A Grand Tour?

[wizardsgrace]

Characters: Zedd Wizardsgrace, Gladius gladdest_one, and anyone else who shows up (will edit as they arrive)
When: Friday, July 25, in the evening
Where: The Storage Facility in the Southwest Quarter, between Arro's Neighbourhood and Ichigo's Library
Rating: PG, I think...
Summary: Zedd examines storage facility while looking for a place to hold a gathering to discuss the

Comments

[wizardsgrace]

The man jumped at the voice, not having expected the young dragon to be quite that eager to meet. He turned, stuffing the little rock into his pocket again, more than a little hasty about it, like it was a naughty little trinket. "Ahaha, my boy, you did bring apples!" Zedd grinned, squinting at him as he waved vaguely with his hand. "Somewhere around here is where we were supposed to meet." He chuckled softly.

"You don't look much like the dragons in my own world," he said matter-of-factly, after a moment.. "Though I can't say I'm upset. I meant it when I said the red dragon wanted to eat me." Snatching up an apple, Zedd polished it off before anything else, though he looked at the core critically after he finished. "Better hang onto these, don't you think? Do you have some cloth, perhaps? I'll make a bag for 'em."

He squatted down and grabbed another apple. "I meant it when I told you I'd be happy to teach you what I know about magic, Gladius, my boy. But I should tell you it may do you no good, because we are from different worlds and have different talents. If you don't mind that, I can assure you I don't!" He grinned and took a big bite of his second apple.

"Now, then. Are you ready to go and find this place? If there's room, I hope that we can get meetings of a bunch of people in here, without too much attention being drawn to any experiments we had to perform. Would you help me look it over and see if it will do for something like that? We can change it a big, I think. I can do magic, and I know a few people who can make or remove things, also, so the layout isn't so important. We want space, even if it is open, I think."

He frowned a little. "Well, if you disagree, please tell me, of course! I don't want to say only I know what we need, since I'll admit I'm only guessing."

[gladdest_one]

Gladius's head tilted to one side in thought, his tail curling around to rest over his footpaws much like a cat would. "I told you I'd bring apples! They're really good ones too. I had a few myself. I'm still pretty young, only around ten in human years. Some of the older dragons are really big and could eat a human if they wanted to. Not that we do."

At the request for a piece of cloth, he hopped back to his feet and looked around for something that could work. Spying a newspaper across the street, he trotted over to it and grabbed a corner with his teeth before carrying it back and setting it on the ground. "I don't mind, Sir! I'm a little interested in what magic from other worlds is like. And yes, I'm ready! I'm glad I met you here since..."

His paws shuffled a little on the ground and he gave what could have been interpreted as an embarrassed smile. "I forgot to ask where the location was. But I don't disagree with changing the setting. I think we'd need some shelves in there, maybe a desk or two to work at. And chairs. And we'll need some lanterns for light at night."

[wizardsgrace]

"So you did!" Zedd's appetite was clear, as he polished off his second apple while watching the dragon gambol over to the newspaper and back. Zedd scanned the paper, eyebrow raising. "This is some sort of...report. Information from before the event, even, or so it seems. Hmm."

Carefully, he tore a small piece of the paper off the top, and laid it on the ground, smoothing it out. Each pass of his hands increased the size and weight of the paper, until it was enough to hold some of the cores. He folded it up and sealed the corners, grinning at the dragon. "In they go!" He dropped the cores in the bag, rolled up the paper, and stuck it under his arm. "Nothing to it, eh?" He winked and stood up.

"I didn't really look, either," he admitted. "I think it's that way, though. I noticed some larger buildings over there." He pointed a couple of streets away. "I think."

He nodded absently. "Shelves, yes, yes. I imagine we'll need a number of tables, too. Hmm, that's right. There isn't much we can do for light, is there? None of the globes, no guide torch, nothing. A shame, really. We'll see if other people have any ideas, too. There doesn't seem to be an abundance of resources that are easy to get at.

"Oh, and while I'm thinking about it, any more of these you see, let's grab them, shall we?" He pats the newspaper fondly. "May give us an idea what happened before...this happened."

[gladdest_one]

Gladius watched intently when Zedd tore a piece off and passed his hands over it, an excited expression on his when when the paper began to grow in size. Even though he lived around magic, high-level spells or spells he'd never seen before excited him. The awe in his eyes was obvious as he turned up to look at the wizard.

"Wow! I think I've heard of spells that can increase or decrease the size of an object, but I've never really seen them done. Most of my focus have been on elemental spells."

