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Post by Noa on Mar 12, 2021 0:06:16 GMT -6
There was just something about ladies and their gardens, Aster thought, as he trekked out to the appointed location with Azalea in tow. Avander was resting from all the training they had done as of late, and Aster thought that for once it would be better to let him have that rest, and maybe take Azalea out for a change. She was still not nearly as well trained as Avander, but she wasn't going to get anywhere if he didn't work with her, and at least going out on these trips would get her used to being in the new body, maybe give her some practical experience. She had seen fights, and he had worked with her, but she hadn't had much of either since her transformation. Which had been all well and good, but the thing was, Avander could fly, and he knew how to carry a rider with him. 1
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Post by Noa on Mar 12, 2021 0:08:41 GMT -6
Azalea couldn't do either of those things - and while he might be able to teach her to carry a rider at some point, he knew for a fact that she would never fly. He had figured Avander was flyer enough for the property, and he had some Sarane from Avander's brood who could pitch in if it really came to that. Azalea's purview, and thus far her domain alone, was the water; he didn't want to muddle that too much. And when she had still been a Lovern, she was too small to carry a rider anyway, which was the chief reason why she had never been taught. He supposed it was a bit spoiled of him to chafe at the inconvenience of having to go somewhere on foot, but he knew that it would have been faster if he could hitch a ride on Azalea's back, rather than walking alongside her.
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Post by Noa on Mar 12, 2021 0:25:44 GMT -6
For a creature whose legs were small enough to be almost vestigial, and whose species generally resided in water, she got along well enough herself over land by slithering along like a snake. He had seen her move at her top speeds, and he knew for a fact that she could far outstrip him. She was slowing down for his sake, and that rankled. But then, he supposed he shouldn't be too eager to reach their destination. There was nothing fun about what was coming. Some woman's garden was infested with monstrous plants, and they had been tasked with exterminating the things. Requests to fight off pests weren't that unusual; just a few days ago he went somewhere else to rid a different garden of bugs... A task for which he had chosen Avander to accompany him, and then regretted the choice as Avander spent most of the time making snarky commentary while Aster worked.
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Post by Noa on Mar 12, 2021 0:33:47 GMT -6
It hadn't been that Avander wasn't willing to work, necessarily, but he had been too large a tool, so to speak, for the job that they had been set to. Aster realized this too late, and by the time they were there, it felt like too much of a waste of time to go back and bring... Rhys, say. Not that Rhys would have been able to do much, his capabilities not being concentrated in the offense department anyway. But on this occasion... Well, if the woman's descriptions held true, then they were dealing with a much bigger problem. As he thought about it, he wondered whether bringing Azalea would be enough. He had his own magic to draw on, and it wasn't as if she had no combat training whatsoever, but if things got hairy... But they would cross that bridge when they came to it, he supposed, and continued on.
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Post by Noa on Mar 12, 2021 0:39:55 GMT -6
The woman had mentioned that they'd know when they got to the plot, since the infestation was pretty obvious. That didn't sound like anything good, but to her credit, she was right about that. In fact, Aster could see it from quite some distance; and from that distance, it almost looked like a single writhing entity, a thought which made him even more uncomfortable the minute it crossed his mind. "This is going to suck," he muttered under his breath. Azalea fixed him with one large, dark eye. {Is that where we're going?} she said. {Is it very bad there?} "Well..." Aster's mouth thinned into a line as he considered how best to respond to her question. He didn't want to lie to her, of course, especially if they ended up having to fight and he had to rely on her assistance. Besides which, they didn't actually have to kill all the plants.
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Post by Noa on Mar 12, 2021 0:42:57 GMT -6
The woman who had been responsible for the request only wanted a handful of flowers of some sort from the garden itself, which wouldn't have been such a difficult request if it wasn't for the hostile plants they'd have to wade through to reach these. The trouble was, he wasn't actually sure how bad it was going to be. And until they got a closer look, and maybe a few little skirmishes against the hostile plants in question, he wasn't going to have any better guesses. He remembered the time they had been sent to a mage's tower and fought off some unholy abomination in its basement. The recollection brought out a grimace in him despite himself. Azalea, sensing the disturbance in his mood, nudged him gently - or at least as gently as she could, which was still enough to nearly bowl him over, considering how much bigger she was.
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Post by Noa on Mar 12, 2021 0:45:51 GMT -6
{Oh,} she said, immediately apologetic. {Sorry. I forgot.} The difference in size and strength was still something she was adjusting to, and he knew she meant no harm by it, but he hoped she would make the adjustment sooner rather than later. Still, there was no sense in being cross with her for it. The idea, and the impetus, had all been his; and Azalea had gone along with it to please him. She wasn't hurt, but if she was disoriented, it was in the name of furthering his goals. "Don't worry about it," he said, reaching out a hand to pet her nose. "I'm fine. Let's go and get this over with." And so, at a pace that Aster could manage, they made their way to the infested garden. As they approached, Aster thought maybe the horde would rush out to greet them, or maybe some of them would flee instead.
