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Post by Ashe on Jan 21, 2022 4:57:30 GMT -6
Ashe returned to Santiago's side, when he noticed the dragon was eyeballing something. "What's going on?" he asked, following his gaze. He saw something beyond the bear but he couldn't quite make out what it was. He didn't have as good of eyesight as Santiago probably did, so he turned to look at his bonded for clarification.
"Not sure," Santiago said once he felt Ashe's gaze on him and realized the question was to him and not just a human speaking to the void like they liked to do. Rhetorical questions, Ashe had called it. "They look like birds," He said. The bear didn't appear to be guarding them, and he wanted to investigate. There were so many strange creatures in the humans' city, Santiago wanted to see them all! He and Ashe approached slowly. The bear was paying them no mind, and shuffled away from them, intrigued by them but not quite to the cuddly pat yet. Which worked for this purpose.
[Santiago: 9 0/5 Ashe: 2 5/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 25 TBB 10/10]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 21, 2022 5:35:04 GMT -6
Ashe and Santiago slipped past the bear and got to see what was on the other side. Near the wall huddled two young Gallor - Ashe recognized them by shape, but they were both different from all the Gallor Ashe had met before. One was tiny and puffy, and the other was colored like a type of bird Ashe had seen around before. In fact, he had just gotten one of those cute mini pets - pocketpets, they were called - of this color! A cardinal. It was lovely. He believed this was the female coloring, though he wasn't sure if the gender coloring worked the same in Gallor.
"Hey there, friends," He said to them, trying to soothe them. The tiny chick tucked back behind its friend, obviously intimidated by the size of the strangers, but the other one appeared more friendly and open. Ashe crouched near them and held out his hand. He didn't have any seeds for them, though, just a friendly gesture.
[Santiago: 9 1/5 Ashe: 2 6/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 26 TBB 1/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 21, 2022 5:41:44 GMT -6
When they didn't attack, the pair of Gallor seemed to relax a little bit. The cardinal inched closer and pecked lightly at Ashe's hand, curious if there was anything in there. When it was clear that there was nothing, it pulled back, a little disappointed but not truly knowing what it had hoped for. After all, it didn't know anything about this human! Ashe smiled at it and let his hand remain there, so the Gallor could get used to it. His presence, his proximity. And of course, Santiago's dark, looming bulk.
Before too long, Ashe was able to pet the cardinal lightly. He stroked the soft feathers on the chest and neck, creeping down the back to the wings. There it got a little unnerved and Ashe stopped, giving it some space. And then the chick came out of hiding!
Santiago was most interested in this one. It was a tiny fluffball that moved on its own accord! He lowered his head to give it a sniff.
[Santiago: 9 2/5 Ashe: 2 7/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 27 TBB 2/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 21, 2022 5:44:38 GMT -6
The puffball chirped and looked up at Santiago. It was scared again, and this time a little more petrified. It was to the point that it was frozen in place, unable to move from where it sat. Seeing the dragon was one thing, having the dragon's massive mouth so close that it could lick the bird if it so desired - or eat it in one gulp! - was a completely different story. Santiago gave the critter a sniff so powerful it nearly lifted the chick into the air. Then he nuzzled it with his nose, enjoying the feeling of the feathers on him. But he withdrew, smelling the fear coming off the baby in waves.
"I do not think it likes me much," Santiago said, a little sad at this prospect.
Ashe chuckled and shook his head. "Give it some time. You're a little scary! Once it realizes you won't eat it, I think it'll like you."
Santiago eyed the puff on the ground, unsure.
[Santiago: 9 3/5 Ashe: 2 8/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 28 TBB 3/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 21, 2022 5:48:43 GMT -6
A few minutes later, Santiago was laying down next to the gallor and the chick had climbed up his side and was nestled between his shoulders and neck. It looked pretty cozy! Ashe was trying not to laugh. He'd known they would grow close! It had taken less time than even he had thought. They looked cute together, Santiago with a little puff. "New friend, I see," Ashe teased. Santiago just turned to his human and showed some teeth, a grin.
They were content to hang out for a few more minutes, but Ashe knew things didn't happen often if you just stayed still in the mansion. You had to keep moving! So he urged Santiago to get up, offered to let the critters follow them if they so pleased (or he would have to pick them up on the way home!), and he started looking for a door out of this room. He ended up finding one that fit right into the wall.
