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Post by nightshade on Feb 19, 2021 1:44:35 GMT
Mantis ShrimpBronzewingWhile Mantis bowed respectfully to the Queen, Squid simply ducked her head. Grudgingly and slowly. Queen Ascidian wasn’t her favorite dragon by far. Her practically skittish nature was, not queenly of her. The purple Seawing brought her head back up with a sneer. Eyes glancing over to the odd green green and red dragon just to scoff at him. Squid looked away from Mantis quickly. The oddity that was Mantis was no longer in her claws. The queen would do as she wished with him; Squid was not about to interfere. If anything, the young Seawing wanted to leave. "Now who's this?" Queen Ascidian asked, scales glowing brightly. "I've never seen them around before, and with those colors..." Squid glared right on back at the Queen’s accusing stare. The purple dragon growled and swam a few feet forward before replying. “Hell if I know, my queen. This scrap of fish food was swimming along The Bay of a Thousand Scales, when I found him it became clear he barely speaks aquatic at all. That’s all I know, besides his rather odd color pattern, and I’d like to leave, my queen.” Squid barked, tail thrashing and lip curled. word count 206
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Post by Bronzewing on Feb 19, 2021 2:18:29 GMT
Mantis Shrimp nightshadeAscidian looked down at them with a raised scaly eyebrow. She didn't like Squid much- not at all. It would be a lot better if she could get them out of her scales, maybe...send them away someplace. Shame she wasn't able to drown them. She stared into their eyes with a scowl on her face, showing them her definite disdain. Maybe she could find a way to get rid of them and not have to deal with the annoyed purple dragon any longer. Growling back before answering, she dipped her head down to the other dragons. The guards around her, seeing her annoyance, moved a tad closer to the group of dragons- not in spear range yet, of course. That would make it seem a bit too hostile. She only hoped that she wasn't scaring the hybrid- it wasn't them she had a problem with. yet. "Hm. They look unusual, to be sure- I'll have a talk with them one on one." She dismissed Squid with a toss of her wings. She was a bit tempted to send one of the guards after them for a short while- maybe see if they were planning anything against her- they definitely seemed like the dragon to do something like that. Just to be careful, she would send a dragon after them as soon as the purple SeaWing turned away. Her paranoid nature was getting to her again, and this time she had a focus. At least she believed she could trust her guards. "You can go." she said. "One on one." With that she looked at the smaller hybrid, clutching the sides of her throne sharply with long claws.
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Post by Mantis Shrimp on Mar 17, 2021 1:34:11 GMT
Mantis looked up from their clumsy bow to watch the queen turn towards him and Squid. His scales crawled with embarrassment as she took him in, wishing he could hide his lack of wings, bright red scales, and antennae. They couldn't do this, of course, and there was no way the queen hadn't noticed every little odd thing about them. She turned to Squid, saying something in aquatic. She looked angry. Mantis shifted uncomfortably, unsure if she was angry with him or Squid. She was probably angry with Mantis, though, like Squid had said she would be. He looked nervously from Squid to Ascidian, wondering what they were thinking. They hate you, his mind whispered, as all their shiny dreams of Seawings that liked them and treated them like a normal Seawing dragonet shattered. The first dragon he'd met outside of Turtle Shell Island had taken them to the queen to be banished. Hot shame rose in their throat like bile, and they looked down at their talons, unable to look at the faces of Squid and Ascidian any longer. A few moments passed and Mantis looked up, sensing movement in the water. Squid had turned to leave and Ascidian leaned down, looking intently at Mantis. They looked at their talons, trying to remember the little aquatic Jack had taught them. Slowly, haltingly, they flashed their scales, desperately hoping they remembered correctly and weren't just saying random things to the queen. "Not... speak... Aquatic," they grimaced, certain that they'd said it badly. He wished he knew the aquatic word for "sorry". Word count: 261 Bronzewingnightshade |
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Post by Bronzewing on Apr 7, 2021 13:10:14 GMT
Mantis ShrimpAscidian looked down at the small dragon, watching as the one who had brought them there left the room. Strange wingless little creature, resembling a SeaWing but not being the kind of dragon she recognized. What was with the antennae on their head, anyway? Were they some kind of bug-SeaWing hybrid? Was their egg infused with butterflies? She did her best to stifle a laugh- no use in making them feel worse than they already did. They were being brought in front of the queen of the SeaWings first thing, after all. What dragonet wouldn't be terrified? Even worse now that their scales flashed, slowly and thoughtfully, declaring to the queen that they couldn't even speak Aquatic. Well, that wasn't much for their conversation then. What was the point of speaking when neither of them would understand a word? Her best guess now would be to send the dragonet to the Summer Palace, talk to them there... but if she was the dragonet, she would escape before they even got there. She wouldn't blame them for darting off. The weird little creature definitely didn't want to be there. "Well." she flashed, going slowly for a better chance of the dragonet understanding a single word coming off of her patterns. "Not speak Aquatic? Not much we can do down here." She motioned with a claw, spiraling it in the water around them. Hmm- maybe there was a room in here where they could get some air, although it wouldn't be very...royal. Probably just a hole somewhere.
