Glittering Eyes (cont'd)

[Niphanos]

((To anyone coming in on this thread, it is a continuation of Glittering Eyes in the Giaku lands.))

As Niphanos lifts off from the ground, he quickly goes over the process for finding his ever-drifting home: check wind positions, analyze bird patterns, pulse for the Jewel, and most importantly, Look for the island. Shouting over the wind, Niphanos tells the wolf in his arms, "My home has a tendency to drift around the land. Luckily, I buried a large jewel in part of it so I can find it even when I cannot see the island." Banking to the right, he holds the wolf tight, making sure his charge doesn't fall. He can feel how tense she is below him, and he tries his best to comfort her with his grip. "I will not let you fall!" he shouts down. He momentarily thinks it may be easier if he knocks her out, so she would not have to be conscious for the flight. Gods know it would be better for her little wolfish heart. He dismisses the idea, that is just beyond rude, injuring a guest...

Several miles later, and feeling the wind, he figures that the island has drifted somewhat to the north-east. This is no problem, it couldn't have drifted very far, the birds are still around. the idea is that the birds will stay within a certain distance of the island they live in, and a large number means he's probably close. As he flies over the range that he mentioned to the wolf earlier, he checks to make sure the wolf isn't slipping any, and that none of his adornments were lost in the turbulence.

((One more post where she's still flying with him, then I'll have him land on the island, okay? I don't want to cut you out of the fun of flight entirely...))

[BlackWind]

[glow=blue,2,300]Kellyn didn't even bother to try and reply to the dragon, or to tell him she could hear him very clearly as she was pressed against his chest. She saw him knocking her unconcious and glared at him. "Don't even think about it, dragon."
If she were human she would have crossed her arms and stamped her foot, as it was her demonstration was ruined by the fact he couldn't see her and his suddden change in direction had her seeing herself falling to her death once more. No it wasn't likely, she knew that, but it didn't stop her from seeing the possibility.
Kellyn relaxed the best she could and simply hoped they would land soon. She was not meant for flying. Yet she couldn't deny that it was somewhat enjoyable, ignoring the numerous ways to die.[/glow]

[Niphanos]

Ah, yes. Here were the birds. He recognized a few birds that are indigenous to the island, so he must be close by. He thought back to the crystal he had found, and what it might mean. He did not particularly believe in predetermined events, but it certainly seemed like one. The Jewel came into his senses, and he oriented himself towards it and a bit above. Based on its orientation, there should be no obstructions between here and landing. All of that happened in the background of Niphanos' mind as he thought about the crystal. He recognized it as being no ordinary gem, that is certain. It had a peculiar way of changing color while he held it up, and it seemed to reflect out purple, though it was clearly blue... The island was within sight. It couldn't be amethyst, it doesn't change colors quite so peculiarly... nor was is lapiz lazuli, that is a much deeper blue. This gem had a kind of... watery blue to it. Deep blue but diluted. Suddenly, he has an idea, he thinks he knows what it might be, but he has to be careful with it. If he's right, it is a delicate gem compared to others he cuts.

As he approaches an area to land, he flares out his wings, flapping back, putting out his rear legs to touch down. As they connect, he uses his wing force to hold his arms still while the wolf climbs out and steps on solid ground once more. Well, as solid as an airborne island can get. "Well, here we are. This is where I live. My cave is just a little ways up that mountain, do you think you can climb, or do you need some more time to stretch out your legs first?" he asks with a smile, knowing she will likely not want to be off the ground for a little while yet.

[BlackWind]

[glow=blue,2,300]Kellyn stepped out of Niphanos' grip, glad to be on her own feet again. She shook herself, her fur sticking to her where Niphanos had held her. Around her there was nothing but beauty. Kellyn had never seen such a place and she guessed she was never likely to see it again.
Strange plants reached out and touched her as if they had life of their own and wished to run green fingers through her fur. She sniffed the air seeing what other strange creatures roamed here. It was new and kind of exciting. Still, she didn't stray from Niphanos' side. He was her protector here, she was a stranger.
"We can walk." Kellyn wagged her tail once. "I want to see what else is here on the way. I've never seen a place like this."
Her family had spent most of their time in the outlands. There was more danger to be had there than freedom.[/glow]

[Niphanos]

