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  • Beqanna

    COTY

    Assailant -- Year 226

    QOTY

    "But the dream, the echo, slips from him as quickly as he had found it and as consciousness comes to him (a slap and not the gentle waves of oceanic tides), it dissolves entirely. His muscles relax as the cold claims him again, as the numbness sets in, and when his grey eyes open, there’s nothing but the faint after burn of a dream often trod and never remembered." --Brigade, written by Laura


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    [open]  [Quest thread] rattle my bones and rage
    #1

    He has lived here for as long as he can remember. The days, months, even years all blur together into one big smear of life and memory; none of it really matters to the hulking brute. Gilgamesh lives where the weather is harshest, where the winds howl and the sun disappears for months. He only comes south when all signs of life vanish from the snowy mountains.

    Even the other few residents of Icicle Isle don't know he's there. Gilgamesh is a hulking titan, but keeps entirely to himself and stays in the northern point of the island where the snow falls even in August. When the stallion ventures south, he goes to the open territories for food or water or other varying needs. Only rarely does he spend any time in the southern part of the isle. 

    He supposes he should find out who the current leader of the Isle is, if there is any. It's a land as hard as the stone itself, and only those with the strongest wills and survival skills can survive here. But Gil has a mission, and he will not be distracted. 

    "Find a bone too big to be from a normal horse," she'd said, the words echoing in his mind as well as his ears. "Clean it with a fresh snowfall, and bring it to me."

    He knows just the place. 

    There is a cavern, far, far north, where the winds bite just as bitterly as the winter does in the south even in summer. It's at the northern point of a small heart-shaped lake that spends most of the year frozen hard enough for even the 18h brute to walk across -- the stallion had found it by accident. And there are bones in there. Bones that defy imagination. Bones from an age so far gone that even their memory has turned to dust. 

    Gilgamesh needs one of those to bring back to the faerie, and no one is going to stop him.

    Reply
    #2
    The Isle has been his home for so long now - especially his own ice-built caves in the north, the ones he'd made during his year living in the coldest place he could find. The ones that had kept Beryl from freezing to her death.
    It's not one of his own caves that the giant paint strides straight towards to, he sees. Nevertheless, it is pretty rude, to just waltz in and never really leave. He'd expected the man to call out or even search the Isle a bit, but it seems he wasn't the social kind.

    Even Leilan had said hello to Jesper at the time - though obviously, that was also him catching up with a friend. He might have done exactly what this stallion did, himself, and see if anyone was willing to make the trip so far north to investigate.

    What the man doesn't seem to know is how far the vision of a dragon in-flight goes, how easily the dragon male sees his temperature stick out next to the snow and ice. How little the ice dragon cares for those who want to defy him, but how much he cares for potential recruits going to waste. Between Sabrina, Jesper, Chemdog, Hexen, Ivo, and Intoxication, few to no other horses seem willing to actually stick around - unless they were forced to. This one was different, he could tell from the days spent in solitude - more like how Leilan himself was a few years ago.

    In short, he was worth investigating.

    He knows the dragon-shape is much more intimidating, even if it was only for the sheer size. He lands outside aforementioned cave, waiting - his eye colour emerald green, a sparkling contrast with the gold, bronze, silver, and ice. Amused by the male's antics, he can only imagine why he wants anything in this forsaken piece of land, let alone the most forsaken cave he can find. The dust alone should keep someone away - unless they were tasked with something specific, of course.

    He waits patiently (for his doing), only sending snow flying with his tail a few times - marvellous, reptilian tails are; so much stronger and sturdier. It whipped up snow and ice from the ground where he sat so easily; in fact his horse tail was of course prettier, but much more useful against flies - but this far north, flies died of the cold long before reaching horseflesh.
    nothing burns like the cold
    Leilan

    @[Gilgamesh] since it didn't seem like a finished thread I guessed he could say hello, ^^
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
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    Reply
    #3

    His journey is long and uneventful. Gilgamesh knows the paths to and from Icicle Isle that will take him as far away from the resident herd as possible, and he uses them religiously. The giant stallion is ... well, he prefers to keep to himself. 

    "It's safer that way," he remembers his mother once telling him. "The others are dangerous."

    It's a lesson Gil has never forgotten. When other equines come north, the brown mottled man actively avoids them, keeping tabs on where they are and ensuring he is somewhere else. It's how he's lived here this long unnoticed... or presumably unnoticed. If someone knows he's there, they haven't come to bother him. 

