Seaside

[Shadowcaller]

[Sea Coast]

"You'd be surprised. Dragons of the more... 'social' kind are all too common in the nexus. Meaning that some people, even out here, assume that we are to be subjected to the same sort of thing they are. I wouldn't be too surprised if someone would show up demanding rent." A fine black mist raises from Megeshi's nostrils at the mere mentioning of that word. "No proper respect at all if you ask me."

She lifts her claw, gesturing at him. "I mean, it took you less than an hour to invade my new lair so who knows who else will show up soon? You weren't even trying to hide."

[Morty]

[Sea Coast]

"Well, I'm really as much of a guest here as you, aren't I?" Askeladd points out. "You only got here less an hour ago. Not enough time to claim possession of this property yet, I'd say." The large man smiles slightly. "But I can understand the desire for privacy and it will be better for the locals as well if curiosity doesn't bring them here."

[Ironsmith]

Butterfly Bay

”Okay, well…what about that?”
Henry points to one of the more simple games: a basic skee-ball sort of setup. Get 10 points in any way from rolling balls into the smallest holes or landing them into the same one over and over without breaking.
”Are you good at that sort of thing?”

[Butterfly Bay]

"I wouldn't know. Athletic displays are really more my sister's thing." Owena smiles and shrugs. "Well... for a given value of 'athletic'. I guess I could cheat, but unless they're also cheating, that's... well, unfair, by definition." She relinquishes her ticket for her first play and makes an attempt at the game.

It becomes obvious, even without any trickery messing with it, that Owena really isn't very good at this game. She's slow to roll, her aim is consistently off, and after the first few balls, her throws come up short, as she's tiring out entirely too quickly.

[Shadowcaller]

[Sea Coast]

Megeshi doesn't seem particularly interested in debating the ownership of the cave but nods once Askeladd mentions understanding her desire for privacy. "Yes, it will be better for everyone involved." She agrees curtly before motioning into the cave with her snout. "But go ahead. Start looking around. I'll even help you out as I imagine you might need some dragon lore if you find anything I missed."

[Morty]

[Sea Coast]

"You are certainly more hospitable than the last dragon I spoke to. Of course, he was a rather uncouth sort with a reason to distrust the Lunar Exalted." Askeladd steps in deeper into the cave, his eyes sweeping the area. He's exceptionally alert, despite his casual tone, and focused on finding anything that strikes him as more interesting than the normal background of the cave.

[Keeper]

[Butterfly Bay]

"I wouldn't know. Athletic displays are really more my sister's thing." Owena smiles and shrugs. "Well... for a given value of 'athletic'. I guess I could cheat, but unless they're also cheating, that's... well, unfair, by definition." She relinquishes her ticket for her first play and makes an attempt at the game.

It becomes obvious, even without any trickery messing with it, that Owena really isn't very good at this game. She's slow to roll, her aim is consistently off, and after the first few balls, her throws come up short, as she's tiring out entirely too quickly.

Butterfly Bay

Henry winces and gently squeezes her hand.
"You wanna try something else? There's other booths." he suggests.

[Ironsmith]

[Butterfly Bay]

Owena winces, Henry's hand squeezing apparently either not as gentle as he though or as gentle as it needed to be.

"...You know what? No." Owena says, turning over her ticket again for her third and final play of the night. "This might not be my thing, but I'm not giving up on it right away."

She probably should, though. Her first three throws are on par with her last three from the previous game. Which is to say, awful.

Then she steps back, takes a deep, cleansing breath, and steps forward again, throwing the fourth one right up the center and into one of the high-point baskets.

"Ha!" Owena grins triumphantly.

[Keeper]

Butterfly Bay

The catlady manning the booth claps politely.
"Alright Miss. If you can get one more point you'll get the first tier prize."

Can Owena do that? Can she get her final toss to go into one of the baskets?

[Ironsmith]

[Butterfly Bay]

clunk!

