Expeditionary Episodes of the Mercicle and the Cactus Queen

[Quietus]

A great gaping maw greeted them, dark and narrow in height. Quietus pulled herself in over the edge to a stoop, crabwalking further in to where the cavern opened up. A glance was given back at Aver, green eyes smiling without the full expression needing to be present. In a slipping moment fingers lifted to the air with the intent to sign an answer only to stop shortly after.

Aver didn't know sign.

Ah well. She smirked, winked, and continued strafing her way in.

Light crept in as the cavern opened, exposing a boulder-filled gully that split through the plateau like scar. Screeching filled the air, the rauckus call of not dozens, but hundreds of the same creature she'd flown here on. Their colors were vibrant and as varying as fingerprints between humans. Blues, greens, purples, magenta, even some more lighter and silvery-transluscent hues. Qui crept towards the edge of the cavern opening. She then pointed to Aver and then out to the beasts.

Time to get the girl some wings.

 

[Aver Brand]

Someone else might’ve been offended at receiving no answer. But this particular dynamic had seen much of the ‘cryptic little shet’ approach being thrown around. Both ways, no less – Aver then simply rolled her eyes and stuck to the blonde’s heels.

Her jagged silhouette carried all the subtlety of a Sith fleet come to invade a planet. Her one redeeming quality in terms of stealth was the motley patchwork of dark browns and blacks that covered the shell of the crab. In the shadows of the tunnel, Aver melted right into the background.

With a soft hiss, she ordered Dhaladii to crawl onto her back. Again.

“So someone went at them with a bigger box of crayons than on Onderon. Now what?”

 

[Quietus]

Qui gave her a very strange look.

What's a cray-on?

Blinking, she decided it wasn't very important and shook her head.

Nevermind. Flying is the fastest and safest...usually... method of travel here.

Her gaze panned from the thriving and colorful creatures beyond to the vaguely camouflaged Merc, Time to find you a new friend.

 

[Aver Brand]

Aver returned that strange look. “Crayons? Sticks of colored wax, you draw with them?” The merc wrinkled her nose at the blonde.

“Must be after your time,” she added after a beat. Under her breath, but she knew Qui’d catch it nonetheless.

Made her grin all the wider as she scooted up to the edge of the opening. Pale blue eyes flickered about the spacious cavern, trying to pick out a distinct creature from the blur of wings and tails and teeth.

Then, with a pointed sniffle, she gestured to the chamber. “Well— I’ve never tamed a dragon, so… y’know. After you, Queen of the Wilds.”

 

[Quietus]

The crayon comment notwithstanding, Quietus folded her arms with a faint smirk.

I already have one. This is your time.

The smirk widened. I'll coach you through it. Mute canted her head in the direction of the writhing gully of colors and wings and teeth, nodding to indicate to the woman git goin.

Step out into that open, flat area over there where that bunch are sunning themselves. They're going to raise the alarm, some will take flight, others will threaten you but won't follow through. Wait for one to square up for the challenge - she didn't have to tell Aver to show no fear, - it will lunge at you with its maw and engage you in a territorial dance. Don't trip.

 

[Aver Brand]

Though the expression of a grin persisted on her face – lips curled back, sharp teeth bared – something seemed to shift about the way Aver exerted her presence on surrounding space. Qui hadn’t seen this aspect of the merc outside their very first meeting on Onderon.

The woman stalked out of the nook, assuming her full height with an air of unwavering confidence. A handful of long strides, and she reached the sunlit clearing – the beasts roused at her approach, then took off in a flurry of wings.

Aver stood and waited.

If the shadows passing overhead and sweeping past bothered her, she didn’t show it.

Not even when a flame-colored beast landed in a cloud of dust right under her nose. Intelligent black eyes sought out her own, never blinking once before it lunged with a gaping maw.

It took conscious effort to resist her instinct – would’ve struck the creature down, elsewise – but instead, Aver stepped out of its snapping jaws, and stilled again.

She tipped her head to the side. Grinned.

Come at me.

