dangerous [closed]

[Jackal]

x x

The Beast at Our Door

Jackal's cloak was, normally, something of a burden. But not here, not in the desert, where the sun beat down eternally. The shade was welcome, and somehow, her blood knew to cool down from its normal furnace-like temperature. The flask of water at her side was nearly empty, but she'd had to see this place once she'd heard about it. For Rwaht and Vriska's sake as much as her own curiosity. If they suddenly showed up on this emperor's front door, there'd be complications. If she did, well ... she looked half a monster, anyway, and she'd certainly been accused of being one frequently enough that she felt honorary membership was the least she deserved.

She stared at the gate, wondering if anyone would let her in. It was fairly intimidating, but not to someone like her. If worst came to worst, she'd just scale the thing. Her claws itched. They hadn't been used for a long time. Too long.

[Nightmare Darklight]

One for the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne
In the land of Mordor, where the Shadows lie

Truth be told, Nightmare wasn't even in Barad-Dur. He often left his tower as he wasn't really one to sit around and do nothing. Even the monsters had noted this, and after most beasts approached his throne to challenge him for his title, only to learn he wasn't there, they just gave up. He had noticed that a lot of them seemed to challenge on impulse, and if Nightmare gave them a moment to think it over, they'd back off. Nevertheless, it was this behavior of his that kept people from even challenging him in the first place as they often never learned what the Emperor even looked like. Most would be surprised that the newest Dark Lord was actually a pretty bishonen guy.

So when the half dragon girl stood at the gates, they didn't open. There was no one to give the order. However, Nightmare himself actually stood outside the gates, staring at the massive structures. He never built these. The Black lands and the Black Gate had been here long before he got here, same went for Barad-Dur. Crossing his arms, he really didn't want the thing to open. At least not right now. If she did start something, he could always just fly over, or some shit. Nevertheless, Nightmare turned to his guest and waved. "Visiting or returning home?" He inquired in a surprisingly polite manner.

Even he was fooled by her appearance.

[/blockquote][/justify]

[Jackal]

x x

The Beast at Our Door

Jackal had known the man was there, of course. She'd expected at least a small welcoming committee for any "guests", but she'd assumed they'd be in the most fearsome form they had available to them. The dark tower suggested an attraction to the intimidating and the grand, though to Jackal they only represented ample footholds; easy to climb. She missed the tall trees of Faron. Maybe the tall, stone tower would make a good substitute.

When the man spoke, her ears twitched, and she turned slowly to look at him, her eyes glowing dully. She recognized him from somewhere. She remembered Rwaht saying someone who looked like that was important. Rwaht was obsessive about such things; Jackal was not. Maybe he was some high-ranking monster in human form. Those were becoming popular. She resented them.

"This isn't my home," Jackal said, her voice oddly flat, and lizard-like. "But you're forgiven the mistake. It's an easy one to make. What prompts the curiosity?"

[Nightmare Darklight]

One for the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne
In the land of Mordor, where the Shadows lie

Well, she told him, in her own way, before declaring that the mistake could be forgiven. It was a mistake to be wondering whether she was visiting or whether she had a home? He was the emperor, but not even he could keep tabs on literally every monster out there. "Visiting then." He remarked in a deadpan manner. Well, that had to be the obvious choice if she didn't have a home here. So she had some reason to be here in the first place. He was only hoping that it wasn't really a hostile reason either. He wasn't in the mood for a fight right now and didn't need any reason to not check the gate out.

As for what prompted such curiosity... "Well, being the Emperor, I'd at least like to keep some tabs as to what's going on. Supposedly there's been a criminal dragon running around, or something and I'd rather said dragon not end up dragging the entirety of the Hylian Knights right onto my doorstep. I've already got enough crap to deal with, I'd rather not have to explain to Zelda why I had to wipe out the entirety of the knights." He grumbled. What with the Drosslord and Vaati roaming around, along with the others, the monsters were showing some signs of... divisiveness. While those in the Black Lands were undoubtedly loyal to him, there were other beasts that were starting to show some interest in the five troublemakers that had shown up as of late.

Did he think she was the criminal? Yes and no. He had his suspicions as dragons were rare. There had been more reports of them recently, but that was only because the dragons that did exist were starting to get more active. They were still incredibly rare, and running into one usually turned out to be a once in a lifetime thing for the average man.

