Is tiny dragon still a dragon? (closed)

[twin_blade]

WHO: Vax'ildan Vessar twin_blade & Dion Lesage oblige
WHEN: Post-fog event
WHERE: Charronway
WHAT: It's time to mini-prime.
NOTES\WARNINGS: None.



[ Vax might have a place to rest his head at night, but he doesn't actually spend a lot of time at the apartments. Having been in Etraya for a year, one would think he would have found a more comfortable place to call home, but this place is not and never will be his home. In short, he hasn't bothered to try.

Instead, he likes to be out as much as possible. Exploring different areas. Learning the ins and outs of the world and getting a lay of the land. When he's not traveling, he likes quiet spots away from it all. Anything that remotely reminds him of home. The lakeside is one of those places he enjoys.

He sits on a log near the water's edge, absently rubbing a smooth pebble between his fingers as he watches a single bird glide over the surface of the water. It's here that he waits for company from someone who contacted him for a meeting. Until then, he lets himself get lost in the sound of the wind in the trees and tiny laps of the water on the rocky bank. It won't be difficult for his elven ears to pick up the approach of anyone coming to find him. ]

Comments

[twin_blade]

[ Even if Dion isn't able to offer advice, just talking about it can help Vax think of the best way to handle things. Maybe it bothers him, but it's worth it.

At the sympathy, Vax blinks, then smiles faintly and nods. He knows Dion would do more if he could.

Vax turns to sit with his back against the log, tenting both of his knees and resting his arms against them as he stares at the lake. ]

Just the breath. That dragon is all muscle. Probably won't even notice if we stick a spear in him.

not me, forgetting italics...

[oblige]

[ A troublesome creature. Muscular, slow, with access to ice breath. His world's ice dragons can pummel attackers within a broad radius, but were no more densely built than any other dragons. It was the finer details that differentiated them.

Yet these factors are unimportant in the face of Vax's bulky dragon foe. ]

Have you access to explosives?

[ Have you considered the dodongo method... ]

lol dodongo

[twin_blade]

[ Vax sets his chin on his folded arms that rest over his knees. ]

Vex has explosive arrows. I don't think they'd leave a mark on this dragon.

[ They might be miniscule compared to Bahamut's full size, but they are tough, and Vax's team is working with very little. Even the mithral of his world is not easily acquired. ]

Maybe we should start training dragoons.

[ A half smile is passed over to the small dragon next to him. ]

[oblige]

If you were to get the explosives down its throat, I should doubt it has such defenses within.

[ Dion just puts that out there. It may be an outlandish plan, but with true aim and fortuitous timing, it could very possibly work.

Though whether such creative measures are feasible is another matter. ]

Dragoons would be a boon, though it takes time to develop the skill and physique required for the jumps.

[ Having his blessing, while not necessary, was also a boon. ]

[twin_blade]

[ Get something inside the dragon? For a moment, Vax cringes at a thought. ]

Good idea. That would be effective.

[ It's not a bad idea, but clearly, it's brought up a memory he thought he might forget. ]

How high are those jumps, anyway? People just learn to jump like that? Without magic?

[oblige]

Since at least one of you is a marksman.

[ Dion is long accustomed to thinking of creative uses for what he has, faced with a foe who could kill him with a single strike. Then there was pitting his forces against the armies of other nations. Resourcefulness was essential with uphill odds especially.

He considers the question properly. Though he hasn't taken precise measure since his days in training, he had an approximate idea of how far a dragoon can bound. ]

Do you recall where I'd found that gift box, when first we met? That is very possible for any trained dragoon, without use of magic or a blessing.

[twin_blade]

Makes sense.

[ A whole lot more sense than what they actually did to get something inside a dragon. There was an issue with acid, though. ]

So, you’re saying if you just train for years, you can practice jumping so much that you'll be able to jump on top of a building?

[ Without magic? Vax tips his head back until it's resting on the log and looks over at the mini-eikon. He appears skeptical. ]

[oblige]

[ And so, in turn, a little draonic face tilts curiously in return. ]

Does my musculature seem unsuitable for leaping thus?

[ You wound him, sir!

Not really though. ]

It would be far more difficult were mythril not so lightweight, but that is a guarded secret.

[twin_blade]

Well, yeah.

[ Vax doesn't doubt Dion, of course, but he's having a bit of fun with him. ]

I mean, you've got great legs, don't get me wrong, but how can a man do that? Lightweight armor or not?

[oblige]

All dragoons have legs like mine. A product of years of training.

[ Clearly he need not think too deeply on the matter of his great legs. He worked hard on those.

Is being able to leap so high really that outlandish?

His little dragon body puffs out a sigh. ]

Of all I have said, do you truly think that the dubious part?

[twin_blade]

[ Vax chuckles as his words go right over Dion's head. Guess that's normal for him.

The bit of puffing and huffing is cute. As if to calm him, Vax reaches with one finger and gives the tiny dragon some scritches under his little chin. ]

Well, can you blame me? To have leg strength like that, they should be the size of a giant's.

[oblige]

[ Dion learns today that he is not immune to scritches. No one has really tried this with a gigantic dragon for understandable reasons, but in this form he leans into it like a cat before he catches himself and straightens.

That's pretty pleasant in a dragon form, who knew? ]

At full size, I suppose my Eikon does have such legs.

[ They're strong at that, and he makes use of them. ]

Yet it is a thing I could train for and do as a man. Terence did, and he had no powers at all.

