Am I Not Human? [OPEN]

[Emma]

‘Well, aren’t you the worthless inebriate.’
Ramsey stirred underneath me, but her eyes were still tightly shut. Wordlessly, I shifted to the side, allowing the full blast of the midday sun to illuminate her. Immediately, Ramsey sat up straight.
“Bloody hell, it’s HOT!” She put a hand over her face and winced. “Ow! Where the hell am I?”
‘Ramsey.’
She peered up at me. “Well, wotcher, Ikehr. You look yer usual piece of shit.”
‘And you are as lovely as the dew on the morning roses.’
“Shut up, reptile!”
‘I am not a reptile. Reptiles do not possess intelligence, nor is their blood endothermic-’
“Don’t ya bloody argue biology with me this early in the morning! Ow. Water. Sleep. I need both.” She lay back down again, still covering her face with her hands in an effort to shut out the heat. Seeing as simple verbal abuse wouldn’t work today, I leaned down to pick her up in my mouth, much like a mother crocodile would with its hatchling. As my teeth closed over her, Ramsey started shouting and beating at my head with her feeble mortal fists. I trotted along the sandy beach towards the oncoming waves of the ocean. Tilting my head for a good angle, I flung Ramsey as far as she could go. She hit the water with a shriek, and promptly came back up spluttering and coughing.
“This is saltwater, you bastard!”
‘They are the tears I weep for humanity.’
“TRY WEEPING WHEN YA DON’T HAVE ANY EYES, YOU-”
A wave overtook her again. I lay down in the shallow water, stretching out my claws languidly. I didn’t know why I hadn’t thought of partially drowning Ramsey before when it came to her hangovers. I bent down and began to lick the wound at my side as Ramsey eventually managed to get enough bearing to swim back to shore. I looked up at her as she started plodding back onto the sand, glaring at me and twisting water out of her braid. Instead of more shouting, however, she froze.
“Ikehr, this is white sand. This ain’t Vroengard!”
‘Ah, and the last horse finally crosses the finish line.’
“Nyx’s tits, Ikehr, tell me where we are!”
‘We are very close to Teirm. It is over the next ridge, I believe.’
“TEIRM?! Ikehr, get down!” Much to my grief, she leapt onto my head and forced it down onto the sand, looking around wildly. “Don’t ya know what Dellanir said she’d do if she saw any Ilireans on the mainland?! This ain’t a weekend vacation!”
‘Ramsey, YOU went to the mainland. I followed you.’

At her surprised expression, I calmly began to regale Ramsey with the tale of her drunken exploits. Vroengard was missing many amenities from Ilirea- taverns especially. Several Riders were driven up the wall from said lack of alcohol, Ramsey naturally among them. The other night, a suspicious-looking mortal had appeared on the island, offering ‘dwarven moonshine’ that seemed to mostly be pure alcohol mixed with some sort of foul toxin. Ramsey and several other Riders had drank it to the last drop- and promptly disappeared, chartering a boat out of the Obsidian Bay to go hunting for sea serpents. I had been asleep, but some older, more mature Riders had sought out the drunks and brought them back- except for Ramsey. Ramsey had gone out by herself in a dinghy. By the time I’d caught up to her, she’d been singing about ‘following the yellow brick waves’. Then I’d had to disappear underwater to stay hidden from ships leaving the port of Teirm. Ramsey had run aground on this beach shortly after dawn, decided to claim it for Spain, and collapsed right there on the sand.

Ramsey scratched her head and looked at her feet, obviously embarrassed. “And you went after me yourself, huh?” She cast a guilty look at the wound on my side.
‘Not because I care, you must understand. My livelihood relies on your continued existence.’
She made a face. “Ain’t you a romantic. But what the hell did they put in that booze?”
‘Methamphetamines, obviously. Now, shall we leave?’
“No! Not in broad daylight. The ships will see us if we fly.”
‘And you are incapable of holding your breath, so we cannot swim.’
Rather than get upset, a slow smile spread over Ramsey’s face. Despite myself, I wasn’t in any particular hurry to leave the mainland either. Vroengard was a pathetic dump, even more so than Ilirea had been. Ramsey lived in a tent, while I slept exposed to the elements. Only a choice few of the thousands upon thousands of books had been brought from the library. The animals were strange creatures that were too easy to capture and tasted foul. Eternal exile was long even for an immortal like me- and I didn’t know when it would be safe to come here again.
“Well,” said Ramsey, reading my thoughts, “Teirm is the farthest city from Du Weldenvarden. I think we’ll manage.” She looked down at herself. “But I stink like a bloody hobo. Gotta get a change of clothes. You wait here!”