[/blockquote][/justify]

[Jackal]

x x

The Beast at Our Door

Jackal looked at the Emperor, her face curiously devoid of expression. How unlike her brother, even as she was like him. With Rwaht, one somehow knew that he wore a mask; a very effective mask, but a mask nonetheless. He had private thoughts to hide. With Jackal it was more that the part of herself with private thoughts had decided to vacate the premises, leaving only cold, predatory instinct.

"You're in luck." Beneath her cloak, obscured from view, Jackal clenched and unclenched her hand, as though to reassure herself it still worked as normal. "Though I'd offer several rectifications for your rumours. The criminal dragon isn't guilty, just framed. I also suspect the Hylian Knights are so keen on tracking her down because she made them look like inept fools in the middle of their own city." Emotion bled into her voice as it bled back into her, and the look on her face went from flat and lizardlike to wryly amused. She continued to look at the Emperor. Her eyes were still glowing. That characteristic was likely what gave her away, since her cloak obscured most of the rest of her. Soon her expression slipped back to its earlier, eerie state, and her voice became smoother, deadlier, less human. "You're in further luck. Not only is she not guilty, she has successfully given the Hylian Knights the slip. It turns out, most of them forget to look up in a forest. Funny, that. There are very few tracks to follow on tree branches." She smiled, though the action was not very reassuring. "As a matter of fact, your luck is considerable. I am not a monster, not in your jurisdiction. I'm a Minish. Well, a hybrid, but the human peeks through only seldom. It's nice to meet you."

[Nightmare Darklight]

One for the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne
In the land of Mordor, where the Shadows lie

"Oh, you're the criminal." It didn't take long for him to deduce that when she started talking. So he was right. The criminal had made her way here immediately. But, it was interesting to know that she had been framed. Who had framed her, and what had she been framed for? Then again, considering how the world was towards the monsters, chances are it was a knight or a hylian of sort, or God forbid, the commander. He was a colossal jackass, so he wouldn't have put it past him to do something like that.

Though with her referring to them as monsters, he figured he could at least have a little bit of fun with her. "... Hey!" He called out, pointing a finger in at Jackal in an extremely dramatic manner. It was almost as if you could except him to shout OBJECTION!! at any second. "That is our word, you got no right to use it!" He scolded her. Though really, he was just being playful. While monsters was technically considered a racial slur, he knew he had a long way to go before that word would stop being used to describe the Ainur.

"Correct term is 'Ainur'"

Moving on. "Nonetheless, that is interesting to know. I thought dragons couldn't produce hybrids. I guess I was wrong." He rubbed his chin in curiosity. The fact that dragons could in fact hybrid was something wonderful for him to know. It meant that he wasn't stuck with another dragon if he ever wanted to have a child. "Though tell me, which of the knights did you mess with?" He asked. Now THAT was a good story in the making.

[/blockquote][/justify]

[Jackal]

x x

The Beast at Our Door

Jackal blinked.

"When I was ten, they whipped me and called me monster. I earned that word." She said it not as though in anger, or as to scold, but simply to state a fact, to assert the truth of it. When he spoke of hybrids, she shrugged. "My mother was in fact not a dragon. I think her father was. Why the gene skipped a generation and landed on me, I cannot say. It was not pleasant, and I would not wish it on any other child. If it would produce a child like me ... I would say that dragons should avoid making hybrids. If they can."

It barely occurred to her that she was having this conversation with the Emperor, or at least, it did not register as being important. She knew that he seemed unlikely to kill her, and that as a dragon, he was slow enough for her to run away. Jackal had no intention of fighting a losing battle.

"It was the knight that turned into a monstrosity. A knight who seemed high ranking showed up, as well as a human soldier, and some fool boy that nearly got himself killed. They were failing to deal with the threat so I killed it. Speaking of which," she said, pulling back her cloak to reveal her stomach, bound in cloth that was stained black with blood. "The injuries haven't properly healed. If you're not going to kill me, I would appreciate some sort of assistance. I've been staving it off with shadowfire, but that is not a pleasant experience. And it does not properly heal a wound," Jackal said, failing to realize that that Nightmare would have no way of knowing what that meant. She realized it a moment too late, and cleared her throat. "I can turn shadow into flame. Shadowfire burns the skin, but also the soul. Physical and magical, you see. When I use it on myself, the physical is healed, but it's made up in magical pain. Normally it would cause a wound like this to recede but ... it has not been effective."