    Gilgamesh plows through the snow as it gets deeper, turning his gaze upwards. The skies are clear for now, but he knows intimately how fast the weather can turn up here. He hopes it does. Once he has his bone, he needs a fresh snowfall to clean it in. Though, how will the faerie know if it's fresh or not? Would she know if he just rolled it in the snow that fell two days ago? With a soft, steam-laden snort, he decides not to risk it. She's magic, after all. She may just know. 

    Finally, he reaches his destination. Gilgamesh rounds the rocky path that will lead him into the Cavern of Bones ... and comes face to face with a dragon

    Shocked, the giant spooks backwards, ears pinning back to his neck while he throws his head high. Backing up, the stallion fills his lungs and expels the air sharply out of his nostrils in a warning. The man halts and watches the dragon, daring to lift an ear while leaving the other pinned in a wary, questioning expression, but he says nothing.




    @[Leilan] OOC: of course! sorry for my ill-socialized dummy haha
    Reply
    #4
    In this world, nothing should surprise the giant male, but still, Leilan supposes that actually seeing a dragon for the first time - especially one in this element, who awaits the large paint as if he might be part of his personal quest - he can’t know for sure but what other business might the man have with this place? - it might be shocking indeed. Still, he can’t help but grin, which exposes his sharp teeth, though the horse in him never changed. A man full of little pranks is he, and if his outside finally matches that by displaying the trickery predator inside, then so be it.

    ”What have we here, hmm?” he muses, his normal baritone amplified to a lower, louder rumble. ”A treasure hunter?” he wonders as he scans the other male. He has some steel guts alright - for not immediately running or bargaining. Still, bargaining is exactly what Leilan hopes to do. A bit of a white lie - something that is technically true - might just help. ”What makes you want to enter my cave?” After all, as the leader of this land, the cave might be considered his - well, in fact Leilan doesn’t expect anyone to think so, but the little prank just could not be helped. If the paint believes him to be the guardian of whatever he seeks in there, then all the better.
    nothing burns like the cold
    Leilan

    @[Gilgamesh]
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
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    Reply
    #5

    His mother didn't tell him there are dragons in Icicle Isle. Gilgamesh has lived here his entire life and has never seen one until now -- perhaps this is the only dragon? Either way, it's here now, and it's between him and the bones he needs to be what he was always meant to be. 

    "Your father was a frost giant, you know," his mother coos down at her tiny colt. He's as fat and rolly polly as any she's ever had. 

    "Really?" the brown painted boy gasps, looking up at his dam with awe. 

    "Yes, really. Your father, and his father, and his father before that. You've got Giant's blood running through your veins. Who knows how big you'll get?"


    The memory helps steel his courage. Gilgamesh swallows, working his tongue a little. How long as it been since he last spoke? 

    "It is not your cave," he finally rasps, voice terribly hoarse from disuse. "This is the first time," he pauses to swallow. "that I have seen you here. I have been ... in this cave more than you. Does that not make it mine, then?"

    Of course, he has no idea he's speaking to the actual leader of the land, but his response may not change even if he did. The Isle horses very rarely, if ever, came up this far north. It's his home, and if he has to fight a dragon to defend it, he supposes that's what he'll have to do. 

    ...Still. Gil doesn't really want to fight the dragon. It's less a lack of bravery and more a reasonable assumption that to do such a thing would be a suicide mission, and he doesn't want to die. 

    "I need a bone from inside," coughs Gilgamesh. "I have Giantsblood in my veins. I need to take it to the Mountain so the faerie can make me what I was destined to be. 



    @[Leilan]
    Reply
    #6
    Interesting. It’s not the first time he thinks it, and might not be the last. The large horse’s voice is raspy, but determined, and he dares question the ice dragon’s claim. Still, that doesn’t make him right.

    ”Technically, all of Beqanna is fairy land - or no-one’s land. But I think I’ve seen you here first about... maybe a year ago, is that right?” he tilts his head at the painted male, awaiting a response with a sly smile. ”The fact you haven’t seen me doesn’t mean I don’t exist, you know.” He shrugs, letting his gaze fall from the large male towards the southern parts pf the Isle, then the north coast. ”I’d hoped you’d come introduce yourself at least to the leader of this place, but they must do you the honors, then.” he shrugs, silent one moment. The painted giant could put two and two together, or not, and he’ll explain later. For now it’s more fun to have him guessing.

