TEST DRIVE.

[futurologists]

test drive Firstly, thank you for your interest! Secondly, since the game hasn't begun and therefore characters haven't actually gone to a world yet, this test drive is going to be a little different. It's intended to be presented as a mini-mission of sorts, on a much smaller scale and timeframe than a real mission in-game but with a somewhat similar feel. Because of this, if you join the game, you're allowed to count this as game canon, so make sure you make choices you want to follow your character into the game! You know how this works, so go forth and have fun, and don't forget to reserve! BASICS Anwick might have been a beautiful town once. It's hard to tell now, since most of the buildings are scorched and crumbling, but they do resemble some rural modern-day buildings. Likewise, the people don't appear to be living too much in the past; several are carrying intimidating guns. For years, Anwick has been terrorized by dragons, living in fear of the next attack. Not anymore. The people have just ended a bloody battle. Several people limp towards the outskirts of town, holding their bleeding wounds or new burns. In the center of town lies a slain dragon, the last full-grown one left in the world. To be honest, it looks like they've already taken care of their own problem. A monotonous voice comes through your communication device to explain. You aren't here to help the townspeople; you're here for the dragons. The one motionless on the ground may have been the last adult, but it certainly wasn't the last dragon. Her children are located in a nearby cave, alone and orphaned. They're the ones you need to protect. WYRMLINGS The wyrmlings are still growing up, only the size of a small dog. Each has a slightly different appearance, but all of them have at least a few bright copper scales. They're beautiful, and they look a little bit harmless... at least, until they notice you. These dragons have never been exposed to humans before. Or anyone outside of their family, for that matter. They're small and scared, and they don't know any other way to protect themselves than to attack. Luckily, because of their tiny size, they can't do much more than small burns at a time — but make no mistake, it still hurts like hell. The cave they're located in is pitch-black and labyrinthine. Every footstep echoes throughout it if you aren't light enough on your feet. It'll be difficult to navigate if you don't MacGyver yourself a torch or other form of lighting. Cell phones will work decently, at least until their battery dies, but you don't want to get stuck deep within the cave with no light. If you do manage to get through the cave and rescue some without getting burned to a crisp, the trouble's not over yet. You'll have to find a safe place to stash them until they can be relocated; the townspeople aren't done with their dragon-slaying yet, after all. Walk into town with one in tow, and you're putting a target on your back. (Of course, this doesn't mean you can't do it.) PROMPTS ONE ✗ GOING ROGUE Not feeling too obedient? Maybe you're ignoring the orders and helping the wounded people in town instead... or just coming to gawk. Maybe you're coming to slay the wyrmlings yourself. Whatever it is, at least try to be sneaky about it. TWO ✗ THE DRAGON'S CAVE Try to navigate the cave, fail to navigate the cave and get lost, or try to take the wyrmlings without getting barbecued. Somehow, you get the feeling that you aren't alone. Those footsteps are probably just your imagination... or they could be townspeople coming to kill you and the dragons. Of course, they could also be an ally, but you'd better hope you don't find out. THREE ✗ HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON You've gotten the dragon(s) to a secure campsite out of town, but the fun's not over yet. They're kind of freaking out a little. Some of them are still spitting fire. Even the less aggressive ones are crying shrilly, bound to attract townspeople or at least annoy everyone nearby. It can't be too hard to calm them down; they're basically scaly, fire-breathing babies, right? FOUR ✗ NIGHT TIME It's been a long day, and now it's time for the crew to sleep. Get to know your tentmates, try to ignore them, pray that they don't want to bring along a wyrmling to cuddle... or maybe you've been put on night watch with a few others, in which case you'd better find a way to pass the time until your shift's over. FIVE ✗ CHIT CHAT Network option! Maybe you've got a little downtime and you're bored. Or maybe you're frantically asking the rest of the team how bad a dragon bite is. Maybe you're just trying to figure out how the hell this magical jewelry thing works. No matter what, you get one username to identify you and one only — if you don't enter one, it will default to your real name (for example, Voldemort's would be tomriddle.) Choose wisely... or make it assfarts69, if that's your thing. More information on the network is here! SIX ✗ WILDCARD Do whatever the hell you want. Explore the ashes of the burned city, try to run as far away from this crap as possible, or try to teach a wyrmling tricks. The world is your oyster.

