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roseleaf320 -> RE: =EC 2021= Sky Arena (7/29/2021 23:03:21)
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“Oh gosh, I’m so sorry, I’m such a clutz!”
Pie stuttered under the glare of a gruff man as his mouth twitched, sweet-smelling drink dripping onto his silk trousers. The cherry garnish that had made Pie smile when xe’d walked in rolled lazily from the counter and landed on the floor with a subtle and satisfying plop. Pie laughed sheepishly as the man crinkled his pointed nose. Xe’d just stepped into the tavern, noticed how pretty the man’s drink looked, and suddenly… onto the table it went. Just my luck you blame it on me!
The tavern keeper, a young man with blond hair, slid a new drink towards them in a gesture Pie sheepishly realized was an attempt to aid xem. “See?” Pie’s voice was an octave higher than normal as xe pulled xyr limbs in to seem as small as possible. Xe gestured towards the replacement with an open hand. “It’s all the same in the end- drink up!”
As if following Pie’s movement, a gust of wind blew from the open door towards the drink. No, not again… With the man’s attention turned towards catching his treat, Pie turned and dashed out through the doorway. Guess I’m not getting my morning tea after all. As the door squeaked shut behind xem, xe heard the soft plop as xyr quick escape blew the second cherry onto the tavern’s tiled floor.
Phew, that could have gone badly… Pie bent down for a moment to catch xyr breath once xe’d gotten a fair distance from the tavern. Xyr bad luck had struck again! It had probably been knocked by xyr cloak somehow; that happened all too often with this big thing. Its thick leather made for good protection in the winter time (and the ruffled edges around xyr neck and legs always felt stylish), but it wasn’t good for moving around small or crowded places. It would sure come in handy today, though. Today! Today was the Championships! Pie shook xyr head and stood, enjoying the tiny clinking sounds of xyr headband as it moved. It was time to get moving and focus!
“Oo, hey, cotton candy!” With a flash of movement, Pie caught the flying confection in xyr hand as it drifted through the air towards xem. Its pastel pink and blue disappeared from the sunlight and into xyr waiting mouth, and Pie smiled as xe relished the pure sugary goodness. Such a stroke of creative genius… Pie had missed the strange confection ever since the traveling fair passed through xyr village a few years ago. All the oddities and craftsmen that could pass through a port town, and not one of them had thought to make a traveling cotton candy stand. But here in Bren, someone had even done that! It was as good as Pie remembered, so perhaps xe could spare a few coins to– Pie screeched to a halt, xyr slightly-puffed-out cheeks frozen mid-chew.
The stand was run by a dragon.
Not totally unexpected; the river Pie’s town sat on led straight to Bren and often picked up competitors coming from further away, so Pie had seen all sorts of strange creatures. What unsettled Pie more was that the dragon was angry. It was perched atop the machine used to make the confections– an entire shining black dragon, scales and all. Compared to the sizes Pie heard dragons could get to, this one seemed rather small, but it still struggled to fit its entire body on the machine, its tail and back legs hanging from the corners. Pie might have giggled if its obsidian-black eyes weren’t glaring directly at xem; if it didn’t seem to be getting off of its perch to move towards xem.
Like a machine restarting after a failed shut down, Pie unfroze rapidly, opening xyr mouth and stammering out an apology to the dragon that may or may not even speak xyr language. “Sorry, this was yours, that was so rude of me, here let me–” Pie opened xyr mouth wide and thrust xyr fingers in, fishing for the stolen sweets only to feel the last of its sticky texture dissolving. Oh. Duh. Shoot. Xe slowly stepped backwards once, twice, and the beast followed Pie’s movements, its head low to the ground. “Uh, so maybe we could figure something out, I’ve got some coins on me, we can just…” xe trailed off, realizing the dragon was not about to answer. Either it had swooped in and claimed all the candy for itself, or it was a really, really mean shopkeep. Its eyes were intent on Pie, its stance anything but friendly. Well this isn’t too good, huh… Pie felt as if perhaps the Championships had already started, and xyr two competitors were an angry man with a fancy drink and a dragon with cotton candy.
Before xe could turn and test xyr speed against the predator, it looked away abruptly, towards a human-like figure who slowly stepped between Pie and xyr cotton candy competitor. The figure wore a dark, hooded cloak like the reaper of death might– or a man trying a bit too hard to be mysterious. They made no noise, but simply faced the dragon as it cocked its head and stared at them. Pie stopped xyr retreat and joined in the staring, trying patiently to adhere to the bizarre silence for an uncomfortable amount of time. The dragon’s large stretch, showing off its full line of spikes, was rather fun to watch now that Pie realized xe was probably safe. “So… is this thing yours?” It’s not my fault the thing got mad, the candy flew right to me...
The figure abruptly turned to Pie, revealing a gaunt, pale face and pure white eyes. He paused, flustered, before finally speaking in a deep, smooth voice. “Yes…” He spoke slowly, as if choosing his words took an immense amount of thought. He sounded genuinely concerned for xem, his tone fluctuating enough to reveal a hint of panic. Hey, I’m not helpless! Pie shook off xyr apprehension from the initial standoff with the dragon and stretched xemself as tall as xe could manage. Even then, xe only came up to the man’s shoulder. Xe masked xyr slight frustration with xyr normal cheerful tone, and the feeling would fade entirely soon enough– after all, genuine concern for xem was much better than anger.