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Post by Mantis Shrimp on Apr 13, 2021 1:57:59 GMT
(this bit is before Mantis said they didn't speak aquatic!)
Mantis felt their insides fill with shame as the queen attempted to disguise a laugh. They'd known they were funny-looking - how could they not, when the dragon who'd raised him had told him so? They studied their talons, now even more ashamed to have to admit that they couldn't understand aquatic.
(ok now back to after he'd said that,,)
The queen responded slowly, repeating his statement and adding something on to it, then motioning to the surrounding room. Maybe something about how they couldn't talk underwater? Did she want them to do something? He wasn't sure. So they waited nervously to see what she would do, wondering if she would come up with a solution, or just send him away for 'not being a real seawing', or whatever Squid had wanted her to do.
word count: 126
writers block yayy, sorry for super short reply
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Post by Bronzewing on Apr 13, 2021 2:23:44 GMT
Mantis ShrimpHmm. What now- find a pocket of air, find a place to talk? There wasn't much the dragonet could do to her, anyway- she outpowered them in every way she could see. Unless they were part RainWing or something, she didn't have much to worry about- and she doubted they had any IceWing blood. What even were they? It would be rude to ask, but as a queen, who cared whether or not it was rude? She would do it anyway if she wanted to do it. She flashed her scales at a nearby dragon, who signed back- There's a pocket of air around here, I suppose. Not the best for... queenly conversations- are you sure you want to go there?She answered back- Yes. The dragonet will run if we try for the surface or the Summer Palace. No- you lead the way.With a nod of their head they swam off, the queen lifting out of her chair. "Follow." she signed to the dragonet, pointing along with that to make sure they got that she wanted them to come.
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Post by Mantis Shrimp on May 9, 2021 15:08:39 GMT
The queen turned to a nearby guard and said something to them Mantis didn't understand. They had no idea what she could be saying. Was she telling them to take Mantis away? He tried to remember what he'd heard about Ascidian. He wondered if normal Seawing dragonets knew about their queen. Probably. Although he wasn't sure if they'd know how the queen treated suspicious dragons. They'd never have to worry about that, he realized with a tiny prick of jealousy. The guard flashed a response, their scales lighting up pale purple, contrasting with the dragon's green scales. Mantis had been too busy worrying about what was going to happen to him to notice much about them before, but they were mostly a deep green color, with accents that were a purple so dark it reminded Mantis of the depths where Seawings would have to rely on their night vision to get around. Mantis thought of how Squid had tried to test Mantis's night vision. He frowned down at his talons, wondering if he'd have been able to find Squid in the darkness without his antennae*. They hadn't really tested their night vision, but what if it was worse than most seawings? The queen motioned at Mantis, startling them out of their thoughts. She wanted them to follow her and the green dragon, and they complied, their thoughts going back down the well-worn tracks of worry. Was she taking him to the dungeon? word count: 242 Bronzewing*should Mantis know what antennae are? |
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Post by Bronzewing on May 9, 2021 18:49:50 GMT
Mantis ShrimpThere we go. She wasn't even sure if the dragonet would listen, or if they would have to be forcefully pushed to where the queen wanted them to be. Luckily for her, they seemed to understand- it would be so, so much harder if she had to get the guards to push them, and then they could try to run, and then she would have to deal with THAT, and then... Good dragonet. At least the strange little thing understood at least one thing they wanted. Well, time to move. Ascidian started to swim towards that one room with the air, guards of course by her side- the dragonet couldn't do anything, but she did need to have the intimidation factor necessary. Of course, if she also needed to kill the dragonet, it would be good to do it in a smaller space like this so that her dragons didn't get scared. After all, it wasn't exactly... moral to kill a dragonet. And there it was- one small room, closed off, with one pocket of air at the top created by the architecture. It wasn't the best place, but it was large, and she could still look at least somewhat intimidating. One of her guards opened the door, and she swam in- another guard went behind the dragonet to shoo them inside. "Here." she signed, moving upwards- hopefully the dragonet would understand what was going on.
