*Open* Here thar be Dragons

[ladymoth]

» Ilirea was beautiful, everyone knew that. Even the enemy thought so. Only the dragon riders knew how beautiful Ilirea was from the sky. The streets twisted and diverged in an organic fashion, spiraling coming together and splitting apart. The buildings grew higher closer to the center of the city, their spires strong enough to be a perch for young dragons. The roves sparkled with gold, and all of the lines up to the streets, all roads lead to the citadel; a massive castle of white marble and crystal shimmering in the sun. it was a beacon of hope and knowledge for- “Watch it!”

Addison yelped and closed his wings up against his body, diving down fifty feet to avoid a young dragon and her rider as they practiced what appeared to be their first flight. Addison smirked when he saw the rider reach back to pull his pants out between his cheeks; their saddle would need adjusting. In all honestly he would rather look like a raggedy bird, which he did, than have to ride a dragon. It was the process of flying that was fun, not just the height. A dragon rider had no control over wear he went. Addison did a loop-da-loop as he thought about this. He caught another thermal and spiraled up into a passing cloud, he came out the other end shivering and wet.

The Thermal had given him enough height to glide down onto one of the many pier like balconies that extended from the citadel walls. The students around him cringed at the site of him and Addison quickly shot back into his human appearance, beat red and embarrassed as hell. He hunched down and darted though the huge marble archway; landing was never a great experience. Not only did he come down from the sky but also from the high of flying, realizing all over again that he looked like a demon.

He sighed heavily and stopped, putting his carrier bag on the ground and untying his tunic from his waste, pulling it over his head. He grabbed his bag again and preceded though the halls, passing scholars, riders, and dragons until he made it to the great library; that’s where he saw the recipient of the message “There you are” he said walking through a cliff high aisle of books towards the person he had been looking for. “my client said you might be here” he added as he reached into his bag and pulled out an envelope sealed with a blotch of wax. “This is for you” he informed them holding it out for them to take.

[Elloria]

Niko rolled his shoulders as he rose from his squat. He’d been in the library since very early that morning. It was one of the rare days when he broke his routine in favor of doing research. Glancing up at the sun filtering down into the Library, he figured it was a bit past high noon. He was a bit surprised - it was far later than he’d thought and his body wasn’t particularly sore either. After a moment, he stepped back from his place and looked up critically at the cliff-high aisle of books. This section was devoted to the wild life of the Beors - and nothing else. Treatise and fiction and first-hand accounts of experiences from survivors - just about anything one could imagine. What he was looking for, however, was one of the rare Dwarvish scripts detailing an encounter with a Beor - an Urzhad in Dwarvish.

Niko hadn’t found it yet, but there was still quite a lot of ground to cover. He’d barely looked through a quarter of the scrolls and tomes here. He lifted his arms over his head and clasped his hands together, then leaned back to stretch his back. His long black hair gently brushed against the floor. He was contemplating taking a break for his noon meal when he heard someone approaching on his left. “There you are. My client said you might be here.” Still bent backwards, Niko turned his head to look at the seemingly frail figure beside him. The boy - at least he appeared to be a boy - was quite pale and Niko was sure that when he straightened up, he would tower over him. His gaze turned to the envelope that was unceremoniously thrust at him. He hadn’t even noticed the boy rummaging in the carrier bag slung over his shoulder. “This is for you.”

He straightened up, keeping his arms above his head for a moment longer before lowering them once more. Curious, he looked at the seal stamped into the wax. He raised an eyebrow in slight surprise. It belonged to one of Ilirea’s traveling scholars, Thaniel. This would prove most interesting. “Thank you.” His surprisingly deep baritone rumbled with a pleasant gentleness as he finally replied. Considering the matter now dealt with, he started to break the wax seal.