He picked up the back of apples and gently hooked the now lighter bag over a back spine, tucking one wing against it. "Well, with the two of us looking, we should be able to find it, and maybe we'll meet someone else on the way!"

He danced a few steps forward, turning his head and giving the air a few sniffs. Plenty of people had passed by earlier, but he didn't recognize any of the scents and there wasn't anyone else currently around. His head turned up toward the sky. It was cloudy and without a visible or moon or torches on buildings, it was growing dark rather quickly.

"I might be able to help with light," he suggested, almost quietly as he looked around the area before bounding over to a building. The window was broken and he grabbed a part of the broken sill and pulled back, breaking the wood off the wall. Setting it on the ground, he took a few steps back and stood his ground, channeling lightning around him before sending it crackling onto the piece of wood. It splintered as the lightning bolt hit it, but a spark lit on the end and soon it burst into flames. Picking up the other end in his mouth, he padded back over, quite proud of his makeshift torch.

[wizardsgrace]

The wizard couldn't help but flash a grin at the dragon's excitement. The young thing was certainly enthusiastic. He even chuckled as the dragon gathered the apples. He'd wait on another one, in case they did meet someone. It wouldn't be very nice at all, not offering food to another citizen of this strange world.

"I don't feel anyone nearby, but if we're lucky, a few of my other friends will come and take a look at this with us. I don't want to make the choice on my own, but since I started this, I should probably have an idea, I think." He watched the dragon dash away, and come back with a torch that, while functional, seemed a bit dangerous to Zedd, as well.

"Let me show you another bit of magic," he said cheerfully, and carefully wove a shield under the fire, and strengthened it so that it would burn longer than usual on the limited fuel he'd given it. "Now, we won't have to worry about getting burned." He studied the set up for a moment, and then laughed, holding out his hand. "Here, I'll take it. I'm a bit taller, and I don't have to hold it in my mouth. I'll admit, I'd like the conversation, my boy."

[gladdest_one]

Gladius relinquished the hold on the torch, spitting a few times and running a claw between a tooth to pick out the splinters, claws and teeth reflecting in the fire light. With all the wood pieces picked out, he gave a large smile.

"I guess I still have a lot to learn. But maybe it doesn't run in my veins as strongly as my clutchsiblings. My oldest clutchsister is the best at magic. She already has third-level spells mastered. The council says she'll be a good mage once she's older."

His mouth closed with a small click and he looked sheepishly. "...Sorry, the council says I talk to much. Um, we should get moving now."

[wizardsgrace]

Zedd watched, bemused, with the bag in one hand and the torch in the other. "Are you alright? I didn't realize you'd have splinters," he said softly.

"Look, we all have a lot to learn. I certainly do! I've been practicing magic since I was a young boy,and I can't do half of what I'd like to do." He smiled. "All we can hope for is to keep learning, and keep getting better. That's the important thing." He smiled at the dragon.

"And I don't think you talk too much. I like to talk! Talking is a good way to share ideas, you know. Shall we be off? You can talk all you want, or even ask questions, how's that sound?"

[gladdest_one]

"Wood was a littler softer than I thought, ehe, but I'm fine now!" Gladius replied, spitting a few more times for good measure. He gave a long stretch, claws digging easily into the pavement as his tail gave a small lash. "And I'm glad you don't mind me talking that much. Not that I'll keep talking without stopping, since that'd be rude, but the council always said I talked too much. Whelps should be seen and not heard."

He paused and gave a sheepish smile. "Yes, let's begin walking. And that does sound nice. But you must be a really powerful wizard."

[wizardsgrace]

Zedd set off immediately, aiming for what he was confident was their goal. "Children are often far more insightful than adults, I think, and it is baffling why people would ignore them, to me. You know, I have a daughter who is younger than you are, Gladius. She's started talking, though, and walking, and...well. She's not here, actually, but she's with people I trust, back home."

He walks along in silence, thinking over the final question. Finally, he shrugged. "I may be powerful, but that doesn't matter. It's more important to know what power to use, and how much. Discretion is a better trait than power." He smiles to himself, mostly. "If I can accomplish something without using any magic at all, then I don't use magic. It is a tool, a means to an end. Magic doesn't exist for its own sake."

He glanced at Gladius. "If a man had the strongest magic you'd ever heard of, but the only spell he could cast was the strongest spell, what good would he be to anyone, except for on the battle field? He could heal no one, he could fix nothing, he could do none of the things that magic does best. He couldn't even make a torch...and you can, even if you haven't memorized the third level spells."

Zedd paused, and smiled at the dragon. "Do you understand? Magic isn't as important as the mind that is using it. A butter knife and sword both have blades, but who would butter their biscuits with a sword?"