Comments

[bearcat]

Yeah... Here!

[ and just like that, she unloads her red one onto mako's shoulders without giving it much of a second thought. with a flash of a grin, korra heads over to where naga's lying down (still fixing her best friend with a judgmental look) and picks up a couple dead squirrels she caught earlier. ]

It's not much, but maybe it'll hold them over until we can find something bigger.

[hustle]

[ ... when she gets back, Red is chewing on mako's ear (and it hurts, man!) and mako is trying very very hard not to just... shake the poor thing off, even though he's kind of bleeding right now. at least the new friend has distracted blue from squalling, and the wyrmling is chirping cheerfully at the new friend chewing on her tyrant caretaker. ]

Hurry up and — ow. Feed it.

[bearcat]

[ luckily for mako, tiny little bites from tiny little wyrmlings are easily healed and after they're fed, korra will take her time to heal mako up. that doesn't keep a look of concern from crossing her face though, and she hurries forward, lifting up the dark red one from mako's shoulders (it's funny, but the little dragon reminds her of his scarf). ]

Heeere you go here, here — argh, calm down, c'mon! [ but the dragon doesn't want to calm now that she's been taken from her sibling(?), friend(?). they were found in the same cave, in presumably the same nest, but who knows with these dragons... korra tries to get a good hold on the baby so it doesn't go flying and crashing to the ground. the last thing she needs is for the baby to have any more reason not to trust humans. after a moment, the dragon gets wind of the dead squirrel and calms just enough to snatch it from korra's hand and jump down, running off to lay by naga and consume the furred creature. ]

.... [ she holds the other squirrel out to mako. ] Here.

[hustle]

[ he tries not to flinch too much when she pulls the red one off his ear, and thankfully, small teeth means they're not buried too deep, but it still stings. anyone who's had worse knows it's not that bad, and he's one of those people who've had worse, but damn, when its happening? no thanks. ]

Thanks — [ he goes to reach for the carcass, but in doing so, has to relinquish his grip on blue's head... and she sees that as a sign of him trying to take this food she wants. tiny triangular head darting out like a snake, she nips his wrist and lunges for the squirrel like her sister did. ] shit —

[ and there, she's clawing her way out of his jacket, she's grabbing that squirrel and hanging on from it for dear life by her mouth. just... hanging there, off off this dead squirrel in korra's hand. ]

[bearcat]

[ .... well. there's approximately ten or so more pounds of muscle and scale hanging on the fur in korra's hand. for a moment, all she can do is stare at the baby dragon because that? was actually pretty incredible movement for such a small being, and korra can't help but be just a little impressed. the moment passes quickly, however, and korra gently sets the wyrmling down on the ground to run over to where her red sister is chittering excitedly. ]

... D'you think we're in a little over our heads?

[ even though she's more confident in her abilities (relying less on bravado), korra always knows to use everything to her advantage, even if it means asking her friends questions of varying difficulties. ]

[hustle]

[ mako is watching these babies do their baby dragon thing with a look of "why" written all over his face, as he gingerly feels at his slightly mangled ear, getting blood all over his fingers. ]

Yeah, definitely. [ he's used to just a ferret, after all, and ferrets aren't vicious awful beasties. he takes a second to glance over his shoulder at the rest of the camp, at the others struggling with their dragons and the small fires they've started. ] But I think most of these guys are even more over their heads.