[ladymoth]

» Addison watched the elf straighten up, he was indeed leagues taller than him. The elf opened the letter and started to read it. The side of Addison’s mouth twitched, he rocked on the balls of his feet and started to look at the books that were in the section that the elf was looking at; Beors. “I once told a group of minors that they were about to break a wall into the cave of a Beor” Addison said suddenly, and almost to himself. It was mostly to jog the elf out of his reading. The elf seemed to think that their meeting was done, but Addison needed him to sign for the letter.

“fourteen dwarves about to get gobbled up by the thing, and then it would have gotten into the mines and completely ruined everything. Might have even walked its way into Dalgon” Addison’s eyes were glazed over and nostalgic for a time when his job was important. He held up a small leather bound book and a piece of charcoal to Niko so that he could sign for the letter “But then the dwarves got a bunch of their friends together and broke down the wall anyway, killing it, the poor thing.” Addison’s face went dark, he seemed to be really going through the motions of this story “Well thank god I planted the idea of fleeing the cave to her cubs so that they would be safe, but I had a half a mind not to just to give those damn dwarves trouble!”

Someone shushed Addison loudly in the next isle. Addison dropped his voice quickly “not that the dwarves have always hated the Beors, you know back when I was alive they would tell stories about Az Urzhadcarmeitder, The Beor-Rider; he's some dwarf who rode a Beor like a dragon. He had all sorts of ballads written about him; not that Dwarves are very good at singing” Addison added with a small laugh. “Oh look, there it is-” he pushed the book and charcoal into Niko’s hands and pulled out a pealing old leather bound book titled “The Many Adventures of Az Urzhadcameitder” the book looked to be over five hundred years old. “My mom used to read it to me when I was little, god knows if it’s true though.” He shrugged as if to say he didn’t think it mattered. Another second of staring at Niko and he suddenly realized that he had blathered for far too long.

[Elloria]

A small smile creased Niko's face as he began perusing Thaniel's letter. The elven woman was currently just outside the Hadarac, about to enter the Beor Mountains. She had always been a fascinating story-teller and every tale she told was drawn from her own experiences on her many travels. He was eager to find a solitary place to read her correspondence, but his musing was cut short as the boy spoke once more.

He looked up from the letter, irritation obvious in his silvery eyes. But the boy simply continued babbling on. At one point, he held a small book and charcoal out to Niko. It took him a moment to realize that the boy wanted him to sign the book. He recalled that it was a standard practice with some couriers to have the recipient sign something to attest that they’d received their package. Yet by that point, Niko was focused on the boy’s story. His glare had softened into a look of curious amusement. The boy was intense and passionate, but obviously gentle if he was so concerned about the fate of the beor. And he was probably somewhat powerful for a human if he was able to plant an idea in the mind of such a creature.

A moment later he frowned as someone shushed the boy from the other side of the shelving. A realization had come to him. How could this boy have had this sort of experience when he was a human? The Dwarves were not well-known for their acceptance of outsiders - though they had been fairly tolerant of humanity before the Blue Divide. Niko’s frown deepened as the boy continued babbling about Az Urzhadcarmeitder - the Beor-Rider. He quickly took hold of the book and charcoal as the boy eagerly pulled a leather-bound book from the shelf. He glanced down at the book before looking back at the tome the boy had pulled out. It was The Many Adventures of Az Urzhadcameitder - the very volume he’d been searching for! Niko’s eyes briefly brightened with delight before he was distracted by the courier. The tales of Az Urzhadcameitder hadn’t been told by any outside of the Beor Mountains for over four centuries. Indeed, it was only because of a brief mention in another scroll that Niko had even learned of them. Which meant this boy was far older than he looked.

