Dev Pick of the Litter

[Madrona A’Mia]

​

Tag: Mercy
Brosi
Prior to the Second Invasion​

Preparations for war were well under way and allies arrived on Brosi by the hour, choosing their stations and making tactical plans. A'Mia didn't lack interest in such but when face with protecting an entire world, the task was so much more daunting. Not to mention what resided on Brosi, what was at stake.

It didn't do to dwell though and the neti remained busy in her own ways. One such task came in the form of a gift from the Lady of Secrets, Taeli Raaf , who'd gifted some of the defenders of Brosi a clutch of enhanced drake eggs. The beasts would hatch for their chosen companion and, thanks to Lady Raaf's mastery of her craft, the creatures would grow to late adolescence in a matter of hours. Their growth process and binding with a rider would commence as normal thereafter, but it gave them all a chance to bring formidable beast companions with them to the battle ahead.

When her call had gone out seeking support, Mercy had replied with an immensely casual and honestly rather endearing holonet call. The woman's lazy drawl and assurance of her presence was more reassuring than A'Mia had even expected. So much so that the neti greeted her personally when the formidable woman arrived.

"You have my immense gratitude, Mercy dear."

Looping arms with her companion, she guided her from the hangar and landing zones to a rather sturdy looking tree which lined the area with its fellows and A'Mia stepped right through it. Her power to stride thusly was extended to Mercy for the time and they soon stepped out to a far quieter glade which was walled by an impressive rocky outcropping on one side. Psilofyr's primary crown, the "World Tree" loomed in the distance.

"There's a surprise for you. Can you guess what it is?"

The arboreal woman smirked up at her sidelong — having to look up at quite the angle despite being nearly seven feet tall at the moment.

 

[Mercy]

Madrona A’Mia

"You have my immense gratitude, Mercy dear."

Their hands squeezed in the greeting.

"Think nothing of it, darling, what friend and ally would I be if I did not come when your need was at its highest?" They had met quite some time ago, but in that period of time A'Mia had been nothing if not a dependable and staunch friend to her. The Wheel, the Tapani campaign, these were moments where the Neti had bled for her... in a way anyway, trees bled differently but it was the same sort of sacrifice.

Mercy was looking around as they walked, arm in arm, always interested... always curious.

A hunger that could never be truly sated.

This wasn't truly her scene. The plant life and vegetation. It reminded her... too much of a past she had left behind. Of climbing trees and leaping off of cliffs into deep water in ravines. Of cradling bugs and chasing after birds. Of riding horses and hunting boar.

No, this wasn't her scene anymore.

"There's a surprise for you. Can you guess what it is?"

"We both know my creativity starts and ends on the field of battle, darling A'Mia." She purred down at her, leaning in to run her nose against the Neti's. "Tell me... what is the surprise, I loathe mysteries..." Lips almost brushing each other.

 

[Madrona A’Mia]

​

If A'Mia noticed how at odds the giant woman was with the surrounding environment, she made no mention of it. The arboreal woman had a habit of bringing those she held in high regard into the fold of her strange power — which included closer affinity for the natural world. Even if Mercy wasn't fond of the more mundane offerings, surely she could appreciate biological wonders of the dark and alchemical variety.

A'Mia trilled a little laugh at the rather cute display Mercy made of demanding the information that the neti had teased.

"Well then, it's a good thing this gift will aid and abet your famous war-time creativity."

Still, the woman didn't clarify and continued to steer them onward to their secreted away destination. Soon enough, though perhaps not as quickly as Mercy wanted, they reached a glade with a massive alcove carved into the rock wall jutting from one side of it. Resting in the bowl like alcove was a great swatch of what looked like silk and laid neatly atop it was a clutch of large eggs.

"A gift from the Lady of Secrets," A'Mia explained quietly, as if the unhatched drakes could hear them.

"I've brought you here to take the first pick. The egg you choose will deliver forth a little creature that will grow into a great beast. This drake, I have been told, will grow to suit its master."

A'Mia smiled up at Mercy then and tipped her head to the waiting clutch.

"So, which one calls to you?"

 

[Mercy]

Madrona A’Mia

"Well then, it's a good thing this gift will aid and abet your famous war-time creativity."

A sigh when A'Mia refused to divulge the mystery.

"Fine then, keep your secrets." Mercy drawled teasingly however while still following along. Curiosity and a certain level of respect for A'Mia everything she needed to keep on pushing forward along her tree-like companion.

They kept their walk and for a while Mercy was silent.

The memories of yesteryear, of her youth, were distracting. As she thought back to a small Mercy cliff-diving, fighting in the barracks and making a general mess of things. A child-level mess, but a mess instead. Even then Mercy, a Princess at the time, had a penchant to causing trouble. It should not have surprised many... what she had turned into.