No, apparently.

"Ohmygod are you okay?" Owena rushes forward to the catlady, dropping to examine her properly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to... are you all right? How many fingers am I holding up?"

[Shadowcaller]

[Sea Coast]

"You are certainly more hospitable than the last dragon I spoke to. Of course, he was a rather uncouth sort with a reason to distrust the Lunar Exalted." Askeladd steps in deeper into the cave, his eyes sweeping the area. He's exceptionally alert, despite his casual tone, and focused on finding anything that strikes him as more interesting than the normal background of the cave.

[Sea Coast]

"Perhaps this 'last dragon' was wiser than me then, since I don't even know what a 'Lunar Exalted' is. Some sort of champion connected to the moon? It is connected to changes considering how it controls the tide and waxes and wanes. Shapeshifting though? Quite a different story."

As Askeladd starts walking deeper inside the cavern Megeshi is indeed quick to follow. Staying so close that the heat she radiates never seems to leave him be as he starts looking around. The cavern is indeed quite waste but something he immediately notices is that they aren't natural. The walls are too even and smooth to have been shaped by nature yet the actual method that was used to form them isn't immediately obvious either.
As it seems somewhat unlikely heavy equipment was transported out here it might have just be some kind of magic.

[Keeper]

Butterfly Bay

“And that is why we use hollow rubber” drawls the woman. She seems alright enough.
“Trust me, the cubs do it on purpose sometimes. Can’t give you a prize for that one, though.” She adds with a look.

Henry awkwardly looks away. ”Well, it was a good try, Owena. But that’s probably the end of that one.”

[Morty]

[Sea Coast]

"The dragon was native to the same world as I and knew Exalted well. The Lunar Exalted are indeed the chosen of Luna, the ever-shifting moon deity. Changing our shapes is one of their many gifts to us, one we all share."

Askeladd runs his hand along the wall of the cave in thought.

"This is no natural rock formation, for certain. But how this cave could have been made, I do not know yet."

[Shadowcaller]

[Sea Coast]

"That doesn't tell me why this dragon distrusted you. The devious possibilities of a shapeshifter aside." Megeshi remarks, her eyes never leaving him as they wander through the caverns together.
Her attention only briefly drawn to the walls of the caverns as he points them out. "I did notice that. It isn't unheard of dragons being able to bend stone and earth to their will. Some are simply so large that the earth moves with them while others have more mystical forces at their side. Bending it as if it had been clay." A moment of silence as she internally cursed herself for making such a human-centric comparison. She couldn't even manipulate clay with her claws. Clearly she had inhabited that human shell for too long.

"It's a curious location for a lair though." She observes before the silence got awkward. "Remote, not near any major settlements, yet also right inside the most prominent landmark of the region. It'd be impossible for most dragons to enter or leave this place without the people of the village noticing during the day. My first instinct would be that the location of this lair was carefully planned. But given my kin's fondness for theatrics it might also have been at a whim. Yet so close to the village though... they must have wanted to be seen at the very least."

[Keeper]

Out at Sea

Kol is out in one of the small Kunani vessels. It's a simple boat and not one that would probably be very far from sure.
But that's never been a particular trouble for Kol. Perhaps being the son of an ocean goddess does that. But he has no doubts that he'll be able to get home easily when he's done. So for now, just fishing.

[Ironsmith]

Butterfly Bay

“And that is why we use hollow rubber” drawls the woman. She seems alright enough.
“Trust me, the cubs do it on purpose sometimes. Can’t give you a prize for that one, though.” She adds with a look.

Henry awkwardly looks away. ”Well, it was a good try, Owena. But that’s probably the end of that one.”

[Butterfly Bay]

"Ah..." Owena reddens, stepping away from the game. "Well, as long as you're all right, I guess. Sorry again about that." She rubs her wrists as she turns to go, partly out of awkwardness and partly out of soreness. "...Yeah, we should go. Sorry."