Niko tilted his head slightly, his brow furrowed in thought as he looked at the boy - or whatever the being before him was. Because now that he was paying attention, he could sense the being’s aura - and it wasn’t human, dwarven, elven, or like anything Niko had ever encountered before. But it was kind and genuine. He had all but forgotten about the letter that was held tightly in one hand. This being was intriguing, of that there was no doubt. “You’re quite an odd individual.” He dropped his gaze and remembered what he held in his hand. Gracefully “juggling” everything he held in hand, Niko refolded the letter and placed it in an inner pocket of his scholar’s robe. He then hastily scribbled his signature in the book. Closing it, he held the book and the charcoal out to the courier while gently pulling The Many Adventures of Az Urzhadcameitder from the other’s grasp. He tucked the tome under his arm and said “If I may ask, what is your name? And what, pray tell, are you?”

[ladymoth]

» Addison grimaced at being called odd, he made a small noise that could be likened to getting pricked with a needle but let the Elf finish signing the book. The elf meant well, he assumed, though was a bit tactless; he could relate to that. He took the book back and was about to turn and go when the following was asked of him “If I may ask, what is your name? And what, pray tell, are you?”

“Addison” Addison replied “Addi, to those who are close” he put the book into his carrier bag and put his hands on the strap, toying with the buckle without looking at it. He did think that it was rude to ask what he was, but he could see where the question was coming from. He must have confused the elf, what with all the talk of dwarves and such “Well I’m what I am” Addison shrugged “I was a human, then I died, then I was an angel, then they cast me out…” he trailed off, he always had trouble when he was talking about things, not to remember them in too great a detail; those memories were painful. He covered by acting like he was taking in a breath to speak “so now here I am again, human- half the time.” He finished, not wanting to go into detail about that ugly fallen form of his.

“You’re an elf right?” it was a rhetorical question, he just didn’t want this elf to ask about that ‘half the time thing’ he shouldn’t have mentioned it, he just got on a role when he was blathering again. “You guys are so lucky that your parents send you here, when I was little I had like three books” he gestured to the library “I hope you’re greatful” he added, then thought that it sounded like something an old man might say to a little kid. He wanted to step on his own foot, but he thought he was in danger of looking mad enough as it was. He waved, rather foolishly and turned on his heal getting ready to leave.

[kaioinazuma18]

Brynja never had much like of the library and the citadel of Ilirea, but she always enjoyed the knowledge she could find here. So many books, and so few years to read them all. Her cloak was open, her hood still over her head. The one thing she loved about Ilirea was that she could be herself. There was no need to hide her ears nor to be reserved. She was a rose in spring, opening up with the warmth of the sun. Her eyes scanned over the rows of books as she turned into one of the aisles, hearing voices from a bit further down, but not caring. She looked through the book titles and then picked one up on metallurgy and yet another on different types of poisons and their antidotes. This was like the fountain of youth of information. The more she looked, the more she discovered and the more she learned.

The voices were clear to her, and Brynja couldn't help but glance out of the corner of her eye to look over at the two people talking. They interested her, and as long as she didn't look like an assassin or a mercenary to anyone in the library. Granted she was well equipped for the wilderness, but she was not exactly the best person at disguising herself amongst those who could easily detect it. "You're an elf right?" one of them said, causing her to tense up, thinking she had been spoken to. However, when the younger of the two began talking about them being lucky about having the library. That much was certain, and she found herself nodding slightly.

Her pose was relaxed, calm, and open, unlike the many weeks before where she was in enemy territory. She sighed and moved down the aisle, looking at the books. She found the book she was looking for, one on dragons. Despite her disdain for the riders, she loved the dragons, such majestic beings of great beauty, and yet they were deadly.

[Elloria]

An angel! That certainly explained everything. Niko had heard of the mysterious beings that called themselves angels. They were all outlandish, but he tried to keep an open mind. Keeping an ear out for such bizarre tales offered him a plethora of material for his fiction. This...this really was a fascinating turn of events. “How extraordinary,” he murmured, more to himself than to Addison. His curiosity was piqued. What did Addison mean by half the time?

He was about to ask that very question when Addison asked if he was an elf. Niko raised an eyebrow quizzically. Surely his height and ears were an indication that he was an elf? As the angel babbled on once more, Niko felt that small smile return to his face. “I am very grateful, though I don't believe my brother felt quite the same during our school years.” He looked up lovingly at the books around him. “Still. I, at least, would never trade my time here for anything.”