Except that anyone that had known that Mercy... was dead and buried, glassed out of existence by Carnifex.

This drake, I have been told, will grow to suit its master."

Mercy blinked, eyes sharpening again, and noticing the alcove with the eggs in it for the first time.

Her eyes... grew greedy all of a sudden. Not a foreign quality to her, one that A'Mia would have noticed many a time, perhaps.

But... this... was a gift fit for... well, for an Empress perhaps.

"My... oh... fucking my." Mercy purred as she stepped close, looming over the eggs, but then grinning towards the Neti. "I have never had a pet before, darling." She thought about that sentence for a moment and then- "Not a non-sentient kind anyway."

Her hand paused at one particular egg.

Crimson, blood, with a shade of fire burned into the scales.

"This one... it fits my eyes, does it not?"

Mercy tried to play it off, but there was more to it than that. She felt... a draw, to touch it, to break it open, to help it hatch and come into this world. She held herself in check, but only barely.

 

[Madrona A’Mia]

​

With a mild smile, A'Mia watched as realization dawned on Mercy's face and the woman's bearing changed.

Hunger. The likes of which few sentients could bear.

A'Mia wondered how much Mercy's connection with the drengir root-mind was ever truly at play. Surely the woman herself, prior to exposure, already had an appetite such that she wasn't made driveling mad by the sudden onslaught of such a foreign presence. The neti had seen mortals succumb to less.

Silently the arboreal woman mused as to Mercy's sturdy composition and how that must surely have complemented symbiosis with the drengir when opportunity presented itself for such. Something the woman said amused her though and drew A'Mia from that quiet contemplation of power.

"Oh? You make a habit of keeping people as pets, hmm? I hear that's frowned upon in mixed company."

Her tone was somewhat wry but clearly in the tone of scoffing that anyone's opinion might alter their behavior. Still, the thought of Mercy keeping people-pets was amusing.

A'Mia turned her attention to the egg that had called to Mercy though, her strange eyes alighting upon not just the egg but the Weave around it. From the moment Mercy's eyes had met the thing and a tug of desire had formed on her, the energies about the egg shifted to respond. Already a bond was forming, not yet irreversible but why stop the momentum now? The neti looked back at Mercy, impressed that she'd even waited this long. She inclined her head and gestured, inviting her to take her pick.

"It reaches for you in turn, I sense a strong will in that one already."

Then it was her turn to observe the clutch, with a new focus than before. Previously she'd merely accepted the incredibly general gift from the Lady of Secrets, assuring her the eggs would be given out to those who would make best use of them in the defense of Brosi and past that, given how the beasts bonded. But A'Mia hadn't yet chosen one for herself.

Her eyes alighted on a smaller egg, more red-brown and reminiscent of the sands of Korriban — her first real home. The egg, somewhat diminutive in comparison to its fellows, had little blooming patterns across it that brought to mind the fractals that some lichen form. A'Mia reached for it, long fingers growing longer to encase it entirely and pulling it to cradle against her bosom.

 

[Mercy]

Madrona A’Mia

"Oh? You make a habit of keeping people as pets, hmm? I hear that's frowned upon in mixed company."

"Oh, I don't kiss and tell, darling, you know this." Mercy purred... and then for good measure leaned in to kiss A'Mia's cheek. A bit cheekily, but Mercy didn't think the Neti would mind.

It was not a morality question for Mercy.

She had done absolutely horrible things and she would proceed to do many more unspeakable acts. It was a matter of greed. The things she did with those she spend time with... was a personal matter. Something that only belonged to her. To attempt and share it around was a betrayal of self, allowing others to partake in something that Mercy had claimed her own.

Unacceptable.

"It reaches for you in turn, I sense a strong will in that one already."

Mercy licked her lips and then that terrible golden arm stretched out. Unwinding from a hand into tendrils that wrapped itself around the egg, hot to the touch, and pulled it towards Mercy's waiting grasp.

"So warm..." Mercy said, almost gentle, wrapping her arms around the egg. "...so mine."

Those fiery eyes looked on as the Neti did the same.

"What now? When does it hatch? When does it grow?"

 

[Madrona A’Mia]

​

The kiss earned Mercy a warm smile and a small musical laugh.

"I believe you," she answered earnestly and watched with fascination as the woman picked up her chosen egg.

One of these days A'Mia would need to ask Mercy to sit for her scans. The woman's arm was a wonder and A'Mia would pay a handsome price indeed for the data alone. Now was not the time though so she kept it to herself.

Holding her own egg close, the arboreal woman was just about to answer when the first little muffled peep sounded. Something distinctly less demure made a tap tap tapping on the inside of Mercy's.

"Oh! I think — They seem to be hatching already!"

A'Mia's features became girlish and her eyes widened, utter astonishment briefly visible on the normally stoic neti's face. She held out her egg before her, peering down as it rocked in her palms.