“I’m just fine, thanks for popping in though! I’m Pietersite, but you can call me Pie. What about you!” Pie stretched xyr arm out, casting a broad smile at the brooding man.
He seemed to still be gathering his thoughts, and Pie briefly wondered if he had some kind of hearing issue before he responded hesitantly and offered his hand and name. Pie took his hand in both of xyr’s and gave it one big shake, attempting and failing to be gentle like xe’d been taught. “Nice to meet you, Milo! She’s a cutie over there.” Pie pointed xyr thumb towards the dragon, who was currently sitting behind the man. Its head reached about the height Milo’s did, and its eyes continued to glare at Pie.
“His name is Peregrine.” Oops. The dragon probably wasn’t too happy about Pie calling it a she. “And he is not cute at all. He is fearsome.” Well, cutie was probably a stretch to begin with, but it sounded like more of a compliment than “scary” or “angry.” Dragons probably thought about that differently.
If the dragon wanted candy… yeah, Pie would be able to fix this. Pie hastily pulled some coins out of a pocket inside xyr thick cloak, spilling a few onto the ground as xe scampered over to the stand. A flustered lady looked up at xem from under the safety of the countertop. “Thank you!” Pie slammed the coins onto the counter and grabbed three sticks of cotton candy. Xe thrust two out to the odd pair and addressed the cloaked man. “Here, I think your dragon was looking for this. He has good taste.”
The man shook his head and held his hand up. “No, you have it, you deserve it after that scare. I don’t really like cotton candy all that much. But, thank you.”
Awwww, who doesn’t like cotton candy? “C’mon, breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you gotta eat up!” Pie grinned, biting off a generous helping of the fluffy sweet from xyr own stick. Xe held the two up in front of Milo’s face and twirled them around. “You can take an extra one to eat later in the stands.” Or for Peregrine.
The man furrowed his brow and the edges of his lips curled upwards slightly into a confused smirk. “Well, I can’t argue with breakfast.” Of course you can’t! He took a stick from xem and held it awkwardly at his waist, and Pie had to stifle a giggle as xe absorbed the sight of a sickly man in a black, mysterious robe holding a fluffy pastel rainbow treat on a stick. “I won't be watching though, I’m afraid,” the man continued. “Not one for big crowds.”
You don’t seem like you’re FOR much of anything, Mr. Reaper man. But Pie didn’t say that out loud. It took many years and lots of motherly guidance to realize that some people found some comments rather rude. Might be best to make a joke and move on instead. “Oh, well, I’ll be there if you want to watch me. I’ve got some pretty good tricks up my sleeve.” Pie pulled out the edges of xyr cloak, revealing pockets which held xyr bladed cloth strings and two glimmering, bladed boomerangs. Xe winked at the cloaked man. “You’re in for a treat.” His lips turned upwards at this, and for a moment he seemed innocent, almost young, though the wrinkles laid in his brow had caused Pie to assume otherwise. See, you just need a laugh! That tended to be a common trend with people.
A clock tower’s bell rang out, and Pie startled, realizing the sound meant xe was almost late. Xe wasn’t sure entirely how entering the Arena complex worked, but the last thing xe wanted was to be locked out. “Crap, I gotta get going. Wish me luck, Milo!”
“Of course,” xe heard him say, overlaid by a soft growl that seemed more like a weird purr than an actual angry dragon sound. Though, Pie had never heard what exactly constituted an angry dragon sound vs a dragon purr, or if such a thing existed. I hope they enjoy the candy, at least a little bit… good luck with your candy-stealing dragon, Milo.
Pie could just skip the Championships and stay here. There were so many interesting beings to meet, so much cotton candy to eat, xe thought as xe took another bite of xyr treat. But if xe did that…
I must be the one to find the Jade. And to do that, I have to go through with this.
An entire arena full of crystals. Crystals that Pie had never seen before, that, as far as xe could tell, were either augmented with strong magic or entirely magical themselves. Pie debated tapping one with xyr hammer, but decided magical crystals probably weren’t the safest thing to hit with a metal rod. But even restraining xemself from touching the crystals, Pie’s excitement rose at the bright, open environment. This is just the right spot for me. Pie reached into xyr cloak, which fluttered in the swirling winds, and released the strands of cloth tipped with elaborate metal points. Xe grinned as xe watched them fly around xyr waist, xyr blood-sister’s meticulous stitches making blade and cloth seem like one unit. I hope Corinna’s watching- I promise your help was worth it!
The chime interrupted Pie’s thoughts, and the mages’ voices brought Pie’s grin even broader across xyr face. Xe clapped xyr hands together as the mages finished. A positive attitude was step one to a positive outcome. Let’s do this, Pie!! Pie weaved leisurely through the large crystals, xyr eyes locked on the sharply-dressed human standing across from xem. He seemed both relatively undaunting (compared to a giant, a clawkin, and a… whatever that thing was) and like the kind of person Pie could have fun with: curious, and loaded with knick knacks. He’d done what Pie had hesitated to do, and Pie watched as the crystal stabbed by his dagger shattered outwards into tiny pieces– Which froze, midair, before scattering and dissolving into the ground. Was that his doing, or a mechanic of the crystal? Pie wasn’t sure which one xe’d rather… but either way would be interesting. Xe cupped xyr hands around their mouth and called to him, hoping xyr voice wouldn’t get lost in the winds. “Hey, blondie, what was that?”
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