[gladdest_one]

Gladius padded alongside him, listening to everything he said and carefully analyzing it. It was similar to what his teachers back at his home and Araseth had taught him. Magic and other abilities were tools to be carefully crafted and honed by the user.

"That makes sense. I guess respect comes into that. You could be a powerful mage, but if you never did anything good with your abilities, who would listen to you? And say if you were only using powerful spells to try to impress people or prove your worth, that's not very respectful either. There's no need to bellow when a whisper will do. That's what my teacher says."

He gave a tiny sigh, his head falling down slightly. "...I miss my teacher."

[wizardsgrace]

Zedd nodded. "Yes. Sometimes, the whisper is better, even...like when you don't want your mother to know you just asked your father for an extra honey cake." He knelt down and smiled at Gladius.

"If I could send you home right now, little one, I would. But before we can go home to our families, we need to figure out how. I am sorry." Softly, Zedd reached out and patted the dragon on the head.

"I promise that I won't stop until we can all go home...whatever that means to us. And a wizard keeps his promises." He stood, slowly. "Would you like to talk about your teacher? Or we could talk about food. What's your favourite thing to eat?"

[gladdest_one]

Gladius looked up and gave a small smile. "I don't mind, Sir. I'm sure everyone else misses their home too, but if we rush things, we could make a big mess and that wouldn't be good for anyone. So I can be patient. In a way, this is like extra training. I've never really been by myself before."

He gave a small tilt of his head as he lifted it slightly, a tiny smile on his face. "So it's kinda like a really big adventure and I think Araseth will be proud of me when I come back. She's a great teacher. She knows a lot about the forests and hunting and history. But... sometimes at night when she's telling us stories around the fire she looks really sad. She's missing her wings too and she never talks about it when we ask her."

He paused to give a long stretch and scratch his side with a hind paw. He remembered the day before he left for Araseth's forest. The other dragons had spoken in whispers and hissed her name with such disdain it had scared him to leave.

"...But I really like her a lot. I'll be sad when I'm done with my training, but I'm sure I can visit her. And um, food? ...I like deer!"

[wizardsgrace]

"Good boy," he said with a smile. "If you ever need company, you just ask. I'll be there." He brushed off his robes absently. "Adventures are wonderful to read about, but not so fun to live through, unfortunately. Too often there's too much rain and not enough food." He laughed. "But this is different so far, isn't it?

"Come on. Should be just around the corner up ahead." He smiled. "Is it rare to lose wings? I can imagine why she might be sad, then. She must find it nice that her students like her enough to come back, even after training is over."

He laughed softly. "I don't suppose you like your venison cooked, Gladius."

[gladdest_one]

"I guess stories have to make it sound fun and glamorous so other people go out on them," Gladius replied with a tiny laugh. "And I agree. Still not enough food, but at least the weather is some what normal. Everything else is unpredictable.

"And losing a wing?" His own wings gave a tiny flutter, unfolding out then folding back in, a serious expression crossing his face. "...Even in fights between dragons wings might be torn or injured, but they're never removed. It's a punishment, one of the worst ones a dragon can receive."

[wizardsgrace]

"I guess so." He chuckled. "Don't say not enough food, bags! Dear spirits, let that be wrong!" He grinned. "You have apples, at least, eh?"

He listened, and nodded after a time.

"I would have to be serious, wouldn't it? Well, she is still your teacher, and you still care for her, yes? I think that is all that matters. Let her know that as soon as you see her again."

With that, Zedd turned the corner, and there was a large fence, with a gate that was chained poorly, so that it hung open most of the way. Behind that was what had to be the storage facility.

[gladdest_one]

"Yes, there are apples and other fruit," Gladius agreed with a small laugh. "And the rabbits are pretty tasty too. And um, I tried canned tuna once!"

The dragon gave a firm nod, a small smile on his face. "I know. I don't care what she did in the past. She's a good teacher and I like her a lot. I just wish she didn't look so sad all the time. But I will! Though I have a feeling she's going to hit me when I come home."

He gave the side of his head a small rub as if he could already feel the small bruise before padding after the wizard. Coming to a stop in front of the gate, he looked at it, rising up on his paws to give it a push. The chains strained a little and gave slightly and he gave another, harder, push on the gate. The metal rattled loudly again and Gladius stepped away from it, turning his head to the side in contemplation. Bolting forward, he slammed into the gate with the side of his body. The chains snapped and the gate flung back at the force of the impact, crashing back into the fence.

"...Its kinda scary," Gladius commented as he padded past the fence and looked at the large building.