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Post by Mantis Shrimp on Jun 13, 2021 23:17:24 GMT
Mantis followed after Ascidian, their insides writhing like snakes. He worried about what she would do if he tried to run, then what she might do even if he didn't. They decided that if he kept his head down and did what the queen said, maybe they would be able to leave the palace unpunished. Mantis was confused at first when they followed the queen into the room, but quickly understood the queen's intentions. She just wanted to find a place where they could talk! Flooded with relief, Mantis swam upwards, water splashing up around them as they burst into the air bubble. "My name is Mantis Shrimp," they said, "I don't know why Squid brought me here, but I'm definitely not, uh, not a seawing, I promise! Please don't-" They broke off, realizing that they had no idea what the queen's intentions were. Should he have spoken before the queen? Was that a rule? They couldn't remember. What had they been about to say, anyways? Don't - what? Send him out of the tribe? Wasn't that what he had been doing when Squid caught him? Escaping the seawings who couldn't treat him like one of them? Don't send him back to Tortoise Shell Island? Would that really be so bad? Maybe Cormorant had missed them! Perhaps their time away had made their aunt relize that she really did care for him after all- they sighed, realizing that this was just wishful thinking. Word count - 242 Bronzewing |
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Post by Bronzewing on Jun 14, 2021 3:56:06 GMT
Mantis Shrimp She paddled in the water, head still above air, wondering whether she should teach the dragonet Aquatic- if she kept the dragonet, after all. Would be much, much easier to kick a strangely colored wingless thing out of her tribe. And ah, they started talking quickly- looks like they had much to say, bottled up since of the water and their lack of knowledge about their language. It was a shame- who wouldn't teach a dragonet how to communicate in one of the main places they would be living? And she surely wouldn't be the one to do it. "Mantis Shrimp." she repeated. Interesting name, but not something unexpected from a SeaWing. Whomever named them really should have taught them. "I can tell you are not a SeaWing. You're the wrong color, the wrong..." She motioned to Mantis's whole body with a claw. "You're not a SeaWing, I can tell that. But that doesn't change the fact that you can swim like one, have some features of one- our glowing scales- and point to likely being a hybrid." "So, then..." She moved a bit closer- "what are you? Do you know? Who are your parents, your caretakers? Why were you out there?" A flood of questions, partially made to slip up the dragonet and maybe get more answers. They were already uncomfortable, after all. And don't- don't do what? Murder them? She wouldn't do a thing like that- while she could be rough sometimes, she wasn't a dragonet murderer. That was something she wouldn't fall to doing.
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Post by Mantis Shrimp on Sept 22, 2021 21:35:44 GMT
Mantis squirmed under the queen's gaze, nervously awaiting her response. "I can tell that you are not a Seawing. You're the wrong color, the wrong..." She broke off, waving a talon at Mantis. They knew what she meant. He'd been told this same thing more times than he could count by the dragons in Turtle Shell Island. Their words echoed through his head. You're not a real seawing. Something's wrong with that one. Freak. You're a disgrace to all the seawings here. They trained their gaze on the ceiling, determined not to let the seawing queen see him cry. The queen continued talking and Mantis quickly wiped his eyes, hoping she didn't see. "You're not a Seawing, I can tell that. But that doesn't change the fact that you swim like one, have some features of one - our glowing scales - and point to likely being a hybrid." A hybrid? That couldn't be right. Mantis was a seawing, they knew that. "So then... what are you? Do you know? Who are your parents, your caretakers? Why were you out there?" Mantis frowned. How did he know he wasn't a hybrid? That could explain how everyone treated them. Did they know? Did everyone know and just never told him? Did Cormorant know? She must, if it was so obvious that the queen could tell at a glance. "I-I never knew my parents," Mantis confessed. "I'm a seawing- or at least, I thought I was. I'm not so sure now. My-" they paused, trying to find the right word. "The dragon that raised me, Cormorant, found my egg. I don't know why she decided to keep me, though. She didn't act as though she wanted me." It felt strange, talking so openly about this. He'd only ever told one other dragon about his feelings towards Cormorant. "Squid found me out in the ocean because I was running away. Where I lived, nobody liked me or paid any attention to me. They didn't even bother to teach me aquatic. And I know I probably shouldn't have left, so if you want to send me back I'll go, though I'm not sure how happy they would be to see me back." It hurt, admitting that they probably wouldn't have been missed, but he knew it was the truth, despite the hope that he would be welcomed back. "And, um, if you want me to leave the seawing kingdom, I'll go, but, uh, I'm not exactly sure where I would go..." they swallowed nervously, looking at the Queen to try and gauge her reaction. Bronzewingword count: 428 |