He looked back in time to see Addison wave and turn to walk off. Without thinking, Niko reached out to grasp Addison's arm. Now that he was paying attention to what the courier was saying, he wished to hear more. It was a rare opportunity for the ever-curious elf. He would be foolish to let it slip away from him. “I know this is...impertinent of me, but I must ask. Would you...be willing to tell me more? About your experiences, your history.” He began to gently lead Addison down the aisle. “I would be most grateful if you did. I've read some passages that mention angels, but I've never had the opportunity to meet one. You must have led a most fascinating life so far.” He paused when he caught sight of someone as they passed. It was a strange woman, her cloak's hood just hiding her face. She held a small stack of books in her arms. She was examining one of the books. He let go of Addison and turned back towards her. He called over his shoulder. “Please wait a moment. I really do wish to hear more.” Hoping that he wasn't going to lose a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity in order to help this woman, he stepped up to her. “Pardon me, madam, but is there anything I can help you find?”

[ladymoth]

» Addison puffed and shifted uneasily. Discussing his history would be fun, he had a lot of it to share- being omnipresent will do that for you. But what about his love, and his fall, questions would be asked; Addison didn’t like to lie- in fact it was nearly impossible of him. He didn’t trust himself not to start blathering, and that would put him in a state. ‘Life would be a lot simpler if I wasn’t such a babbling fool’ Addison thought to himself as he looked off into the distance, considering whether or not to run away.

“Well the thing is I have a few more things in my bag to deliver-” Addison said, conceiving an excuse, he knew that the messages and packages could wait- but the elf didn’t have to know that. As he spoke he looked over at Niko, and let his eyes give the stranger a once over. He had always wondered about the kind of people who wore their cloaks up everywhere, it seemed like the behavior of rangers and Ra’zac. He could see under her hood, she looked like a normal elf, maybe she traveled outside of Ilirea and it was just force of habit?

“Oh, Dragons!” Addi was shushed again from another scholar outside of the aisle; he winced. “back when I was alive, the first time, there were a lot more wild dragons that ones that people ride on.. I don’t know where the wild ones have gone” he added. Dragons had a magic of their own, and wanted nothing to do with angels, the made themselves quite invisible to him even then. Addison stopped himself from saying this, and starting another long ramble; he licked his lips and remained silent.


(anyone realized that our characters genders are the opposite of our own yet?)

[kaioinazuma18]

Brynja realized that they were talking to her. Her head lifted up, her hood falling away to reveal her face. Her face coming into the full light, burnished silver hair bound back by a custom clip made by her friend, Kaio. She looked at the other elf. "No, I am fine, but thank you for asking." She responded to him, eyes holding neutral emotion. She was suppressing her fierce gaze, but her emerald green eyes still held a great amount of fire in them. She smiled slightly before turning to see the other boy. He seemed to be rambling, but from what she had heard before, that was no surprise. She listened as the boy went on about dragons. She almost fell asleep standing. She snapped out of it and took it upon herself to answer the boy's question.

"They are hiding somewhere, it is the only logical answer." She responded calmly, looking up the shelves of books and sighing. "So many books, so few years to read them..." she said calmly, her eyes glancing over the shelves. However, her eyes came up to a book that had no title on the spine. She pulled it off to look at it and her eyes widened immediately. Someone had written a first hand account of the war of the blue divide, and immediately she put it back, not willing to read it just yet. She went silent as she saw the title, turning to the others, wondering why they were still there.

[Elloria]

Niko was slightly miffed by the elfin woman's dismissal. Her gaze was intense, though he got the feeling she was subduing it greatly. That didn't greatly unsettle him; his own gaze apparently had a similar intensity and he knew Josk's did. They were open eyes, revealing a great strength of character. That didn't make the dismissal any less irksome. Non-scholars rarely could make heads or tails of the filing system of the Library. It took a lifetime of dedication to learn it and understand it.