Ramsey pulled her orange hair out of its braid to help it dry more quickly and took off over the sand, making for the city. I waited until she disappeared over the ridge, and then looked around. There was a wood just past the beach, the beginnings of the Spine. I padded towards it, pushing my way through the trees and hunting through the leaf litter. Eventually, I found a large bough that I could safely tuck myself under. I nosed my way under it among the roots, wings pressed flat against my body and tail curled up to make myself as small as possible. It was supremely uncomfortable, and I’d likely wake up cramped. But I seemed to be safe. I took in a breath and closed my eyes, allowing myself to expand my mind over the surrounding area. I passed over the insects and squirrels of the forest and reached the very edges of Teirm, looking for a lone figure. Eventually, I found one- a single, young human male at the outer slums of the city. I seized control of his mind, and felt a burst of panic.

The struggle was brief- after all, it was a human and I a dragon- and then I allowed my consciousness to flow into its body. I felt a strange floating sensation before I lost the feeling of wings and tail and claws, and felt arms and legs instead. I opened my eyes and found myself on my knees, staring at the ground. Then, with some effort, I stood and began to walk, moving my legs with care, attempting to swing my arms naturally. Walking on two legs was one of the few admirable things about mortals- I often wished I had hands and thumbs instead of two extra legs. Reading would be so much simpler. Once I was somewhat stable, I cast my mind out for Ramsey. It was fairly easy- there couldn’t be many elves in Teirm, and she was slightly more intelligent than the slum dogs on the outskirts. Eventually, I picked her out, and made unsteadily in her direction. I found her snatching clothes hung out to dry from a laundry line, with a fresh pair of black boots beside her. Then, she hurriedly began to unbuckle her leather vest- and caught me staring.

“TURN THE FOOK AROUND, YA BLOODY PEEPIN’ TOM!”
I’d forgotten that mortals were strangely sensitive about being without clothes, Ramsey in particular. Frankly, they didn’t look any different from when they wore rags.
“Ramsey, my disgust for the mortal form is not based on amount of clothing.”
“YOU-“ she paused, and stared, coming closer. Already, my pink nails had turned into black claws, and I could feel the straight teeth of the human becoming fangs. “Ikehr? I told you to wait!” She gave me a push that, unfortunately, made my mortal form stumble backwards. “What did I tell you about jumping into people’s bodies like a goddamned demon?”
“The mortal is still alive within me. And it was perfectly willing.”
“No he wasn’t, dammit!”
“I will not spend my day on the mainland lazing on the beach. Can you think of a better way to keep me hidden?”
Ramsey’s jaw worked, but she was well aware that what I was doing would not hurt the mortal. Eventually, she turned back to the clothesline. “I said TURN AROUND!”
I did so, glancing around at the slum streets. It occurred to me that it was very empty. During summer, children usually played outside and vendors hawked their wares. But it was not so.
“Roight, you can turn around now.”

I turned to see Ramsey looking much nicer, dressed up in black boots, slim black trousers, and a sleeveless white shirt that showed the knotwork of dark blue tattoos running down her upper left arm. Her drying copper hair hung in waves, and her green eyes were much clearer, her dark skin no longer dull. She was hanging her leathers on the clothesline as a bizarre form of payment, even though her armour was worth considerably more than the clothes she had taken. Then she approached me and flung a black hooded cloak over me.

“All right? Now, let’s head to midtown. I reckon there’s something exciting going on up there.”

Words;; 1571
Characters Used;; Ikehr with his Rider Nemo Ramsey
Muse;;This is my first post in a year, DON'T JUDGE ME!!
Thoughts;; I missed these characters. Like, a LOT.

[Kite]

Being thrown into a table was not something Ademar was fond of. Especially when he was supposed to be setting something of an example.

