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[aspectoftime]

[Today, there is another dragon rather than the normally red one resting at Alexstrasza's tree. He is calmly looking up at the branches, the greenery around his massive form dusted with desert sand and glittering gold dust

Comments

[payback]

[Someone else is feeling very sorrowful regarding Alexstrasza's departure... and the tree is the automatic place to go to feel close to Alexstrasza.

She looks up at Nozdormu curiously. Even as a Dragonsworn she never got a chance to meet any other dragons.]

[aspectoftime]

[Nozdormu was not surprised that the place was crowded with those of Alexstrasza's boon.

The giant bronze dragon turns his head towards Rin and allows the sand and gold dust to swirl up over his body, making him more solid.]

Yesss?

[payback]

[rin steps back in mild surprise. she isn't sure what she was expecting; maybe nothing at all really, which means everything is sort of strange yet unsurprising all at once. after a moment:]

Who are you?

[aspectoftime]

The quessstion isss, who are you?

[He peers at her with gemstone eyes, curious to test this person.]

[payback]

... My name is Rin. [A blink, and she hesitates warily - this dragon doesn't feel wrong, but Alexstrasza implied that the whole Dragonsworn thing should be kept secret - she's wary to breach confidence even to another dragon.] Um. Did you know Alexstrasza?

[aspectoftime]

Rin, you sssay...

[He seems thoughtful, but not in a rude way. He rarely had any interest in mortals, but this place was starting to change that.]

Yesss... ssshe isss my sssissster and fellow Assspect.

[payback]

Ah... [Her curiosity is frank and direct; she is eternally (and much to her detriment sometimes) easy to read.] What are you the Aspect of?

[aspectoftime]

[He eyes her curiously, narrowing his gemstone eyes.]

Time isss my realm, asss hersss isss life.

[payback]

[A brief pause - with Alexstrasza gone, there's no one to teach Rin the ins and outs of her new powers... at least that's what she thought. But maybe...]

How similar are your powers to hers? I mean, how they work and stuff? You know everything she could do, right?

[aspectoftime]

Of courssse. But our assspectsss are different, and ssso are our powersss.

[payback]

Do they work the same way?

[aspectoftime]

Do you consssider life and time to be sssimilar? Ssshe isss life, I am the yearsss. Different but the sssame.

[He lowers his head a bit, looking closely at Rin.]

Ssspeak what isss on your mind, or leave me be.

[payback]

[Rin steps closer to the tree, looking up at him anxiously in turn.]

I want a teacher. I had an agreement with Alexstrasza... a pact... but since she's gone, I don't have a teacher to fine-tune the powers she gave me.

[aspectoftime]

You are dragonssssworn...

[It's not really a question. His tail slides through the desert sand he lies in, sweeping up a cloud of dust. It quickly takes the form of an hourglass.]

A rare thing, yesss... thisss isss interesssting. What powersss did ssshe give you, young one?

[He flicks the hourglass with a claw, and the sand in it starts moving. Tick-tock.]

[payback]

[Rin doesn't bother contesting it, because it's true, and if he can help her he'd need to know anyway.]

Um, I can speak the language... I don't even really know everything, we didn't have time to go over all of it - I can sense life now, when it's, you know - [a vague hand gesture] - moving around. And I can tell when people are off sometimes now too, like if they're actually dead. She said I could learn to hone it more but I don't know how to go about doing that or how it would be best. She said I'd be a better healer because of it and that some of it would be instinctive, but to learn to be a good healer other than just the basics I'd have to be trained. And she gave me this...

[fishing out a necklace from where it's concealed by her shirt collar - the charm on it is a carved fragment of one of Alexstrasza's beautiful red scales.]

[aspectoftime]

Curiousss, for the Livegiver to give a mortal thessse thingsss... we tend to perfer thossse with longer lifespansss.

[He doesn't seem to be talking to Rin. =/ ]

Child of life, yesss... could be powerful...

[He cranes his giant head to the tree, and then nods to himself.]

Asss a favor to the Dragonqueen, I ssshall anssswer what I can. Will you ssswear yourssself to another Asspect, Asssano Rin?