[closed]

[freeing]

Who: Daenerys Targaryen + Closed Starters
When: All month, baby.
Where: Mainly Dorc.
What: Just closed starters, all about the draaama with their dilemma.
Warnings: Sad backstory eventually. Mentions of rape and strong depiction of slavery.




[ starters linked individually. ]

Comments

[gunsmithed]

Is that what really matters?

[ Percy's voice is somewhere between thoughtful and vaguely amused. It would be, of course, and probably should be, except that there's a large part of him that's fairly sure he has nothing to go back to. It wouldn't be the first time he's suspected he's been living out a very long, strange dying dream, but this one has the added part of remembering the shot that killed him. Probably killed him.

But that helps no one but Percy, so he lifts his shoulders slightly. ]

You may be right, of course. But considering all the things we don't know about this place, it seems safer to stay with people who have some answers, for the time being.

[freeing]

[ Would he understand her if she indulged? If she opened wounds of betrayal when she was ushered into Qarth. Treated like a guest in a strange land. Taken advantage of and nearly lost her dragons? Daenerys lost close friends and swore to never make the same mistake again trusting those who open their doors for her. ]

I do not know what matters. I thought I knew once, but... hm. Dreams complicate things, don't they?

[ He was right – even if she distrusts Aefenglom, they have more answers than she did. She plays along, mostly disgruntled at this point. She continues on, wincing a bit as she finally pulls her fingers back off the nape of her neck – eyes a bit wide as she looks down before stuffing her hand into the pocket of her jacket. ]

I can not say I am too fond of the ship the longer I pace the deck, however. It's far less charming than my usual way of traveling.

[ A shift of topics, one that makes her heart long for her dragon children. ]

[gunsmithed]

[ It startles something like a laugh out of him, more just a hard exhalation, but Percy can't help but look amused. ]

Particularly dreams here.

[ He's been through a few of them now, and they never stop being unsettling. Percy's not all that fond of dreams to begin with, and Aefenglom's offerings are not helping.

But if she wants to shift the conversation, he's hardly going to argue. He does give her a slightly curious look, though. ]

Not my favorite, no, but I suppose the point is to give us time to get to know one another, since we're all meant to be working together. What would you prefer?

[freeing]

It may have simply been more of a means to an end. To show we were willing to make the trek instead of asking for their leaders to come to Aefenglom.

[ Or, flat out a power move. However, she smiles briefly at the thought of how else they could travel. Things were simpler before the mirrors, before the scales hidden under her clothes — to lament going back to that would be foolish. A waste. ]

Through the sky. Freely. [ Sadly: ] With my children.

[ Not like that isn't vague or anything. ]

[gunsmithed]

[ At that, Percy's eyebrows lift just a little. ]

Airships?

[ It would make sense, certainly. And Percy can see how it might be preferable. Less threat of sea snakes, for one.

If he finds the mention of children at all strange, it doesn't show. Percy's spent enough time around members of longer-lived races not to take appearance for granted when it comes to age. ]

That would be faster, I grant you. Not all that much different, though, in my experience.

[freeing]

Airships?

[ It was easy to surmise his guess was wrong by the inflection in her voice. By how she perks a brow at such a thought. ]

No. Dragons. [ Her words come casually, as if it was a common occurrence. ] No ship alive could match the speed of a dragon.

[gunsmithed]

Dragons.

[ His voice comes out a little flat, like it's not sure which emotion it wants to go for and has chosen none of them. Faster yes, most certainly. But the idea of riding one, even one of the metallics is. Mindboggling to say the least.

For just a moment, Percy imagines attempting to ride Devo'ssa, and even trying to picture it almost makes his eyes cross. ]

That's. Quite the travel option.

[freeing]

The safest and strongest way a Queen can travel.

[ The one she trusts the most. If she could fly Drogon across the Narrow Sea, she would have. However, she would never push her child that far. Realistically, she knows it — perhaps it was just a chance to bring up her children. To recall them fondly and
long for them. ]

[gunsmithed]

Unless the dragon objects, I would assume.

[ Proud creatures that they are, Percy can't imagine that even the kindest of them would tolerate anything it doesn't explicitly chose. A dragon has promised him aid, if he ever manages to get back to Tal'Dorei, but Percy has absolutely no illusions about who is in charge in that particular partnership. Even the mention of royalty merely makes him shake his head. ]

Either you have very different relationships with dragons than any I've ever heard or you're far braver than I could possibly comprehend.

[freeing]

[ A small, smirk. ]

I would not be here to tell my tale if my dragons objected.

[ Her dragons. Those words carried weight. Her fingers drum across the railing, gaze looking up to him directly. ]

I... am their mother. Admittedly, that is a very different relationship, but...

[gunsmithed]

[ There's the briefest pause before Percy's eyebrows nearly hit his hairline. ]

I see.

[ It's the kind of too-careful statement that means he has no idea what's going on but is too polite to say so. Dragonborn are one thing, but somehow he suspects that's not what she means. ]

That must be complicated.

