Post by Samantha on Nov 3, 2015 7:14:52 GMT
Over the years, I've done quite a bit of writing for characters from this site. I'm usually very bad at sharing things, because I'm easily embarrassed- but today I was thinking a lot about the connection between Tiv and Icky (and the Creation of Many, but that's mostly irrelevant here), and I decided it was about time I shared this over-a-year-old piece of writing. =P
So, after some gentle revisions, here it is! Set in the chaos following the failure that was the Creation of Many Elements, and not entirely canon (especially since I probably didn't do a great job with Eien). But I got to explore Tivialous in the Good Old Days, as well as his connection to Icarus, so it's probably worth sharing if just for that. Enjoy!
I may add more snippets to this thread over time, hence the title. =)
Tagging Pine (who has read this already), and @frost (apologies for any mistakes made with regard to Eien!) for this first story.
***
His breathing was smooth, measured. Sure of itself. He knew what he was doing and he knew that it was being done now. He was not one to second guess himself, nor to back down. He was Light, and he was the paragon of self-confidence.
Beside him crouched one of darker scales: Icarus, Lord of Shadows. The smaller drake’s breath came in puffs of pale steam on the chill morning air- but steadily, calmly. He, too, was not one to be deterred. He looked at Tivialous and flashed him a fierce smile.
“Ready?”
Tivialous nodded sharply. “As I’ll ever be.”
At a flick of Icarus’ tail, other dragons rose up from hiding and poured down the mountainside to join them. Creations of ebony and silver, midnight blue and burnished bronze. As silently as they could manage, Icarus and Tivialous led the small army down into the wasted, desolate upper part of the Death territory.
Much to their surprise, they were there confronted by Eien- sitting alone, watching them with that practiced neutrality. Beyond her in the middle distance, eerie lights flickered about the area known colloquially as the Shade. Some suggested that they were the spirits of the deceased. Tivialous was inclined to think so- and oh, how useful that would be to somebody willing to harness that kind of disembodied power.
“I suppose you’re here for my lands,” Eien said, looking down at them with that unearthly glow in her eyes.
Icarus fidgeted.
“To be honest, we weren’t expecting you to greet us personally.”
“Naturally. Otherwise, you would have realised the sheer stupidity in bringing these with you- unprotected souls I would be only too happy to claim.”
She glared at the assembled Creations, several of whom hastily murmured their apologies and attempted to scurry away. While Eien was perfectly willing to let them do so, some of their more steadfast comrades were not as relenting. Fierce bickering erupted amongst the group, and Icarus furiously swung about to silence them.
Tivialous did not take his eyes off of Eien. Piercing yellow met burning blue. It was true, they had not expected to see her here. But his soul was not like the others. She could not threaten him so easily. He drew his lips back over his teeth into a ferocious snarl, baring his fangs, intending with every aspect of his being to intimidate her into submission.
“I look here, and what do I see? Wasted land. Wasted by you. Now you can leave of your own accord, or we can evict you.”
“Or you can stay as a kind of caretaker,” Icarus suggested, “to oversee the land for us?”
A softer suggestion. Annoyance flashed across Light’s features as he glanced briefly at his companion. When he looked back to Eien, she was glaring at him with all the harshness of the void.
“Do you wish to fight me for the title?” she asked, ice in her tone.
His blood chilled, but he was not going to back down.
“There are two of us and only one of you,” Light snarled, to cover up his growing unease. “You can’t outlast us both.”
Her eyes flashed. “We shall see.”
Before either of the drakes could react, Eien had sprung- flame billowing from her maw, claws aimed at Tivialous’ throat. Light reeled back, countering her flame with his own brilliant golden blaze, but the chill sneaked through and clawed at his heart and he fell to the ground, gasping for something of greater importance than mere air.
Icarus now sprang forth from Light’s side, barking an order to whatever followers remained, shadows whipping about his form and lunging at Eien as inky spears. She lowered her antlers and lunged, allowing the shadow-spikes to bounce harmlessly off her armoured hide; but Icarus was already in raven form and flying over her head, calling to their followers, as Tivialous struggled to his feet and shimmered and disappeared, invisible, lurking within a pool of moonlight.
