Couldn't Go Anymore;;Narthandulus/Pandora

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https://www.fairytail-rp.com/t23180-king-of-the-pirates-part-1-of-the-rings-of-gods-series-1-time-only

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She had come into Ace Of Spaces to explore the numerous shops and such loitered around the town, not that she had any jewel to pay for anything, she did not even know jewel was a thing. At the moment, she was exploring the land outside of the town, checking any bit of sand she could find. The dragoness had been exploring for hours when she suddenly caught sight of another figure she believed was likely some sort of hominid. Considering how fond she was growing of those with a human appearance? Pandora was quick to bound over to investigate the other individual. The idea of being able to meet another human again, or just something that looked like them? Was an amazing one to her, especially because she was increasing sure that they were a sweet race like her own, more capable of helping anyone than harming them.

Trudging his feet through the ground while his arms dangled helplessly at his sides, Erebus was at the aftermath of a great battle. His chest heaved greatly as bead of sweat streamed down his face. He was desperate now, bursting into a hard sprint to see Ace of Spades within view, pumping his arms as hard as he could until he finally saw it with his own eyes. He'd finally achieved victory, he'd beaten the challenge of climbing this big ass mountain. "Yeeeees!" he shouted to the sky as he collapsed on his knees in celebration, pumping his fists to the sky before falling flat on his face.

After wiping the dirt and sweat off of himself, Erebus had decided to take a rest and look at Ace of Spades for a while before heading inside. It was quite the view, he had to admit. Bustling activity that you could hear from the outside, wonderful architecture. All of it was certainly a sight to drink in. But with his stomach rumbling and his money running low, Erebus couldn't just sit around forever. He had work to do and meals to earn. Though as he'd finished looking over the town, he could hear a sound in the distance that was far too heavy to be an animal that he'd seen on his way up.

As he turned to look, he made out the appearance of a dragon clad in black scales. His eyes widened in surprise before bringing his guard up. While he didn't know much about dragons, he did know that they were sentient and had a reputation for wisdom as well as power. And while he was willing to stay put and give it a chance, he'd nonetheless have his mind prepared if things started turning hostile.

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Pandora would not come back into the town at the current time, she had explored there extensively at an earlier time, with a girl called Celeste, so she really had no reason to go back. Once she explored somewhere in this world? She really had no desire to make return trips until she had explored everywhere else, then she could go back and make deeper explorations of other locations. Thus, any panic happening from within of a dragon being sighted so close to the village was pointless, she just wanted to explore what was on the outside, until she found the urge to take to the sky once more for new ground. With so much to explore in this world? Pandora could never stand to be in the same place for very long, she had to keep going so that she could experience everything this wide space had to offer her.

Of course, there was no need to go back into town anyway to begin with, since there was this hominid boy outside of it. Having someone to explore around with, or just another creature to learn about? Was an exceptional experience for the dragon every single time. While most of the dragons that humans got to interact with were centuries old and extremely wise to the world? Pandora was not, she was barely even old enough to leave as she had done, just over the threshold of the age that her parents would have gone nuts working for her, just matured. Anyone expecting wisdom or knowledge from the barely legal dragoness, was expecting too much of her. Though, considering her status as one of the few stable mutt species of dragons, power was something she did possess much of. It was always ironic when someone finally noticed she was no fighter but instead a traveling healer, a guardian at best.

Sitting on her haunches, the eight-foot-tall beast looked the male up and down, large tail sweeping to one side as she tilted her head to the side. Pandora had gotten good at communicating with these creatures in some capacity without actually speaking to them, with was perfect for her.

Still feeling tense, all Erebus could think to do was stare back at the dragon for a while. Though while he was there, he'd gotten to thinking about something. From the way it was moving, it definitely wasn't hostile, at least, not at the moment. From some of the stories and legends he'd heard, dragons definitely could be dangerous. But since this one wasn't trying to roast him alive for dinner at the moment, it looked like he could ease up just a little. If what he heard about certain animals reacting to the vibes different things and people gave off, then he'd only be making things worse for himself by showing weakness like that.

So he decided it was time to actually do something instead of sitting there like some nitwit without a care in the world. His feet might've still been aching from the climb, but he'd give the dragon a response all the same. He would move himself around to face the dragon instead of simply looking at it from the side before lifting himself up by using just his legs. Once he was all the way up, he would stare at it in the eyes with a broad and open stance, communicating confidence, strength and being without fear. While feeling he might be taking this too seriously, considering that the dragon didn't have much of a threatening look to it, he figured that it was best not to take any chances.

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This one really liked staring back compared to all of the others, he looked kinda dumbstruck. Was he slower than other hominids? Pandora knew how to deal with slow dragons considering she helped take care of other drakes, but not a clue regarding handling a slow one of these creatures. Oh well, she very well couldn't back out of the interaction now, it wouldn't be any fun and she wouldn't learn anything about the culture outside the grotto if she just flew away from this. Even if this one was weird.

