shatterverse | (no subject)

Entry tags:

nhim,
shem

(no subject)

Somewhere in the Rockies is a rather large cave. Skulls and bones are strewn outside - some deer, some human, but most clearly not of this world.

Inside the cave is a tapestry depicting a courtly festival, a large collection of Asian art, some American Indian beadwork, and a variety of religious paintings. Shem's trip to the Denver Art Museum yielded amazing results (for him - the museum now has dragon-shaped, lightning-scorched holes in it), though the flight back to his cave destroyed too many paintings for his liking.

Most of these pieces of art are set on large rocks. Shem will see to the proper display and mounting of his pieces later - every day he wracks his brain to figure out his new cave's aesthetic. When he's not thinking of a way to create human slaves who can steal paintings and sculptures for him and transport them back unharmed.

Shem has been a busy dragon since he changed worlds. Right now he's flying over a small valley ten minutes away from his cave, looking below for food.

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"A new power rises to topple the old, and the light of a new sun will soon grace the kingdoms of the north!" His wings spread with the force of his narration. "Great events have been set in motion. I was to have been a part of them," a faint frown, "but even though I am here I am content. It cannot be stopped. Not now."

The reason he's being so vague is A) he's still a bit player in those events and B) he doesn't want to give away the Namebreaker's plans. If Nhim ever gets back home the first thing she'll do is give any information she learns to King Roland.

Nhim, however, can get the gist of it. She's been around for awhile, and heard similar-usually in reference to good triumphing over evil, but this case, dealing with King Roland...well, the human has proven to be a good king, and had tried to repent for what he's done. Shem's speech prompts a sound he's likely never heard directed at him from his mother-a low, truly angry growl.

Shem fought his own brother - as if his mother's growl bothers him!

(His ears do begin to twitch backward. Just for an instant.)

He stares her levelly in the eye, frill spreading and tail-spikes raised, a grin tugging at his muzzle.

The frill spreading is actually a good opening for her-without warning, Nhim snakes her head forward and bites Shem, clamping down his neck behind his ears, where there aren't any spines yet to get the way. She growls and shakes him roughly, but it's not a killing bite. Instead, it's part reprimand, part show of anger, and part insult-it's the same sort of bite an adult gives to an aggravating nestling that needs to be put in its place.

Shem responds much as he did in his nestlings tantrums, though his age and size make his squawk a bellow and his flailing about involves hitting Nhim's side with tail-spikes larger than a man's forearm.

There's a grunted snarl in response-while her fur does cushion the blow slightly, it's not much, and the spikes are still painful. Nhim clamps down harder, ears pinning back. She's been through worse than this, and she's driven by real anger this time.

Shem's next below has an embarrassing element of whine to it; though he still struggles, he no longer swings his tail at her.

Nhim just snarls and shakes again, keeping her jaws clamped down. Her ears do begin to prick forward, even as her eyes stay narrowed.

Shem continues to struggle and roar, panting, claws tearing gouges in the soil below.

Nhim is getting tired as well-clamping down that hard, despite the struggling, is work-but she holds her ground, her own claws digging in.

Can you match the stubbornness of old age, Shem?

Shem's abhorrence of pain gives way before Nhim's stubbornness does.

He goes limp and gives a short chirrup-whine that sulkily signals defeat.

Nhim releases him, pinning her ears back and glaring down at her son. "You have no idea how lucky you are, Shem. No idea whatsoever."

Shem scrambles backward, further up the slope so he's even higher than her.

Shem can only form words when he isn't burning up with shame.

He manages a low growl.

Nhim growls back, her ears still flattened. "If you were still in our proper world, your sister would have killed you as soon as she heard word."

Shem roars.

"She would have died under the claws of the Namebreaker's dragon hoards!"

Sometime during their 'fight' he forgot about his resolution not to tell Nhim anything.

It hurts like hell, but Nhim forces herself to lunge forward. Her roar comes more from pain at trying to force her crippled leg to work properly than anything else. She snaps, aiming to grab Shem by the neck again. "What?"

Shem is ready this time. He rears onto his hind-legs, twisting his body to the left and using the force to aim a powerful blow at the left side of her head.

The claws will do minimal damage if they hit: his goal is to topple her. He's betting her bad leg can't support the blow.

And sure enough, it works. The blow makes her stagger, and her leg gives under the sudden shift in her weight to the side. She bellows angrily as she goes down, her spines flaring to their fullest again.

Shem rarely has the courage to fight with other dragons - he has to plan what he does next instead of acting on trained instinct. He reacts a few seconds after her body hits the ground.

He lunges, trying to land his forepaws on her throat and jaw (to keep it closed so she can't use her breath weapon) and his hindpaws on her stomach.

Nhim finds herself caught, but doesn't go still-instead, her claws grind into the dirt as she attempts to force herself back onto her feet. Her tail whips around, lashing at Shem-however, it only ends in a plume of fur, rather than spikes, so it's more an annoying distraction than an actual danger.

Shem brings as much weight as he can to bear, growling, "Don't-- you-- dare--!"

To back up his threat, his jaws spark with electricity.

The threat doesn't stop her struggling, even as the forepaw on her throat and jaw start making her try to cough-a difficult task, with Shem's forefeet where they are. She glares at him defiantly, her ears going as flat as they can and her spikes remaining raised.

It takes a lot of electricity to take down a dragon. Shem has never needed to know how much before this moment.

It takes him two tries to get it right.

Needless to say, it's something of a relief for Nhim when she finally goes down.

Shem staggers off of Nhim, panting.

"It is you who are lucky, mother," he snarls when he has the breath. "For I am willing to let the past remain in the past. For now."

He looks at her for a long, contemplative moment. Then he grabs her kill in his jaws and flies to his new lair.

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