legend has it [thoth]

Horus · Jul 16, 2015

@"Thoth"

His guard kept the human firmly within his grasp, holding him just above the water and not letting him flail away when he jerked from the speech. Ulrich's voice sounded something akin to a foghorn, deep and rumbling. It was most definitely something one would imagine some beast from hell would sound like, and technically speaking, Ulrich had been close. He lived in the deepest trenches, where the water pressure was enough to kill the average man.

"What I want is for you to hear my proposition." And boy, did he have a hefty deal to offer this little human. The head bent a little, seeming to circle the human in a crescent moon, swaying back and forth for a few moments while its smile looked like it widened.

"You are a very brave human. I watched you save two men when I capsized your boat." More like accidentally smashed it in half in his pursuit of the pirates, but that was a small detail. "Surely, you must remember me."

There was no way a human could forget. Their lives were too short to forget such big events. Panthalassians lived a very, very long time and occasionally such events became miniscule in the grand scheme.

Romi · Jul 20, 2015

It was so alien. As much as he knew it was probably naturally occurring on the earth--because god only knew what lived at the bottom of the sea--it still reminded him of something from outer space. It might as well have been an alien for all the sense it made. It was too large, too unknowable. Like an iceberg, and he was struck with the constant sense that he was seeing only a tiny bit of it. Even it's massive head dwarfed him in size, large enough it could have swallowed him whole, and having seen only part of the body... well, the rest of it was just as big, if not larger.

He literally could not imagine a proposition he would accept, but then he did not have a very good imagination to begin with.

He most definitely did note that the thing had stated a very revised version of events. The boat was not capsized. It was sunk. It had been missing almost a full third of the boat.

He'd have snorted if he wasn't so terrified, and he made a small, strangled noise in response. "Then just... just out with it. I'd have a hard time forgetting." Although he hadn't been entirely clear if it was the same one, or if there had been more.

Stupid though - there were obviously more, because a second one was holding him, even if it wasn't nearly as big.

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Horus · Jul 20, 2015

@"Thoth"

He remembered it fairly clearly because it happened in recent memory, at least to him considering how many years he had under his scales. It was... about four years prior? Two? Something along those lines. Such trivial numbers didn't matter to him, though things past a few hundred years, unless they were quite large events, started to fade as well. It was an odd, jumbled sort of memory.

But yes, it was sunk. He'd reared out of the water and one of his heads dove for the pirate ship; his neck smashed down on the man's boat and it shattered to a good few thousand bits. But hey, he got the pirate ship and ate it all up. He hadn't meant to injure anyone else, but he'd lingered to watch.

"Yes, a brave man..." He seemed to murmur to himself, though the voice definitely didn't come from the head that watched the man from above the water. Instead, the rumble came from deep down below, snippets of glow occasionally lighting the surface as the other heads watched on and muttered to themselves.

"To be brief about it, I am in need of a guard." That was the briefest, most bare bones explanation he had to offer. "A guard who may assist me on land, when I am more vulnerable."

The 'main' head frowned a little then, his giant maw turning into what looked like a grimace at the thought. It was for Luca. It all had to be for Luca.

Romi · Jul 21, 2015

Nicolas remembered. He remembered it exactly, every detail he'd witnessed. Every moment of fear as the monster had lingered nearby, watching and doing nothing. He would never forget it. He remembered it almost every night in his dreams, even if often it was just parts he was remembering. He would remember the eyes, or the teeth. He would remember the size of it. Bits and pieces, all snapped into place in other dreams. He couldn't dream of anything without the thing intervening.

If he'd had a bit more air in his lungs, and hadn't almost drowned, he would have laughed. He'd have laughed long and hard at the idea of it. A guard. A guard to guard the thing that had nearly killed him. Absurd. Absurd and insane. Even his nightmares hadn't been so bizarre. To think he'd been snatched away, nearly drowned, and now the thing was asking him to guard him.

"Why - why the fuck would I guard you? Why the fuck would I do anything for you?" Nicolas could swear with the best of them, but stress made him even more foul mouthed. "You almost fucking killed me. I lost my arm because you fucking crushed my ship. You nearly killed my teammates. Why the fuck would I do anything to help you?" Did he not understand? Did the thing not even have a sense of how humans operated? Humans were never keen to help those that nearly killed them.

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Horus · Jul 21, 2015

@"Thoth"

He knew the human wouldn't like the idea of guarding him in any form. His true form didn't need guarding; his looks were intimidating as is, and few were willing to attack an aquatic hydra with anything less than a full army and a few nukes up their sleeves. It was his human form that was troublesome; humans were soft and vulnerable, and he'd be no exception once he turned.

If it were up to him, he wouldn't have bothered with coming up on land any more often than he currently was. However, Luca was to be raised on neutral ground between the two warring factions, and no part of the ocean was safe. The council decided a guard would be appropriate.