The two begin walking towards Niphanos' cave. As they walked, Niphanos talks about the island and his personal experiences of it. "Ah, this is where I spent a majority of my time after I left my... family. There are many beautiful things here, and I spent precious little time on the ground, instead simply watching the beauty of this splendid island. There are other dragons here, too. I hear them occasionally, so you should be careful of them. I have never really met any of them, so I cannot tell you whether they would try to eat you or not." They pass by a tree with a striking vine pattern. Niphanos gestures to it and says, "Those vines provided me with the inspiration for one of the larger projects I have taken on. In fact, I am still wearing it. See those metal plates at the base of my tail? That odd, angularly freeform design originated from seeing those vines grow up the trunk along the columns of bark. I wear them almost as often as this necklace." At this, he points to his necklace with one of his human-like fingers, then puts his hand back down on the ground like a paw. He then stops walking, looking down at the ground. "You know... Ah, how do I put it..." He kicks at the ground with one of his paws before continuing, "It has been quite some time since I last had a... companion. Thank you. I am usually too busy to make any 'friends' in the traditional sense. Which is ironic, considering we live for quite some time. One would think we would be less rushed. Heh. Not many would come up here, putting their life in my hands (quite literally!) just to watch me drone on about how to work metal," He looks at her thankfully, "and I am very grateful for that. Thank you." He looks back up to his cave, and starts walking again.

[BlackWind]

[glow=blue,2,300]Kellyn glanced at the dragon as they made their way to his cave. He was being more honest with her than need be and for that she was grateful. She listened to him with full attention for she was glad to be in another's company who did not wish to fight her or chase her.
She knew that Niphanos' trinkets meant much more to him than any she had ever seen on any wolf. They seemed almost greedy and proud as a human, but Niphanos was different. He made them himself and seemed to have a deeper connection to them because of it. It reminded Kellyn of her own eyes and her markings. They were very much a part of her and a part that all others could see. She had been condemned for them before.
It was another reason Kellyn enjoyed the company of the dragon. He seemed to not care one way or the other that her eyes were not normal and that she was part demon. She had no way of telling him as much, so she simply listened and smiled at him. "I'm just as grateful. I haven't had good company since..."
Kellyn's smile faded. She hadn't been in good company since her family had been killed by the very creature that Kellyn was. Albeit it had taken on the form of a cat, the demon had sensed what she was and had followed her. Kellyn had not seen it coming, perhaps because she had not wished to, or maybe such things were immune to her sight. Kellyn would never know. Her family was lost and it was her fault. She knew because the creature had let her live. He had marked her, wishing her to remember him, and then had disappeared, promising he would find her again when she embraced what she was.
Kellyn had run. She had left that part of her life behind and spent her time forgetting. She realized she had trailed off and smiled again, not quite as sincere as before. "Since my family was killed."
She meant it as an explanation only. Kellyn no longer hurt as bad because she had accepted her past. It was a part of her regardless of where she went and what she did. [/glow]

[BlackWind]

((Anyone with a demon of some kind it welcome to take credit for Kellyn's past demon cat. It's open for interpretation in any rp she is in. ^.^))

[Niphanos]

((Ah, I have tried being a villain in RPs before... it didn't work out so well. I am pathologically incapable of coming up with evil things! How is that possible? My school sent me to therapy because I wrote a 'hit list', but I can't come up with evil things!? >_< ))

While facing down, Niphanos looks sideways at Kellyn when she says her family was killed. Saying nothing but still walking, he thinks about his own parents. For the first time in a long time he thinks of his hatchling days... of those few fragmented memories of the rookery he was raised in, then his adolescence. He realizes what it means to have parents, even if dragons aren't attached. To get his mind off of that personally depressing topic, he starts pointing out interesting things again. "Oh, look at that bird's plumage! It almost looks as good at mine..." he says with a smirk, while also flaring his own crest. You notice, however, the smirk doesn't reach his eyes. He may be fairly good at hiding worry, but he's terrible at hiding sadness.

As they approach the cliff upon which his cave is located, he looks back to her, luckily having been distracted off of the topic of parents. He is genuinely cheerful again. "Well, this is where you make a choice. You could try to climb, or I could carry you up again. I'm not entirely sure how wolves climb, but I have seen others climbing these walls." He shrugs. "The only reason I chose one so high up is for a little more protection. I never really expected anyone to come up besides myself." Allowing her to decide, he continues talking as she makes her decision, "The other dragons think I'm crazy. I hear them because my cave walls are so dense. They don't understand why I make things instead of taking them from the humans."