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Post by Bronzewing on Sept 22, 2021 22:37:12 GMT
Ascidian did not feel threatened by the dragonet. Wasn't much fire they could have down here, and they didn't have any of the familiar fangs she would expect of a Rain hybrid- she could probably take them out in seconds if she really needed to. She did not notice them crying, but if she did she wouldn't have cared either way. It wasn't something she would concern herself with, after all. "You never... knew your parents?" she asked, nodding her head. They were definitely a hybrid of some sort- but of what, the SeaWing did not know. "Then nothing means that you cannot be a hybrid." She had already basically made up her mind about what Mantis Shrimp was, and unless their parents showed up right then, she would stick to her beliefs. Standing in front of her was a hybrid. But now... where would she send them? Ascidian didn't want them around the palace- they would just get in the way, and they weren't anybody that should be there, never mind living there! And she wasn't sure who would take care of them if they just swam around the kingdom. Usually she would just ask them to stay in the area so she could keep an eye on them, but imagine the pain it would be to have to come up to the surface every time you wanted to talk to them! Maybe she would find somebody to teach them... she did know some dragons, and what teacher would deny the laws of the queen? "If you learn Aquatic with one of the teachers we have in the Kingdom, you can stay. I'm not sure where else to send you, but I wouldn't throw you out of the kingdom like that." The news that she threw out a DRAGONET would probably spread, after all, and she didn't want to be known as THAT kind of dragon. "If this is okay with you, I can start finding you a tutor- not in here. You're not staying in the palace, if that's what you were wondering." Better make sure they knew she wasn't THAT kind to them. Mantis Shrimp |
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Post by Mantis Shrimp on Feb 17, 2022 20:35:22 GMT
The queen frowned thoughtfully, and Mantis felt a twist of dread in their stomach. "You never... knew your parents?" Mantis nodded miserably. "Then nothing means that you cannot be a hybrid." Mantis didn't know what to say to that. He wasn't even sure what to think. If the Queen was able to see that I was a hybrid - maybe a hybrid, they swallowed, pulling absentmindedly on the webs between his talons. then- then everyone else must have known - thought that too, they thought to himself. Maybe that was why all the dragons on Turtle Shell Island had hated them so much? Why did nobody ever tell me? he wondered, though they already knew the answer. The same reason nobody had bothered to teach him Aquatic - nobody cared enough to bother with the weird little green and red seawing that couldn't even fly. He sighed, the queen's voice breaking through their thoughts before he got into the familiar track of feeling sorry for themself. "If you learn Aquatic with one of the teachers we have in the kingdom, you can stay. Mantis's eyes widened. "I'm not sure where else to send you, but I wouldn't throw you out of the kingdom like that."[/i] His heart soared, relief washing over them. "If this is okay with you, I can start findng you a tutor - not in here. You're not staying in the palace, if that's what you were wondering.""Yes!" Mantis blurted out, "Er, well, not yes to if that's what I was wondering. I wasn't. Wondering that. Um." they paused, wincing. That hadn't come out as well as he'd imagined. Typical. Of course they would stumble over their words, humiliating himself in front of the queen. She must think they were an idiot - or, more of an idiot than she'd already thought. He took a deep breath. "I mean, uh, I would love that. To learn Aquatic. Here." he paused, remembering that she said they wouldn't be in the palace. "Or, ah, wherever you would have me go," he finished lamely. They decided to just wait to see what the queen would do next instead of trying to clarify what they'd meant again. word count: 362 Bronzewing |
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Post by Bronzewing on Feb 24, 2022 4:40:51 GMT
Mantis ShrimpAscidian didn't really seem to care if their words came out wrong. All she really cared about now was getting this dragonet out of her palace and wherever they needed to be- and to maybe find out what sort of hybrid they were. She already knew they had to be one, now it was just a matter of what they were. What tribe even had those colors? SeaWings could be green, but there was still the red...and their lack of wings.. She would deal with that later, or have somebody else do it. It wasn't something a queen should bother herself with. "It may be somewhere in the Kingdom... but I did hear of some places outside of it." she thinks. "As long as I can find a dragon willing to teach you, you'll have a place. For the time being... you can care for yourself, yes? You don't need me to send somebody to take care of you...?" She didn't wait for an answer. "You can find a place to stay around here until I receive good news."
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