majestic dragon." Pyrrha was obviously a fan of hers, the way her voice got that far-off dreamy quality to it for a short moment.. at least until she continued. "Being a dracoknight prevents me from using magic... because I have this-" Pyrrha took off her fingerless gloev on her left hand, showing off a tattoo that was in the shape of a dragon. "It's a tattoo kinda, but I was born with it. It cancels any active magic it touches no problem, but that means it cancels any magic I try to use, myself, so there's no point."
So many questions to answer! Good thing Pyrrha was a smart girl. She mentally ticked off what she'd answered. "And um, Bloo is a crystal drake. They're a lot smaller than the other kinds of drakes, but they're smarter and tend to bond with the first human they see. I think they're bred only by my Lady Belfyire, which is why no one's seen em around here before, you know?" Pyrrha put her hands on her hips as she watched Bloo idly. It was too bad, too. She knew Bloo had drake friends back home, just like she had her family.
"And I'm sure I'll find what I'm looking for eventually! I have to. It's way too important to fail," she grinned. "I know it's somewhere in this country, it just got moved is all, and I have to learn where."
"I bet you've had to be a fast learner, with all the searching and traveling you've done," Iden agreed, bright eyes watching Pyrrha and smiling at her pride. "I don't know much about any of them either. People don't like to answer questions." The smile faded away a little, the corners of her mouth shifting downwards. A beautiful dragon, magnificently flying through the air... Iden had seen only pictures and heard rumors. There hadn't exactly been time to teach Iden about anything about a world that was utterly new and utterly strange. Pyrrha's hand made Iden look up, and her eyes widened at the sight of the tattoo.
"Can't use magic? Is that strange?" Iden asked. Then she sat up fully and smiled. "I have a mark too! It's a lot bigger, though." She turned and lifted the back of her jacket and shirt up, showing the twisting tattoo that disappeared beneath the edge of her trousers and continued on up under her shirt. After she pulled the clothing back into place and calmly sat back, she added, "I think it's a little different. It's just colors and paint. That's not just colors and paint, is it."
Iden may have been uninformed, but it was clear the little symbol on Pyrrha's hand was important to the girl, and likely had a property or two Iden didn't know about. "Being a dracoknight sounds intiruging, especially if you get to play with a crystal drake!" She ran her fingers down Bloo's back again, feeling the cool skin beneath her fingers. Scaled, certainly, but Bloo felt smoother, more like the crystal he was named after. "I've never seen one but I haven't been to any islands, either. I'm glad Bloo is happy and you can travel together." Even bonded, Iden couldn't imagine a creature staying with a human. Then again, there had been dogs and cats living in some of the homes they had passed on their travels, and they had been quite content.
"You'll find what you're looking for. I'm sure of it." Iden wanted to know what it was, if they could touch it, if it would be smooth and beautiful or dark and filled with malice. Iden simply wanted to know everything there was to know about the world.
"Of course I'll find what I'm looking for!" Pyrrha winked at the girl good-naturedly, raising a hand to give her a thumbs up. "And no, my tattoo is more like a birthmark, and it's magical in nature. If it were somehow removed I wouldn't have my current abilities at all. But... that would be really weird. Like I said, I've had it since I was born." It was really hard to imagine not seeing that mark when she looked at her hand. No magic she knew of beyond Belfyire herself could ever take it away. Any magic that touched it would work, after all.
"Your tattoo is interesting too. And really big. You had that marking on your fur too and I didn't even think about it!" Pyrrha blinked, re-imagining the wolf version of Iden. "Personally I think your ability is much cooler though. You can be like, anything or anyone if I understand right. And I'm always Pyrrha - the cute girl with pigtails," she chuckled. "Though, I guess I can't complain too much about that~"
Ah, something Iden understood. Their abilities had manifested the moment they were born, though they had not realized it until much later. She lifted her hand in a mimic of Pyrrha's gesture and returned the thumbs up with a grin of her own. Really, the other girl's smile was infectious. Not yet corrupted by the world that had taken so many so far. It was a nice thing to see, and Iden hoped it stayed with Pyrrha. With the tree still behind her as a steady anchor, she watched Pyrrha as she spoke. Animated, and clearly excited about potentially completing her mission. If she kept her spirits up, and the little drake on her shoulder, she might just manage to get through it all.
