[ If you know to reach him, you probably know he doesn't suffer small talk for long. Be to the point and maybe he'll deign to respond assuming he can work the damn thing. ]
[ Cults are bad civilization. Like, definitely the worst. Anyway, it's Daud, so he doesn't say any of that. There's a few seconds before he responds. ]
tell me everything. starting from when you disappeared.
[ And don't make any excuses about it being too long of a story or whatever, Billie, the couriers respond to thought so you literally only need to think it. ]
[ So she's right back to giving reports, huh? Some things never change. ]
I was out running a few errands for our furry friend when some assholes in masks showed up straight out of the fog. I had heard that people had been going missing but I didn't expect me to end up amongst them, all things considered, but they had some kind of trick to it. Some spell, possibly. It sapped any fight I might've given right out of me. I couldn't even transverse.
[ No magic, no anything. It sucked. ]
When I came to, they were already shoving me in with the rest of the people they'd grabbed. Not sure how they got us all to Didymos but they were set up in a pit in the bay.
[ Not being able to use any magic immediately sends the alarms ringing in Daud's head because yeah, that shit's no good. ]
so it was planned from the start. i hadn't heard anything about a pit, but i haven't heard from anyone else who disappeared. were rocket and the rest there too?
[ There's a short pause between him asking and her answering. Not that she's planning on skipping that part, it just isn't one she's happy about. ]
Rocket was. We got separated towards the end and I couldn't find him after I made it to shore.
[ If that means anything, she doesn't know. ]
No idea about anyone else but, to be honest? We have bigger problems. When they were done kidnapping, they marched us all down further into the pit. City ruins. Not sure if it was just old parts of Thalassa or not. Anyone who wasn't like us, they killed. Ripped their souls out or something. I have to assume that's what it was since they said they couldn't us the same way.
[ Another person might ask 'are you sure about what you saw' or 'but all the dragons are supposed to be dead' but Daud isn't the type to say either of those things, and Lurk isn't one to make mistakes about what she's seen. He isn't the type to panic over such a thing, either, which is why his response comes slow and measured. ]
a dragon was working with the cult?
i can't see what they hoped to accomplish by doing something like that. did they say anything that might explain it?
It seemed young to me. I think I saw chains keeping it in place while they did gods knows what to it. Maybe it was a spell to give the leader control of the damn thing? That would be my best guess.
[ See, this is where things begin to get hazy. There's a long pause but eventually, he'll get a reply. ]
It broke its chains. That's the last I remember of it. Whatever power rolled off of that thing at the end laid me out along with anyone else left standing. It was gone when I woke back up but people are already talking about it in Didymos, about seeing a dragon fly out of the harbor.
[ But not knowing would kill him. Anyway, she's awfully perky for having been through a life or death experience, but he's not going to point that out (or express his relief). ]
[ Just wait until the adrenaline high finally wears off.
Then it'll be dead silence and trying not to dwell on how powerless she was for days. Thankfully, that takes place during the airship ride, which she intends to sleep straight through for once. ]
While there was only one obviously live dragon down there, the very bottom of the pit had some old nest. Rocket tried to take off with one of the eggs from it but had to dump it. No way of knowing if anyone else had the same idea and actually succeeded, though.
[ Yeah, that'd be a distraction for anyone. He'll simply have to accept that it's what it is, for now. regardless, she's not getting back to the city any faster and there's only so many questions he can ask before she'll inevitably get crabby at him... ]
did your animas survive?
[ Her answers, he thinks, tells him enough, but it doesn't hurt to be sure. ]
[ Mostly. The rest just gets weirder and Daud is right, she's running out of steam to keep answering questions, especially now that they've hit one she isn't going to be very good at answering. ]
[ Yeah, he really wants to poke and prod at that 'mostly,' but he'll refrain and give Billie a reprieve. However, it'd be lying to say there isn't a little bit of relief hearing the confirmation.
Still, that seems as good a cue to move on already. ]
good. then i'll see you when you get back here. find a place to settle for the night -- no telling how the rest of the city will take what's happened.