If the dragoness tried or cared, she likely had a sense that could detect his unease, but she had not cared to try using any of that stuff yet. Why would she be looking for weakness in other creatures when she was, in essence, studying them and how they interacted with one another? Pandora was currently spending her life looking for the beauty in the world outside of her home, no matter how small anything she found was. Luckily, she was finding much more than tiny tidbits, making her wonder why her kind didn't just live peacefully alongside hominids. They really weren't all that different.

What was with this one and his posturing? Pandora tilted her head again, placing her front feet back on the ground and making a chirping sort of noise.

"Huh...well I guess if you wanted to hurt me you'd have done it by now." Erebus said while walking closer to the dragon and scratching at his chin. "I guess all that's left is wondering why you're here. Dragons don't really strike me as the type to just get lost.". As he  got close enough, he would kneel down to about the height of it's head before lightly scratching it from the top and working his way down to it's chin. A slight smile managed to shown up along his face after he hoisted himself back up.

"Well regardless of why you're here, it's been a while since I last ate. So once I take up a job from the town, you can travel with me if you'd like, I'll even buy you some food as a reward for the help. Come to think of it...I wonder how much a dragon eats." he muttered to himself as he began walking to the town. Despite his reluctance at first, Erebus was quite surprised at how quick his anxiety withered away. /in any case though, if the dragon waned to follow him around, he'd have to pick out a slightly tougher job than normal so that they could both eat.

While on his way down to the town, he glanced back for a moment to see if the dragon was still there. It was, of course, but Erebus just wanted to know. Upon looking back towards Ace of Spades, he could see something sweeping past the mountains in the distance, rapidly approaching the town and heading his way. It looked like...sand? "A sandstorm in the mountains?" Erebus questioned out loud to himself. While he didn't have the world mapped to perfect accuracy in his head, he was sure that a mountainous place like this wasn't anywhere near a desert.

But there wasn't any time to wonder, maybe it was magic or some other phenomenon. But all that mattered right now was getting out of it's way and taking shelter. Looking around, he could see a cave just a good run's distance away. Acting fast, he motioned for the dragon to follow him if it wanted to before sprinting towards the cave as fast as his legs could take him. He practically had to leap inside to make it in time, tumbling on the floor before slowly getting back on his feet.
[Word Count: 907]

wc met.

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Hurt him? So humans were under the convinced ideal that dragons were dangerous! Why would something that believed them to be so dangerous ever become a danger to them? Pandora really couldn't understand why so many of the dragons back home had such a caution, fear and hatred for these frightened and sweet creatures. When he moved forward to touch her, she leaned down to allow it easier, considering she was a good eight feet tall, making her tower significantly over most humans. The hand alongside her head felt nice, once more leading her to question everything she had ever been taught about these kinds, and be even more grateful she had left to explore, found the truth herself. He seemed to be happy about being able to touch her, and it made her happy in turn.

As he expected, the dragoness was going to follow him for a while, especially now that he had offered her free food. Sure, they would likely work for it, but she would be able to pick meat from one of those stores she had seen! Getting the opportunity to taste a new kind of meat, was irresistible to the dragoness, there had not been much variety in her home.

She had been following the boy for a while when the sandstorm kicked up, for a second she considered grabbing him and flying away from it. However, most people would not be comfortable getting picked up, the only reason her kind could do it to other dragon species was that other dragons were comfortable flying. Humans? Would take time before they could be in the sky with one of her kind. Thus, she easily followed him when he made his run for the cave, careful to stay a few steps behind encase he couldn't make it. On the chance, it came down to it? She was capable of surrounding him in her wings to attempt protecting him. A sandstorm really couldn't do much damage to one of her kind. Luckily he made it, just in time.

Since she had not tumbled, the long-legged female had managed to see the light first, roaring softly as she nodded down the tunnel to point it out. She was going to investigate that bright light with or without him, but hopefully, she could investigate and stay with the human.

Picking himself up, Erebus wasn't too sure how long that sandstorm was gonna last. Looking around he could see that the dragon followed him inside and looking a bit past it, a light shining from deeper in the cave. It seems like they weren't alone, and with his new companion already wanting to see what was up, he kept just behind her for a bit before peaking around the corner himself.

But what could it be? A dangerous pack of wild animals and monsters threatening Ace of Spades when they least expect it. Overrunning the local lands and shops when it's mages and heroes are spread thin. With a massive alpha of a leader, silently keeping order and just waiting for an opportunity to strike while the strength of he and his pack only grows~!

It could also be a necromancer! No! A coven of necromancers! Planning to raise a massive army of the undead! No wait...that would be expected. They could be attempting to become liches though! Or do some other evil thing that necromancers do!

But there was only one way to find out! And that would be to stop daydreaming and just focus. So after doing that...he could hardly make out a thing. Whatever it was, it was just a bit too far off for him to see, especially with the cave being as dark as it was. But with any luck, his new friend might have a better time seeing whatever was ahead than he did.

The member 'Eros Erebus' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Normal Dice' :

(rolling again due to the rules of rolling a four)

The member 'Eros Erebus' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

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'Normal Dice' :

Ignore the rolls, as they are no longer part of the job.