Eien cursed, seized an attacking Creation in her claws, felt its struggles lessen and its essence dim as she drained the life force from its body. Then Icarus was descending, shadows coiling and tightening and blocking her view and making it difficult to breathe, and Eien tossed the Creation aside and dropped to the ground, hissing angrily, finding it increasingly difficult to move as Tivialous came in and his scales shone and he was going to blind-
-her.
Eien struggled for air, closing her eyes to avoid the unbearable shine of those silver scales. She could feel him shifting about, malicious, savouring the feeling of power. Well it’s Dark who’s holding me in place, you arrogant buffoon. Before the shadows could settle and take hold entirely, Eien forced her jaws open and sent another jet of flame streaming through the shroud and towards Tivialous. This time he anticipated the move and the blast streaked harmlessly by his shoulder, but the manoeuvre distracted Icarus enough for him to inadvertently loosen her binds. Eien pulled free, gathered herself before Icarus could recover, and took out the raven with a swift lash of her tail.
Tivialous fell back, bleeding from a graze to the head, anger emanating from every plate and scale. Their followers had all deserted by now, unwilling to face the dragon of Death after witnessing the fate of their comrade and…hapless…Elementals. Eien could feel their comrade fading even now, unable to keep his eyes open, his essence all but depleted. Hitting upon a dusty old rumour, Eien nodded towards the wounded creature and clacked her jaws.
“Like your Sy, I suppose, Light? Fire dying out, her Elemental unwilling or unable to provide aid.”
His eyes flashed. “Sy meant a great deal to me.”
“Somehow, I don’t quite believe that.”
He shrieked something unintelligible, claws out, wings raised, flinging himself upon the larger Elemental with all the fury of a typhoon. Fire erupted from his maw as he spun, scrabbled at her, unknowing or unheeding of the essence she was slowly siphoning from him. He couldn’t hurt her, not like this. Not blinded as he was by anger and humiliation. A ball of energy came at them and she jerked back, but it was not aimed at her- it was aimed, rather, at Tivialous. It caught him on the full and he spun and hissed, eyes widening a fraction in disbelief.
Icarus met his gaze, scales muddied and streaked with blood. Eien saw it in his eyes, she knew what came next, and she retreated patiently to wait at a respectable distance.
“We have her!” Tivialous growled, gesturing sharply in her direction.
“We’ve lost it, Tivialous.”
“We’ve come this far!”
“And no further today.”
Tivialous glowered, but he knew that his ally was right. The element of surprise was not on their side, they could not take her on like this. They needed to incapacitate her quickly, quietly- and then her lands would be theirs. But she had known they were coming, that was not going to happen today.
He looked from Icarus, to the dying Creation, and finally to Eien. He could almost imagine that she was smirking, mocking him. Naturally that beak-like mouth was entirely unsuited to such gestures, but that didn’t stop the rage from welling up inside, hot and tinged with the shame of defeat.
“Come,” Light snapped, turning to go.
He made his way over to the fading Creation, nudged it with his snout, concluded that transporting it would not be worth the effort. Still, something lurking nearby caught his gaze. A sturdily build bronze Creation, huddled behind some wilted trees, doing a very poor job of hiding itself.
“Come here,” he snapped, “and carry this one home.”
The dragon hesitated, but soon scurried over to do as she was bid. Icarus meanwhile shifted into his raven form, took to the air, and began to wing his way back home to the Darklands.
Light went to join him but, before he did, turned and looked back at Eien. He was silent, but his jaw was set. He wasn’t going to leave things as they were, his pride was too much bruised. Eien recognised this, and it provided her with no small amount of amusement. All things considered, Tivialous was not a difficult creature to deal with. Even he and Icarus together were no great challenge. The sooner he got used to it and learned to accept defeat with grace, the less likely he was to end up brutally beaten and tossed to Olorzxx. But for now, she was going to milk this occasion for all it was worth.
“Trying to think up some scathing parting remark?” she asked. “Begone with you. Don’t bother me again.”
He glowered. “I think you need to shut up now.”
With that highly insightful comment, Tivialous was gone. Eien watched him disappear into the distance, watched the burdened Creation attempt to drag its fallen fellow across the plains. Eien sighed through her nose- it was going to be a long way, poor thing. She gave a low bark and there came the sound of hurried footsteps, and moments later another Creation was peering down at her from the top of a small rise.
“Yes ma’m?” she asked.
Eien nodded towards the struggling Creation.