[Santiago: 9 4/5 Ashe: 2 9/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 29 TBB 4/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 21, 2022 5:52:12 GMT -6
The only way he saw what it was, was the small doorknob jutting out. He would have completely missed it otherwise, it was so flush with the wall. Even the black outline he would have expected to see as a doorway was minuscule. Ashe led the party to the door and twisted the knob. Instead of opening, the door vanished and a dark tunnel appeared. Ashe glanced at Santiago, then headed into the darkness. The dragon followed him, fluff in tow. Three steps in and they were suddenly in another room. This one was a polished wooden room, with wood on the floors and the walls. The ceiling, if you could even call it that, still extended far beyond and had stars dancing around above them. New constellations, Ashe noticed. But this room looked like it was set up for star gazing. There was a telescope, and some glass windows that extended at least ten feet over Ashe's head. The view was beautiful, of outside.
[Santiago: 10 0/5 Ashe: 2 10/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 30 TBB 5/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 21, 2022 5:56:14 GMT -6
Ashe decided to take a peek at the telescope first. He walked over and peered into the eyepiece, made some adjustments. He could see stars great, and something even beyond that. He made some more adjustments and everything just went to a blurred mess. He tried to backtrack the changes he'd made and realized he had no clue what the hell he was doing. He'd broken it, surely. He took his hands off, held them up as if in surrender, to prove he wasn't the last one to touch it. And he backed away.
Santiago saw this strange behavior and tilted his head. "What happened?" He asked Ashe. He didn't know what that thing was, but it looked like a stick to look at the sky, just from the angle it was at. "Did you see something?"
"Nope, nope. Nothing. No need to worry, it was like that when I found it!" Ashe walked away and started looking at something else. Santiago watched him, frowned in confusion, then shook his head.
[Santiago: 10 1/5 Ashe: 2 11/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 31 TBB 6/25]
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Yang
Flea Market Artist
Posts: 1,001
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Post by Yang on Jan 22, 2022 21:52:15 GMT -6
A bright splash of red against the backdrop, the Gallor makes its way along it's own independent trail, minding this and that while treading carefully over whatever things happened to be across its' path. It steps in a rather mindful manner, a glance here and there as it walks along..
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 1:39:08 GMT -6
As Ashe started to wander around the rest of the room, he noticed they weren't alone. There was another cardinal colored young Gallor walking around, looking full of purpose. Ashe figured he was probably returning to his mate, the lighter colored one he'd found before. Ashe found that his gathering of creatures had followed them, thought they did so lazily and without motivation, hanging around the entrance of the room. Soon, the red gallor spotted the paler gallor and rushed over to her. The two clicked beaks and chirped at each other, then nuzzled close. Ashe smiled, happy to see the couple reunited.
"How cute," Ashe commented, nudging Santiago's shoulder for a reaction. The dragon didn't know about the dimorphism in birds let alone what Gallor were, so all he saw were two feathered creatures greeting each other.
"I suppose," he said back, more to appease. He wasn't really interested in the cutsey cozy kind of behavior. Especially in other species.
[Santiago: 10 2/5 Ashe: 2 12/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 32 TBB 7/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 1:54:28 GMT -6
While the two lovebirds enjoyed each others' company, Ashe decided it was time to move on. Nothing really stood out in this room to him and nothing was happening. He didn't want to waste his time here when the adventure could be happening somewhere else! Ashe and Santiago crossed the room to the next door and Ashe looked around for the door knob. He didn't realize until he got over there that there didn't seem to be a knob on the door itself. He could see that it was a door... Maybe it was the push kind? He put his hand on it and tried to push. The door remained solid, as if it was just a section of the wall. Ashe frowned and stepped back to look it over again.
"Is that... not a door?" Santiago asked, all helpful like. He joined Ashe in looking at it, but it didn't look like a door to him. It didn't have a knob and it wouldn't open.