"I am lots of things," Iden agreed readily enough. "And I got my tattoo all for myself. It changes when I shift. Never leaves me behind." She liked the mark, liked the way it curled over her back and her shoulder and her hip, and how she had embraced the pain of it at the time. It, at least, had been a conscious choice, and had been an important lesson to learn - what was conscious choice, and what was survival?
Turning her attention back to Bloo, she reached a hand out to the drake and let it sniff at her fingers again. "It sounds like you'll be on a long journey. I bet your... 'magic' will be good for it - there were lots of people slinging things in Valland that smelled different and set people on fire. You don't have to do that to be good at what you do, though, do you..." Iden trailed off, apparently getting distracted by her own thought. There were other ways to set people on fire, she considered. It didn't have to be magic. And that was such an odd term anyway! Magic... She blinked, shook her head, and then looked up again at Pyrrha. "I like you, I've decided. Anyway, when you succeed, what will you do then? Fly away, like Bloo can?"
Post by Pyrrha Drakos on Oct 12, 2015 23:30:11 GMT
"Fly away?" Pyrrha crouched down, wrapping her arms around her knees as she watched the girl that... might or might not have been a girl at all. That was a weird thought, and one Pyrrha had no desire to dwell on this fact. Sometimes accepting things at face value was the best way to keep from getting stuck on something that wasn't supposed to be too important of a detail. She giggled. "I'm not sure I'll ever be able to fly, unless I was riding something that could. But I plan to go home and see my four brothers and my Mom again." She did miss them greatly, and had no good way of communicating with them.
She hopped back up, not feeling like sitting still. "And what do you mean by liking me?" she smoothed out the skirt that was visible under her robe's open lower front. "I Figured we were already friends," she stuck out her tongue very slightly - a teasing gesture she commonly used. "What with me getting you free of that stupid farmer man's trap and all. I've heard of worse ways to make friends, right?" Had she heard of worse ways to make friends? Honestly probably not; it was just an expression, and one she used without thinking about it.
In all their years traveling and surviving, Iden still didn't entirely understand what a 'brother' or 'Mom' was. They made an assumption based on what they had seen, and any time they had asked the question aloud they got the same look and same scared response. People fled from them like they carried with them some kind of disease. The terms were odd and left them questioning what the purpose of such titles was. Still, Pyrrha looked so pleased when she spoke of them, her features breaking once again into her big smile, so Iden left it alone.
"Friends! That's the term," Iden agreed. "I would've gnawed off my own foot if I had to, to escape, but I don't think feet grow back. Or paws. It's better to not gnaw it off." Her ankle was improving with just sitting there, though it still ached whenever she moved it. "I don't have friends, I don't think. I don't know the term very well. But friends are fine to have. Why not, right?"
Iden tilted her head back and rested. "You would like flying. Most people would, I think, or they'd be really scared, or both. There's nothing like it. Opening your wings and letting the wind whip through your feathers, trail along your body, over your face - each breath is so fresh, so cold! Isn't that right, Bloo?"
Bloo chirped his agreement with Iden, looking far more accepting of the wolf woman now that she'd declared that she and Pyrrha were friends. Pyrrha giggled at Bloo's reaction. It was always fun to watch him interact with other humans. Back home he kind of didn't; there were plenty of other drakes, and he socialized with them and Pyrrha rather than her brothers or other humans he might see.
"See? Now I have one and a half friends," Pyrrha declared happily. Hawke was the half. Her first friendly acquaintance she admired was maybe a friend, but Pyrrha wasn't quite sure. So maybe there were two and a half, but Razhiel was kind of like a business partner or soemthing, so Pyrrha just hadn't thought of her as a friend properly yet.
