gameofmana | [log] Sword of the Skeleton

Skyfire has been spending his time since arriving, mostly looking around Home and the areas around it. While he had started venturing near town, though doing that still made him nervous and he'd stuck mostly to his shared room with Zenyatta along with the study.

He'd passed by the message board often, but he'd never given it much thought as it wasn't something he was used to considering. After having been alone for so long, the thought of leaving notes for others wasn't something that crossed his mind.

So when he spotted someone he hadn't yet met writing on a bit of paper, Skyfire was admittedly curious. Still, he was unsure about just walking up to someone casually and being nosy, so he was just going to casually walk past for the moment... Too bad he was such a large being and still wasn't used to the rather limited space of home and would likely end up whacking either him or the board with his tail.

It wouldn't be a hard whack, but enough that it makes Skyfire grimace as he realizes that he's once again knocked into either someone or something and he quickly looked over with a sheepish expression to see what or who he'd knocked into this time.

With how many inhuman people he’s had to encounter just in Home alone, not even considering Domina… Tsukishima’s disbelief in that area has been battered to all hell. Fine- there’s animal people and plants and giant dragons. He can deal. So when the giant dragon comes by, he’s willing to ignore it…

...Up until something thick and flexible smacks into him, and a startled noise leaps out of his throat. Brow drawing together, he frowns over at the dragon. “If you wanted me to move, I could have easily without the bump.”

As soon as the words are out of Tsukishima's mouth, Skyfire looked highly guilty and embarrassed. "Oh dear, I'm sorry. I'm not quite used to the layout in here yet, I was trying to avoid knocking into the wall. Are you alright?"

He was doing his best not to damage things in Home as he was getting used to staying in a place not made of either stone or metal. It wasn't like the when he was living somewhere with stone walls, so Skyfire was trying to be very controlled in how much strength he used when moving around... sadly that did make him somewhat clumsy.

The apology eases up the look on Tsukishima’s face, trading in annoyance for dull apathy. He’ll let it go; it doesn’t really matter in the end. Besides, he’s not so much of an idiot that he’ll start a fight with a dragon.

“It was just a bump… I guess this kind of place isn’t exactly made for you in mind.”

Skyfire let out a soft sigh of relief and offered a half smile. "It really isn't, but it's better than sleeping outside. Still, I'm sorry. I'm honestly not used to sharing space like this anymore."

He paused and looked at the board curiously, unsure as to the purpose of it. Paper was still a fairly uncommon thing at the current time on the world (~~Mid 15th century Earth~~) he'd been stranded on, so Skyfire had yet to make the connection to the board being used as a message center. Granted, he'd really hadn't taken a good look at it up to this point either.

"Um, if you don't mind me asking a question... What is this for anyways?" It's a bit awkward, but Skyfire shifted about to try and get a better look at the board, this time managing not to hit anything or anyone. Still, by the way he has to position himself to get a good look, it's rather clear that it's an uncomfortable pose and he's likely not going to be checking the board too often even when he does know.

If it’s of any help, Tsukishima does try to adjust his own position as Skyfire moves. There’s not much he can do about the house being like it is; he’s only a high school student. However, getting out of the way is simple enough.

“It’s a message board… The technology here doesn’t really have any devices to communicate with, and, if there’s magic, none of us know anything about it for it to be useful.” He gives a gesture to the board. “So… This is as good as we’ll get, I guess. Since we all at least live in the same building, people can write messages for everyone else to read.” It’s not the most fool proof plan, admittedly, but they work with what they have. Or, at least, that’s how Tsukishima is trying to look at it. “Things like meetings, if we need supplies or help….”

It does help a bit, but Skyfire still looks extremely uncomfortable and pretty guilty about how much space he's taking up. Tsukishima's explanation causes Skyfire to blink, then look slightly annoyed with himself. It really was quite obvious now that he knew what it was, though he'd really not given such thing much thought yet.

"I feel rather dense for not realizing what it is now... Paper is fairly common here then?" Skyfire didn't see much of anything on the board at the moment, so he very carefully shifted to a more comfortable position. "Hmmm..." he considers things a moment, then sighs as he looks at his paws. Hand-like though they may be, they were not made for writing and he'd left his 'tools' back in his room.

"Well, it will be an interesting experience trying to post something on here at least. If you don't mind me being nosy, what are you putting up a message for?"

“Well, there is a study full of empty books, so…” Then again, as far as he can remember, this sort of set up has always been here. One of the others who lives here is probably putting out it all, he guesses. It doesn’t really matter.

“Anyway, I was going to ask if someone could accompany me somewhere.” Since writing obviously isn’t going to happen right now, he puts down the pen he was using and rests his hand on his hip. “Someone in town needs something from a cavern that’s around, but it sounds like it could be dangerous. I don’t know how to fight, so I was hoping someone more experienced could come with me down there.”