 

[Quietus]

Every beast had a different dance but the goal remained the same: outmaneuver the rival, intimidate and run off, claim your territory. Quietus watched the fiery creature sway from one side to the other, sizing Aver up before extending all four wings with a bellow. The leathery limbs beat within the air, sending gusts of dirt and dust at the woman before it charged - remarkably agile over the considerably short distance. It gave pursuit to Aver's dodging figure, furling and unfurling its wings, snapping its jaws, and whipping its tail.

Leaving the cover of the cavern, Qui climbed the rocks for a higher vantage point in the gulley. She was joined shortly after by her winged mount and the two of them sat watching curiously.

These particular beasts, on their own, certainly were not much match for people like them. Aver was quick and perceptive enough to keep out of reach, but she had to participate in the dance - not just avoid it.

You have to challenge him in return, she intoned to the woman's thoughts as Aver ducked the lunging maw. Force him out of the sunning area. If he turns his back to fly off, jump on him and get ahold of the headtails, try to flip him onto his back.

 

[Aver Brand]

No response was offered in turn – merely the telepathic equivalent of a clipped nod.

To Aver, this was as much taming a new beast as reacquainting with an old one. Though she had kept Ygdris company all these years (and they her), she hadn’t worn living armor in two decades.

It took some… adjusting.

“Siz ortda qolib ketdingiz, Yig,” she hissed at the Vonduun—

and earned herself a tail to the face for the split attention.

Rolling over her shoulder and back to her feet, the merc salvaged her momentum with a grunt. Cheeky bastard. Icy eyes narrowed at the circling beast, now growing arrogant with its success.

The raptor advanced, poised to strike. Aver strode forward, slithering under its flapping wing as if she were suddenly made of water. Her feet were a blur upon the uneven rock, and even as the creature pivoted wildly to try and keep track of her movements, the firrerreo was quicker still.

She looped an arm under its backwing, slid beneath its belly to the other side, and smoothly swung herself astride the beast.

Hah.

 

[Quietus]

Watching from where she sat, Quietus dipped into a leather satchel on her right hip and withdrew a handful of jerky. Bare feet swinging over the edge of the boulder she sat on, braids dandling in the breeze, the blond's brows lifted as she observed the Merc manage a quick mount of the rank beast.

Tail, she intoned blithely mere seconds before the creatures whip-like rear appendage came striking upwards, wrapping itself around Aver's neck and slinging her off its back into a nearby rock wall. The creature coiled around with a ear-piercing screech.

Qui idly fed a piece of jerky to her own mount, expression begetting amusement.

 

[Aver Brand]

Dhal hissed in time with Aver as they both hit the wall with a nasty crunch. (The wall, probably.)

She sneered back at the beast, teeth bare behind the skull. “Come on, ya ugly motherfether.”

Bending at the knees, the merc inched closer. Next time the tail whistled through the air, Aver pushed back, near-on stumbling as her boot snagged on a rock.

The creature screeched again, snapping its jaws at nothing at all. The merc grinned, stepped in—

Sharp as the crack of a whip, the tail cut above her head as Aver rolled forward. Smarting shoulder aside, the woman sprang back up flush against the belly of the beast. Its great wings arched behind her, and so she ducked to the side to wrap her arms around the neck of the thrashing animal.

Vengeance is best served hot.

 

[Quietus]

Qui's mount grumbled a guttural sound that strangely resembled laughter. Perhaps her empathy was rubbing off on it - she was smirking brightly at the scene unfolding before her. The ex-Beastia patted her beast on the muzzle and fed it another piece of jerky.

SSSKRRRAAAAAAAAA! screeched the raptor, trying with little success to shake its Merclace off. With a perturbed sort of bray the beast reared about, surged forward and promptly flattened its massive bulk on top of the woman.

Quietus winced. That was one flat Aver.

 

[Aver Brand]

No Merc pancakes here, thankfully.

The second it flopped forward, the creature realized its folly. Ygdris (both of them) shared a hungry grin even through the effort of staving off several hundred pounds of irate dragon.

You see, Vonduun Skerr Kyrric is an armor with spikes. Granted, the beast above her was scaled, but not so thick-skinned as to simply brush off the menacing thorns now digging into the soft flesh of its neck.

