kingdoms_of_auradon | (no subject)

Open/locked?: Open!
Who: Vexen/Even/Whatever nickname you give him
What: A new arrival!
Warnings: Copious amounts of sass and sarcasm? Nothing serious to start with, will tag individual threads if the Traumatic Backstory comes up.
It's a lovely, frost-trimmed morning in Auradon, blades of glass glittering in the sunlight, and...a dismayed looking scientist staring at a castle that very definitely isn't the one he lives in? There's no shock or confusion on his face as he takes in his decidedly unfamiliar surroundings, but just a tired sense of annoyance-tinged dread.

"Oh, Darkness take me, not again..."

Darkness take him home, he means. Whatever this is, he doesn't have time for it! An aura of inky purple-black rises from the ground to envelop him...and deposit him a mere ten feet away. That's obviously not where he meant for it to take him, as he scowls and tries again, this time stepping out of a darkened portal on a nearby wall. Increasingly frustrated, he digs a crown-themed smartphone from a pocket and checks the screen, before shooting it a glare that would be able to peel paint even if his eyes weren't an uncannily vibrant, acidic-looking green.

"What..." It comes out a tired sounding mutter, as he pinches the bridge of his nose with his free hand. "Is the point of a phone that functions across worlds if the signal cannot reach those worlds I must actually call for assistance from?"

Alright, worlds so utterly cut off from the rest that even the Darkness can't reach out from it are most certainly outside the scope of what the designers had in mind, but the fact remains, his phone is useless. So he supposes...all that's left is to try to learn what he can about where he is. And that means recon.

While he's not making active effort to go unseen, he doubts he'll have any reason to need to operate in secrecy, he still isn't quite in the habit of simply approaching people and asking them to explain things to him. He still has some pride left, after all, and it demands that he at least make some notes of his own, first. So, if someone didn't catch him complaining to himself, they might instead spot the scientist simply observing, with an expression of curiosity mixed with concern. It doesn't, after all, take him look to note that the area is oddly deserted, even for what must be the fringes of winter.

He's going to try not to think about what that reminds him of. If the corridors can't reach this place, after all, then neither can they.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

The little dragon was plainly still enjoying what he was giving... were they purring, faintly? Because they seemed to be purring, if he noticed the faint vibration under his fingers as they continued to lean into the attention....

"It was all too common, in my world. Our dragons weren't the only victims."

Another little motion would have caught his eye, to the other side of the dragons from the bushes where the one was hunting. There was a fourth creature, another illusion of hers, something perhaps as tall as a normal human, were its head raised a little more on its long neck. It was dainty, delicate-looking, really, with long legs on a slim little body, a creature built to lightly to sprint, to run faster than one might likely suspect, fur all woodsy reddish-browns in a pattern of fine spots, nose and mouth and underbelly a bit lighter than the rest. A mane of notable enough length, similar long fur down around its ankles, half hiding its split hooves... a long bony tail with a fair delay before the long fur covered it as well, and a tuft under its chin. And there, on its forehead, a smallish spiral, a thin little thing that ended in a sharp point. The little unicorn didn't look to be related to horses, so much as deer. It regarded him quietly a moment, big eyes moving a little as it took him in....

...And then its expression seemed to shift a little, and it gave a soft little breath of a sound, a quiet huff to itself, and... was that a subtle smile? It seemed to relax, and glanced to the dragons nearby, before simply leaning down to graze a little, tail flicking absently behind it. Even had been inspected, and deemed trustworthy enough to count as Not A Threat, apparently, as had been the obvious predators which were in even closer proximity to it than he was.

Meanwhile, the dragon that'd wandered away a little, toward the plants that weren't there, had found what it was after and struck, going from crouching low to the ground, its neck pulled back a bit, to diving into the unseasonable ferns, head out of view, tail waving with some bit of excitement. Sounded like it'd caught whatever much smaller illusory creature it had been after, and rather than playing with its prize, had probably killed and already eaten it....

The little unicorn peeked up at this, but quickly wrote it off again and went for another bite of grasses, taking a couple careful steps forward toward the remaining adult dragon, entirely unafraid of them... they looked quite comfortable with that lack of distance between them, in fact, and took another step closer, even while peeking off toward the one that'd been hunting. Evidently, the two species got along just fine, despite their very different places in their world's food chains.

Such things were hardly unheard of, even among unintelligent animals. Taking sapience into account, it seemed only natural that the distinction between predator and herbivore wouldn't necessarily be a source of fear for the non-carnivorous species. Moogles, after all, were willing to approach even Nobodies...who, arguably, were more dangerous than any predator to truly exist, up to and including Heartless.

Speaking of moogles, the figment of one fluttered over to examine the unicorn, while Even tilted his head in curiosity.

"Unicorns? Curious...such creatures as I have heard of in other worlds typically resemble horses. Or so I have heard, they are particular creatures in those places, not ones to tolerate company that dwells so close to the Darkness as I have. They are also often well regarded by humans, most certainly not viewed as mere animals."

"They were among the most gentle." She watched too; the unicorn peeked up, sniffed a little at the moogle, and pushed its nose up under it, giving a light nuzzle while it chewed the bit of grass. "I don't remember if they could read minds, but they could certainly sense feelings and read intentions. ...Which was why they so often stayed away from humans.

"But the humans in my world have had a long history of destroying what they can't claim for their own. It's proven quite dangerous to ever tell them no."

They'd really gotten off-topic in this conversation, hadn't they.

He couldn't help but wonder if the real thing would still avoid him. It was true that he was no longer the monster he once was, but surely such horrific actions would leave a stain upon the soul...and upon the heart he had been so intent on pretending wasn't slowly developing within him. Not to mention the fact that he had chosen to remain in the Twilight, accepting his own inner darkness and tempering it with the light, rather than rejecting it utterly as his fellows were trying so hard to do. He was the furthest thing from pure.

The moogle, still running on a pre-programmed personality, didn't reflect Even's thoughts. It giggled, before shouting about that tickling, followed by that same strange 'kupo' noise.

Even sighed and shook his head. "The humans of your world must be quite weak of heart. And so you had hoped I might be something akin to an elf, based upon my ears, and familiar with your struggles?"

She hesitated... well, he'd pretty well figured that one out, hadn't he.

"...Perhaps...." Sheepish, much?

"One from my world has arrived here already, though on the Isle, which is... said to be intended for the evildoers of this world." A slight pause. "When we were able to reach the Isle by boat, to rescue those stranded there... he stayed behind.

"And knowing those from my world... there would be things they would appreciate knowing." A small shrug... yeah, that was what was up with her asking him.