[ And there's the smallest bit of pride in that statement. All that Terence achieved, he did through his own hard work and competence, and Dion thinks that's admirable. ]

[twin_blade]

[ Vax didn't expect such a response, since he's fiddled with the little dragon a couple of times already, but it looks like he found the sweet spot.

Since Terence didn't have an eikon's powers, Vax supposes it must be possible. Somehow. ]

I don't think something like that could be achieved on my world without magic. But maybe there's something special about your training technique.

[oblige]

[ Clearly, there's fiddling and then there's scritches. It's news to Dion, having only used this smaller form to get around more covertly or let Silas carry him about like a toy.

At full size, his purpose was battle. ]

That may be so. Sanbreque prides itself on its dragoons.

[ And accordingly, they are known for them. He mulls the matter over for a few moments, shifting his wings to settle more comfortably on the log. ]

Though it may be possible regardless, with my blessing. I've not considered it before.

[twin_blade]

[ At full size, Vax would be a little too nervous to give Bahamut scritches, even knowing it was Dion. He'd give the little guy more of them if he thought he could get away with it. ]

What do you mean?

[ Dion seems to be pondering something, but Vax isn't entirely sure he understands what it is yet. ]

[oblige]

Forgive me my wandering thoughts.

[ Here he is, going on about something Vax is yet unfamiliar with. ]

I am capable of bestowing blessings. Think of it as a protection of a sort, which comes from my Eikon's power. In Rosaria, it is common practice for the Phoenix to bestow a blessing to his most elite guard, for example. No such formal practice exists with Bahamut, but I am no less able.

[twin_blade]

[ Vax smiles a little with amusement at the apology. He doesn't mind. ]

A blessing? For protection? How does it work?

[ It sounds a little like the blessings of priests back home, which are mostly rubbish just to make people feel better, but from an actual eikon, maybe there's something to it. ]

[oblige]

[ Dion's first answer is that little rumbling approximation of a hum his dragon body produces at this size. How to explain something implicitly understood in his world, yet unheard of in another...

It's more of a challenge when it's instinctual on his part. ]

I could only speak for my experience, but it only requires focus and intent. That protection remains with a person, strengthens them to a degree, though how it manifests may vary by individual.

[ Whether that is owed to how those individuals use that boon or something undefined, he couldn't say. He also couldn't suggest Clive as an example of one who had received a blessing, seeing as he is a wholly unique case and got more than others would from it as a result. ]

My dragoons for example— I wished them to be as safe as they possibly could be.

[twin_blade]

[ The soft 'hum' of the little dragon is actually kind of nice. Vax isn't sure Dion's making dragons less scary, since it's hard to think of him as a dragon at this size, but it is incredibly cute to behold. ]

And that kept them safe in battle? It does sound like a blessing.

[ He's not entirely sure what brought this train of thought up, but eikons seem to have many powers beyond their massive size and destructive magic. ]

[oblige]

I believe it aided them, at least. Some felt their leaps or landings were made all the easier.

[ And so, the avenue his thoughts had traveled. Trained dragoons could do without, and those outside of his order did just that, but it seemed to benefit them.

In theory, it might aid others. It gives him something more to ponder. ]

It might make more of a difference to those who couldn't do so otherwise. I've only their accounts to go by, though.

[twin_blade]

[ Vax wonders if there really was magic in that blessing or if the dragoon were simply inspired at having been granted Dion's favor. If Dion were to grant him his favor, Vax would feel like he could leap over a building, too. ]

If shit were to get serious again, I'd say, try anything.

[ Maybe it would work or maybe it wouldn't, but if they're in a bind, Vax is in favor of all the luck they can get. Or blessings. Either will do. ]

[oblige]

Knowing Echo's penchant for meddling with our abilities, I wonder whether I could in the moment.

[ During the fog, the inability to channel his aether had been a gift and curse both. It drastically reduced his versatility, but at the same time, it kept him from potentially becoming a danger to others they'd struggle to manage.

Well, unless Odin was mentally sound enough in the moment, he supposes. But what were those odds, torturous as the fog was, for any Dominant? ]

Nothing impedes me in the moment, however, if you'd like to see for yourself.

[twin_blade]

[ See for himself? Now? ]

Uh, sure.

[ Vax isn't certain what to expect, but he is curious. Do blessing last or do they expire? Guess there's only one way to find out. ]

[oblige]

I will do you no harm, I assure you.

[ That's what that reaction is about, surely.

Regardless, Vax did agree. Dion hasn't given a blessing whilst Primed, certainly not in miniature, but that hardly has any bearing on his ability. So he sits up strsighter, as tall as his present form allows, and concentrates.

Vax might recognize a pattern in the light that Dion's aether manifests between them, and he may not. It lingers but briefly before a wash of glittering illumination douses Vax, and then it dissipates. ]

There. How does that feel?

[twin_blade]

[ Vax knows Dion would not do anything that would harm him. He has complete trust in the prince.

As the little eikon sits up straighter, Vax does the same, turning to face Dion, though still seated on the ground. He folds his legs in front of him, rests his hands on his knees, and waits.

Soon, he sees the wafting aether, and though he hasn't seen it before, he knows magic when he sees it. If there is a pattern of some kind, he tries to make it out. Then, as the light washes over him, Vax closes his eyes for a moment, before blinking them open as it disappears.

How does it feel? ]

Tingly.

[ He smiles, then looks down at himself, as if he could spot any traces still there. ]

How does it work? Do I.. do anything? Or just let it do its thing?