"They're empty?" Skyfire looks a bit disappointed and a touch confused. "Why would they have so many books with nothing in them? That's rather disappointing." He really hadn't had too much of a chance to look through the books as he'd only gotten his tools back after that whole mess with the pumpkins. To find out that while he now had the ability to look through them, that there was nothing to read caused him to sigh a bit.

Listening to Tsukishima's explanation makes Skyfire curious. A cavern might have things he needs, or at the very least he hoped he could move around enough to figure out his spacial awareness without worrying about wrecking a wall. "Well, I wouldn't mind going with you if you think I'd be more help than hindrance with my size... Maybe if I'm lucky I would be able to find some sort of mineral deposit or metal scraps at the same time."

The corner of his lip twitches up a little. “Well, they sometimes get information in them out of nowhere, if that makes you feel any better.” One more mystery in this place, but what else is new?

What’s more interesting to him in the moment, besides, is the offer. “That…. Would actually be really helpful for me. I’ve never been to this place, but, from what I’ve heard, it’s pretty decently sized. I doubt you’d have trouble moving around in it.” Besides, if he’s honest… having a giant dragon as a traveling companion is kind of kickass. For all his aloofness, Tsukishima is still a teenager, after all. This is amazing.

“Is it alright if I ask why you need mineral deposits?”

That bit of information caused Skyfire to blink and tilt his head a bit, a curious expression on his face. "That is definitely interesting. I might try and look into that later..." It's less depressing than totally empty books left to rot on a shelf, but that meant he couldn't use a few to write in and replace them with new books later, at least not until he figured out what was going on.

"It would certainly be less worry than getting used to my new size in here at least." He gives Tsukishima a half smile. "You may ask all the questions you like." He might not always answer, but Skyfire doesn't mind curiosity.

"Mostly I need mineral deposits because I need something to eat soon." Pausing he adds "Granted, any kind of metal or mineral would do, but I've found it's generally less trouble to collect what I need myself rather than try and trade for it." Not that he really had anything of value to offer to trade with at the moment anyways.

The idea that this is a creature that lives off of metal is- all Tsukishima can do is stare, the idea is so out there. He feels like he shouldn’t be surprised; there are literal plant people. Maybe it’s because of that, he recovers a little quicker and shakes his head. “Well, I’m going into the cavern to find a sword by some sort of skeletal creature… So I think you won’t have any problems finding metal.”

Belatedly, something occurs to him, and he gives a slight bow of his head. “I’m Tsukishima Kei, by the way.”

That little tidbit of information about skeletal creatures surprises Skyfire a little, but after the attacking pumpkins the other day, he thinks he really shouldn't be. "Skeletal creature? ... This is going to involve a fair bit of fighting isn't it?" Not that it will stop him from helping out, he just wants to be prepared if it does.

"My name is Skyfire." He tries to mimic Tsukishima's bow of the head, but it's painfully obvious that Skyfire has no idea what he's doing when it comes to greetings with all these new people.

A certain deadness in his eyes says that Tsukishima knows, but he doesn’t say anything about it. It seems unwise to antagonize something much bigger than him that thinks metal ore is a fine dinner. Instead, he shrugs. “It’s why I didn’t want to go alone. I was thinking I could sneak past things and make a run for it if all else failed, but I figured it would be better to have someone who knew what they were doing with me.”

Anyway, that’s just getting repetitive. “Do you need to get anything? I was planning on waiting for people to find the note I was going to leave, but if you’re ready immediately, there’s still plenty of daylight left today…”

Skyfire considers his words and looks thoughtful. "Do you have any kind of protective gear or a weapon then? It's all well and good to not want to fight, but sometimes you need something to defend yourself with." He had claws and strength, but a human needed something to boost their defenses.

"Tomorrow morning might be better to set off..." While Skyfire wouldn't give too many humans 'rides' it seemed the safer way to handle things if he didn't have any kind of protective gear, or even if he did. "... It would give us time to get you used to being up on my back without getting hit in the face with my wings."

“Well, I do have knives…” That is to say, they have an excess of kitchen knives after a… minor event, but hey. If he’s going to use anything, it might as well be the spares, right? “The only protective gear is from the town’s shop, but things can get expensive, so I haven’t been focusing on that.”

Before he can explain much more on that, however, Tsukishima has to pause as the statement really gets through. “Wait… You’re alright with being ridden?”

Skyfire nodded and grimaced slightly at the thought of a human running into something dangerous without at least some protection. They'd have to find him something to wear later, though the lack of money made things a problem.