He had been sent to Teirm with the goal of training some of the soldiers raised from Teirm in the basics of weaponry, as he was contracted to do all over the nation. With the military expansion occurring all over the country, Ademar and others from the Leona Lake Trading Company were brought in to train troops in the early stages as well, as training them in the new equipment being developed by their home company for Broddring. A match made in heaven, it seemed, as it meant more jobs and therefore more money. However, that meant he was spending a lot of time in a single city, a few weeks to a month usually, and that wasn't something he was used to anymore. He usually spent his time on the move, just how he liked it. Business is business though.

He was almost done with his current contract, however, and about to turn his soldiers back to their normal instructors. This, he felt, was worth bringing some of the more promising ones out on a drinking expedition up in his favorite dive in midtown. It was something of a custom for him to reward the top five scoring soldiers with this expedition, and it usually ended in a brawl. Let’s be honest, what team of drinking soldiers didn't end in some trouble though?

In this aspect, Ademar was perfectly happy to hold up appearances.

They arrived and moved to a table, the soldiers ordering alcohol and beautiful women in that order, and Ademar going to the bar and grabbing his normal order. The group had a lively but uneventful half hour, perhaps a little more, but that all changed with the appearance of the local watchmen coming off their shift change and coming in to unwind, or wind up as it happened. Throughout history, there has always been something of a rivalry and competition between the town guards and the armies of any country, and this was no exception, the soldiers mocking the guards for hiding behind their walls all day, extorting hookers and beating juvies while the guards called the soldiers lazy inbred swine too useless to do more than march all day and drink all night all on the government’s money. Now, naturally Ademar was on the soldiers’ side, as he was both an ex-officer and the leader of the group, and he joined in, giving as good as he got, enjoying the verbal abuse they were throwing around. Drinks flowed, and cards appeared as they all began trying to empty the others’ wallets.

It wasn’t going to last this cordially all that long, however.

Ademar was the first to find this out, having won another large pot, expertly out-gambling the green soldiers and jaded town guard alike. The guardsman Ademar just beat in an all-in facedown threw his cards to the ground and, fueled by anguish and alcohol, flipped the table to the side, coming through it to grab Ademar by the front of his shirt and toss him backwards, Ademar stumbling against the chair he sat at only a moment ago and hitting the table behind theirs, which was luckily not occupied since its former residents thought it was a bad idea to be so close to a group of drinking soldiers and guardsmen.

Such a challenge couldn’t be left alone. Not by Ademar.

Ademar responded quickly, despite the surprise attack, scrambling up from his place against the table and grabbing the chair before breaking it across the side of the rage filled guardsmen, surrounded by both the soldiers and guardsmen still in a somewhat drunken shock at the actions of the two combatants. Ademar’s actions, however, shocked them into action, all jumping up and joining the frey to defend one or the other. Fists and feet flew, and Ademar had to admit that it was a good fight. Then again, he would have said any fight was a good fight, but since he had such skilled men with him, they gave as good as they got against the guardsmen and more. Sadly, such nonsense could not be contained in the bar, and they quickly found themselves as well as the other bar patrons outside, the patrons fleeing the knot of soldiers and guards tangling all over the bar and the guardsmen and soldiers following them out into the cool air of the midtown.

However, the brawl was destined to end soon, especially with the soldiers gaining the upper hand. The retreat from the bar was a desperate move from the guardsmen to gain themselves a little respite, but it hadn’t paid off. With the patrons and a crowd looking on, the soldiers were cleaning up the guardsmen. Ademar was one of the first to finish his prey, after knocking the guardsmen off his feet he followed him down, crouching on his knees and beating the man senseless. Ademar noted his handiwork with satisfaction, before looking up to see a short woman near him, flanked by what he guessed to be a male figure in a black hooded cloak. The woman had a striking appearance, simple black trousers and boots, as well as a sleeveless white shirt. Her skin was dark and her left arm covered in tattoos, with her copper hair and green eyes pulling together to seem extremely exotic to Ademar. She was obviously a woman, although not as blessed in the domains of womanhood as others, and was still striking despite of it.

She was turned at the moment to the cloaked man beside her and smiling somewhat, speaking to him as well.
“See? What did I tell ya? Something exciting.”

Ademar stands at that, looking over at the soldiers finishing up the brawl, most of the guardsmen rolling on the ground groaning, while adjusting his shirt to the appropriate place and managing to not look any worse for the wear, and then turns back to the woman and her companion before bowing jauntily.
“Not for much longer, it seems. A pity they could not provide more of a distraction, since they started this tiff.”