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Pandora was not by her nature violent, she didn't go charging forward to fight for treasure it just wasn't who she was. Instead, the dragoness was a curious healer who liked to explore while keeping those around her safe. Green optics watched the figures milling around the corner, seeing some of them brandishing weapons the dragon quickly turned invisible, moving to conceal the boy best she could behind her invisible form as he also peeked out. Since no one was being threatened she was in no way driven to try to partake in battle, preferring to simply remain unseen until something else happened as nothing seemed to be a threat to her. Since he clearly wanted to see what was going on, she moved her unseen tail to nudge his back as she took a few steps forward. If she was careful? She could get him close enough to let his human eyes see things without anyone knowing they were there. Since they couldn't see past her invisible form? They wouldn't see him unless he moved out from behind her.

Erebus could almost make out what was ahead before the dragon had blocked him completely. He was gonna ask what was wrong before he felt it's tail poke at his back, moving him forward a little before he decided to go along with it and tread carefully. While focusing on the ground to make sure he didn't kick up any rocks, he could hear two voices as they crept past them.

"So what d'ya think is down there anyway?"

"A ton of gold, what else?"

"Not that! I know why we came here. I was just wondering if there's anything-else down there, like traps or something."

"Why in the Hell would a guy whose already dead wanna keep ahold of his loot? It's not like he needs it now."

"Well you're not wrong, but that hasn't exactly stopped the other places we've been from killing some of us off. I mean look what happened to the last place we were at. there were five more of us. Five! and before we even started doing this stuff instead of robbing some poor bastards on the roads and making some easy money, there were twenty more of us! And now we're just a ragtag bunch of criminals instead of being proper bandits!"

"Well don't let the boss hear you say that. He may be a long way down, but I don't think he'd appreciate you saying that if he can hear you."

"But he went down there by himself! Who knows what the hell is down there! He could be dead right now and whatever killed him could be coming up for us!"

"Oh shut up! The boss is tough as nails, you've seen that. All he told us to do was kill anything that tried comin' down here. That's all we gotta do. And once he comes back up, we're gonna be a whole lot richer. Now if you'll unbunch your knickers and keep an eye out, this'll be a lot less complicated for both of us!"

Treasure huh? Now that sounded interesting. A nice grin stretched across Erebus's face as he peeked out to get a look at the bandits. They didn't seem too tough, at least not compared to what he could do. And that wasn't even factoring in the dragon. Come to think of it, why weren't they spotted anyway? Looking down, he could see exactly why. They couldn't see them, the dragon had turned itself invisible so they could sneak past them! Once they were out of earshot from the archers, Erebus got up from the crouch he was in, figuring that he could relax a little now. "Well aren't you full of surprises." he'd whisper while giving it a scratch behind behind one of, what he figured, were it's ears. He'd definitely be sticking close by. And if things worked out, they both be dining like royalty by the end of it all, judging from what was said before.

The invisible dragon flickered back into sight when they were completely across, far enough to hopefully not be seen by the men. Whatever they were doing? She couldn't really process completely, she knew the dragon context of everything, but humans could have a much different meaning of things. Purring as he scratched behind part of her ears, the dragoness lowered herself to the ground, laying down. Why would she do that? Well the large green eyed creature had managed to snag something shiny as they walked, a couple of gold coins, claws pushing them back and forth across the ground slightly. Her kind did not typically make hoards, but that didn't mean their nests were not filled with valuable things, they were still dragons. The fact they had so many different species of dragons in them? Simply resulted in their inability to decide exactly what they wanted to hoard, preventing them from doing anything beyond curious collecting.

What did the coin taste like?

As Erebus ventured further into the cave system, he couldn't help but hear something further in. They weren't the footsteps of the bandits' leader as he figured it would be at first, but instead something lighter and more simple. Moving around twisting corners, the source of the sounds started to become clearer until he heard a low and threatening growl along with the footsteps drawing closer to him. Cautious, he started taking steps back while trying his best to make as little noise as possible. But that wasn't what would give him away. While the two bandit archers could be fooled by his companion's invisibility, these new foes could track him by scent. Once Erebus had rejoined the dragon, he could see two pairs of eyes, alive like the fires of Hell, snarling and snapping there teeth at the air as they approached. Though one thing that Erebus was focused on were the small flames flickering out of there mouths. With a few barks, the flames licked at the ground beneath them, causing Erebus to clench his teeth and immediately go on the attack. If there was one thing he couldn't stand above all, it was fire. And in an attempt to avoid it, his face hardened with desperation and hostility, disguised as fury.

With a simple, circular movement of his finger, he would shout out "Coil and Lash!" before a thin shroud of darkness covered the hounds. They started charging ahead as Erebus moved his finger in a few simple motions as a violet light mimicked them, cutting one hound's throat open while slicing at the hind legs of the other. They roared with rage as one fell to the floor before unleashing a breath of fire while the other charged towards their prey, despite it's own flames spilling from the wound of it's throat. Erebus staggered back, falling to the floor and desperately trying to stay away, narrowly avoiding the flames as memories of his past flooded his mind. And all the while the remaining hound charged, determined to burn and rip him apart.