Searching

[Shard]

Shard continued to clean his wounds, having located a bottle of peroxide. From what she could tell, nothing major was broken.

"Thank the gods for small favors...."

Psly moaned, eyes flickering as if he were dreaming, and then began to thrash around. It was all she could do to hold him still. She climbed on top of him, and sat, waiting for whatever it was to pass.

When it did, she went back to tending his wounds, the only sounds his breathing, and her tears.

[PslyderFTA]

In his dream, Psly had stopped thrashing on his way to the ground. When the dragon had passed even beyond his sight, he let himself turn around to face the oncoming terrain.

By the spirits, if he was going to make a crater, he'd do it face first. That way, the rest of the world could go suck on his hoop, for all he'd care.

Then the elf found something odd happening.

He was slowing down.

Pain still registered from the talon wounds, but he paid no mind. He'd been through worse. But slowing down? One doesn't slow down in free fall unless one either had a parachute or some other way of slowing his velocity.

Suddenly, another vermillion flash burst in his vision, and Psly found himself back in the City proper, perched like a gargoyle on the rooftop corner of a building. By now, he knew he was dreaming. He knew it. Even down to the disintegraged shirt underneath the ballistic leather jacket. Hopping down, he made his way along the city streets towards the Arena.

It wasn't until a few blocks later, when the chill in the air had permeated his bare skin, that he realized it. That and the odd little whisper he thought he heard in his own voice. . .

"No, chummer. You ain't dreaming. For once in your miserable existence, you're going to have to pay the price for your good intentions."

Funny. . .it was his voice. . .but it didn't quite sound right. For one, it was just a hint higher. . .and for two, it sure as blazes didn't sound like it came from deep in the heart of Dixie. . .

Time to recoup, he thought. And, passing into the doors of the Outback, to figure out what the fraggin' hell was going on. . .

[Shard]

Shard sat, holding Psly's hand, tears streaming down her face.

Then he disappeared. Just winked out of existence.

"This isn't good...."

She was up in a second, looking around, screaming Psly's name. No answer. From anywhere...

She checked the entire the garage, and the bat cave.

And nothing.

So she grabbed her bag, and head out into the night, calling Psly's name at the top of her lungs.

[PslyderFTA]

Walking back from the Outback took a small amount of time. Just enough, in fact, to hear Shard calling his name in abject terror.

"Aw drek. . ."

Running quickly, he soon happened upon her.

"It's a'ight, toots. . .Ah'm heah. . .trust me."

[Byzannce]

Death came with unexpected peace. Jacob had come, and then the blackness cloaked everything. Not so bad, really.

But just as blissful sleep came, lightening arced from the dragon’s body, back along the rockets contrail. Blue-white, it sizzled across the sky, exploding into a strange looking motorcycle, blowing it to smithereens. The ‘elf’ that had been jacked into the vehicle was thrown high into the air.

Disorientation.

Shock.

ANGER!

All of these things were experienced, and then came the psionic cry of loss and sorrow from Jacob. That scream into the ether brought realization into focus.

This ‘elf’ was the one who’d shot me!

Anger flared hotly in what remains of me. I could see my old body in a pool of blood with Jacob sitting beside me, holding Sai Jon, his friend, both of them coated in my blood as it pooled beneath my inert corpse, but here I was, locked into a foreign body, hurling through the air.

Realization that I was about to die again if we landed in Battlefield Park woke survival instincts, and in the ‘elf’s’ mind I raged at him, talons digging into his body.

“BASTARD!”

He was as shocked as I. We are locked here together.

We hit hard around a tree, and I could hear a crowd gathering where Jacob and his friend were sitting. Then a shot gun blast ripped into the night.

Shortely thereafter, the oddest sensation was coupled with a brilliant blue glow where I had fallen. There was no pain, but a feeling of loss, diminishment – and then soft words carried on a breeze – “May the lord have mercy on your soul, friend dragon. May you rest and abide with him until time ends.”

My broken body was gone.

Ashes upon the wind.

I retreated from the elf’s consciousness. Turning inward. What was I to do now?

[Shard]

Shard stood and studied him a moment, tears streaming down her face.

Sniffling, she dug through her pouch, and came up with a t-shirt, albeit a little dirty. She reached out to hand to him...

And dropped in on the ground.

Shard ran, and wrapped her arms around his neck, laying her head against her chest. Slowly, she transformed back into her human form.

[PslyderFTA]

Crooning soothingly to her, he guided her back to the garage, where, uncharacteristically, he set about cleaning his residence with a vengance.

Soon, he notices Shard asleep on the couch. Carefully lifting her up, he ascends to his loft and settles her into the bed. Then, a slight grin on his face at the events of late, he returned downstairs to his cleaning.