Addison’s babbling had turned to the subject of dragons and Niko had to bite his tongue. He knew where the wild dragons had gone. It was part of his job. After all, the wild ones offered new eggs after every mating. It was usually only one or two, but it didn’t help that they already had hundreds of eggs, if not thousands. He kept his silence as the woman calmly stated that the dragons had to be in hiding.

“Hmmm...well, if you don’t need anything I guess-” He paused. His ears had caught a faint rumbling. He waited a moment longer, just to be certain. The sound seemed to be coming closer. Moreover, he could hear pounding footsteps underneath it and faint cries of panic. He wrinkled his nose in irritation. One of the occasional problems the Ilirean scholars faced was a shockingly simple one; but oh the headaches it always caused. The problem was collapsing shelves. Rather, it was inattentive visitors somehow managing to topple the shelves and sending priceless scrolls and tomes flying. And it always caused a chain reaction because so many of the aisles were rather precariously weighted. He sighed.

“Could you both follow me? Quickly, I might add. Someone, it would appear, has toppled a bookshelf and it is causing a chain reaction. I’d rather not be buried beneath a pile of reading materials.” With that, he turned and took off down the aisle at a fast jog. They yet had time to take a somewhat slower pace to get out, but that didn’t mean they needed to tarry. He’d gotten caught in a collapse once. He really, really didn’t want to repeat the experience.

[ladymoth]

» Addison nodded along to what Niko was saying; he seemed so calm and collected about it. Then the content of what he said hit him; they were wedged in the middle of two aisles of books, easily forty feet high, that were about to go down, with all of the weight of the books and scrolls and heavy hard wood that that entailed. The creaking continued, he heard- or rather didn’t hear the entire population of the library as even the footsteps fell silent to listen in on the precarious situation. Addison heard the elf tell him to follow him, say him start to leave- his footsteps were the only sound in the hall, but the shear scope of the travesty was keeping him rooted to the spot. Then, BOOM! The bookshelf gave way, dust spread out over the library in a wave.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! They were getting louder, the sound of falling shelves reverberated though his feet. Addison suddenly felt the need to run, and run fast. “Lord” Addison whimpered as he started to charge though the aisle, pushing the elven girl in the shoulder, trying to get her to move. He grabbed her wrist and began to drag her along with him on the heels of the elven male who was servile yards ahead of them. That’s when the aisle to their left produced the loudest boom yet and, began its precarious toppling.

Everything seemed to be going in slow motion and at first Addison thought that they would make it, to be certain the elves would; they were faster than anything out there. As the aisle leered further and further over them it gained momentum and the books over head began to fall, he barely avoided an enormous tome nearly the size of himself as it landed spine up, pages flying. He knew at that point that he had no choice. He wasn’t an elf; if he wanted to live he would have to fly out.

Transforming was easy, and painless (though it didn’t look it,) it simply wasn’t painless to watch. Addison’s skin and hair grew dark; it was as if a shadow was being cast over him. The skin on the back of his neck pimpled like goose bumps then sharpened like spikes which shot out and widened to make feathers. This effect continued down his arms which were changing as well; the skin ripped over his arms and fell to the ground shredded into a small pieces. The skeleton of his arm, exposed was bleached white and dry; it elongated, bones molding themselves together. The feathered skin caught up to the growing arms and covered the bone in muscle and skin and feather until Addison’s arms resembled oversized wings. The entire process lasted only three seconds and was unseen by the male, who ran in front. Addison took into the air, surprisingly light and escaped though the one of the now empty shelves of the giant bookcase. He swooped down and landed on the marble floor, or rather, hit the ground shoulder first.