"Well, as long as you don't expect me to do it all the time or act like a horse..." He huffs softly, offering a small smile. "Since you don't have any kind of armor and we don't know what to expect, you'd be safer on my back until we know what we're dealing with." Skyfire wasn't above taking things from whatever attacked them, and in this place? Who knows what they'd wind up with.

He nods. “That… That makes sense.” As much as Tsukishima is fighting to keep cool and collected, there’s no hiding the slight tremor of interest in his voice. Of excitement. Riding a giant dragon… Who wouldn’t be excited by that? He draws himself into another respectful bow. “I’ll be in your care.”

Although, now that he’s thinking of it- “If it reassures you at all, in exchange for the sword I’m looking for, the person I was speaking with in town agreed to trade it for something that offers magical protection. I had it looked over by someone else, and it seems to check out, although I can’t confirm it for myself with how little I know about things here.”

"Try to relax a little?" He didn't quite make the connection that the way Tsukishima was reacting was because of excitement, instead he mistook it for general nervousness and fear. Sighing softly he adds "I don't need to be bowed to..." Skyfire didn't think of himself as anyone special and was very uncomfortable with the way some people tried to bow and scrape around him when he first encountered humans. It was weird then and still weird now.

"It does help... sort of." He considered things a moment "Though not having it for this trip seems like a poor idea, I can't fault the one owning it in wanting a trade for their product. It just means we'll have to find something that you can use for the interim. It doesn't have to be anything too great, but I would feel better if you had some kind of protection."

Eying the room with a critical look, Skyfire offered a suggestion. "Shall we move this outside and see how well you can handle sitting on my back? I have a few ideas for some better temporary protection for you, but I need to think on it for a bit. We may as well try and figure out if you sitting on my back will work at all." Hopefully he didn't get motion sickness or something of the like.

The request to be calmer and not bow is a surprise to him, and he doesn’t have time to go over what the problem could be before the conversation is moving on. He listens to everything patiently, nodding. “I’ll see what I can find for myself as well. In the meantime, lead the way.” It’d be better to get Skyfire out of the way first anyway, considering how large he is and the difficulty Tsukishima would have moving past him.

It’s while they’re in the process of doing that which gives him the time to think over the dragon’s request to him, and he soon makes the connection. “By the way.. I’m not nervous. You don’t have to worry about that.”

Skyfire nodded at the request to 'lead the way' and started to work his way outside, the way he moves through the place makes it clear that while he's not used to being inside such a place, he is getting better at navigating it.

They were close to being outside when Tsukishima made the connection and clears up Skyfire's misunderstanding. "... Oh. Sorry..." When they finally step outside, Skyfire heads over to a clear spot with 'soft' ground. "You're the first in quite a while that hasn't been... Humans... Humans don't seem to like me all that much."

Well, he can’t say he’s surprised by the revelation Skyfire reveals. Even regular giant creatures with a lot of teeth and claws are treated with a bit of fear back where he’s from. A dragon is even more cause for concern. However, following after him, Tsukishima just shrugs.

“We’re already in an entirely different world, with a bunch of strange races I’ve never seen before. You’re not actively trying to do hurt me, so…” As long as that keeps up, things should be fine. That’s the view he’s going with, for as long as he can manage it. It’s sensible, which is as good as he’s getting in a place like this.

That revelation gets a chuckle out of him and he gives Tsukishima a wry smile. "That is very true. Too bad that view doesn't apply to the natives here or at home."

Skyfire pokes at the ground a bit and looks around, figuring that this spot was as good as any. There were no rocks and the grass would add a bit of padding in case of a fall... Not that he wanted him to fall off, but better safe than sorry.

"Are you ready to try getting up on my back?" He looks at Tsukishima with a tilt of his head, contemplating the best way for him to get up, finally shifting a wing for him to use as a ramp to climb up.

Idly, he wonders how much that’s true. What sort of things are the locals around here desensitized to? They hadn’t even batted an eye at a giant pumpkin causing havoc in their backyard. Would a giant dragon really be all that different?

It’s something to figure out another time. For now, he carefully approaches Skyfire and tentatively sets foot on his wing. Tsukishima would never count himself as the heaviest person around, but he’s still a tall teenage boy. “This doesn’t hurt or anything, right?”

While it might be true that the locals here might be desensitized to some of the more unusual things, at the same time, Skyfire wasn't ready to take too big of a risk yet by just walking into town. After all, being used to something wasn't the same as being friendly or welcoming to it.

"Relax, it's fine. As long as you don't start trying to pull out feathers or fur on purpose, it's not even slightly bothersome." Even at his reduced size since arriving here, Skyfire was sure he'd have no issue carrying a human. He was still made of metal and synthetics, no matter how organic he seemed at first, or even second glance.

Skyfire chuckled softly. "Who knows, you might even manage to help me work out the kink in my neck."

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject