eXodus
A post Hidden World httyd Roleplay
you cannot hold me captive
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Post by muse42 on Jun 17, 2019 5:01:13 GMT
[ASHRIJI]
The trip up the Lebathi was slow, hot, and increasingly grating. Even though Ashriji's ships were the fastest on the river - and quite well-supplied, to boot - she couldn't help but think them ear-splittingly slow. Clearly, she thought to herself, her time upon dragonback had spoiled her. At the rate they were moving, she'd be almost to Sohai by now if she'd just hopped upon Akkris and took to the skies.
But she had guests, and guests demanded all the small formalities and gestures of one spending time in the company of royalty. During Hiccup's escapade in Solallen, Ashriji had spent her time transferring supplies from the seafaring ships to the river-faring ones, and had made sure all of the sailors were in tip-top shape. From there, they'd navigated to Xirenne, the wooden dock city that floated upon the river. Then, of course, the easy leg of the journey was over. They'd slipped past the hospitable clime of the Hystonian Coast, and begun to enter the wasteland of the al-Hairani Desert.
They weren't in the desert proper, not yet. There was a rather large border zone between the two areas, filled with arid scrubland and savanna that wasn't the hot-enough-to-boil-your-eyeballs type hot, but still distinctly unpleasant, and it was here that they docked now, in the city of Kiseya.
Kiseya was a sandstone city, all old sun-bleached tile and stone. It was most famously known for its aqueducts, the oldest in the kingdom, as well as its place as a home of diplomacy; many diplomatic documents had been signed upon its premises, including the Kiseyan Decree, the thing that finalized the size and shape of the banners and brought them great peace. It was, second only to Sohai, one of Ashriji's favorite cities.
The winds carried with them howling sand that shredded the skin and buffeted against the city's great walls, wearing them down piece by piece, and the hot sun reflected harshly against the Libathi's lapping waves as they churned around the docks.
"Restock, resupply, and rest," Ashriji said to the ship's captain, an older fellow with dark skin and crow's-feet around his eyes. "We're at the halfway mark. We'll be here for a few days for repairs and to give you and your men some time to rest, all right?"
The captain nodded. He didn't question the orders or widen his eyes at such mercy; he'd been sailing with Ashriji long enough to know that this behavior of hers was normal.
"Taking anybody into the city with you?" he asked.
Ashriji nodded. "Akkris and Hiccup. No plans for anybody else, but we'll see how the day develops." She cracked a smile. "The city always finds ways to surprise me."
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Post by Hiccup on Jun 18, 2019 0:56:24 GMT
Hiccup was trying to be polite, terribly polite, but if he was being entirely honest he kind of hated all this sailing. It had been one of those things that set him apart from more vikings on Berk, he'd never really been a huge fan. He belonged in the air, unfortunately though Toothless was who knows how far away on Berk. Still all complaints about their mode of transportation aside, seeing all the sights had been an amazing experience thus far. Ashriji had assured him that he hadn't seen anything yet, but it was still relatively mind-blowing.
He was glad to stop though, to stretch his legs and get off the boat for a while. The further along they'd gotten though, the more he realized he was pretty poorly dressed for this climate. He hadn't brought anything lighter with him...He wasn't sure if he even had anything lighter with him, but it didn't matter, it wasn't enough to complain about at the moment, he was more eager to be able to see something other than the boat.
He found Ashriji just as she was finished speaking to the captain, looking over at his host slash captor, "so, you said this city was called Kiseya? Anything I should know?" He asked, hands on his hips as he surveyed what could be seen from their current vantage point, "I recall you mentioning...Aqueducts?" He tumbled the word over like it took a moment to remember how to say it, he'd been eager to see that system, something he could no doubt take back to Berk with him to make their lives easier.
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ashriji
New Member
Local warlord woman, on her way to steal your city-states
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Post by ashriji on Jun 18, 2019 5:22:29 GMT
[ASHRIJI]
Ashriji's eyes drifted from the captain to Hiccup, who looked rather uncomfortable. He still had that scale armor, black as pitch and heavy to boot, and with every day along the river it seemed more and more like it was constricting him; she couldn't blame him, heat and black clothing never mixed well, in her experience. This was the last stop before they hit the true desert. She made a mental note to find him some more fitting clothing while they were in the city here, especially as they might need it for the travels ahead if the river dried up earlier than usual.
"Aqueducts, yes," she said, a twinge of pride leaking into her voice. "The oldest in the kingdom! They help move water from the river into the city and farmlands for ease of use." She'd mentioned them once or twice before, but had never bothered to explain much of them until now. Looking over Kiseya's layered walls upon walls, one could see only the entrances of the aqueducts, where they terminated into the river and drew water both in and out. "They're much easier to see from the air," she added, and she made a small gesture to Akkris, who warbled and stepped closer, having just emerged from the lower decks.
Akkris had an antsy spring in her step that Ashriji recognized all too soon as a sign of impatience and eagerness. She got like this whenever she was cooped up for too long - she was a dragon, and she belonged in the sky, where she could soar for days on end. Ashriji knew the urge just as well as the dragon did, and often joked that she was part dragon herself.
She held a hand out to rub Akkris's head lovingly as the dragon crooned and pranced about, her tail flicking from side to side and nearly striking a nearby deckhand.