“Help her, Vandivar. She’ll be dragging him all day if not, the poor sap will be long gone by the time she gets there. Regardless of what happens, his body deserves to return home in a decent condition.”
Vandivar nodded. “Of course, ma’m.”
So, after some gentle revisions, here it is! Set in the chaos following the failure that was the Creation of Many Elements, and not entirely canon (especially since I probably didn't do a great job with Eien). But I got to explore Tivialous in the Good Old Days, as well as his connection to Icarus, so it's probably worth sharing if just for that. Enjoy!
I may add more snippets to this thread over time, hence the title. =)
Tagging Pine (who has read this already), and @frost (apologies for any mistakes made with regard to Eien!) for this first story.
***
His breathing was smooth, measured. Sure of itself. He knew what he was doing and he knew that it was being done now. He was not one to second guess himself, nor to back down. He was Light, and he was the paragon of self-confidence.
Beside him crouched one of darker scales: Icarus, Lord of Shadows. The smaller drake’s breath came in puffs of pale steam on the chill morning air- but steadily, calmly. He, too, was not one to be deterred. He looked at Tivialous and flashed him a fierce smile.
“Ready?”
Tivialous nodded sharply. “As I’ll ever be.”
At a flick of Icarus’ tail, other dragons rose up from hiding and poured down the mountainside to join them. Creations of ebony and silver, midnight blue and burnished bronze. As silently as they could manage, Icarus and Tivialous led the small army down into the wasted, desolate upper part of the Death territory.
Much to their surprise, they were there confronted by Eien- sitting alone, watching them with that practiced neutrality. Beyond her in the middle distance, eerie lights flickered about the area known colloquially as the Shade. Some suggested that they were the spirits of the deceased. Tivialous was inclined to think so- and oh, how useful that would be to somebody willing to harness that kind of disembodied power.
“I suppose you’re here for my lands,” Eien said, looking down at them with that unearthly glow in her eyes.
Icarus fidgeted.
“To be honest, we weren’t expecting you to greet us personally.”
“Naturally. Otherwise, you would have realised the sheer stupidity in bringing these with you- unprotected souls I would be only too happy to claim.”
She glared at the assembled Creations, several of whom hastily murmured their apologies and attempted to scurry away. While Eien was perfectly willing to let them do so, some of their more steadfast comrades were not as relenting. Fierce bickering erupted amongst the group, and Icarus furiously swung about to silence them.
Tivialous did not take his eyes off of Eien. Piercing yellow met burning blue. It was true, they had not expected to see her here. But his soul was not like the others. She could not threaten him so easily. He drew his lips back over his teeth into a ferocious snarl, baring his fangs, intending with every aspect of his being to intimidate her into submission.
“I look here, and what do I see? Wasted land. Wasted by you. Now you can leave of your own accord, or we can evict you.”
“Or you can stay as a kind of caretaker,” Icarus suggested, “to oversee the land for us?”
A softer suggestion. Annoyance flashed across Light’s features as he glanced briefly at his companion. When he looked back to Eien, she was glaring at him with all the harshness of the void.
“Do you wish to fight me for the title?” she asked, ice in her tone.
His blood chilled, but he was not going to back down.
“There are two of us and only one of you,” Light snarled, to cover up his growing unease. “You can’t outlast us both.”
Her eyes flashed. “We shall see.”
Before either of the drakes could react, Eien had sprung- flame billowing from her maw, claws aimed at Tivialous’ throat. Light reeled back, countering her flame with his own brilliant golden blaze, but the chill sneaked through and clawed at his heart and he fell to the ground, gasping for something of greater importance than mere air.
Icarus now sprang forth from Light’s side, barking an order to whatever followers remained, shadows whipping about his form and lunging at Eien as inky spears. She lowered her antlers and lunged, allowing the shadow-spikes to bounce harmlessly off her armoured hide; but Icarus was already in raven form and flying over her head, calling to their followers, as Tivialous struggled to his feet and shimmered and disappeared, invisible, lurking within a pool of moonlight.
Eien cursed, seized an attacking Creation in her claws, felt its struggles lessen and its essence dim as she drained the life force from its body. Then Icarus was descending, shadows coiling and tightening and blocking her view and making it difficult to breathe, and Eien tossed the Creation aside and dropped to the ground, hissing angrily, finding it increasingly difficult to move as Tivialous came in and his scales shone and he was going to blind-
-her.