[ the two of them are firebenders, after all. and korra's got her mystery wilderness shit skills, and can heal stuff, and well, at least they know what dragons are. they know not to kick them, and don't wear ugly gold padlocks as earrings either. ]

[bearcat]

[ mako doesn't need to mess with his ear for that long, as korra reaches out with her chi to gather up enough water to press against his wounds. the water glows a bright blue as she pours her energy into it, letting her energy mingle with mako's and gently speed up the natural healing of his own body. ]

There was one guy who seemed to know what he was doing. [ she answers with a lopsided grin. ] At least he got that dragons liked fire and it calmed them down.

[ go figure. ]

I'm thinking I might use this thing — [ and she lifts her arm, shaking out the forearm band that holds her communication device ] — and wrangle that guy into sharing some pointers for everyone else. [ korra's no expert, but she at least knows common sense, and has dealt with young predators before. ]

[hustle]

[ he holds still, head tipped a little to the side so that korra doesn't have to reach quite as far up, relaxing slightly at the water's calmer energy interacting with his own. ]

... Thankfully, we've got that part covered, at least. [ fire, huh? maybe make little fire puppets for them, or something, see if it'll hypnotize them.

he fishes his own out after a second, the loops of diamond studded gold that serve as his own communication device, hastily tied onto a string and stuffed down the front of his shirt (it feel off his wrist when he tried to do what korra did, and he didn't have time to stuff it up under his sleeve). he winces slightly at the apparent value, and tucks it back away. ]

Good plan. I'll... keep an eye on Red and Blue, I guess.

[bearcat]

Ran and Shaw.

[ the correction comes off-handedly; she's too busy concentrating on healing his ear. ]

[hustle]

What?

[bearcat]

Ran and Shaw!

[ his ear is healed now, so she drops the water to his fingertips to mop up the blood before tossing the water back into the creek. ]

You called 'em Red and Blue, but I wanna call 'em Ran and Shaw, after the two dragons Avatar Aang and Firelord Zuko met when they saw the Sun Warriors.

[hustle]

[ oh... ]

I... I don't think I know that story. Is that where Lord Zuko got his red one?

[bearcat]

Druk? Yeah, I think so.

[ korra walks over to naga and drops down next to her bestie, trying to remember the details she managed to wrangle out of katara and zuko. truthfully the sun warriors were supposed to remain a secret but come on — when you're the avatar, you get to know things. especially when you're the avatar at age four and you point at a dragon and you ask where the firelord got it and ask a lot of annoying questions until you get your way. ]

Firelord Zuko told me they were the last two dragons in the world — and Sifu Katara told me they managed to convince the two of them to share the secret of firebending by performing the Dancing Dragon.

[ guess who told katara that. if you guessed aang you'd be right. ]

[hustle]

[ he ambles after, now free of the his burden but left with the soaked jacket, which he tosses over a low hanging branch, and sinks into a seat next to korra, watching the dragons thoughtfully — until she gets to that last part. ]

... The what? [ excuse you korra that sounds like a sex position. ]

[bearcat]

... Dancing Dragon?

[ ... are you thinking something dirty, mako? ]

[hustle]

... That sounds like something you'd find someone paying for at a seedy bar.

1/2

[bearcat]

[ ... her expression falls. ]

[bearcat]

[ and she spins around on her hips, pressing the ball of her boot against mako's shoulder and forcibly kicking him over. excuse??? you?? ]

I saw Avatar Wan performing it with the very first Dragons while I was on a spiritual journey, Mako!

[hustle]

[ DOES NOT RESIST, until the very last second, when he twists out from under her foot and does his best to sit up around it, hopefully not getting heeled in the stomach while he does so. ]

You're still not explaining what it is!

[bearcat]

... I thought it was obvious.

[ please let go of her foot ]

[hustle]

Something about dancing, something about the dragons, yeah, sure, but it still sounds more like a shimmy and less like... something you do to make dragons happy enough to tell you a secret.

[ no, your foot is going to be comfortably resting on his knee while he brushes the dirt off his back. ]

[bearcat]

[ oh spirits... ]

Mako, they're bending forms inspired by the way dragons fly.