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

hiccup horrendous haddock iii ( httyd )

[flightsuit]

( how to train your dragon; i mean really what did you expect )

[Of course they'd brought him in for this. It was his life's work in a solitary mission, the one thing he was actually pretty decent at. They're frightened; that's always how it starts. And while the assorted spits of fire burn his fingertips, it doesn't pull him back from reaching his hand out cautiously.]

It's alright, little bud. You're safe here. Look — [When he reaches down his thigh, it's to grab the cylindrical device strapped there, tugging it out slowly. Pressing a button at its end, it forces a blade to extract, a shimmering flame burning off the steel.

Once they see you as one of their own, even the testiest dragons can be trained, always one of the guidelines he's come to form over his years of studying the creatures. Even if they come from a different world, fire is still quite the universal language. It won't ease them down immediately, but it certainly catches their attention, silencing their cries as their bright young eyes follow the path of the flame as Hiccup sways it along the air.]

( night time; aka cuddle time )

[He almost feels like he's ventured back into amateur status when it takes him as long as it does to gain the trust of the small wyrmlings. But he manages, getting them to tire out enough as they crawl into a pile together with their brothers and sisters, gathering warmth to counter the cooling breeze of the night, the rising chill leaving Hiccup to wonder what the formation of seasons are in this world (he could do without the nine months of winter that he's used to).

Sleep is far from his mind, worried for the orphaned children before him. The sight of the slain mother still haunts him, ache thick and heavy in his chest as he breathes heavily. He'd seen it hundreds, thousands, of times in his past (even in recent days as Berk is still rather singular in training dragons rather than slaying them), but it never ceased bearing that pain of finding one of those creatures he'd grown to cherish so much, hated and killed without any sense of reason.

He's lost in his thoughts as he leans back against rough bark, gaze distracted on the flickering fire, that he's rather surprised when he feels the roughness of scales brush up against his leg. Peeking down, one of the wyrmlings seems to have escaped their cuddle to wiggle its way underneath the weight of his arm, getting comfortable in a ball position within its new resting area against the Viking's hip.]

guess.

[bearcat]

[ the dragons in front of hiccup aren't the only ones enchanted by the blade of flame; a few dozen feet away, korra's deep red dragon is clinging to the top of a rock, claws digging in deep to stone, eyes wide as it watches the sight. korra had tried a similar trick with her firebending in the caverns, so to see someone else with the same sort of technique is... pretty cool.

she's hanging back behind her tiny wyrmling for a few moments as hiccup continues to mesmerize the babies before him — and then finally, she gets to her feet. in one smooth motion she picks up the hatchling she's looking after and closes the distance between herself and the trainer. ]

Neat trick.

[norse]

[ It was quite the sight, watching the young man coax and calm the little beasts before the mission managed to whisk them away to a safehaven of a camp. Easy, some said, but they were not party to the sight of the oddly dressed fellow suffering toasted fingertips before the babies condescended to be scooped up (extra willingly, eager for the warmth of the owner of the fire-blade). Thor took point on patrol after that, far to the back, and saw off an angry mob of townspeople ... or five, assisting his team-mates. And so the night has worn on and talk of where the dragon's children are to be found is well-known, a wide-berth given to the dragon trainer who barely looks to be in his beard.

Thor wraps a warm cloak around his shoulders as he leaves the revels by the fire, fed and watered, with Mjolnir hanging from a hip. He carries a bowl of wild boar, raw and untoasted from the flames of the spit especially for the small creatures, his tall figure cutting a swathe through the dim orange horizon of the camp until he comes to stand a polite distance from the (newly termed) dragon-mother.

He clears his throat politely. ]

Lest I be disturbing you, might I leave the little ones a midnight snack over here?

NO CUDDLES

[dreamcatcher]

( Hiccup is not the only sleepless one around here.