But that wasn't important now! "It's too bad I'm kind of anti-magic," she sighed, daydreaming about flying. "It makes me a really good dracoknight but I feel like I miss out on all of the cool stuff. Like being a bird. Ah well. At least I've got some really nice stuff to make up for it!" she was trying to remind herself she didn't need magic, more than anything.
"Did your friend get cut to pieces?" Iden asked, taking the calculation literally. She couldn't really read or do math beyond the basics, though she had picked up on things during her travels. Letters here, symbols there - it was enough to get by, and the coin she spent reappeared and disappeared as she needed it with a quick grab of nimble fingers into another traveler's pocket. Besides, why sleep indoors when she could rest in the branches of a tree or the solitude of a cave?
Perhaps this was an idiom she simply didn't know, so she shrugged. It seemed odd for a human to have half a friend, but anything was possible, she supposed. She brightly smiled up at Pyrrha and then returned her attention to Bloo. Perhaps it wouldn't be so hard - simple enough - and such a thing was easily done - and...
"You can do something lots of other people can't," Iden pointed out after she snapped back to attention. Her fingers remained outstretched to Bloo as if to beckon the little drake forward. "And it'll be helpful on your trip - I'm sure it has been already. There's lots of magic, and not lots of anti-magic." It was a reasonable assumption to her, if she thought it all through as best she could. She twitched her foot, glad that the pain and swelling had already decreased, and then said without preamble, "I'm going to try something."
Iden closed their eyes, breathing in deeply and searching for the spark that meant themself. Just as it always was and would be, they found it, and embraced it, drawing on the energies of their sense of self until flesh began to morph, bone began to shrink, senses began to change. Iden felt their neck elongate, their eyes move to better accomidate the new skull and head, their fingers and hands change into clawed toes and feet. When all was said and done, they lifted their head, blinked their slitted eyes, and flapped their little wings.
Chittering at Bloo, Iden took a few unsteady steps forward and fell flat on their face. They still limped with every step, the fabric having shifted with them and wrapping around their back, right leg.
The heart that beat inside of such a small chest was calm, and each breath brought with it the promises of the forest and scents Iden could not name. Their mind was a little jumbled, as it always was after changing into something new, but they quickly focused on the other of their kind and let out a sort of low snort, raising their head to look directly into Bloo's eyes. Iden sniffed at the other drake and nosed Bloo's wings curiously before turning to do the same to their own. Would they work like every other wing Iden had tried, or did these function differently? Raising them slightly, Iden gave them a tiny pump, and let out a chattering laugh as they fell over again. For the moment, they were content to lie there and stare up at Pyrrha, letting out the same chittering noise at her.
Post by Pyrrha Drakos on Oct 13, 2015 20:14:35 GMT
Pyrrha at first looked surprise to be asked about a friend cut in half. Well, she still looked surprised but probably not as alarmed as some people. Something in the back of her mind just told her it was an honest misunderstanding. "...Wut?" she quickly caught on and shook her head. "No, no!" she raised her balled fists emphatically as she shook her pigtails back and forth. "No no one was cut in any pieces! I just mean he's kind of my friend... he's just a stupid boy is all. we fight a lot, but with words and not weapons or fists or anything. It's weird."
She shrugged, looking over as Iden told her she was going to try something. Suddenly, she shifted again, this time looking almost exactly like Bloo. Said Bloo was, obviously, quite confused, and after recoiling with a small squawk, he set about sniffing as much or more than Iden did. The antics were actually quite funny, and Pyrrha practically rolled over giggling at both of them. "Oh man, Bloo, you should have seen the look on your face. So, can you two understand each other now?"
Good to know - her friend wasn't half a person. Apparently it really was just a turn of phrase. Iden would have smiled if it were possible, but drawing back lips meant showing sharp, pointed teeth and that wouldn't get their point across. A glance down at themself confirmed that their color differed by several shades, turning them more into a silvery drake rather than the other. Bloo himself seemed just as fascinated as Iden, and Iden nipped playfully at the other drake when Bloo got close enough. Limping forward a little more, Iden bumped their head against the side of Bloo's neck and let out the same chittering noise.