He winks at the lady, before offering his arm to her.
“Now that that business is concluded, could I offer you a drink?”

[Emma]

Ikehr and I didn’t have to go too far into town. I wasn’t interested in going all the way to the inner rich district, full of airheaded nobles and bad memories. Luckily, as soon as Ikehr and I left the slums and came out onto the more pleasant-looking parts of midtown, a ruckus caught our attention. A seedy-looking bar’s doors were wide open, and a crowd had gathered around it. I could hear screams, swearing, and hitting noises. I turned to Ikehr and grinned, pulling at his cloak. In answer, he issued a long, annoyed sigh. I tried not to be intimidated by his appearance. His skin had taken on a very pale blue pallor, and his tufts of short hair were already as steel blue as his scales. The pupils of his eyes were slits, and fangs and claws had replaced the human’s teeth and nails. I gave him a funny look. No matter how many times I saw Ikehr like this, I would never get used to it. Or understand how dragon magic worked, for that matter.

However, right now I was more interested in the fight. I pulled Ikehr along with me and shoved my way through to the front of the crowd, peering between shoulders. Soldiers and guardsmen were fighting on the pavement outside the tavern, but this was clearly a bar brawl, not a proper battle. And that made it the best kind of battle. The soldiers, having the better training, were beating the living hell out of the guards- especially one fairly tall man with blonde hair who was repeatedly slamming his fist into the face of a half-unconscious guard. I bounced on my feet as I watched while Ikehr simply stared without even trying to hide his disgust. The blonde man in front of us looked up and did a double take of me. He had very blue eyes, and something about his features was vaguely familiar. At the moment, however, the other soldiers beating the rest of the guardsmen into the dirt held my full attention.

“See? What’d I tell ya?” I said to Ikehr, elbowing him in the side. “Something exciting.”
He rolled his eyes.
To my surprise, the soldier stood up, dusting himself off and straightening. Then he bowed in my direction. “Not for much longer, it seems. A pity they could not provide more of a distraction, since they started this tiff.”
Then he winked at me. I stared back, wondering if I’d imagined it.
“Now that that business is concluded, could I offer you a drink?”
I blinked slowly, reaching up and scratching my head. I had absolutely no idea what to say. When was the last time someone had offered to buy me a drink?
“Er... well...”
“She has had more than enough to drink in the past few hours,” came Ikehr’s snakelike hiss from beside me. “She declines its offer.”
“You fooking serpent! When’d you start making decisions for me?!”
“Since the entire reason we are here is due to your drinking habits.”
The urge to punch him was strong, but I had to embarrassedly, secretly admit that he was right.
“WELL,” I snapped, not wanting to look stupid, “be that as it fooking may, this blimey bloke ‘ere deserves our attention!” I patted the man on the arm. “I ain’t exactly mates with the Teirm Guard. What’s yer name, then? Ya seem... familiar.”

Words;; 568
Characters Used;; Nemo Ramsey with Ikehr
Muse;; Gewd!
Thoughts;; Ah, the joy of dialogue posts. ^^

[Kite]

The actions of those two, as well as their speech, were almost as exotic as their appearances. That was especially true for the male next to her. Now that Ademar was standing, he got a better look at him, not that that revealed much. He was definitely a man of mystery, with his hooded cloak concealing most of his body and head. His hands were visible outside of the cloak, and the skin was tinted a very light blue while the nails had elongated to resemble claws, and not just in the “I’m too lazy to take care of my appearance” way, the nails seriously resembled the claws of a beast. His manner of speech drew some attention to him from Ademar as well, for the man had used an odd word in declining Ademar’s offer. It. Now, the woman had an odd turn of phrase, an accent as exotic as her appearance, but at least it had all the normal hallmarks of interpersonal conversation. The man, however, referred to Ademar as an it. This is highly unusual, at least to Ademar, and just combined into a more mysterious picture that Ademar wanted to investigate while socializing with the lady before him. That and he sounded like a pouty house wife exasperated with the excessive drinking of her spouse. But he had met men like that before, so that was not so unusual when compared to his other features.

