castaside | [Heart Game] From the ashes we can build

The dragon's jaws miss Donnie but the claws will be a direct hit... but then they bounce right off the golden cloak with no damage to it or to Donnie. Macaque was really watching out for you.

Three of Donnie's spider arms miss but one connects, ripping a foot-long gash into the dragon's side. It roars but seems mostly unfazed by the injury... and then two of Korone's sword slam right into its neck and stick there. The dragon thrashes madly and the potion dislodges from its teeth and spills.

Since the dragon is uh HUGE it'll take a little bit for the poison to work. In the meantime, it vanishes into a portal. It could come back in again anywhere.

Donnie is expecting the pain digging his into arms or his thighs. His plastron may be fine, but his limbs aren't near as hardy, but he feels its worth it for a good hit-

Except.

There is impact, he's forced back, and he has to summon the ninpo hover wings to catch him since the wall isn't as in easy reach, shooting up towards the ceiling. There was contact. But he didn't feel it and he looks down. He doesn't see any scratches on the Dragon Scales.

Some scuffs on the cloak, but no damage.

....oh.

He supposed it was time to do a stress test. "Keep looking out for me please, Papaque."

He sees a goal, and the tech bo turns back into a hammer as he drops the ninpo and lets himself dive down with the back of the rocket hammer igniting. Diving down hard and fast to smash down towards his head. Or back. Really, anywhere that gets him close to those swords to release an electric blast to use as a conductor.

[ The fire swords didn't do a whole lot of good. The real ones, on the other hand? They seemed to do the (slightly horrifying, something to think about later or maybe let's just not) trick.

Between that and the shape of Donnie's plan, she decides to try it again with the last of her borrowed swords and two throwing knives, teleporting them in a cluster and dropping them in hard the moment the dragon reappears. She keeps her teleport spell primed and ready just in case she needs to get Donnie out of there at short notice. ]

The dragon pops out of its portal directly below Donnie, but Donnie sees it in time to strike with his hammer, though the dragon moves just enough for Donnie to miss hitting one of the swords that Korone jammed in its neck. Korone's daggers strike its flank a moment later though, and Donnie gets a second shot thanks to the way the dragon moved to dodge. This hit strikes, and the combination of electric shock and the effects of the potion do their work.

The dragon lands hard on its hoard of gold, sluggish and bleeding. Alive, but it's up to you whether it stays that way.

Donnie lands on the ground and sends out his Ninpo, purple metal plating forming and slotting together to wrap around the dragon. The bindings shedding light to try and minimize shadows directly touching the dragon.

He's moving closer, scanning over the dragon. "We shouldn't linger long after he's stabilized."

[ The fact that Korone blew well past her old cast limit hasn't quite occurred to her yet, so focused was she on that's a dragon holy shit we have to fight Dracaque the Dadragon. She'll feel it in a minute, once the adrenalin has run its course.

She half jogs, half flaps over to join Donnie, giving him a quick but thorough once-over. ]

Just enough to make sure he'll be okay and get that item.

[ Satisfied that Donnie's in one piece, Korone crouches, facing the dragon. Near enough to be there but not so close that Donnie's likely to have a heart attack about it. Her hands rest in her lap. ]

How can we help you?

In one of the dragon's hind paws there is a golden key which you can get out of its slack grip easily enough. Thanks to the potion and electrocution and bindings, it's not going anywhere. It does still have the blades in its neck and flank, so it continues to bleed.

When Korone asks how they can help, there is a voice in the room despite the dragon not opening its mouth:

I am here to protect. Without me, we may crumble.

And really, that's why the blades are still in there, so there is LESS bleeding.

Donnie will go grab the key and move over to hand it over to Korone. He already got a thing so this may be important to her.

"So you're self defense," he said and paused, looking at the gold hoard. "Maybe selfishness, but that's hardly bad. I supposed we're lucky he didn't want to hoard us," Donnie said. "We could heal the injuries. I can drop the bindings when we're out of the room."

[ She takes the key when Donnie offers it to her. ]

Dracaque to protect Macchan's innermost heart, huh? Makes sense. [ Her voice softens, ] You're here for a reason. It's not a bad thing to want to protect yourself, and letting people in this far ... [ she tightens her grip on the key ] It's hard and it's scary. To say the least.

We're gonna help you, okay? If Donnie removes the blades, I'll heal the injuries. You'll be good as new. [ ... ] Um, after a nap.

[ The purple potion is a doozy. ]

Korone's ring starts to glow as the speaks to the dragon, more brilliantly the more words she says.

It is the fear that created me. But you are not afraid of me. The dragon seems pleased and surprised by this.

He will lay there because he doesn't have much choice. He'll be asleep soon, but in the meantime he watches the two with curious, discerning eyes.

"Of course not," Donnie said, holding a hand out in the air, forming a metal claw to remove the blades.

"My older brother, Raph, he has these...episodes, sometimes, when he ends up in high stress situations on his own. Childhood trauma, ill proper coping mechanism, yada yada. So when we know he's been on his own an extended time, we approach cautiously because he might lash out," he said, moving the claw to remove a sword from the neck when Korone was ready to heal. One at a time so she can heal the worst first with the most she energy she can.

"And of course when I'm overstimulated, I can lash out. Korone's seen that. Now its a rule to make sure I don't have a sharp thing before getting in range if I'm having a rough time." He very much does not look at Korone when he says this. "Then there's Dr. Delicate Touch with Mikey...and then there's dad with Rat Flu."

He huffs and shakes his head. "Sometimes family hurts each other. The part that matters is what you do after."

Edited 2024-03-18 20:03 (UTC)

You weren't acting out of malice. [ She smiles at the dragon. Soft yet warm, and very much from the heart. ] We respect you. Your strength. Your feelings, your reasons.

[ The ring almost distracts her. She does glance down at it, but she's quick to refocus, especially when Donnie gets himself set up for removing the first of the blades. ]

… And I'd rather meet you with an open heart, you know?

[ She gives Donnie a nod to show that he can pull whenever he's ready. The moment he does, she starts casting, pouring on her healing magic to take care of that wound specifically — it's a warm, dappled feeling, like spring sunshine on raindrops, soothing pain as well as stopping the bleeding and mending the wound itself. Assuming it works, anyway, but listen, she is not half-assing this. If she has to recast, she has to recast. ]

The dragon listens. There's not much else it can do. As Donnie talks, the ring glows even brighter, and then brighter still when Korone speaks again. Seems like it's reacting to their words, or rather, showing how the dragon is receiving those words.

Family is a strange concept to us. We have never had one before.

The healing magic will take more time than usual to work, but work it does.

"Then we'll show you how it's done," Donnie said, studying the rate the wounds are healing. "Adoption is a big thing in my family."

He reaches out his hands to Korone's shoulders. "Let me help, Songbird," he said softly, and pushing some of his own energy through the ninpo to her so the healing didn't take it all outof her.

We'll teach you the ropes. [ Korone promises, echoing Donnie. ] It's okay if it takes time. It's okay if mistakes are made along the way; if someone stumbles, or falls.

A big part of being a family is reaching out. We'll be there for you, and we know you'll be there for us.

[ She leans back into Donnie's capable hands, grateful both for the physical contact and the magical assist. It's finally started to hit her that she'd blown past her old cast limit over the course of the fight. ]

Thanks, Donnie.

[Heart Game] From the ashes we can build

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