((I'm a little off, Malshun's in my head again. Just imagine he's talking more archaically. And British.))

[BlackWind]

[glow=blue,2,300]Kellyn's stomach grumbled at her and she grinned in her own wolfish way, "I believe I will let you carry me, and then I will take that meal you offered me before." She was looking forward to Niphanos showing her his art, though she knew she would never be able to craft such beautiful things.
Niphanos had a personality that made Kellyn constantly curious. A feeling she enjoyed after so little happiness. "I'm only here to watch you work your magic on rocks. Something I cannot do."[/glow]

((sorry its short, cant think of anything else to write until Niphanos starts something lol))

[Niphanos]

((Ah, I know how you feel.))

Niphanos carefully lifts Kellyn once more, and holds her securely as he flies up the mere 20-30 feet to his cave, setting her down on the rim, then landing himself. Walking a little way into the cave, he says, "Well, this is what I call home. I adopted a few of the humans' ideas for my own... like these stable horizontal surfaces they place food on! However, I do not think you can reach that, nor do you care." Untying the metal rod he had secured the rabbit's corpse on from his thigh straps, Niphanos places the skewered rabbit in front of Kellyn and uses his power to make the metal melt and flow out of the rabbit in an impressive fashion. The puddle of cold, yet liquid metal flows over to beneath one of his paws and then leaps up into rod form again, firmly held in his hand. "Impressive, no? I am always more showy with my powers when presenting food. While you satiate your hunger on that, I will go retrieve something, or somethings."

With that, he walks off into a deeper part of his cave. He says nothing, because he knows that sounds travel perfectly in his cave. A pin dropped at the opening can be heard clearly in the deepest chamber, thanks to how dense he made the walls. It is quite useful for helping to defend against intruders, trying to steal his hard-earned treasures. He suddenly gets a devilish thought... he whispers to Kellyn, knowing full well she will hear him. "Mind the metal circles." He has metal discs placed about the entrance for defense. They do nothing on their own, but he can use them to fill any intruders fill of razor-thin needles. He knows there is nobody coming into the cave currently, so he doesn't even bother to keep a feel for the plates. She is in no danger, even if she started chewing on one.

Finally reaching the chamber he was looking for, he uses his power to move a hidden sheet of metal, pulling a well-fit slab of stone from the wall. It is so well fit, the seam is virtually invisible. This is the hidey-hole where he keeps his unshaped metals. He pulls an orb of silver, as well as a bag of chemicals one of his acquaintances gave him for coloring metals. Replacing the metal sheet and slab, Niphanos places the orb of silver and the pouch in his thigh satchel with the crystal, making sure to keep the pouch between the metal and the crystal. He then heads off to another chamber for tools. He was determined to make a showy demonstration without using his powers.

((This good?))

[BlackWind]

[glow=blue,2,300]Kellyn watched the display with amusement and she watch the dragon disappear further into his caves as she settled down to eat. She was well on her way to finished by the time she heard the law whispered voice. It truth she had not noticed the metal circles but she was no near them now. A smile flitted across her features.
Kellyn finished her meal and rose to feet and explored a little. The ledge that Niphanos had mentioned was indeed too large for it to be of any use to a four legged creature such as herself. She was barely over three foot tall.
Tiring of her exploration and not wanting to intrude on Niphanos, Kellyn sat down and began to groom herself. Cleaning the blood from her fur and washing it until it glistened. Soon she came to the black markings along her left leg and shoulder and she considered them for a moment. She groomed them until they shown briliantly against her white fur. It was such a contrast, almost like she was, and Kellyn did not deny any part of herself.[/glow]

[Niphanos]

((Lol, I won't go in-depth on his processes because I have no idea! >_<))

Done gathering tools, he comes back into the main area to see Kellyn cleaning herself. "I'm sorry, am I intruding?" he asks with a smile. He walks over to the table and flattens the bottom of the orb so it won't roll off of the surface. He also carefully places the crystal next to it. Using the tools, he removes an appropriately sized, shaped, and structured piece from the larger mass. "I am going to make a quick demonstration. While I was back there, I tested the crystal to see what it was. To my utter joy, it was exactly what I thought it was. Here, let me show you something amazing about it." He walks over to the entrance with the gem, and holds it up so the light shines through it. At first it shines through yellow-orange, then he turns it and it starts changing colors to blue, then deep purple. "It is truly fascinating. I think I've figured out how to make it change colors when it's mounted, too."