[freeing]

A long story for another time.

[ Her history was not built upon shame or hidden under shadows. The herald of Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen was etched into Essos now, spreading as hope and light when the lands did not know of such things. ]

Are dragons merely stories in your world, then? You look as if you've seen a ghost with my admittance.

[gunsmithed]

[ It startles a sharp laugh out of him, though it's not a particularly amused sound. ]

I could wish. [ And that comes out almost genuinely bitter, though it's only a second before Percy gets control of himself to push that emotion back down again. ] No. Dragons are very real. And very dangerous.

i promise i'll get to the newer tag in shortly!!! sorry for the delay across the board

[freeing]

They are. [ There is no denying that. ] The world fears them, as they should. Yet, they have a place in it – one they carved for themselves.

[ Dany is not ignorant to how people view them. Monsters, bringers of destruction... to her, they will always be her children, but – she tries not to take offense. ]

I admire that.

[gunsmithed]

[ Percy's expression goes almost rictus before he can stop it. ]

Carved their own place. Yes, you could say that.

[ It's not entirely fair, and a part of him knows it. There have been plenty of dragons who rule their little fiefdoms quietly. He's metone, and gotten along well enough.

But the scars the Chroma Conclave have left are still a bit too painful. And there's a very good chance he'll never get the opportunity to go back and fix it. ]

Most know better than to try to do something about it.

[freeing]

[ It's rough to express how much such creatures mean to her. They represent everything she wanted to be. Part of her knows that dragons are never loved as she loves them, they would always rule in fear – their power unlike any other. The other part of her refuses to dwell on it, for a world does not need the love of a dragon to be better. ]

Most do not need to do anything about it, should they not provoke or impede upon them.

[ She was a bit defensive on that one. However, she adjusts her jacket and clears her throat again. ]

How do you know of dragons, then?

[gunsmithed]

[ One of Percy's eyebrows lifts, just a little. The defensiveness is hard to miss, and she'd called them her children, hadn't she. Perhaps her dragons are not his, and perhaps she's known nothing but metallics. But something about the way she's said it stings a little, and Percy can't help drawing himself up. He shifts a little, almost as if bracing himself, but when he finally speaks his voice is even. ]

Four of them attempted to take over most of the continent. Succeeded with a good portion of it, not for lack of trying with the rest. So yes, we've put some work into impeding that. Not nearly enough, but. It's a start.

[freeing]

... I see.

[ He can see how quickly the color washes from her face and how harshly she gulps. Facing the destruction of dragons was not a new feeling, but it knocks the wind out of her every time. She is biased, undeniably so. Dragons were her children, only because they were the only ones in her entire world. When he speaks of something so different than her experience... there's a loss of words.

Both hands clasp together, eyes looking down as if it was her dragons who did such a thing. ]

Forgive me, I feel my sympathies do not hold quite a justice – but they are there. Perhaps we should change topics...?

[gunsmithed]

[ He can't help a quiet huff of a laugh at that, as raw as Percy's still feeling. It's fair enough, really. There's nothing either of them can do about it now, and whatever her opinions are he's not about to take the Cinder King's actions out on her. He's not that far gone. ]

Alright then. What did you have in mind?

[ Which doesn't mean he's going to make it easy. But there is at least a hint of a tease to it, rather than anything antagonistic. ]

[freeing]

[ It was a thin line they had to tread. From their own differing opinions, to Dany's defensiveness. She tightens her stance a bit more, but offers an awkward smile. A passable, pleasant one. ]

Anything other than this. [ #nothelpful, but she still speaks confidently – ] If your world has dragons, do they have sea creatures?

[gunsmithed]

[ Another laugh, this one a bit more obvious, and decidedly more genuine. ]

Yes, many. I assume you're not just talking about whales, though.

[ Percy shakes his head a little and shifts slightly to glance out across the water. ]

Serpents, kraken. Things I'm sure we don't even know about. Too many to name.

[freeing]

No, none of those sort. [ A small, admitting laugh. He speaks of krakens and she lights up a little — mainly because of the stories her brother would tell her as a child. How once they would return to Westeros and claim all of it as their own. Dragons conquering the krakens of the Ironborn. ] Krakens — are they truly large enough to drag an entire ship down?

[gunsmithed]

So they say.

[ Percy has possibly read just a few books on the subject. As a child, he'd devoured everything he'd gotten his hands on about the larger world. Travels and adventures, assuming he'd never get to do any of it. Irony. ]

I have little doubt of it, though. There are all manner of creatures left behind after the Calamity.

[freeing]

[ That earns a pointed look. ]

The Calamity?

[gunsmithed]

[ There's a brief pause while he frowns slightly at her before it occurs that of course she wouldn't know about that -- if nothing else has struck as familiar so far, why should history? ]

Ah. The great war of the gods, some thousand or so years ago. It left it's mark on the world, to put it mildly.