[Nightmare Darklight]

One for the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne
In the land of Mordor, where the Shadows lie

He had to be honest, he kind of brushed aside her suggestion to not have a dragon hybrid. She got crap for it, yes. But from the sounds of it, her parents weren't there for her when she needed them most. At least if he ever had a kid, he would never abandon it, at least making sure that it got treated like something other than some horrific beast. So he wouldn't worry too much about the repercussions of having a dragon hybrid baby. If he ever had a kid anyway.

When she explained the knight that put her in that condition, and that it was a high ranking official that was completely useless, Nightmare figured it out pretty quickly. "Old man Hadrian then. Should've figured." He remarked, digging at the Hylian Lieutenant's worthlessness. He still couldn't believe the guy almost got the village incinerated and actually saved the villain. Leave it to him to do something incredibly stupid when the capital of Hyrule itself was under attack.

Nightmare was at least trying to piece things together with her explanation, and wasn't having too much trouble doing so. At least, he felt that he had a logical explanation for what she was talking about, and was confident enough to voice it. "So you've been using this shadowfire stuff to cauterize your wounds." He summed it up. She would be right, that wasn't exactly the healthiest way to go about healing her wounds. It killed bacteria and closed it, but it was well, burning your skin.

Though she needed assistance. Understandable, he could provide her with that much if it at least gave him something to work with. "Feel free to fly over the gate. Just refer to yourself as an Ainur, not a Minish or a monster, and you should be left alone." He gave her instructions on how to survive in the barren lands of the Black Lands. They were hostile, and the monsters inside were also hostile. The place was just terrible for someone who wasn't even a monster to live in.

[/blockquote][/justify]

[Jackal]

x x

The Beast at Our Door

Jackal didn't much care about the particularities of the knights, or which one had caused her trouble. She remembered, vaguely, that the knight lieutenant had at least called his men off once they tried to kill her. It didn't make it feel any better, though. She'd tried to save Castle Town and she'd nearly been shot for it.

Proof positive that I'm too nice for my own good. When the Emperor suggested she'd been cauterizing her wounds, Jackal shook her head.

"No. For some reason, the shadowfire acts like a healing spell on me, or at least, the fire aspect of it does. The shadow that remains hurts me as much as it hurts anyone, however. It's ... strange. But usually it works. Just not this time. Something about the creature that inflicted the wound," Jackal muttered, touching her bandaged stomach gingerly. It was still torn. When the man offered to let her fly over the gate, she shook her head again.

"I can't fly without a running start. Only glide. And I can't afford to go near those monsters of yours, then. Not like this. Bleeding too much. Don't want to be a target. I'll get better elsewhere. Thank you. My name is Jackal. What's yours?" she asked, still speaking strangely, without any emotion.

[Nightmare Darklight]

One for the Dark Lord on his Dark Throne
In the land of Mordor, where the Shadows lie

That was an odd explanation. She had a rather peculiar power, didn't she? Truth be told, he didn't know how it worked, and her explanation was a bit odd. Even with that explanation, he was still a bit lost on it. So he figured that he just wouldn't care. He could try deciphering her words later. He had much more important matters to attend to, like getting her some medical treatment so she could at least recover. Minish or Monster, she was still a dragon, and not only were they rare, but they were valuable.

But then she declared that she didn't need help, which threw him off guard. A bit disappointed, Nightmare wouldn't try to push her on it, rather, just answering her question with a name of his own. "You can just call me Nightmare Darklight." He wasn't going to be going around giving our his real name. Only a very select few even knew what it was, or that Alexander Sorel was even the Dragon Emperor. He went out of his way to keep his personal life a secret. Simply because if monsters knew the Emperor's personal life, they could invade and use people like his sister against him.

Raising a hand to his chin, he continued to look at Jackal. Wondering what was up with her, and why she was so nonchalant about it. "Well, if nothing else, you can rest easy with the knowledge you saved the capital." He suggested, though he wondered, did the beast carry a shard with it? "But tell me one thing, what happened to the beast when it was killed?"

That'd work.

[/blockquote][/justify]