    ”How about you answer a question then, so I can judge if I’ll let you stay in my home?” A little game to see what he’s made of - if he is worthy of the power he seeks. Worth helping in his quest, or maybe he should be left alone and see how he fends for himself.

    Besides, for all Gilgamesh knows, ice dragons have always been hidden, living here up north - and honestly he wouldn’t be far off the truth, as Leilan certainly isn’t always in dragon form, and certainly hadn’t felt like engaging the male before - since he hadn't caused trouble. But perhaps that was a mistake.
    nothing burns like the cold
    Leilan

    @[Gilgamesh]

    Riddle me this, maybe he’ll help his quest... or not... dun dun dunn
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
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    Reply
    #7

    Gilgamesh takes another step back, dark eyes locked on the great creature before him. Damnit. Double damnit, even. Apparently this lizard is the proper leader of Icicle Isle -- why didn't his mother tell him that? She knew everything, didn't she? The draft-blooded man licks his lips, feeling the cold turn his spit to a frost. 

    "I don't mean..." Gil trails off. What didn't he mean? Disrespect? But he sort of did, given he argued the dragon's claim on the cave. He sighs. Is he really going to have to fight this thing to get what he needs? "I don't mean to offend. I just need one bone."

    "What question?" he asks, ears lifting. That is a concerning phrase, and dread rises in his gut. Does this lizard mean to chase him out of Icicle Isle? It's the only home he's ever known, and the thought makes his heart beat faster with anxiety. "Ask me anything."



    @[Leilan]
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    #8
    It is an absolute beauty, watching his face contort in all kinds of manners, coming up with answers and questions, and realizations. Ah, so he did know he wasn’t in the right to claim a cave in a land he didn’t -yet- officially belong to. Well, wasn’t that something.

    Thankfully for Gil, Leilan had never been one to conform to rules and mannerisms either.

    A question, or even a series of one, is a much better alternative to fighting any sort of dragon, of course. So, the ice-breather settles in front of the cave, his large body forming a blockade as he blinks at the large male - some would say a giant even - in a cat-like manner; a Sphinx of sorts if you will. ”The question is this: if you would meet a giant, like the previous owners of those bones, then how would you talk to them?”

    It’s not the answer of course, that he desperately needs - just the man’s reaction, whether he understands the riddle and finds the punchline by himself, or what he would do if Leilan tells him. Either work - he just wants to know what kind of a man he’s dealing with.
    nothing burns like the cold
    Leilan

    @[Gilgamesh]
    I, for one, could not help myself.
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
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    #9

    This dragon is very strange. Gilgamesh blinks several times and looks around, short mane shuddering in the bitter wind. It's an odd question, and one that the ill-socially-developed man has to think about for a moment. 

    "These bones could have belonged to an ancestor of mine," he grates out, finally. Gilgamesh swallows again. He hasn't spoken this much in years. "It would be ill-advised to not offer respect. Frost giants are a relic of the ice itself, a manifestation of the magic of Icicle Isle." 

    The titan sighs and peers at the winged giant. "If it pleases you, I am sorry to have spoken to the Isle leader with disrespect."



    @[Leilan]
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    #10
    Watching Gilgamesh take his question way more seriously than it is - well, to be fair, not that the painted giant would have been able to know -, the ice dragon’s eyes turn from ice blue to sea green to full emerald, as a smile creeps up on his face. Of course, respect left and right; perhaps he should not have expected the male to come up with anything else. ”Oh, I’m no giant when I’m a horse,” he casually adds, but he tilts his head at the painted ruffian and then sits up with a yawn, which accidentally (or, not so accidentally) shows his huge pointy teeth. ”What I meant to say is, when talking to a giant, make sure you use big words.” he grins then, his emerald gaze twinkling as he looks down on the other stallion.

    Then, he stands, stepping aside so the guy can finally get his bone. ”Anything else you needed with that bone, or is it just you fetching it?” he asks. He’s made up his mind after all - Gilgamesh is no threat to the north, and if he wants to become a...manifestation of the magic of the Isle? Well, Leilan’s not gonna keep him out. ”I’d be happy to keep you around here, but I would like to know if you happen to find anything out of the ordinary in this land.” he offers just as off-handedly. He’s known many now who had chosen to live here to see them become isolated. Hopefully the boys will change this in the near future, but if not, the idea of a frost giant keeping watch in the northern half surely isn’t a bad one.
    nothing burns like the cold
    Leilan

    @[Gilgamesh]
    Two things I know I can make: pretty kids, and people mad.
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