[ And by the time Billie steps off the airship at the City, Daud is already there to greet her, worrying a cigar between his fingers before sizing her up. Apparently satisfied by what he sees, he grunts and gives her a slight nod. ]
[ Of all the things that are going to earn Daud a suspicious look, coming out to meet her rather than waiting for a report back at the smithy is one of them. This isn't normally how it works, even if, logically, she knows very little is even remotely normal anymore.
She peels off from the rest of the disembarking morning crowd to join him where he waits and her reply is what is likely a very expected, ]
Does it matter?
[ Which means no or, at best, yes but only before she got on an airship for like six hours ago. Even so, she's at least still in one piece, the only remnants of the pit being the spots of sandy mud still clinging to places on her boots and hem of her coat. ]
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tell me everything. starting from when you disappeared.
[ And don't make any excuses about it being too long of a story or whatever, Billie, the couriers respond to thought so you literally only need to think it. ]
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I was out running a few errands for our furry friend when some assholes in masks showed up straight out of the fog. I had heard that people had been going missing but I didn't expect me to end up amongst them, all things considered, but they had some kind of trick to it. Some spell, possibly. It sapped any fight I might've given right out of me. I couldn't even transverse.
[ No magic, no anything. It sucked. ]
When I came to, they were already shoving me in with the rest of the people they'd grabbed. Not sure how they got us all to Didymos but they were set up in a pit in the bay.
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so it was planned from the start. i hadn't heard anything about a pit, but i haven't heard from anyone else who disappeared. were rocket and the rest there too?
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Rocket was. We got separated towards the end and I couldn't find him after I made it to shore.
[ If that means anything, she doesn't know. ]
No idea about anyone else but, to be honest? We have bigger problems. When they were done kidnapping, they marched us all down further into the pit. City ruins. Not sure if it was just old parts of Thalassa or not. Anyone who wasn't like us, they killed. Ripped their souls out or something. I have to assume that's what it was since they said they couldn't us the same way.
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how did you get out?
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That isn't what's important, though.
Daud, they put all those souls into a dragon. A real, living dragon.
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a dragon was working with the cult?
i can't see what they hoped to accomplish by doing something like that. did they say anything that might explain it?
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It seemed young to me. I think I saw chains keeping it in place while they did gods knows what to it. Maybe it was a spell to give the leader control of the damn thing? That would be my best guess.
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[ the bigger question might be where it came from in the first place. but daud won't dwell on that. ]
did it seem docile, after? did it speak?
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It broke its chains. That's the last I remember of it. Whatever power rolled off of that thing at the end laid me out along with anyone else left standing. It was gone when I woke back up but people are already talking about it in Didymos, about seeing a dragon fly out of the harbor.
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[ She may not be able to see him rubbing his temples, but she can probably imagine it just fine. ]
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it's tell me now or tell me when you get here.
[ Because of course she's coming back. ]
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Then it'll be dead silence and trying not to dwell on how powerless she was for days. Thankfully, that takes place during the airship ride, which she intends to sleep straight through for once. ]
While there was only one obviously live dragon down there, the very bottom of the pit had some old nest. Rocket tried to take off with one of the eggs from it but had to dump it. No way of knowing if anyone else had the same idea and actually succeeded, though.
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bottom of a bay's a strange place for a dragon nest.
could you tell if the eggs were dead, or dormant?
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Giant crabs were trying to eat me at the time so I didn't really stop and check.
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did your animas survive?
[ Her answers, he thinks, tells him enough, but it doesn't hurt to be sure. ]
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[ Mostly. The rest just gets weirder and Daud is right, she's running out of steam to keep answering questions, especially now that they've hit one she isn't going to be very good at answering. ]
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Still, that seems as good a cue to move on already. ]
good. then i'll see you when you get back here. find a place to settle for the night -- no telling how the rest of the city will take what's happened.
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Eaten anything yet?
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She peels off from the rest of the disembarking morning crowd to join him where he waits and her reply is what is likely a very expected, ]
Does it matter?
[ Which means no or, at best, yes but only before she got on an airship for like six hours ago. Even so, she's at least still in one piece, the only remnants of the pit being the spots of sandy mud still clinging to places on her boots and hem of her coat. ]