Friend or Foe 3.0

[Chrono Blackwyng]

Chrono finally arrived at Armel's blacksmith when he noticed not only a smoke-stack, but swords and shields being displayed in windows. He opened the door and hefted the bread and meat, and he also wore a dumb grin on his face as he approached the table and put the meat in front of his 'master'. "I would've gotten here sooner, but I just realized you went back to your store when I went to the inn to find yo- ah!!" he had already put down the food and had put one hand behind his head, and that was the hand that ignited since his nervousness brought out the only element his mind could conjure. He shook the flame until it went out, then chuckled as he put his hand behind his back. "I don't know if its obvious by now, but I really don't know what this land is even called... or even if I'm still on Earth."

[Brooklyn K. Grey]

             Almost halfway back, the hybrid stopped mid-step and sighed. Mordecai's sentiment was starting to influence his actions more than he imagined. Maybe it was worth it to go back and bring the bear with him. Or not.
             Ignoring the frustration building like bile at the back of his throat, he decided to turn back, his pace much quicker than when he came until he saw the bear wandering hopelessly in the square. He was calling out for a name that technically didn't exist in this world. But even so, he refused to sacrifice his anonymity for a stranger. Carefully pulling his hood to shade any distinguishing features, he melded in with the crowd until he bumped into the shoulder of the bear.

             "Follow me, you idiot. And next time you feel like getting yourself lost, take the intuitive to keep up." He whispered vehemently, azure eyes glancing back at the ursine with a piercing impatience.
             "Also, keep your voice down."

              As much as he'd love to leave the bear as lost as he himself had started out, Mordecai used the crowd to get him back to another entrance to the alleys, moving slowly to keep in the ursine's line of sight. It may have been a different path, but the scent still lingered from his many treadings so it wouldn't be difficult to backtrack. The lion-wolf hybrid had to bite his tongue to keep from saying anything more confrontational than he had said in the inn. Keep your friends close, and your enemies [as well as strangers] closer.

[Darkwood Strange]

As much as i wanted to punch that smart mouth in, i decided to just let it go and follow the little pest. He was leading me to someone who possibly knew more than him and i wasn't going to pass that up. I also decided that having a friend was much better than an enemy so i tried to make peace with him. I caught up to him and kept a steady stride while saying "OK look, we seemed to get off on the wrong foot. I'm sorry for whatever i did to offend you and i aint holdin' no grudges for you stabbin' me in the neck. Can we just start over? I'll go first." I cleared my throat and said "Hello, my name is Cody Laster but here i guess you can call me Dov." I then offered my hand to shake.

[Srgntcuddles]

Reno uncurled from his little bite size ball and nervously looked over to Mortis. "R-Really?...So your not going to eat me? That's a relief...I-...Uhm...You make an adorable doll..." He slowly stood up and dusted himself off. "Ya know...As long as your not eating people." He scratched his head nervously as he did before not knowing what to do now that the whole "Omgwtfbbq" situation was over.

[Goblin Cat 😸]

As soon as the rabbit uncurled, she couldn't help but spring forward and wiggle her arms in an intimidating manner and gave out the best OOGAH BOOGAH she could. She wanted to grab her zipper and open it, but she wasn't sure if it would release the monster form or not, so she stopped herself. She knew her character well, and she wasn't going to do that. She continued her facade of a monster anyhow. It was something to do for the moment.

----

Armel crossed his arms giving the dragon a strange look. "Aye, well, fer now yer in a town called Atlas. It's a neutral ground between the light kingdom and th' darklands. A good place to be if ye don't like trouble. Though the guard that comes here can give us a hassle every now an' then as well as th' folks from th' darklands." He continued explaining as he cut up the meat with a large knife and started the furnace to cook it. "We act as a place of trade, so we see people o' all kinds come in from between those two lands. It's th' only way we can live. That's why we vendors are so tightly knit. We look out fer one another." The last part seemed to be said a little sterner as if suggesting consequences would be dire if the dragon decided to cheat him. He seasoned the meat and cooked it, bringing it back to the table... The meat sizzling and giving off a delicious aroma. "Do ye happen t'know what brings ye here? Maybe I can help." He split the meat evenly with the dragon, putting it on the rough plate, and dumping some of the oils from cooking on it alongside a few pieces of bread from the loaf that Armel had sliced himself. Unlike bread the dragon was used to, the pieces he got was thicker. The bear began to eat, waiting on an answer from the dragon. The food he had fixed was top notch and possibly the best meat and bread to grace anyone's lips.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

He bit into the steak, and tears formed in his eyes at how delicious it was, and it actually encouraged him to take only take a bit of it off at a time to milk as much from the meat as he can. He was halfway through before he could come up with an answer. "I come from a realm called Earth, and I was not a dragon when I went to sleep there, yet I awoke here a dragon that I had dreamed of on Earth but could not become due to the lack of magic our realm needed to complete such a ritual. Shall I elaborate on our tools of the trade?" He inwardly suprised himself at how well he formed the statement and in a way that could probably be understood even if one is not familiar with Earth; but he just passed it off as him fitting into the body of his primary avatar...

[Srgntcuddles]

When Mortis tried to scare Reno, it worked. He shrieked little a little girl and passed out, falling onto the ground. In the split second it all happened he thought: "AHH! I knew she was goin' to eat me! I just knew it! Was it something I said?! Waaaah! I don't want to be eaten!" As he was unconscious he dreamed of his life in reality. Wondering what was going on back home, if it was even there.