[/size][/color]

[kaioinazuma18]

Brynja moved quickly, barely avoiding the cascading books. She walked to a table in the center and set the books down before walking over to Addison and kneeling down. "Are you alright? You took quite a fall." she asked the angel boy. Brynja ran a hand over his shoulder, eyes now gentle and motherly. She was a woman, and that instinct drove her to help others, especially the younger; children and the like.

Brynja smiled and searched his shoulder, healing any broken bones the boy might have had. As soon as she did that, she returned to her standing position and turned back to her books, opening the one on dragons first of all. "Ignorance may be bliss.... but Ignorance gets people killed. Being aware of the world around us is the only way to be truly safe." She said softly, opening one of the books and reading, making sure she could keep the information she was synthesizing. Her memory had always been clear, even up to years later, she could remember details of a certain day: what the weather was like, what she had seen, what she was doing, what she smelled in the air... She could remember the day she left her home like it was yesterday. Though she was a killer, she was still driven by a desire for understanding.

[Elloria]

The shelves started toppling a lot sooner than Niko had anticipated. He picked up his pace until he seemed to be flying across the floor to escape the cascading books. He was well outside of the reach of the books when they finally crashed to the earth. He spun around to see if the other two had succeeded in escaping as well. At first, he only saw the woman from earlier. He kept his eyes on the shelving to see if someone would try to crawl out when his attention was drawn to a feathered...something crashing down not far from him. He stared in shock at the something for a moment. What on earth could it possibly be?

And then realization hit him as the woman approached it and spoke some healing words. That feathered thing was Addison. Niko carefully set the ancient tome, which he'd managed to hold onto, on the table beside him. He was sure he would drop it otherwise and he detested abusing such a precious piece of history. In the span of a few heartbeats, he was by Addison's side, staring in delighted wonder. He had been so skeptical about the whole angel thing. It really had seemed outrageous and unbelievable. But as he knelt beside Addison and gently brushed his fingers against the soft brown feathers, Niko found it much harder to discount the idea. “Remarkable," he murmured. “Simply...remarkable...”

[ladymoth]

» “Stop! Wait! Hey!” Addison shouted at the elf girl trying to push her way with his hand, quite forgetting that it was now a wing that was double the length of his body. The wing hit Brynja’s hood rather painlessly, it was really nothing more than long and hollow feathers. Addison was good at flying but he tended not to linger in this form so he was having a hard time getting up and knowing where his limbs were. The more he tried to use his arms the more his wings flapped about creating a huge amount of movement that further confused and upset him. He was in a panic and wanted nothing more than to shrink down to the size of a bug and let himself be squashed. Why couldn’t he just transform back into his human form? He felt as if everyone was staring at him, which was becoming increasingly true the more he struggled.

Then Niko came over and touched one of his wings, telling him that it was remarkable, as if he had never seen anything so amazing. That was quite the last straw for Addison “What right do you have to mock me! I’ve done nothing to you- you moronic stick insect of an elf! Congratulations, I thought there were decent people still alive down here but you proved me wrong! You’re no scholar you’re a tedious fool!”

With that righteous anger Addison found the strength to shoot back to his human appearance, which happened so fast the eye couldn't catch it. The first thing that Addison did once he regained use of his arms was hit Niko in the face; he had never hit anyone on heaven or earth in either any of his lives, so the half-smack-half-punch hurt about as much as getting hit in the face with a pillow. It did however hurt Addison considerably because he shouted in pain and grabbed the shoulder he landed on, his head falling into Brynja’s lap.

[kaioinazuma18]

Brynja felt something fall into her lap and she looked down, seeing the boy's head facing up at her. She blushed slightly and looked away a bit. "Hold on.... don't move." She whispered to him, her hood down now and revealing her long black hair that came down in a french braid on the right side of her head. Her emerald green eyes stared down at Addison. "Let me heal you." she said softly. She closed her eyes and waited for Addison's response.

She turned to the scholar, eyes opening and glaring. They were not just fierce anymore to him, they were almost angry. If he even came a step closer she would explode. She had seen and heard enough out of the man that she didn't want anything to do with him.