"Can you understand?" they asked, curious. To the outside world it merely sounded like a soft growl and caw, not that far off from a bird's. In fact, much of this experience was like the first time Iden had become a pigeon, minus the leg injury. Still, the wings felt familiar, even if they were muscle and stretched skin rather than soft down. They hopped a little around Bloo and then lifted their wings again. Flying while injured was probably not a great idea; it didn't mean Iden wouldn't try it.
So, with a swift pound of little clawed paws, Iden flapped the wings hard, and briefly flew a few feet before crashlanding in a pile of leaves. The little creature rolled onto its back with a heaved, put upon sigh, and glanced at Bloo. "How do you do that so flawlessly?"
"Of course I can understand!" Bloo chirped back, hopping excitedly. It had been awhile since he'd seen another Drake, even if he knew this one wasn't real. "How can you speak like me so easily?" he flapped his wings a bit and hopped back and forth a bit as the silvery drake attempted to fly. The failure caused Bloo to close both eyes tight and look away, before curiously opening one to look, then the other. "Are you okay?! You have to practice first! We practice all the time as Kits!"
Pyrrha blinked. She had her answer, even if no one had properly given her one. Bloo was obviously both intrigued and confused, and was obviously asking some sort of question. She couldn't understand his chirps, but his body language was easier to read than a human's to her. "Uh..." she reached out and gently picked up Iden, flipping... her?... over like she would Bloo. "Careful. You'll hurt that foot again," she cautioned, sitting the creature down gently. "Man it'd be cool to get to be a drake like Bloo for a day."
Iden picked up on many things very quickly. Language, both audible and body; instinct; danger; anything that would be of use in a specific or particular form. This form, with its low center of gravity and strange wings, was somewhat familiar to a bird, so picking up the basics of the tongue were not difficult. Iden was fairly certain more difficult words would be far harder to explain or interpret or say, but there was also no need for them, not right now.
With a wiggle in Pyrrha's hands and a chirp of thanks, Iden limped closer to Bloo and, once near, settled on the ground so as not to put any pressure on their leg. They sidled up to Bloo and drew a wing up against the other drake's, listening to the sound it created and purring in the way that only drakes could.
"What's a kit?" they asked of Bloo, letting their head and neck relax as they lay there. Despite the pain still present, Iden couldn't help but be at peace, even if it was only just for the moment. This stranger was far kinder than any before her, and her companion was most intriguing too. Between them, perhaps there was more to be learned, knowledge to be gained. Iden, though not patient by nature, was content for now to remain, pressed up against Bloo's side and wings folded on their back.
"What's it like, traveling with Pyrrha? Have you seen a lot of things?" Iden continued, pestering Bloo for more information. Then they turned their head and chirped at Pyrrha, their long tail swishing across the grass behind them.
"A kit? It's me... or us... or something that is still a youngling. Not fully grown. Uh... humans call them children." Bloo chirped at Iden's question while Pyrrha just sat there and watched. She was so jealous right now. This shape shifty girl aside, Pyrrha had not had a great track record of getting along with any humans save for some Razhiel girl and her brothers and family as of late. Even her current temporary traveling companion, Hawke, was someone she actually argued with all the time, nearly nonstop.
"And traveling with Pyrrha... well, what's it like not to travel with Pyrrha? We've been companions since I was born!" the crystal drake admitted. "I always have fun. She's a bit of a kid sometimes. Not the most mature human, but she means well. She's just a kit... er, child though. Even if she thinks differently half the time."
Pyrrha blinked as the pair of them chirped at each other, Bloo looking at Pyrrha once or twice and Iden just turning to chirp directly at her. "Are you two talking about me? And do you like, change gender when you transformy stuff? Because that seems like it would be really weird." she hopped up and looked herself over as she tried to imagine it. "I don't think I could pull off the pigtails, even if I was a cute guy."