[Brooklyn K. Grey]

        Mordecai relented, and shook the bear's hand in a sense of tentative agreement. But he didn't say anything, more so out of lack for words than spiteful nature. He had already introduced himself, and he felt the ursine might understand. Maybe. So the trip backward mostly consisted of the hybrid following his scent and the faint remains of the thief's scent back to where Romei and the rabbit remained.

        "..." Standing above the rabbit's unconscious form was a reptilian doll that seemed to be too amused for comfort. But the doll itself looked familiar, as it was another one of Romei's creator's works, Mortis. But in this world, nothing was for certain.
        "....Mortis? Is that you striking fear into the heart of others again?"
 
         If it truly was Mortis, she might appreciate the cynicism. If not, he may have just started out on the wrong footing with an unknown creature. The hybrid hoped it was the former more than the latter, because it seemed to be pleasant enough, in its own...unique way. He glanced back to see the bear's reaction, before padding over to crouch beside Reno's still form, checking his breathing before putting a paw on his shoulder.

         "Wakey, wakey.." Mordecai muttered sardonically, hoping on the off chance the rabbit did respond, he got a good reaction.

[Darkwood Strange]

I had to bite my tongue to keep from laughing. This guy might be a bit of a jerk but he had a good sense of humor at least. I looked over and saw someone who was very familiar. I was just about to call out her name when i remembered that she didn't really share her name with a lot of people. It only took a second to think of a good name that she would know me by. "Bane? Bane you little cutie is that you in there?" I really hoped that it was her cause if it wasn't then things were gonna start off really awkward.

[Goblin Cat 😸]

Armel cocked his eyebrow as he sliced into the tender steak and ate it. For a bear, he ate quite delicately. "So what were ye before ye became that dragon?" He was honestly curious. He'd get to answer the second thing he asked soon enough, but he needed to know more about who he was trusting in his household.

-----

When Mortis had jumped to scare him, she didn't quite expect for her to get THAT much of a reaction, but she had to muffle her own laughter because she felt somewhat bad for making him faint. It wasn't long before the wolf lion had returned with a bear.. She wondered where he had managed to find a bear, but it was obvious from his ragged attire that he was probably just as confused as they were. If she had a jaw, it would have dropped when he spoke because there was only one person who ever called her Bane. Without any warning though, her sleeves stretched to enormous lengths and wrapped around the bear in a hug as she peeped, "Shadowslayer" with a laugh. There was one familiar face she knew for sure... They used to hang out occasionally in real life on earth, he also went to high school with her as well. When she released him, she dropped back to the ground, looking up. She wanted to unzip her chest now more than ever just because she felt so short.

[Srgntcuddles]

Reno woke up up to Mordecai over him, which made him roll over away from him and stand up. Mainly because he figured he wasn't eaten and the lion wolf wanted to finish him off. Soon figuring he wasn't going to he looked around for Mortis. He saw her with a bear...Another thing that would gobble up a rabbit...Now he was with three things that would eat him. A cannibalistic doll, a lion wolf hybrid and a bear. Lions wolfs and bears oh my. Reno tried to act casual as he could to avoid drawing attention from all his predators.

[Brooklyn K. Grey]

           Mordecai watched the unusual display of affection between the doll and the bear, breathing a bit easier knowing it had been the former.

           "You know, if I had wanted to hurt you by now, I would have." Mordecai dryly replied as he glanced over to the rabbit. It seemed he took the whole predator stereotype to a new level, but the hybrid couldn't blame him.
           "Though I could go for some food right about now...roasted rabbit anyone?"

           He knew he was horrible for once again torturing Reno, but he couldn't help it. His dark sense of humor seemed to fit perfectly with the sentiment's version of Mordecai's persona. Which was possibly the one plus amongst many minuses---one huge one being that they had no food or way to seriously keep themselves alive besides each other.

            "Relying on each other for survival...this sounds more and more like a cheesy motivational film every second." The lion-wolf mused quietly, before standing up brush the debris that had gathered on his robe, much to his displeasure.

            Now they had four, so they could possibly, stretching possibly to the fullest extent, weather a fight should someone start one. But now what would they do? The hybrid lapsed back into comfortable silence to try and answer his own questions with little result other than creating new ones.

[Chrono Blackwyng]

"I was what I believe is called a 'human', having hair only on the top of my head and on my chin and off-white skin coloring." He took a piece of bread and dipped it in the oil for a few seconds before taking a bite out of it. He was amazed that food could in fact be made this well, and for what he thought was a very low price!.

[Darkwood Strange]

I was very happy to find a friend in this strange new world. After the long hug i looked over just in time to hear the hybrid say "Roasted rabbit anyone?" I fought the urge to play along, the poor rabbit looked terrified enough. I instead turned back to Mortis and said in a playful tone "When i said we need to hang out soon, I kinda imagined a more modern place. By the way, is it just me or have you lost alotta weight?" It felt good to play around with an old friend, especially since so far i had been threatened, stabbed, abandoned, and insulted. Maybe things were starting to turn around.

[Goblin Cat 😸]

The bear was a bit taken back when the dragon said that he was a human. He dropped his utensil on the plate with a bit of a stern look, "Son, that ain't a funny joke. Humans have been extinct for over thousands o' years. We find records of 'em as if they all just dropped off the face o' the earth one day. There's hardly anythin' left of them by now... Time takes its toll on the landscape. Some philosophers think we came from 'em." He shook his head. He finished the last few bites of his steak and bread, then took all the plates and places them in a sink.

-----

"I know what you mean.. I didn't exactly plan on being this short." She looked over to the rabbit who was trying to be casual. "I really don't intend on eating you, Reno. I don't even have a mouth." She looked down to her zipper again, somewhat acknowledging that they would have to rely on each other when the wolf lion said it. She wanted to unzip it and see what happened after that.