[Elloria]

This was really quite perplexing. Niko had only called the wings remarkable, but apparently that had been the wrong thing to say because Addison simply snapped on him. He blinked in surprise as Addison yelled at and insulted him. Honestly, he hadn't meant for the boy to feel freakish because of it. And he certainly wasn't mocking him. The wings were rather beautiful. Somehow, he got the feeling Addison didn't agree. The sudden transformation back to a more human form, followed immediately by a weak punch, was just confirmation for Niko. He had barely felt the punch - but it had clearly hurt Addison. The angel fell back against the woman from before, who immediately moved to try and comfort the distraught elf. Niko didn't know whether to feel upset, sympathetic to the outraged angel, or outraged himself. He gently probed where he had been punched with long, delicate-looking fingers. Moronic stick insect of an elf? Tedious fool?

Outrage won out. He rose from his kneeling position to his full height - all towering, trembling, enraged six feet nine inches of it. A fair-sized group of scholars was gathered around. They had been staring at Addison, but many now turned their gaze to Niko. But regardless of who they were gazing at, they all took several steps back. It was something he had in common with his older brother - an angry Niko was often a violent Niko. It just took a lot more to get under his skin than it did Josk’s. Now, there were few things Niko took any pride in. His own personal appearance wasn't one of them. His intelligence, however, was. He admitted he was blunt and could be quite tactless. He knew he wasn't the most cuddly of people. But he was not - had never been - a fool. His nostrils flared as he let out an angry huff. He met the woman's angry glare with an equally hostile one. His eyes had turned from their normally bright silver to a grey so dark it was nearly black. “Moronic insect of an elf? Tedious fool?” His upper lip curled back into a snarl as he spat out that last vile word. He felt a restraining hand on his arm. The voice that attempted to calm him belonged to Faol, an elf he had studied with during his early education. “Please don’t lose your temper, Niko. I’m sure the young man didn’t mean anything by it.”

He turned his fierce gaze upon Faol, who promptly dropped his hand from Niko’s shoulder. There was no calming him now. Ignoring the promised threat in the woman's eyes, Niko moved closer to the pair and glared down at Addison. In a quieter, colder voice, he said, “I am many things, angel, but a cruel fool is not one of them. I do not care if you were panicked and frightened. I do not care if you find your own winged form distasteful. I was not mocking you. It is not in my nature to be so purposely cruel. My words were meant to be complimentary. If you don’t appreciate that, then say so. Do not punch and insult me. The next time you do so, I can assure you that you will regret it.” He looked up at the woman, addressing her as well. “I can see that you wish to follow this being’s example. Let me assure you that my warning to him applies to you, as well.”

[ladymoth]

» “Fool!” Addison grabbed the nearest thing to him- his carrier bag and threw it up hitting Niko’s head “You’ve all the spectrum of vocal expression as an unmuzzled Dog!” He threw a book “You see how your words mock me but you persist!” he threw another book “You’re… Lobotomized!” He leaned forwards and grabbed the largest book he could find and threw it at Niko’s head, but Addison being Addison it only went a foot then went skidding off across the dust laden floor.

Addison got to his feet and stormed past Niko “You’re a child, your threats mean nothing! You don’t even know what real power is!” he shouted shoving Niko in the chest and the look on his face made it seem for the entire world like he had aged five hundred years, at least his eyes did. He kept walking to the end of the library, rounding the corner towards one of the many marble piers. To Brynja he said nothing, not even thank you for fixing his shoulder. Then he was gone, leaving nothing but his carrier bag.

[kaioinazuma18]

Brynja growled, grabbing Addison's bag and slinging it over her shoulder, staring at the man in front of her, her eyes calmed down from earlier. "You are a fool, talking to an angel like that.... Pathetic.... You are not fit to be alive if you care nothing of others' situations. I may be a bounty hunter, but I only take down hardened murderers." She said as she walked forward, smashing his foot with her boot heel then sending her foot into his gut with incredible force. She sidestepped and walked off, leaving him as she went to find Addison.

