Goddard doesn't deal in selling anything, so he stays in the background as, he assumes Zeus and Hera, take to selling the things that were found. The only thing that catches his attention is the small figurine. He remembers seeing that back home. Abeir-Toril. Will he ever get back? Will he ever see those woods again?
He pads off a distance then sits to "people" watch. They aren't really people. Like he is used to anyway. Skeletons and ghouls...zombies. What he wouldn't do for some kind of "normalcy." A plant that wont rip his fur off. A tree to sit under. A song bird filling the air with beauty. Butterflies. He hasn't seen a single thing of the sort here.
He lays down and rests his head on the tops of his paws. He misses Ash. He wishes he could be with her. Hunting deer and swimming. He closes his eyes and tries to replay the week he spent with her. Goddard opens his eyes again before he can even picture a blade of grass. The sounds are distracting...he feels uncomfortable closing his eyes.
Goddard sighs. SO many new things he has to get used to.
Lucius, smiles under his hood, finally seeing something...living and familiar down in the hateful place he seems to have woken up in. He approaches Goddard, a large hammer in one hand. He places it on the ground , and slides his back down the wall, sitting next to Goddard.
ReplyDeleteRemoving his hood, he says "What a WONDERFUL place everyone seems to have discovered." a hit of sarcasm can be detected in his voice.
He grabs a water skin off of his belt, pops the cap, and takes a long drink.
"I'm just glad these bone piles arnt trying to rip us apart like the ones in the tunnel" he says, offering the waterskin to Goddard
Goddard looks at the hammer, wondering if something like that is truly necessary and then he remembers what just happened to them on their way down to this strange place.
ReplyDelete"Thank you," he says softly with a quick bow as he sits up. He takes the water skin, careful to not break it and slowly drinks some water before handing it back.
Goddard watches Lucius's wings and holds back the urge to touch them. That's just rude. He's never seen anything like them before. Well...he's never seen anything like anyone in this group of individuals. Except the dragon. He's seen dragons.
"I...I'm sorry if this is rude..." he says softly, "But what are you? I've never seen anything like this," he looks at the wings again and flattens his ears in preparation for a yelling at. The only people he seems to not "flinch" so much around are Zeus and Hera.
"Oh, not at all. I like to think I am quite unique in my origins. My father was an Asura, a sentient creature similar to me, but with wings of fire. There are other defining features to them as-well, but the wings are the only similarity I bare to the Species. My mother, a Human, was a high-priestess of my plane's goddess of Water. Its been said that my birth was prophesied. A man born of fire and water to rule the Storms..." He appears to drift off, then says "Apologies, I appear to be rambling. And what of you? A wolf, with the mannerisms of a man, its simply remarkable."
ReplyDeleteWalking out of a near by shop, Ferrus sees the two sitting on the ground and walk over. "Yet another disappointment, good to see known faces in this place." He then stands silent as Lucius speaks.
ReplyDeleteGoddard listens to Lucius talk. Hanging on every word. He doesn't know what an asura is, but if the wings are part of that, he figures the rest of it would be too fantastical to describe. What a wonderful interesting story book kind of thing! He wags his tail until the end, when Lucius asks Goddard what he is.
ReplyDeleteHe looks down. "I...I don't know what I am. I don't even know what I was...Don't even remember if I'm 16 or 3 but I've been like this for 5 years."
He looks up at Lucius with a sort of embarrassed smile. "Maybe I'm just bad with numbers. I don't know where the 3 and 16 come from...just feels right?" Goddard sighs.
"well, my friend, if you have been like this for 5 years, you certainly arnt 3, now are you? " Lucius says with a Smile.
ReplyDelete"What you are isnt very important. You are who you are, and thats all that matters. I know what it feels like to be different" He says, brushing his hand through his wing " Imagine having these in a village full of mortal humans. It took me years to fully understand what I was, and that took the help of the Goddess of water and love herself. In time, I'm sure we can discover what you are aswell, if that is your wish."
Takeing another sip of his water skin, he says " I believe I might be able to help you, if you like. Two minds set to a single task usually comes with more favorable results."
Noticing Ferrus, he says "Ah, greetings, Guardian."
"I must ask why you call me 'Guardian', this is not my name. My name is Ferrus." He then turns to face Goddard, "We have something in common Goddard, I share in your confusion as to what I am. You have to added bonus of knowing where you hail from, I do not. All i know is this is not where I come from. I am hoping that I may go to this Mechanus and they can shed some light on this. As for you, there must be some form of information about how you came to be. If you wish, we can find the answers we seek together."
ReplyDeleteGoddard wags his tail after all the kind words from Ferrus and Lucius. He hasn't found people like this since Ash. Not all the world is bad. Even in other worlds...lands...dimensions?
ReplyDelete"I would like to find out what I am. Who I was. I'm scared of what I might find but I feel like I must know," he smiles at Ferrus and Lucius. "And having company on journeys for anything is always better than traveling alone."
"Yes, numbers seem to be a good thing. Where do you fill that we should go to find this information. From what I have heard and read, i should be from this place Mechanus, and there should be a gate some where near here. Where is it you come from?" Farrus says trying to find a way to sit with out being in the street.
ReplyDelete"I think my past will find me," Goddard says thoughtfully. "My home is Abeir-Toril," he says softly with a smile. "It's got a lot more plants than this place does," he sighs.