Yeesh. Hopefully that isn't what Henry's going to remember about tonight.

Out at Sea

Kol is out in one of the small Kunani vessels. It's a simple boat and not one that would probably be very far from sure.
But that's never been a particular trouble for Kol. Perhaps being the son of an ocean goddess does that. But he has no doubts that he'll be able to get home easily when he's done. So for now, just fishing.

[Out at Sea]

Not much luck with the fish today, unfortunately. Which Kol might find odd; this is normally a prime spot and season for them. The species he'll most commonly find around here has a spawning ground in the area, and it's right around the right time of the year for an undersea migration to be passing through the area. Commercial ships tend to take full advantage of it further up the coast, but they never come down this far, which makes it a wonderful place for Kol to set up if he wants to be certain he'll be bringing home dinner.

But today? Nary a nibble.

And if that wasn't bad enough, on the horizon, he'll be able to see a storm starting to pick up. On land, it wouldn't be anything to worry about, but out here it's got ship-sinking potential if he isn't properly prepared for it. Maybe if he guns for it, he might be able to make it back to shore before it hits... or at least, that would be the right move if it wasn't somehow coming from shore. He'd have to sail not only into the wind, but toward the storm if he didn't want to be out in open water when it hit. And if he comes up short, he might have to worry about his boat being dashed to pieces in the shallows.

On the other hand, sailing away from land with an unusually strong tailwind could potentially cause just as much trouble for him in the long run, as it might throw off his navigation and will definitely take him further out to sea, with no guarantee he'll be able to outpace the storm.

What to do, what to do...

[Keeper]

Butterfly Bay

Henry offers Owena a sympathetic hand as they leave.
"Don't feel bad. Everyone makes mistakes sometimes. One time I tripped and accidentally smashed someone in the face. And before I died my powers were even more weird and goofy."
Like, really goofy. Kind of embarrassingly goofy.

Out at Sea

Hm. Well. Kol has an out: he can always go back to being a dragon and fly for it. Now he's not a particularly good flier (he's only actually done it a few times) but as a backup plan to his backup plan he's a really good swimmer and is not afraid of swimming in the ocean. But if he doesn't know which way to go he can't even do that. So getting lost is the worst case scenario here. With that in mind, Kol starts the engine and starts heading towards shore, even if the storm is coming from that way.

[Ironsmith]

[Butterfly Bay]

"I know. There are, ah, definitely worse things I could have done tonight than accidentally bean a carnie in the face with a lightweight ball." Owena smiles, shaking her head slightly. "...But never mind that. I want to hear about those 'weird and goofy' powers of yours."

Weirder and goofier than him being an adorably dumpy ghost shark? This she had to see.

[Out at Sea]

As the little boat approaches the shore, Kol's going to find that the water gets much choppier. Waves taller than the ship go over him and crash onto the deck of his ship, violently plunging the entire thing underwater for a few seconds before it bobs up to the surface again.

Which... probably isn't good for the boat's internals.

If Kol has the presence of mind to keep track of his position relative to the shore, he'll notice that it doesn't actually seem to be getting that much closer, if it is at all; the waves make it difficult to tell how close or far away he actually is, continually cutting off his vision every few seconds and bombarding him with freezing seawater, not to mention violently pushing the boat up and down in a rather disorienting fashion.

And then the big one hits. Another wave, but instead of being freezing cold, this one is hot enough to boil on deck briefly before receding back into the ocean. An awful hiss fills the air around him as thick, scalding steam rises from the water around him, seemingly originating from a point somewhere behind his boat and expanding to include much of the water in sight.

That's... very much not typical of a storm. Maybe something closer to an underwater volcano undergoing an eruption. How horribly unfortunate.

[Morty]

[Sea Coast]

"The dragon was simply wary around a human who can fight and conquer spirits. They weren't used to feeling threatened by someone. And they may have internalised some of the Immaculate Philosophy's tenets of us being demons." Askeladd strokes his beard. "It could be that simple, perhaps. The dragon wished to have a lair where none nearby would miss their presence but which would make it difficult to be disturbed."