She walked out of the library, looking for the angel boy. She ran after him, "Addison! You left your bag!" She shouted, catching up quickly. "That man shouldn't have treated the way he did..." he said to her, taking the bag and handing it to him. "A-about your angel form... I.... I found it beautiful." she said smiling, looking down.

[Elloria]

Niko jerked back as the angel's courier bag suddenly slammed into his face. He blinked in surprise - he hadn't quite seen that coming. Judging from Addison's earlier punch, he wouldn't have expected that much upper body strength. Still, he wasn't surprised enough to dodge the next two books that came flying at his head. “Honestly, if you’re going to childishly throw things, the least you can do is not throw the books. They’re irreplaceable,” he said calmly. “And last I checked, my brain had not been operated upon in such a fashion.” He took a step backwards as Addison shoved him and stormed off. He glared after the angel, still infuriated. Knew nothing of real power, did he? He supposed the dragons held no real power, then? But of course, Addison didn't know that Niko worked so closely with dragons. How could he? What had started as a decent conversation had devolved to -

He yelped as the elf woman's foot crushed his own, only to have it cut off by a kick to his gut. "You are a fool, talking to an angel like that.... Pathetic.... You are not fit to be alive if you care nothing of others' situations. I may be a bounty hunter, but I only take down hardened murderers." He coughed and sputtered, attempting to regain his breath as she, too, stormed past him. Probably off after Addison to comfort him or something equally ridiculous. Several of the other scholars rushed forward, Faol at their head. “I told you not to lose your temper, Niko,” Faol chided him gently. “You’re usually quite good about staying under control.” He let the scholars fuss over him for a few moments until he regained his breath. But when he did, he also regained his temper. He spun about and took off at sprint. He was going to find that girl - and the angel, too. Several corners later, he came across them as the girl confessed she'd found Addison's angelic form beautiful. He almost laughed. He agreed with her completely, of course. But what on earth did she expect to get out of saying so?

Well, that was irrelevant, wasn' t it? He skidded to a halt just behind her. Grabbing her arm, he whirled her around. With all the force of his not inconsiderable strength, he slapped her across the face. All vestiges of his control were gone. He hadn’t felt this furious since his childhood in Ellesméra. “What the hell makes you think I care nothing for the situations of others?” he raged at her. “Because of words that were spoken in anger? What would you know of it? Would someone who cared so little for others have bothered freeing an enslaved child? Or raised her as his own? Would he have tended to countless ill dragons or listened patiently to the woes of his fellow scholars! Or given even the slightest damn when his brother, his twin, the only person in this whole damned world who knows him as well as himself, was cast from their family’s home and offered him a place to stay! And only remained in Ilirea because that very same brother wished him to! No, I don’t suppose he would!” His voice had risen several decibals by the end of his rant. He breathed heavily for moment before continuing in a much softer voice. “Before you pass judgment on my own pathetic existence, perhaps you should get off of your self-righteous high horse and realize that just because someone reacts unfavorably in anger does NOT mean they are pathetic and don’t give a DAMN about anyone else!”

[kaioinazuma18]

Brynja did not wait for his rant to end, she quickly gave him a right hook and followed it up quickly with a few rapid hits. She waited to yell herself. "You think you're the only one with problems? You're wrong. So you've been cast out and lost so much, but so has the whole damned world!" She yelled before getting into a ready stance. "Your problems are nothing special. I've spent the past twenty years examining myself, so you should follow your own advice. She showed her face, there was only a small mark where he had hit her. "I can tell the scholarly life has given you no way to release the anger that you just released on me in that long diatribe. Let's spar." She said with a wide grin showing an intense fighting spirit but it was not arrogant, she wanted to see how well her opponent could do against her.