Eien struggled for air, closing her eyes to avoid the unbearable shine of those silver scales. She could feel him shifting about, malicious, savouring the feeling of power. Well it’s Dark who’s holding me in place, you arrogant buffoon. Before the shadows could settle and take hold entirely, Eien forced her jaws open and sent another jet of flame streaming through the shroud and towards Tivialous. This time he anticipated the move and the blast streaked harmlessly by his shoulder, but the manoeuvre distracted Icarus enough for him to inadvertently loosen her binds. Eien pulled free, gathered herself before Icarus could recover, and took out the raven with a swift lash of her tail.
Tivialous fell back, bleeding from a graze to the head, anger emanating from every plate and scale. Their followers had all deserted by now, unwilling to face the dragon of Death after witnessing the fate of their comrade and…hapless…Elementals. Eien could feel their comrade fading even now, unable to keep his eyes open, his essence all but depleted. Hitting upon a dusty old rumour, Eien nodded towards the wounded creature and clacked her jaws.
“Like your Sy, I suppose, Light? Fire dying out, her Elemental unwilling or unable to provide aid.”
His eyes flashed. “Sy meant a great deal to me.”
“Somehow, I don’t quite believe that.”
He shrieked something unintelligible, claws out, wings raised, flinging himself upon the larger Elemental with all the fury of a typhoon. Fire erupted from his maw as he spun, scrabbled at her, unknowing or unheeding of the essence she was slowly siphoning from him. He couldn’t hurt her, not like this. Not blinded as he was by anger and humiliation. A ball of energy came at them and she jerked back, but it was not aimed at her- it was aimed, rather, at Tivialous. It caught him on the full and he spun and hissed, eyes widening a fraction in disbelief.
Icarus met his gaze, scales muddied and streaked with blood. Eien saw it in his eyes, she knew what came next, and she retreated patiently to wait at a respectable distance.
“We have her!” Tivialous growled, gesturing sharply in her direction.
“We’ve lost it, Tivialous.”
“We’ve come this far!”
“And no further today.”
Tivialous glowered, but he knew that his ally was right. The element of surprise was not on their side, they could not take her on like this. They needed to incapacitate her quickly, quietly- and then her lands would be theirs. But she had known they were coming, that was not going to happen today.
He looked from Icarus, to the dying Creation, and finally to Eien. He could almost imagine that she was smirking, mocking him. Naturally that beak-like mouth was entirely unsuited to such gestures, but that didn’t stop the rage from welling up inside, hot and tinged with the shame of defeat.
“Come,” Light snapped, turning to go.
He made his way over to the fading Creation, nudged it with his snout, concluded that transporting it would not be worth the effort. Still, something lurking nearby caught his gaze. A sturdily build bronze Creation, huddled behind some wilted trees, doing a very poor job of hiding itself.
“Come here,” he snapped, “and carry this one home.”
The dragon hesitated, but soon scurried over to do as she was bid. Icarus meanwhile shifted into his raven form, took to the air, and began to wing his way back home to the Darklands.
Light went to join him but, before he did, turned and looked back at Eien. He was silent, but his jaw was set. He wasn’t going to leave things as they were, his pride was too much bruised. Eien recognised this, and it provided her with no small amount of amusement. All things considered, Tivialous was not a difficult creature to deal with. Even he and Icarus together were no great challenge. The sooner he got used to it and learned to accept defeat with grace, the less likely he was to end up brutally beaten and tossed to Olorzxx. But for now, she was going to milk this occasion for all it was worth.
“Trying to think up some scathing parting remark?” she asked. “Begone with you. Don’t bother me again.”
He glowered. “I think you need to shut up now.”
With that highly insightful comment, Tivialous was gone. Eien watched him disappear into the distance, watched the burdened Creation attempt to drag its fallen fellow across the plains. Eien sighed through her nose- it was going to be a long way, poor thing. She gave a low bark and there came the sound of hurried footsteps, and moments later another Creation was peering down at her from the top of a small rise.
“Yes ma’m?” she asked.
Eien nodded towards the struggling Creation.
“Help her, Vandivar. She’ll be dragging him all day if not, the poor sap will be long gone by the time she gets there. Regardless of what happens, his body deserves to return home in a decent condition.”
Vandivar nodded. “Of course, ma’m.”