[Keeper]

Butterfly Bay

Henry would be very upset at being called dumpy. He would like when she called him ripped much better.
"Oh. The ghost stuff happened after I died. Before then the House gave me the stupid power of blowing up like a pufferfish when I got stressed. It was really dumb. Sarah had to roll me around until I figured out how to vent all that liquid coolant out." Normally he'd never discuss this with someone he just met but he wants Owena to feel better about herself.

Out at Sea

Wow did you know that boiling water hurts a lot? Kol already knew that but now he definitely does.
The boat is a wash. At this rate the water will kill Kol long before he gets to shore. Unlike most people, he has an out. And also like many smart sailors, Kol has observed the practice of not bringing anything onto a boat he isn't prepared to lose. His rod and knife will be a loss besides the boat itself but he'd rather that over getting boiled to death because his human skin can't handle it.

Kol quickly undresses and goes to the bow of the fishing boat, grabbing one of the lines.
"Hey buddy, I need my scales." he mutters aloud to the spirit in his head, bracing for the sharp pain that his changes cause. He will make a passing attempt to tow the boat to shore but he does not expect he'll be able to.

[Ironsmith]

[Butterfly Bay]

"...I'm not a bad person if I laugh at that mental image, am I?" Owena asks, holding a hand against her mouth and visibly restraining herself from doing just that. She doesn't know what Henry's human form looked like, but she doesn't need to; the image of him being blown up and rolled around like a gigantic beach ball is enough to be comical, even without the details. That, and the normally-serious Sarah responding by rolling him around.

Heh.

[Out at Sea]

Normally, stripping to the skin and jumping into the ocean in the middle of a storm qualifies as an immensely bad idea. And to some degree, it might still be; scales or no, Kol is still jumping into scalding hot water.

But, thankfully, it looks like the spirit in his head decided to listen, and Kol will find himself summarily covered in his usual purple scales... with the perhaps-unexpected side effect of hard, transparent eyelids and a series of gill-like slits in his neck, which make it much less likely that he'll drown attempting to swim through the storm to shore, both in the sense that he won't drown and in the sense that it'll be easier for him to navigate below the water. And while the transformation is, indeed, painful, it's not any more so than being boiled alive is.

Once the transformation is complete and Kol's ready to drag the boat to shore, though, he's going to notice one last facet to his situation that only seems to serve to make things worse.

It's difficult to see from above the waves, but below him now, there's a gigantic, glowing orange eye staring up at him, with a slitted reptilian pupil that contracts just as Kol gets to see it; apparently, now it's seen him, too, and taken quite an interest in him. Granted, said eye "only" appears to be a few meters across, but given the matter of proportions, he probably doesn't want to know what it belongs to.

Another burst of steaming bubbles shoots up from the ocean floor as the gigantic beast moves, the shadows of the entire seabed roiling and rolling in the process. Whatever is down there is coming up.

[Keeper]

Butterfly Bay

"...only if you're not too loud about it." Henry responds. He doesn't like being laughed at but he can't deny that it was probably funny to everyone else. He was the very best ice-shark-pufferfish in the Nexus. Until he got stabbed to death.

Out at Sea

Kol has the sense to not jump into the water until after the spirit does its thing.
Of course everything about that eye says NOPE to him so he's out of there. He turns ninety degrees and starts swimming. If he has to he'll jump up onto the boat and use that as a platform to take off.

[Ironsmith]

[Butterfly Bay]

Thankfully, Owena doesn't go on about it. She seems to be content with a short, stuttering, snort-y kind of chuckle, hand still over her mouth and doubling over just a bit from the effort. It's over in about thirty seconds, give or take.

"...Sorry." She apologizes anyway, doing her best to try to banish the smile from her face and not entirely succeeding. "...You've still got a game on your ticket, yeah? You want to go ahead and hit up one more stall, or...?"

