[ 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. ]
[ The answer is definitely yes. Daud could demand a voice, too, but as his own isn't exactly steady right now, well, he's going to leave it alone. Instead, he'll be even more direct and ignore the snark: ]
[ 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.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
text, late on the 11th
[ City of the Free People is a very long name to think and she's not inclined to think extra right now, alright? ]
a million years later
who's asking?
[ there's only so many people it could be, but. these things have fucked with them before. extensively. ]
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[ The answer is probably yes, so she just cuts to the chase. ]
I literally stole a wolf for you like last week. Good enough?
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where are you?
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i couldn't reach your courier for days.
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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.
no subject
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?
no subject
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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