"Would you like a ride? We can see the aqueducts and canals better from there, and it'll be easier to get around the city," said Ashriji. This was the first time she'd offered Hiccup a ride, though she and Akkris had taken a few short flights while along the journey just to keep Akkris from tearing apart the entire fleet with pent-up energy. She was unsure if Hiccup felt comfortable enough in her presence to accept, but suspected that he was just as hungry for the skies as she was.
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Post by Hiccup on Jun 18, 2019 5:37:33 GMT
Hiccup nodded, glancing around as he took in her words, he only understood the basics of the system she was talking about, certainly not enough to be any sort of expert. He was eager to change that, but the slight hint in her words made him glance over, between her and the dragon at her side. He was absolutely sure he felt that same little thrill of exhilaration, it really had been too long, hadn't it?
He didn't hesitate when she offered to let him ride Akkris with her, "absolutely!" He was quick to chirp out a reply, this was second nature to him, like an ingrained instinct, and he needed no guidance as he followed her onto the dragons back.
It felt amazing to be in the air again, after having been grounded for what felt like ages. Between being consumed by everything back home, and now this detour, it very well could have been ages. He took a good look around from their vantage point, enough of a look that he managed to catch a black shape coming closer fast.
"T-tooth-!" He didn't get to finish the dragon's name before he was quite wildly thrown off, sent flailing too fast to react or right himself. It didn't matter though, because after a moment he landed heavily on the Night Fury's back, eyes wide and hair an absolute mess as he took stock of his surroundings, then realized what had happened, "b-bud?! What are you doing here?! How'd you find me?!" He could only babble out the questions, before shaking them away and pulling up to fly beside Ashriji and Akkris, "well uh...This is Toothless," he looked down over the black dragon and reached to rub behind his ears, giving him an exasperated smile.
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ashriji
New Member
Local warlord woman, on her way to steal your city-states
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Post by ashriji on Jun 18, 2019 5:48:43 GMT
[ASHRIJI]
He was there and gone in an instant. In under a minute since Akkris had become airborne, Hiccup had lost his status as passenger, and Ashriji felt her breath hitch the moment she no longer sensed Hiccup's presence behind her. To her knowledge, there had been a whiz of air, a black blur, and suddenly, like that, he was gone.
And then he was back, leveling out beside her atop a dragon of his own. Ashriji didn't have to look long to recognize the creature as a Northern Night Fury - a rarity - and she took in a slight breath when she realized that the thing she was staring at may very well be the King of Dragons, the black creature of nightmares her scouts had told stories about.
Akkris was no less surprised, and made a sound halfway between a curious croon and indignant squawk, both angry that her passenger had been stolen and surprised to see another so similar to her before they'd gotten back to the palace.
"So that's the King of Dragons..." Ashriji whispered to herself. She shook her awe off a moment later, and instinctively moved with Akkris to readjust their flight and glide alongside Hiccup and the newly-introduced Toothless. Speaking louder, she said, "He must really like you. I wonder how long he's been following us, hm?"
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Post by Hiccup on Jul 28, 2019 3:56:51 GMT
Hiccup took a few beats to actually reorient himself with what was going on around him. He expected a lot of things on this little trip, but Toothless tracking him down was not one of them. He wasn't entirely surprised though, he'd been late getting back to Berk by now and he imagined the dragon would have no doubt started to worry, he just kind of wondered how he'd known to travel this way.
Toothless threw a very cheeky sort of grin at Hiccup and then the other dragon, clearly very pleased with himself. It had taken a bit longer than he would have liked to make the strange man speak back on Berk, but eventually he'd hounded the answers out of him, he felt particularly proud of himself for figuring this all out.
"We've been to Helheim and back together, Toothless is as much a brother to me as any flesh and blood human could be," he said, affectionately running a hand over the dragon's head and earning a pleased sound in response, "but I have no idea how he found me, I suppose he got worried when I didn't come home when I was supposed to," he laughed and shook his head, before looking over at her. He had about as much explanation for the things his brilliant partner did as anyone else, but he at least felt better about being here now that it wasn't just him alone in a world he didn't understand.
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ashriji
New Member
Local warlord woman, on her way to steal your city-states
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Post by ashriji on Aug 23, 2019 5:32:34 GMT
[ASHRIJI]
Ashriji laughed a little. She was reminded of how mischievous Akkris was when told to stay behind - she'd escaped every manner of security more times than Ashriji could count. It had eventually become apparent that she wasn't staying anywhere but Ashriji's side, so the warlord had (somewhat happily) allowed her to come along. She was intelligent enough to avoid becoming a liability, and her companionship was endlessly appreciated.
"How deep a bond must be, for its members to cross oceans to reach one another again," Ashriji said dreamily. She quickly shook herself out of such ruminations - she had no time for them, not anymore - and patted Akkris's head lightly, almost in mimicry of Hiccup's motion, to which the dragon responded with a pleased rumble that she felt in her bones.
Akkris curved her flight to draw closer to Toothless, sniffing intently and letting out a rough-sounding bark. She'd seen plenty of Southern Night Furies in her time, though the scent of a Northern was new to her, and she was decidedly cautious about the newcomer. Ashriji couldn't blame her; she was always territorial around other Furies and didn't know what this new one was capable of. Ashriji tensed up instinctively as Akkris drifted away with a snort and a terse glare.
Ashriji rubbed the dragon's neck slowly, humming. "Apologies," she said to Hiccup. "She gets a little territorial around new dragons - especially ones who are simultaneously familiar and unknown."
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