[Out at Sea]

It's difficult to make out anything over the sound of the waves around him and the wind howling if he manages to get his head above water, but the distinct krunk-kap! of his boat being unceremoniously popped like a wooden balloon is unmistakable. If he cares to look, he'll see some of the heavier debris, like the engine, already sinking into the depths, past the enormous silhouette rising up from where his boat had been scant seconds ago.

Followed by a distinct lurching sensation as the water around him turns dark, abyssal shadows surrounding him in every direction except for up, which is illumed by that great orange eye overhead, and what appears to be the occasional flash of lightning, showing the reptilian features around it.

Of course, the chaos in the water still doesn't stop, as the sea floor slowly rises up to meet Kol, great stony crags surrounding him on all sides as thunder rolls over the ocean overhead. Which, if he can look up, he'll see is actually going down, the region of water that qualifies as swimmable diminishing rapidly over the course of the next few minutes.

As a small mercy, at least the water's cooling off. Kind of. What's left of it is. It's not getting any hotter, at least.

[Keeper]

Butterfly Bay

Henry lets her have her moment. He won't tell her that Sarah apparently has pictures.
"Well, we can go back to the rides if you want. Or I can try to do one more game. But our luck with those seem to be a bit, ah." He winks. "Hit or miss."

Out at Sea

Well, he isn't being smashed into dust so that's good. And judging from the claw(?) currently rising below him it seems like the kaiju wants to say hello to him.
Even if Kol isn't the most excited to reply.
"That boat was a loaner. I hope you have something to pay for it." he grumbles, not expecting the monster to be able to hear him.

[Ironsmith]

[Butterfly Bay]

"Ah, well..." Owena glances over at the skyline, which already has a bit of a pinkish tint, reminding them both that dawn isn't that far away. "...Whatever we do, we're going to have to do it quick...ly."

Oh.

Oh, Henry.

Owena's hand goes to her mouth again and she snorts quietly into it. "Oh, god, I'm not sure that even counts as a pun." She jokes, shaking her head in amusement.


[Out at Sea]

Over that sort of distance? With that much extra stuff going on? The wind howling all around them, the waves crashing below and the thunder rumbling from the storm?

Of course the monster hears him.

"SSSOOORRRRRRYYY."

The dragon rumbles, gouts of flame flaring from the corners of its mouth as it speaks, sending a fresh wave of hot air rolling over Kol as the last of the water drains away and he's left standing on the creature's outstretched palm, itself roughly half the size of a football field.

"III DDDIIIDDD NNNOOOTTT SSSEEEEEE YYYOOOUUU WWWHHHEEENNN III GGGOOOTTT UUUPPP. AAARRREEE YYYOOOUUU AAALLLLLL RRRIIIGGGHHHTTT?"

[Keeper]

Butterfly Bay

"One more ride for the two of us, then."
Henry declares with a nod, and he'll point out another classic: the spinning gravitron! Despite all laws of comedy Henry manages to be spun against the walls of a fast-moving ride without accidentally passing through it and losing all of his clothes again.
This does of course, mean they might have to hurry back to Owena's place before she burns.

Out at Sea

Kol's lizard-brain activates immediately and he sits down on the warm surface he finds himself on.
"Well, you're pretty big. I guess we should call it luck that you only wrecked the person on this island that can handle being shipwrecked easily." he shakes his head.
"I'm just fine, thanks. Is the light show you or just coincidence?"

[Ironsmith]

[Butterfly Bay]

Ha! Centrifugal force, meet your match!

Owena, for her part, is still a bit dizzy when she stumbles off the ride, but judging from the grin on her face and her refusal to do anything about her predictably-tousled hair, the ride was well worth the price of admission.

What follows is a run down the beach back toward her house, with the sun slowly rising behind them. Fortunately, nobody else is home yet when they arrive, including a certain overprotective wolf who might get the wrong idea if he saw his niece bringing a strange man home.