[Santiago: 10 3/5 Ashe: 2 13/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 33 TBB 8/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 2:02:35 GMT -6
"It might not be a door to the next room... It might be a closet or something. And since it's harder to open... I wonder if there's something worth hiding inside!" Ashe tried all the edges, trying to pry it open. When he couldn't do it, since he couldn't get his fingers in the cracks, he started to look around the room for something he might be able to use. He wandered around and eventually came back with some sort of metal tool, roughly shaped like a ruler but a little more hefty. He slid it into the space between wall and piece of wall, and wiggled it. It took some effort, but eventually he managed to get it to slide partway. Oh, so it was a sliding door! Ashe set the tool aside since he was able to get his fingers in there now.
Santiago suddenly, unknown to Ashe, became entranced by something on the wall. He stepped closer for a more in depth look at it.
[Santiago: 10 4/5 Ashe: 2 14/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 34 TBB 9/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 2:13:41 GMT -6
Santiago pressed his nose to something on the wall nearby. Ashe wasn't paying him any attention, he was trying to force the door to slide open some more so he could get through. But the thing that Santiago had been puzzling over was a button, and once pressed, the button caused the door to slide open. Ashe stumbled, having been putting some of his weight behind his actions just to have the door basically fall out from beneath him. He flailed and caught himself on the door jam, gripping hard with his hands as his body swayed into the next space. He wasn't sure yet if it was a closet or a pathway to the next room! He gave a shout of surprise, startling his Gallor, but finally righted himself.
"Who- What- why-" He stammered, trying to put together what had just happened.
Santiago, kindly, explained for him. "There was a button on the wall. I pressed it. It opened door."
Ashe blinked and looked over to where Santi was gesturing.
[Santiago: 11 0/5 Ashe: 2 15/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 35 TBB 10/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 2:21:29 GMT -6
Sure enough, there was something on the wall sticking out. Ashe didn't know why he hadn't noticed it before. Sure, it was colored like the wall to hide it from invaders, surely, much like Ashe himself... But Ashe normally prided himself on figuring things out like that. Noticing things. Being aware of his surroundings. He must just be too distracted, or too eager to use brute force on the door instead of finding the easier route.
"Well done!" He told Santiago, trying to hide his embarrassment. He knew Inyala, and probably Dracula and Maverick by extension, wouldn't be fooled. But he wasn't sure the extent of his and Santiago's bond just yet. He hadn't reached the emotional connection yet, as far as he knew.
So Ashe peered inside. It was dark, and it felt close, like a closet. A small space with walls closing in. But the darkness liked to trick the mind into thinking walls were there even if they weren't.
[Santiago: 11 1/5 Ashe: 2 16/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 36 TBB 11/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 2:58:40 GMT -6
It was definitely dark... Ashe flailed his hand around, trying to find a light switch on a wall, or a danging chain from a light up above. He eventually found one of the latter, way up so that he had to reach, but definitely not out of reach. He blinked at the sudden glare of light as he took it all in. Santiago appeared over his shoulder, eager to see what was inside as well.
The room was - a closet. Not a hallway to the next room. But it was a large closet, bigger than a walk in closet for clothes and such, but this one had computers and charts and... frankly, a lot of boring non magic stuff. This must just be the place whoever lived here for a time, had stored all the info. Ashe did a brief look around and didn't find anything he wanted to steal - Spirit knows, this place had turned him into a thief! He would have to remember to only take from the Mansion.
[Santiago: 11 2/5 Ashe: 2 17/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 37 TBB 12/25]
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Post by Ashe on Jan 28, 2022 3:16:12 GMT -6
What would become of him if he went into someone's house, forgot he wasn't in the Mansion, and just started taking stuff? What a terrible habit to get in to. But his eyes were greedy and his heart was greedy and there was sin written all over him. Terrible habit and too late to stop! He dragged his gaze away and started looking for another door or some other way to get out of this room. He made a whole loop around the room and didn't see anything, any way out, except the way he had come in from the snowy room.
Santiago stayed out of Ashe's way, but didn't feel the urgency to continue on this journey that pushed Ashe harder, so he got comfortable just wandering the room and looking at things. Human artifacts were interesting. Some of them, the dragons had their own version of - like the telescope. But most of this stuff wasn't needed with Dragons.
[Santiago: 11 3/5 Ashe: 2 18/20 *Inyala is on Ashe's shoulder but not gaining
January 38 TBB 13/25]
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