Time passes.

The morning greets him with a newfound fervor. Life is much too precious to be spent in idle slumber, he thought to himself. At least, he thought he thought it to himself.

Although even Psly wasn't quite sure what made him order new windows for the kitchen. . .in blue. . .

[Shard]

Shard slept over at Psly's for a couple of days, just to keep an eye on him. Of course, it was probably better that way.

She started to notice things.

For one, he quit wearing black leather pants, and started wearing blue jeans. For two, the blue windows he had installed. Also, he started collecting other things... Little blue glass figurines, blue baubles. Blue everything.

It was starting to worry her.

She decided to help Kheldar out with the Diamond Quest.

[PslyderFTA]

Some few days had passed since Psly’s “accident”, and further recovery. And so much time had passed since he’d competed in a Diamond Quest, he’d forgotten. So, tonight, he sauntered into the Outback, thinking he’d either take the top spot, or ditch these demons in his life trying for it.

Tareth, someone who’d been rather absent of late, finally looked over and recognized the remade elf. ” Good lord Pslyder, what happened to you?”

“Call it a reboot,” chuckled Psly. “Had ta ditch th' hardware.”

The first round matchups were called, pairing the elf with Cass in the Can.
Stripping down to his normal brawling attire, Psly began stretching out, before slipping a pair of fingerless leather gloves out of his blue jeans pocket and sliding them over his fists, then the barechested elf hopped over the edge of the Can, landing with a booted thump.

”Mars, guide my fists.”, stated the Roman, before giving his usual acknowledgement of “Skill and Honor, emerald.”

”Fists, guide 'im t'Mars. . .”, the elf whispered before replying in a more normal voice, “Same to ya, chummer.”

The match was short and brutal, lasting only seven rounds, but eventually netting Psly the win, much to Cass’ disappointment. He nodded, then vaulted out of the Can, the twin blue lines on his back having grown just slightly longer, but his eyes back to the normal light green color. He hadn’t noticed them change during the match. Psly then snatched up his water bottle, taking another swig, and snagging a towel to dry the sweat from off of his shirtless self.

At that point, Kaja had to comment. ”'Ey, hot stuff.”

”Hey yerself, toots,” Psly replied as he checked his wardrobe for any possible social faux pas, then finishing off his water and grabbing two more, dropping one off by Rena, who’d taken up her customary spectator’s spot at the end of the bar.

When the next lineup was called, Psly looked over at Tareth, who, in a rather odd display for the man, replied, ”What?” Psly noted that Tareth seemed rather distracted. . .most unusual.

“We're up, chummer. . .” said Psly as he headed for a Rask Brand ring, Tareth slowly following behind. The match itself was short, but enlightening, as Psly tried opening with his typical attempts at wit and repartee, earning a simple ”Just fight” from the man.

The match ended quickly in just six rounds, but that would unfortunately be the high point of Psly’s night. The third round had Psly and Matt falling prey to one of Shard’s more devious plotings, the last being blindfolds for Cass and Jaycy. This time, the combatants were bound at the wrist.

Eleven rounds later, Psly was rubbing his sore wrist where the rope had chafed during the pounding Matt gave him. Rubbing his temples against an oncoming headache, Psly muttered to himself as he searched for an aspirin. “Fraggin' ow. . .” Not finding any, the elf laid his head down upon the cool wood of the bar and closed his eyes, resting with a sigh.

. . .bastard. . .

Not again, thought the elf. . .

. . .oh yes. . .indeed again. . .you shot me. . .so now. . .you get to live with me. . .forever. . .

Psly shot up off the bar at the calling of the next lineup, wincing slightly as it was just too darn bright in here. Raking his gloved hands through sweat-streaked hair and blinking rapidly, he hopped over the ropes to face off against Jaycy. All he remembered clearly was getting dropped to the floor as agony bloomed in his brain.

A hazy memory of Cass mouthing off about something or other, voices fading in and out, multiple impacts, and finally, blessed blackness. . .

Or so he thought. . .

. . .yessssss. . .now it is time. . .

time fer whaht?

. . .time. . .for my needs. . .i’m hungry. . .

no. . .

Lightning flared in his vision.

A vision from on high, overlooking the city.

Blur. . .

Faces, looking upwards in horror at some unimaginable terror.

Blur. . .

Fields. . .white shapes on dark green. . .

A feeling of elation. . .impact. . .


Pslyder woke, screaming, clawing his way up from the bathroom floor in his loft. A moment’s worth of breathing and looking at his reflection in the mirror was all it took to have him turning and retching so hard into the toilet that his toes curled.

Amber. His eyes. . .were amber.

That, in and of itself, wasn’t the problem.

Slitted too.

Neither was that.