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Post by Noa on Mar 12, 2021 0:53:03 GMT -6
That would have made things a lot easier for him, if they did. It wouldn't have been out of the question either. Azalea had an imposing presence that she had managed to retain even after her transformation, and on top of that, she was huge. Any creature with sense would probably see her and run away. Unfortunately, the plants didn't have that kind of sense. Or maybe there was something keeping them rooted, so to speak, to this place. Right now Aster couldn't tell for sure one way or the other, and it was true that plant creatures weren't exactly known for their razor sharp intelligence, with a few exceptions. But they did seem to be staying in a pack, clustered around the one location, even though a lot of them did also seem capable of movement. It was hard to be sure of much at the moment, considering how much there was to take in.
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Post by Noa on Mar 12, 2021 0:57:07 GMT -6
The only thing he was sure of right now was that they weren't being rushed, even if they were being hissed at by the plants that were capable of hissing. That they were a threat had clearly been recognized by at least some members of the host, but they didn't launch into an immediate offensive at this distance, so that gave Aster a little time to consider their options. Azalea took in the scene with growing confusion, rather than apprehension or alarm. He wondered if she simply felt the invincibility of her new size, or if she had too little comprehension of what they were looking at. It might have been a little of both. {What are they?} she said, incredulous. {Do we have to fight them?} "... Probably," Aster said. He wished he had better answers to give her, but he was trying to figure out a plan of action himself.
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Post by Noa on Mar 12, 2021 1:00:11 GMT -6
Come to think of it, where even were the flowers in all this mess? The woman had at least had a picture of those, so he knew what to look for, but... Among this lot, he wasn't even sure he was going to be able to find them. "Say," he said to Azalea. "About how high do you think you can raise yourself, straight up?" He knew snakes could stand their heads up a certain length, and he was hoping that Azalea could do the same. Azalea thought about it a moment, then reared up as high as she could go. It wasn't even half her length, but it was still a significant height, and a better vantage point than Aster would have gotten from any of the nearby trees. "Okay, great. Now I'm going to get on your head, and I want you to do that again. Think you can manage it?"
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Post by Noa on Mar 13, 2021 23:46:29 GMT -6
{Are you sure?} Azalea said. {What if you fall off? That's a pretty long way to fall, and you're so small now...}
Aster wanted very badly to laugh. It wasn't that he was small now, but that she had gotten so much bigger... Though he supposed it was probably easier for her to conceptualize it the way she had, than the way it had actually happened.
Besides which, she had good intentions, and he didn't want to laugh at her lest she take it to heart and feel discouraged. She was out here trying her best to help him, after all, and she did raise a valid concern.
He really wasn't concerned about the possibility of falling off though, for a wide variety of reasons. "Don't worry," he said, patting the smooth scales of her side. "I can promise you I won't fall off. My balance is pretty good, you know."
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Post by Noa on Mar 13, 2021 23:47:35 GMT -6
Not to toot his own horn, but what he had said to her was an understatement. He was a pretty dab hand at riding creatures of all sorts, even ones he had never tried to ride before. If it could hold his weight, he could probably stay on it. He had ridden his share of angry, just-grown Sarane drakes to boot, and he couldn't imagine many mounts that were more challenging than those.
Standing on a Pliathor's head might not be riding one, exactly, but the general principle wasn't so far removed. He had pretty good balance, and he was confident of his ability to stay on.
But even if he had overestimated his abilities in that regard, at least he wouldn't get hurt the way Azalea was imagining. In addition to all his physical capabilities, he had some wind magic at his disposal, and knew some spells to help.
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Post by Noa on Mar 13, 2021 23:48:07 GMT -6
He could use the winds to lift him in true flight, or just call on them enough to slow his fall to nothing; either way, he would be safe from harm. But those things seemed a little complicated to explain to Azalea, so for now he simply offered her the assurance that his balance was good, which as far as it went was true.
If he did fall, and she called him out over his little white lie... Well, he'd cross that bridge when he came to it, he supposed.
She still seemed dubious, but Azalea really didn't have the personality type to hold out against Aster for long. Besides which, she was pretty used to relying on him for directives and planning, and if he seemed sure about something, she was generally content to go along with it. This particular case was proving to be no exception on that front.
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Post by Noa on Mar 13, 2021 23:48:59 GMT -6
And so, she lowered her head back down, lying flat on the ground so that Aster could clamber on top of it - or as he chose to do, vault onto it the way he used to vault onto Avander's back, when Avander had been a Sarane and short enough for Aster to do so while Avander was still standing. Now that Avander was a Wiurn, and taller, it wasn't so easy, and he had to bend down a bit. But the height of Azalea's head was still manageable, even though she was much bigger.
She stayed politely still for him as he found his footing, and tested out a position that felt pretty stable. "Okay, I'm good," he said. "Can you lift yourself up again?"
{Okay,} Azalea said, and obliged him by doing just that. Seeing it from below and experiencing it from atop her head felt pretty different, as it turned out.
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Post by Noa on Mar 13, 2021 23:49:45 GMT -6
The motion of it was actually pretty smooth, but they were gaining a lot of height very quickly. It felt similar to, but not quite the same as, the lurch in his gut when he was riding a flying mount and they took off. On those occasions, sometimes there was a single dramatic leap, but usually not to this extent; and then the rise happened more incrementally, with each beat of the creature's wings.
But this wasn't flight, and after a moment they came to a stop once more, as Azalea reached the limit of her ability to lift her head any higher comfortably.
The height they had managed to gain was more than enough for Aster's purposes though. He didn't need to see ridiculously far, he just needed to get a bird's eye view of the whole garden situation, so he could better identify where he needed to go.
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