And so, without much ado, the bastard shoved off into the air and cut a straight line towards the uneven opening far above.

Feth.

 

[Quietus]

That was her cue.

Soon as that hell-flame bastard took off and made for a direct ascent Qui knew exactly what was about to happen. Despite the impressive nature of the Vong armor and the ability to heal from nearly anything, she wasn't about to watch Aver take that sort of plunge and trust she'd walk away from it. Swinging up onto the back of her mount the pair clipped off from the rocky outcropping and glided after her.


Bastard winged upwards towards the cavern ceiling, tucked his wings at the last minute and let his streaking momentum carry him up through with a furious screech, effectively using the jagged stone opening to pry the armored thing off him.

Several hundred feet above the bottom of the gully.

Aver fell in a rain of stone and earth ... right into the outstretched reach of Des. Caught her by the foot, no less, as her own mount swooped upwards to follow Bastard into the open air above the plateau. There were hundreds of these creatures up here, however, and Bastard had disappeared within a cloud of soaring, swirling colors and stripes. Qui heaved the woman up as they leveled out and glided along an updraft.

 

[Aver Brand]

“You know—” the merc began, dusting the dirt off Ygdris, “I had that.” She let out a pointed huff as she shook out her leg. Took the brunt of the fall, it did.

Blue eyes streaked across the room, flickering from colorful specks of beast and wing.

“Bastard’s gone. Kotsiros.” Aver groaned and thumped her forehead on Qui’s shoulder. “This taming thing is bullshet. How am I supposed to find him now?”

 

[Quietus]

She was smiling, faintly, as they drifted through flashing hues, wind whistling past their ears. Qui leaned her head against Aver's at her shoulder, offering an encouraging nudge.

It's not supposed to be easy.

Green eyes scanned the skies, honing in on a colorful wisps off to their right. They're smart and they learn quickly, you have to be ...unpredictable.

A flash of blaze orange to their left, sweeping southward. There.

They banked right, following the direction of the Bastard as it glided below.

 

[Aver Brand]

Leaning over the flank of the mount, Aver quickly spied the flash of fire soaring on the upwind.

“Ok,” and she was gone.

Her black form plummeted like a flung spear through the canopy of wing and tail – she twisted once, twice, careening past a toothed maw by a hair’s breadth – and landed on Bastard’s back.

The creature below her keened, banking to the side in an attempt to shake off the merc. With a wide grin, Aver held on, fingers curled around the elongated bones of its forewings.

How’s that for unpredictable?

 

[Quietus]

Grab him by the headtails before he starts barrel rolling -

Quietus urged her mount onwards to follow the duo, attempting to remaining in visual distance.

- there's a sensory organ at their base. Smear your blood across it to help seal the bond.

 

[Aver Brand]

Wha— blood? Again?

Aver would’ve let out an exasperated sigh if she weren’t too busy trying to catch the billowing… headtails. You’d think Qui named all these bodyparts herself.

The merc hissed through her teeth, scooting forward along the creature’s neck. Grab, miss. Feth.

Grab, miss. Rinse, repeat.

“Come here, ya bastard son of a schutta,” Aver grunted under her breath until she simply lunged forward. Her victorious grin lasted for a whole second before her face fell along with the beast.

Kark barrel rolls, this one was going for a loop de loop.

 

[Quietus]

These are predators not robots -

Quietus and her mount banked left into a diving swoop to keep up with this harrowing ... effort of taming.

- you have to make the bond to gain control.

 

[Aver Brand]

Fili ton kolo mou, vasilissa.

Aver stared daggers at the crimson crown of the beast, pulling on the headtail until its blossoming tip was in her hand.

Weird karking shit.

The jerk of the creature beneath her kept her from staring, and the merc sharpened her tongue over the syllables of Vongese. Ygdris parted around her palm, then sank its claws back into her flesh.

Dark blood welled up from the wounds, trailing down her wrist into the headtail. Already her skin was sealing back together as the dragon pulled up from his sharp descent, now aiming skyward – straight for the red flare of the sun.