"Consider it a job, not a favour." Because it would be a job. "I will pay you more than anything you may get on land." Though he wasn't too familiar with human currency. He'd learn quickly, though. It seemed that this man, whom he had yet to attach a name too, had been traveling for some reason or another. He'd gotten intelligence that he was in need of a job, and that he was getting quite rough on the rocks.

Yes, everybody had a price.

"You are a good man. I can see to it that you are valued accordingly."

Romi · Jul 22, 2015

A job. The monster that had nearly killed him - that had cost him his arm - wanted to give him a job. Despite how painful and ragged it was, he did laugh at that, although he broke into a fit of coughing before he could really get going. His lungs hurt so goddamn much.

The whole thing was so strange he couldn't even have thought it was a dream. It was just so impossible, so... well, impossible. It couldn't be real, and yet it was. Dinosaurs coming back to life was more plausible than this shit.

"Going to make it clear: I'm not interested in your bullshit. I'm not interested in a monster that almost fucking murdered me. Unless you can spit out a new fucking arm for me, you can fuck right off." Goddamnit, he was going to get eaten, wasn't he? But he'd take it. It'd be better than drowning. At least being chomped in half would be a quick death.

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Horus · Jul 22, 2015

@"Thoth"

Yes, he was well aware how humans didn't like being mangled then offered jobs. Well, in a vague sort of context he did. Humans were fickle like that; Panthalassians often considered losing a battle and then being offered anything an honor. Apparently humans did not, but that was fine by him. He could be persuaded. Oh yes, humans all went for a price, some higher than others.

Ulrich seemed to consider it for a moment, then motioned at the monster that held him. The tendril that wrapped tight around his waist just... let go. It was almost as if he'd dropped him right in the water, but a few moments later his feet would touch something solid. Scaly and hard, quite cold and a bit slimy; it was one of the heads, providing somewhat solid ground for him to sit or stand on as it breached the surface as well.

"I may give you something similar."

Romi · Jul 22, 2015

There was a moment of panic when the tendril retracted, letting him sink back into the water, but it was shortlived. His feet found something solid. He couldn't feel the slime through his shoes, but he could tell it wasn't a rock. Probably another head, or perhaps another part of the things body.

He wasn't going to look down and check. The head had pushed it's way up, and was resting just above the surface of the water. It only then struck him how cold it was. The water itself hadn't felt so cold, but with the air on his skin he shivered, trying to stay upright.

"Then just tell me what you're offering so I can say no and get this over with." Even if it meant dying. Or was the thing going to deposit him back on the boat when all was said and done, leaving him questioning if he was even sane?

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Horus · Jul 22, 2015

@"Thoth"

The poor human looked terribly disoriented, Ulrich could feel a little bad for him if he tried. He didn't even get his name and he was probably putting him through a world of trauma, but it would all be for a just cause. His child needed him there, after all, and he couldn't afford to go without protection.

Many ships had sunk throughout history, all with their various treasures still in their cargo. Ulrich and his highly esteemed men had partaken in ancient Greek wine, observed the weaponry of war ships during the golden age of pirates and held hoards of treasure from every nation up to modern day. His hoards were vast and, when dealing with humans, it came to good use.

Another one of his heads leered up from the water, this time with something clutched in its maw. It looked like a sack of some sort, made of heavy woven, coated fibers. Gingerly, almost entirely out of character for his sheer size, he dropped the sack and nudged it to the man's feet.

No, it would not contain a new arm.

Romi · Jul 25, 2015

Nicolas did have to worry if the sack was actually going to contain a human arm. He wasn't dealing with people. He was dealing with monsters, and god only knew what they actually thought humans functioned like. Maybe they could reattach any limbs that came off. Maybe they thought humans could. But they sure as fuck couldn't. If it was an arm, it wasn't going to do anything but freak him out even more.

He was more than a bit hesitant when he bent down. He didn't even know if he wanted to open the sack. What could possibly be in it that the monster thought would be enough to buy his loyalty?

As much as Nicolas was convinced nothing could buy his loyalty, that didn't stop his eyes from widening in surprise when he opened the sack and found what could only be described as treasure. Gems. Gold. It looked like someone had sacked the city of El Dorado and shoved some of their find into a sack.

Maybe they had.

And regardless of how many times he'd thought about how he couldn't be bought, and no matter how many times he'd thought that nothing would ever be enough to buy him as a guard for the monster that had cost him his arm... Just half the sack would be enough to pay back every debt he had.

It was a sobering thought.

All his debt, every bit of woe he'd had after leaving the legion... all gone. It could all be gone. And when he spoke again, it was not to scoff and outright deny it.

"What are the terms?" Just treat it like a mercenary contract, regardless of what it was from.

He didn't look up from the bag.

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legend has it [thoth]

Horus

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Romi

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Horus

Well-Known Member

Romi

Secretly a Bird

Horus

Well-Known Member

Romi

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Horus

Well-Known Member

Romi

Secretly a Bird

Horus

Well-Known Member

Romi

Secretly a Bird