She pats his offered arm after the two of them interact, apparently about her drinking habits and how they got them to where they were now, standing by a group of beaten guardsmen, and then says that Ademar deserves their attention, although in a slightly more colorful way than that, and asks him his name. Fair of her, to be sure, and Ademar happily obliges the question, despite the oddness of her finding him somewhat familiar. He had rarely seen one such as her, and now that she was in front of him and speaking, he feels that he would absolutely remember such a face and voice. Especially her voice, no matter how exotic she seemed to him. Although the awkwardness of the pat to the arm would probably have been a close third for reasons to remember her, he took that in stride as well as he could. He’d socialized with awkward women before, both at the taverns of the commoners and the galas of the nobles. He speaks as he lowers the previously patted arm.

“My name is Ademar Valaician.”

Ademar wasn’t quite sure how they knew him, or perhaps if they simply knew the name. Minor nobility was probably nothing that these two would notice, to be sure, but his grandfather had made a name for himself in the Blue Divide, as well as in the peace afterwards, commanding the armies of Broddring for the Kings and Queens of the human domain, as well as being one of the catalysts of some discontent during his arrest by Ilirea and the Riders, although that died down quickly enough. He looks at the woman as he says his name, waiting to see any sign of recognition he can manage, and smiles broadly, speaking to continue to justify him watching her so closely.

“Might I know your name? Perhaps that of your companion as well? He must be truly remarkable to put up with his somewhat joy killing attitude.”

[Emma]

“My name is Ademar Valaician.”

I tilted my head to the side, immediately recognizing the name. The human general Edan Valaician had resided with us in Ilirea for over a year. I had mainly kept my distance- mortals were annoying under any circumstances, regardless of race or rank. But we had crossed paths eventually, and it had been surprisingly measured and thoughtful despite its position as general. Unlike the elven one, who had attempted several escapes and turned up its nose at all Ilireans, the human one had been quiet and polite. I wondered if the mortal in front of us was related. Unfortunately, if there was one thing I couldn’t do, it was tell faces apart. All mortals looked exactly the same. The only one I could recognize instantly was Ramsey, and that was mainly because I’d never seen another mortal with dark skin and bright orange hair. Ramsey often complained that the only reason she could tell dragons apart was their colour. I’d been happy to inform her that if I’d said the same thing regarding mortals, it would be considered racist. It had been worth the bruised nose.

“Might I know your name? Perhaps that of your companion as well? He must be truly remarkable to put up with his somewhat joy killing attitude.”
That made Ramsey laugh. “I ain’t sure about remarkable. Valaician, eh?” She rubbed her chin. “Blimey, that’s familiar. Oy, wasn’t that the name of that General who- OW! Why in flaming hell did you kick me, Ik- OW! What the shit-”
“Her companion is indeed truly remarkable to put up with this drunken lunatic. I am Ikram, and this is Megara. We are strangers here,” I said, eyeing Ramsey. “I believe we should walk, if it is willing to carry on awkward conversation. It is likely not going to be welcomed back into the tavern after that row.”
Ramsey turned and peered into the open door of the bar. Very faintly, I could hear swearing and what sounded like chairs and tables being propped back up. “Gotta agree with Ikram here. Ya really did a number on those guards, Valaician! Nice job! Wanna head up to the docks?”

We began to head down the cobblestone street, Ramsey leading the way. Apparently, she remembered the way to the docks, and was eager to see the ships. As we walked, I felt Ramsey worm her way into my mind.
‘Bloody hell, it’s not like he’s gonna recognize us by name! And what the hell kinda name is Ikram?’
‘It was the only one that had the same beginning as my name. And it means ‘respect’.’
‘Ha! In that case, why’d you use my middle name?’
‘Because most mortals are unaware of your first name, let alone the middle. And it quite suits you. Megara means ‘grudge’, and is the name of a famous Hellenic monster known for its verbal and physical torment of the damned. I believe they named this monster after you.’
I ducked as Ramsey’s fist came towards my face. She missed, stumbled, and shot an awkward look at Valaician.
“To make up for the fooking kicks,” she growled. “Anyway! Valaician, that is a familiar bloody name. Ya related to the General, by any chance?”

Words;; 542
Characters Used;; Ikehr with his Rider Nemo Ramsey
Muse;;... not great. XP
Thoughts;; SORRY. We should plot.