Posted by Tommy Tanaka
on 7/17/2009, 5:30 pm, in reply to "Re: A Brief History of Aurilaz & The Talisman"
"I know! I know!" War Scribe screeched as she jumped up and down like a jackrabbit in heat, "I'll be right back!" With that said, the Drowling disappeared from view only to reappear a moment later with a small wreath in her hand.
Tommy blinked as his eyes started to tear up, and his nose twitched.
"Here we go!" The Drowling presented the wreath to the rest of the group, "Dragon's Bane! The one thing ALL dragons fear--and with good reason! If you guys offer this up to her so she can destroy it--or use it against someone who could attack her in the near future--then I am certain that she will be more than willing to loan The Eleventh Talisman to you. What do you think guys?"
"Wow!" gasped Serna and Neven in unison.
"SNGHXXH!" The Gamer's hand flew to his face, just barely muffling a sneeze. He sniffed. "I think…that I'm allergic to that stuff. Which is kind of amusing.
"Nashoo, Master Tommy!" offered Neven with a look of concern, "Are you alright?"
"Bless you, my friend," added the Swordsman, "Are you sure you don't have any Dragon blood flowing through your veins? Maybe you should keep your distance from the stuff. God only knows what it might do to you if you came into direct contact with it."
Tommy rubbed his nose as he thought. "Not on my Mother's side," he replied. "On the other side… Fiona never told me much about Dad. Actually, that's too mild. She actively discouraged my asking about him. I always figured he was some sorcerer from out in Shadow, or maybe a Chaos Lord she had a fling with…but considering that my great-Grandmother was the Unicorn, who knows?" He shrugged.
"Where in the Realm did you get Dragon's Bane, Scribe?" Irzen asked with a look of complete confusion upon his face, "Do you know how rare this stuff is?"
Seriah crossed her arms, "Hmph! You like playing with fire, don't you, Drowling? Just keep it away from my student!"
"Yep!" the Drowling beamed from ear to ear, "I got it right here. After all, this is an Arboretum, you know. Practically all the plants that ever existed in The Realm or exist in The Realm now are here. Granted they are not as well organized as one would find in The Garden of Zinn or Tardos Keep because they are scattered throughout the Arboretum, but they are here nonetheless."
"Still, if you doubt my words," War Scribe held the wreath aloft as she approached The Elementalist, "We can always try it out on someone. How about you, Alyson, wouldn't YOU like to wear a wreath of Dragon's Bane? Muwhaha! Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
Alyson involuntarily backed away almost on impulse, shrieking, "Get THAT away from me!" There was a part of her which hadn't realized her affinity for dragons until now, "ARE YOU INSANE! Playing Russian Roulette isn't what I had in mind. Sheesh! It's bad enough that I'm on Venger's most wanted list!"
"Humph!" War Scribe huffed in mock disappointment as she lowered the wreath, "What's the matter Alyson? Is the big bad Elementalist afraid of a little harmless Dragon's Bane? Muwha! Ha! Ha! Ha!"
After taking a few moments to breath again, "Look, I'm sorry I over reacted but don't do that, Scribe. It's NOT funny. By doing that, you're just as bad as Venger."
"I try!" quipped the Drowling merrily as she skipped away from Alyson and back to Kana's side.
"What does it do?" Kana asked, the confusion showing on her face with the commotion on the wreath.
"It's Dragon's Bane. One touch on any dragon will caused the creature to vanish as though it never existed," The assassin deadpanned, "Without Dragons in the Realm there would be no magic."
"Yeah, it's nasty stuff," agreed the Drowling as she handed the Dragon's Bane to Kana, "Go ahead and touch it. It won't hurt you. It's harmless to every living thing in the Realm except Dragons and those that have Dragon's blood flowing through their veins hence Alyson's desire to avoid any contact with it."
Kana was a little hesitant at first, as she reached out to take the Dragon's bane. But once she touched the wreath and nothing happened, she took them from War Scribe and took her cloak off to wrap them in it.
"Still, in lieu of a better idea, I think it will make a worthy goodwill gesture for Aurilaz if you guys present the stuff to her in exchange for the Talisman," The Swordsman concluded, "Unless someone here has any better ideas, Scribe, wrap it up and put a bow on it. Kana, it might be best if you handle it considering that Alyson and Tommy both have an allergic reaction to that plant--albeit one more fatal than the other one."
"Works for me," chirped the Drowling, "But before I do that, I have to have a few words alone with my Scruffy Wuffy Wolfie!" With that said, War Scribe seized Kana's hand and disappeared with the Wolfen to a glade deep within The Arboretum.
"Oh for the love of God," Irzen shook his head, "Where did she go now?"
The Gamer shrugged. "I could hazard a few guesses, but that's all they'd be. I'm more interested in figuring out what we're going to do with the Talisman, assuming we can get it from Aurilaz. We are all in agreement that letting the Big V have control over it is a Bad Thing, yes?" His gaze quickly swept the group. "Okay, I've got a couple of ideas. One hinges on my ability to make magic do other than what it's supposed to do. The other hinges on exactly how the Bearer thing works, and whether or not V-Man himself is aware of it. The first will require getting my hands on the thing, the latter talking to Aurilaz. And hey, worst case scenario, Blue Boy's words were 'If you are up to the task of claiming the Eleventh Talisman you shall render it unto me once you have succeeded.' Given what we know about Aurilaz, we may well not be up to the task. Regardless, I'd like to know what thoughts the rest of you have been having on the subject. And no, it is not a coincidence that I waited for War Scribe to be gone to bring up the topic. Please bear that in mind."
+++++
"Kana, can you please have a seat?" War Scribe pointed to a large rock that sat nearby, "There is something that I have to tell you."
Kana walked over and took a seat, knowing that something was bothering her, and waited for her to continue.
The Drowling sighed as she dropped to one knee and took The Wolfen's hands into her own. Staring up at Kana with pure affection in her eyes, War Scribe sighed, "Kana, there is no easy way for me to say this. You're one of my bestest friends in the whole wide Realm. You always accepted me for who and what I was regardless of what I did and you never, EVER asked for anything in return." The Drowling cheered up a little, "You even had the decency to snap my neck when we had our pillow fight over Willow--and that was a very thoughtful thing for you to do. It really was."
Kana gave a slight smile at the difference of thought during that time.
Looking up into The Wolfen's eyes, War Scribe added with pain-filled eyes, "Kana, I'm just going to come out and say it: The Mercy Family did not catch up with you without help, I led them to you!"
The Drowling quickly added, "They tricked me. I didn't know who they were. When I found them on the plains overlooking Fair Weather, they appeared to be lost. Then they told me that they were looking for you, that they were your family, that they loved you, that they missed you and that they were really concerned about you. So, I thought I would do you and them a favor by reuniting them with you. I really didn't know anything was wrong until Waylon stabbed me in the back and left me for dead in the middle of the street. And by that time, it was too late."
A single tear streaked down War Scribe's face, "I'm sorry, Kana, I'm sorry that I brought all of that hell down upon both you and Serna. And I'm sorry for all that I put the both of you through. Can you please forgive me? Can you please still be my Scruffy Wuffy Wolfie?"
Kana reached out and took War Scribe into her arms and hugged.
"I know that you were the one who told them," she started out. "They told me and thought that they had dispatched of you. You didn't know what they could do, and I never said anything that would make anyone think otherwise. Course I never said anything, but there's nothing to forgive. Balance was kept."