The problem was, his face, from cheekbone to collarbone, was literally coated in drying blood. . .

And the poor elf had no earthly idea how it got there.

[Shard]

Shard spent a long night trying to find Psly. A very...long...night.

No one had seen the elf since his disappearance from her lap during the last match of the Diamond Quest.

Eventually, she had to give up. Weary to the bone, she trudged back to the Outback to collect Psly's things. Then she headed for the garage, and his little loft apartment.

The four times she had checked, he wasn't there, so she didn't expect for him to be there this time. She took a long, hot shower, rinsing away her sweat, and her tears.

Exhausted, she fell into his bed, not even bothering to get dressed again.

**********

She awoke with a scream. Not her scream, but someone else's. She sat upright in the bed, just as the sound of retching could be heard coming from the bathroom. The shower hissed on just after.

She jumped out of the bed, and ran for the bathroom door, slamming it open, to see Psly curled up in the tub, not even having closed the curtain. As she stepped closer, she saw red rivulets running into the drain, from his face and neck.

Psly was crying. And whispering, "No..." over, and over.

She knelt beside the tub, taking his face in her hands.

"No, what, love?"

Then he opened his eyes....

[Shahai Iida]

I don't know where the blue had come from, or why, but as we fought, we were joined by a human, who jumped upon my back, and managed to do what I have spent weeks attempting to do. In a blinding flash, the body I inhabited began to heal at an accelerated pace. The magic I longed to touch flooded into the dragon form.

At last! Success!

And then it all went wrong. I do not know where the dragon had lurked, but he erupted from nowhere, wrenching control away only as I could at last reach for the magic. I fought him, shoving at his soul. Both of us would not exist in this body, and I have nowhere to go. I HAVE to win.

We flew high, into the sky above RhyDin before vanishing into the aether.

We fought for control of the form, and I have never encountered such resistance! I was in danger of losing, and that would mean my death with now body to return to as sanctuary.

Death had suddenly become a very real spectre for me.

[Tasslehofl Momus]

He had finally had enough. It was time to end this little charade. One of his own had been pulled from the sky, and he had grown tired of being patience.

He pulled his flight to a halt as he reached the ether. There, he pulled himself inward and faced the one who had held sway of his body for so long.

“This game has come to and end.”

“Yes, it has. It’s long past time for you to go!”

“Ahh... but you see, I have never left, nor will I. You will soon understand, the power you have hungered so long for has always been there, and it will always be just beyond your reach.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You are leaving, Dragon.”

The smile that came was almost one of pity. “There is where you are wrong.”

The power that had flooded the body once more roared to life, and he turned, still in his mind, and lifted the body that he had taken from the ground.

“Bloodspeaker, the hunger which you have always lusted for will be your curse. The power which you have held will be no more. You shall be condemned, for the rest of your days, as a simple human being. Your bloodlust will continue, yet your blood magic will cease. You shall be nothing but a soul trapped in a body, a body and soul much like the ones that you use to feed on.”

His words continued to echo on, the power that he brought to heel entwining with them. Then that power flared and shoved the bloodspeaker into the body that was held ready for her.

[Shahai Iida]

We fought over the body. Fought for what seemed an eternity. My hold slipped slowly but inexorably, and in the blink of an eye, I was trapped. Trapped inside one of my victim's bodies.

The dragon has won.

Reclaimed his body, and left me locked into a peasant's form with not one whit of magic in the body he's locked me inside.

Nothing.

Nothing but memories - and a hunger that will never die.

Nothing.


But, there are always options..... always.

[Byzannce]

Hunger.

My retreat into the elf’s mind could not stave off hunger, and the things this one ate were not the food of choice.

Lamb! I want lamb!!!

I find I can assert some influence while trying to figure out how to undo this.

[Byzannce]

The softest whisper, "I'm hungry for lamb... not that stuff you eat.... red blood, warm and fresh", the thought rippled through the elf's mind.

He growled back at my thoughts, "You got food just last fraggin' night!!
Do you got any fraggin' idea how hard it is t'sneak pas' someone sleepin' in yer doss??"

This reply was puzzling, "why sneak? We're hungry and need to eat". For me it is simple, I hunger, I eat.

He answered with a touch of impatience, "Because walkin' inta someone's field an' sayin' "'Ey, mind if'n Ah take a nice chomp outta one'a them thar walkin' lawnmowers'a yers?" Don' work."

Dismissive air to the thought, "who asks? Swoop in and take it."

He let his exasperation show, "Ah cain' fly!!!"

"Of course you can, I know someone who had artificial wings added to his physiology, wonderful things for dropping in for a midnight snack."

My thoughts and memories of my new found friend brought a hint of sadness ......

A long keening cry ripped through Pslyder's mind... "JACOB!"