Emma isn't sure that thoughts are what are keeping her up, or the powers she took on keeping her from sleep. she didn't get a Dark One for Dummies handguide, after all, she has no idea how this all works. she's immortal, she thinks, does that include sleep? that makes her gut ache, trying to imagine never sleeping again, all her life waking torture as she thinks of all the people she left behind, the ones she needs to save her... but for right now, she definitely has no interest in sleeping.

protecting wyrmlings is new, considering Emma is used to dragons being... well she's used to them being Maleficent, honestly. she thinks the little things are kind of cute, yet how blindly powerful they are with so little understanding of their capacity is too much of a mirror for her right now. she's not been quick to start conversation, keeping emotional and physical distance from everyone seems the smartest choice right now, but she has to note, ) You look like you've done this before.

( the little dragons trust him a lot faster than they seem to trust anyone else. it's hard not to notice. )

cuddleeeeeees

[changewithinme]

They're kinda cute once you get past the whole "big scary beast" thing, huh?

[Well, she hopes she's not intruding his train of thought, because he looks pretty intense sitting there in the firelight. She doesn't know how he can be so calm around them, not when the mother had been so big like that. Sleep's the farthest thing from her mind too, which is why she's awake and awkwardly has a wyrmling or two half against her legs half on the ground between where they're crossed.

Sunset drapes her cloak over them, looking down at the little things. She's never had pets before, not even back on Equestria, and somehow she doesn't feel like she should be trusted with the care of another creature. Hesitantly, she place a hand on one of their backs, turning her attention back to Hiccup as it starts...purring? Huh.]

You look like you're used to this though.

train your dragons!

[digophelia]

[ If fire is the one way to calm them down, Alice is out of luck.

She stands a heavy distance from behind, even going far as splaying her hands in front of her to hide the glare of the light. ]

Excuse me.

[ As far as she knows, the mother is dead and the babies are alone without her. She almost feels sorry for them, but her fear of fire keeps her pinned where she's at, unable to help them. Eventually, Alice has to turn to the side, speaking with a clearer voice- ]

Is that the only way?

training dergs

[naturallywavy]

<sub>[ Gintoki seems to have given defeat as he sits there with his back against a tree, allowing an assortment of wyrmlings pile over top of him. They have one thing in mind; and that is nibbling this guy's hair. He has scolded them, yelled at them, everything other than hurting them, as hard as it has been to resist kicking them across a mountain. He's been good, okay. Shounen protag and all.

Needless to say, parts of his natural perm have been singed and burnt by their energetic chewing. There is probably 6 of them crowding on top of him at this rate, and they occasionally push each other down to climb up his body and get to the glorious perm on top.

Such a nice, nice perm to destroy.

Gintoki is talking to them, though. It sounds like the ending of a story: ]</sub>

—In the end, I was able to find my b*lls, so it was a happy ever after.
_{[ he looks over at particularly disruptive dragon. ]}

Aaaa? You're not tired yet?
_{[ all of them put their attention on the flame that Hiccup provides, watching curiously and behaving. ]}

night time

[livedtwice]

[Harry had taken note of Hiccup earlier in the day, but because of the busy work going around, he hadn't been able to approach him. Still, spotting someone with genuine skill with dragons had been important, especially since so many others looked at them with contempt. People didn't seem to mind helping out this world, but they didn't seem to know what to make of the creatures once they found him. For his part, he thought this was somewhat fair, remembering his own disastrous experiences with the dragons (and flying on the back of one hadn't been any less nervewracking, but it could have been far worse).

Still, there's something that's refreshing about a person who can be so comfortable with the dragons. Even if it's one person, it's different. Harry makes a note to himself to talk to him, but it takes much of the day to make it there, and he's careful as he approaches and then sits, an eye on both Hiccup and the dragon near him at the same time. His training as a seeker has made this easy, and he's good at keeping an eye on all surroundings at once.

His eyes lift to Hiccup's face and he offers a smile.]

I hope you don't mind me joining you. I'd been meaning to introduce myself all day. [His voice is even, careful. He extends his hand after a moment.] I'm Harry. I couldn't help but notice that the whole lot of us could handle having a few lessons from you.