"Thank you for tonight, Henry. We should... you know, do this again sometime."

[Out at Sea]

The dragon's head bobs slightly in response to that. Well... "slightly". Its head being longer than most skyscrapers are tall, a small, brisk nod still translates to a furious gust of wind rolling across the creature's palm.

"III..." The dragon begins, catching itself partway through and seeming to realize that a comfortable cadence for it probably sounds incredibly drawn out and unintelligible to Kol. "I AM QUITE LARGE, YES. QUITE LARGE AND QUITE HOT. THAT HAS SOME UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES."

There's another rush of air as the dragon lowers its hand to the shore, burying the back side of it in the sands (and nearby dunes, to its visible dismay) in an attempt to set Kol down on solid ground.

And then once again it leans in, its massive, ten-meter wide eyeball stopping short of Kol as it examines him closely. "...YOU ARE A PECULIAR CREATURE." It notes, inadvertently turning most of the beach to Kol's left into a field of glass with its breath. "DO YOU HAVE A NAME, LITTLE ONE?"

[Keeper]

Butterfly Bay

Henry smiles, waving.
"Well, I gave you my phone number. Next time I promise to have my normal pants with my phone so I can answer your calls, Just call any time, okay?"
Next time he might even have POCKETS to hold things in and a wallet to pay for things without needing phone calls.

Out at Sea

Kol is built to withstand the elements so the heat doesn't bother him. In fact as a pseudo-reptile it's kind of nice.
"My name is Kol." he says, before he adds, "I have it on good authority that I'm something called a Thamar."

[Ironsmith]

[Out at Sea]

The dragon's brow furrows, which even at this distance produces an ominous crackling sound as the creature's massive scales grind over each other. "...HMM." The dragon's massive head slowly rolls in his direction, a massive pair of cavernous nostrils, illumed by some inner fire and trailing thick grey smoke, stopping in front of him. A massive gust of wind rolls over Kol as the dragon takes a tentative sniff, inhaling what must be several gallons of sand in the process.

Then, the dragon throws back its head and lets out a booming, thunderous laugh, the abrupt movement throwing another wave against the shore, which Kol is protected from by the monster's massive claws.

"STONE ME!" The dragon bellows, continuing to chortle loudly enough to be heard up in Butterfly Bay. "I HAVE ANOTHER LITTLE BROTHER! HUH-HA!" Off in the distance, a series of visible eddies form in the ocean, caused by the dragon's tail lifting out of the water just long enough to give an enthusiastic wag, much like an excited dog. "FATHER TOLD ME TO EXPECT YOU, BUT I DIDN'T THINK HE MEANT SO SOON. OR THAT YOU'D BE SO... SO..."

Whatever the word is, apparently it can only be properly expressed by a squeal, the high-pitched sound piercing the ears of everyone within several miles of their location. The sound is accompanied with a clenching of the dragon's other fist, sending a geyser of saltwater high into the air and rolling another set of waves against the beach.

[Keeper]

Out at Sea

Kol squints up at the giant face.
"Oh, are you one of my big brothers? I was told you'd be pretty big. And pink?" It's too dark and stormy to properly make out the giant dragon's color. But Kol's tail is wagging just as enthusiastically. Or at least, until...
"Oh. Your father? That's um, Mom's....
Is he...mad?"

[Ironsmith]

[Out at Sea]

"MAD? WHY WOULD HE BE MAD?" The dragon booms, lowering his head to fix Kol with his gaze again, pupil narrowing as he focuses in on Kol. "HAVE YOU DONE SOMETHING THAT WOULD MAKE HIM MAD, LITTLE BROTHER? YOU CAN TELL ME, I WON'T TELL."

With a voice like that, he probably wouldn't need to. There's already going to be stories in the paper about this meeting, just from what can already be picked up from all the way over here.