Iden filed that away for future reference. They had seen children before running about with their parents, and learned the word once they tried out being a child too and said parents had called out to them with concern. Apparently children were not to be out by themselves. They supposed that was a fair point; the small people couldn't hope to defend themselves against bigger predators or wolves or... well, anything really. Iden still enjoyed the experience, even if they preferred slightly older forms.
Chittering again at Bloo, Iden said, "It's good to have someone fun to travel with. Sometimes it's hard to find someone who won't try to kill you though!" They laughed at the joke, but all that came out was a high-pitched chortle that sounded more growly and breathy than Iden was used to. With a glance up at Pyrrha, Iden added, "I'm going to change again, okay? But we can fly around sometime!"
Iden nipped playfully at Bloo's neck before limping a few feet away. Their senses were so hightened like this - they could smell other humans not so far away, hear potential prey and ally alike depending on the form - and it seemed a shame to lose it, but Pyrrha had been kind to Iden, and they didn't want to leave her without her answers if they could. So, bowing their draconian head, Iden gathered that same inner energy, forming in their mind's eye the textures and feeling of being something else. Scales became sunburned flesh, claws into human nails, sharp teeth and strong jaws into chapped lips and a far less dangerous set of teeth.
Blue-tinged, short hair hung in Iden's silver-gray eyes, and they cracked a smile as they moved to sit and folded a single leg beneath them. The injured leg remained out, still throbbing in time with each heartbeat. They tilted their head to the side and revealed the edge of an ear, still with the earrings in place. The tunic they wore was flat in the chest, and their leggings were billowy, reminiscent of the sailors Iden had seen while stowing away on a ship. They were fairly young, and the form was more masculine than the last physically-speaking. They smiled widely at Pyrrha.
"Bloo was complimenting you," Iden explained. "It sounds like you've been on a really interesting journey already, and you still have a lot left to finish."
Her other question was a little more difficult to respond to. "Iden is Iden," they repeated, tilting their head to the side and considering. "I just... am. I guess." They glanced down the length of their body and ran a hand over their chest and then up their chin, fingers brushing over a slight shadow of scruff, to the short hair in front of their face. "Pyrrha calls herself a girl, and is a girl, because that's what she calls herself. Iden... I am Iden." They shrugged. "I didn't even know about gender until after I left. I don't really think about it. I just am who I am." Yes, that seemed like the best explanation. Iden leaned over so they could run their fingers along the sensitive underside of Bloo's neck and chin, having felt the pleasant effect themself when they lay in the grass. Iden added with a soft chuckle, "I think you'd be cute no matter who you are!"
Last Edit: Dec 7, 2015 4:01:55 GMT by Iden Valence
Pyrrha blushed and chuckled when Iden told her she'd be cute no matter who she was. The fact that she... he... they were a guy now was weird. Pyrrha had a weird record of getting along with very few people since coming to Fiore, and she had a worse record with boys. But Iden wasn't a boy, even though she was, and Pyrrha was starting to confuse herself now. "I think I definitely make a cuter girl." She looked down and examined herself in thought, since she didn't have a mirror to see her face on her. She just couldn't quite wrap her head around the idea of gender not mattering. It was part of a person's identity, even if Pyrrha didn't have much opinion on other people's genders in general. That is, unless she was mad at them. Then she could blame the fact that they were being stupid on the fact that they were boys, but that wasn't really her opinion so much as her looking for something to blame because she was angry.
Pyrrha bent down and picked up Bloo, putting his drake forehead to her own. "You were saying nice things about me huh? I'm so jealous. I wish our talking was understood both ways," she chuckled and gave him an affectionate kiss on the forehead before cuddling him to her chest. She didn't normally hold him like a cat or something, but she was both confusing herself and unsure what she thought about the fact that someone else could talk to Bloo better. Well, someone in human form anyway. "Yeah, we won't be going home until we find something that belongs to Lady Belfyire. It could be fast or it could be really slow...but until then we've got each other."