ReplyDelete"And food...There is nothing to hunt...nothing that I've seen anyway. Thank the gods and goddesses for you all...especially Hera," he wags his tail. "I don't know how I would have been able to eat or drink. It would have been extra hard to adjust to all this."
A small gravelly voice echoes in Goddard's mind. "Many hope for the opposite, young one. But you are young, such troubles should not be following you. But heed my advice, prepare yourself. For when the past returns... most do not like what is found."
ReplyDeleteFrom the top atop the shoulders of an approaching black shrouded figure, the small black pseudodragon flashes Goddard a toothy grin. The cloaked figure stops in front of the group and hands a small satchel to Lucius. In a deep hollow voice the guttural Infernal language begins to speak.
"[Here are the extra potions from the apothecary. Let the young wolf know that he should purchase some for his own use or have the corpse-things do it for him. I prefer to leave battle with comrades, not carrying them. And the young wolf is deceptively heavy.]"
Goddard looks up at Krath. "I know it will be nothing good. It can't be good..." He pauses and droops his ears. They prick back up before he speaks again. "But anything is better than not knowing what I am...or was? Or who I was. I know who i am now," he says with a nod. "I just want to know...so I can know..."
ReplyDeleteHe lets his hands slide forward slowly along the ground until they are out in front of him and he's laying back down. He inhales deeply then exhales, a puff of dust from the ground blows up. His ears pivot as he listens to all the sounds.
The voice returns in Goddard's mind. Sometimes its better to not know. To remember who and what you were before, what has been stolen from you... Never-the-less, you are young and there is much less that could be there."
ReplyDeleteThe pseudodragon looks off as if distracted by memory. It clenches one of its tiny claws into a fist as it does.
He looks up watching the small dragon. "You only think that because you know your past," he mumbles softly. It's difficult to understand him simply because he hasn't lifted his head up off the ground to speak. He won't ask for any details. Obviously whatever it is makes this tiny dragon angry.
ReplyDeleteA fairly large bug walks up to Goddard's nose. His ears prick up and he quickly throws a paw over it. Seconds later, he lifts his paw up and the bug is there. Still alive. It looked like he might have crushed it. He wags his tail, tapping Lucius with it. Goddard bumps his nose to the bug. It backs up then moves forward again. He makes a sort of hiccup sound but it was actually a quick short laugh.
ReplyDeleteAs Goddard's tail thumps Lucius, somthing....strange happens. The gold trim around his robes begins to glow slightly, and his armor takes on this darker shinier blackness. Anyone who gazes at their reflection can see bolts of lighting arc around, despite them not actually being there. The golden glow begins to fade, and golden swirl designs start to paint themselves thought his white robes. Looking around at himself, Lucius simply smiles, and the white glowing effect of his eyes begins to take on its own lighting effect.
ReplyDelete"Ah, and so it begins. The quickening, she called it. The time when a mortal becomes something more..." He pauses and looks at Goddard, then says "This happened before, you know. A time when your ancestors still roamed. The first sign of ascension. Oh, It wont be long now, nononononon. Months, maybe a few years...."
Goddard looks in amazement at Lucius. His tail stops. He doesn't know if he wants to run and hide or look closer so he stays still. He shakes his head to snap out of the sort of hypnosis he experienced then sits up. "What's that?" he asks softly with amazement and curiosity in his voice. "Quickening? Something more? What's going to happen in months?"
ReplyDeleteHe scratches the back of his head with his hand. "I'm sorry. You don't have to answer every question I have." He laughs a little then looks down at the ground, his ears pricked forward then droop. Goddard's little bug buddy is gone.
Hera finds herself asking the same questions over and over again, to no avail. "These people don't know anything," she mutters to herself. Glancing over at her brother, she sighs and adjusts the backpack she carries. As he is particularly skilled at negotiation, this will take some time. She wanders about the marketplace a little longer, finally spotting Farrus towering over the inhabitants of the Dead Kingdom. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, aware of how every creature watches her, she makes her way towards the metal giant.
ReplyDelete"Ahh, Goddard, there you are, sweet," she croons, taking a seat next to him. Greeting the others, she offers Goddard a morsel from the trail mix she carries, ignoring the slight burn in her throat. Bloodlust is *such* a trial at times. Stroking Goddards fur, she leans her head back against the wall and dreams of days when the most troubling thing in her life was which assignation to accept for what ball. When she wore her silks and velvets and was a novel toy among the nobility.
"Its a manifestation of my divine will, my friend. As I grow stronger, my will becomes greater, and I am able to subconsciously manifest it In different ways. The lightning I threw in the tunnel, for example." Lucius explains .
ReplyDeleteAs soon as Goddard is distracted, Krath swoops down off Ubeth's shoulders and snatches up the bug. He returns quickly and begins to slowly crunch the bug as he eats it. A small grin tugs at his mouth as Goddard turns back around to find the bug missing.
ReplyDeleteGoddard looks over at Hera and wags his tail. He thanks her two or three times before he takes the bit of food from her with his hands. Slobbering on her would be much too embarrassing. Can't risk it.
ReplyDeleteHe nods at Lucius explanation. Somehow it makes sense. Which is nice. The more sense things make, the easier things become.