He walks back over to the orb of silver, then magically divides it in half. "You can cut it in half with tools, but I have not done it that way in so long, it would probably take forever. I do, however, refuse to use my powers to create any sort of detail in the item, so you'll still be able to do it yourself." Eying her paws, he thinks of a way to modify the tools to accommodate the wolves' lack of... thumbs. He can do it... he just needs to remember. Turning back to the hemisphere of silver, he takes it and begins shaping it. Watching any type of sculptor pull something out of it's material is always amazing, and this is no exception. Under his steady claw, the perfect amounts of metal come off every time, and all of the slivers coalesce into a puddle at the back of his work area. The whole time, he had been working lower to the ground, so that Kellyn could see at least some of what he was doing. Occasionally he brushes away slivers of metal that aren't actually there, purely out of habit. Half-way through, he has a nice little chain of silver, and he holds it up, looking at Kellyn. Then he goes back to carving what's left of the chunk. When he is finished, he is holding a chest ornament with a mount for the crystal, after he cuts it.

So far this has taken several hours, and naturally, he decides to take a break. "Would you like anything? I could go catch something for you if you're hungry. There's really only birds up here, though. Not terribly filling..." He looks at her from the corner of his eye again, and then goes over to the water reservoir, and takes a drink. He has to carry up water occasionally to fill it back up, as there is no water source when separated from the ground. "Go ahead and get a drink, if you're thirsty. I just recently refilled this 'lake'."

((Long post was long... ))

[BlackWind]

[glow=blue,2,300]Kellyn had been so intent on what Niphanos was doing that she completely lost track of time. Several hours worth. Niphanos was an artist. She watched as he seemed to call forth a very beautiful piece from a chunk of metal with very little effort. It was almost like he could see what was there ad just uncover it.
Kellyn had admired the changing colors of the stone when he had showed her and it made her even more curious. How would it looked when it was placed on the piece that Niphanos had made for it? It made her loathe to get up but she did anyway. She was actually thirsty.
Kellyn lowered her muzzled to the water and lapped a little. Stretching she shook her head to the dragon's question. "No, I'm not hungry. I've gone weeks without eating before. The rabbit will be enough for today." The last was said with a smile. She was not used to another taking care of her and she was not likely to do it either.
"So what's next? That crystal is not going to fit in the spot you made on the chain for it." She sat down and perked her ears forward in interest. Niphanos would want a break no doubt and she hoped she wasn't pushing, but curiousity had the best of her once again.[/glow]

[Niphanos]

"Ah, next I have to cut it. This is the hard part, trying to determine not only what cut would look best, but where in the gem to cut it. There are many parts of most gems with cracks, bubbles, or other fissures that can ruin the final cut, or cause imperfections in the way light passes through the gem. A jeweler has to figure out where the cracks are, and cut around them. Luckily, this piece I separated is free enough of bubbles and fissures that I can pretty easily do the cut I have in mind." As he says this, he gets up and retrieves said gem. "What cut looks best depends entirely on the crystal. There are many cuts, and many more crystals, but if you take it slow, you'll learn them," he says with a smile. "Before I started, I looked at this chunk to see what cut would look best, that way the mount I made," he said, picking up the piece with the empty mount, "would fit the gem. It might sound complicated, but you can learn it all in good time. It took me a while to learn it," he says with a little chuckle. Then he gets up to go get another set of tools from the 'table'.

Placing some water on the gem, he then slowly and deliberately begins cutting it down, shaping it. As the shape slowly emerges, the light starts playing through the unfinished gemstone. Occasionally Niphanos puts more water on the gem, to clear away the gem dust so his tools don't get dirty. To his gem-detecting power, his floor was very faintly glowing where the aqueous dust was spread. As he got closer and closer to the final cut, he began turning the gem a lot, shaping at various faces, trying to get them all even. Nobody is perfect, not even he. Eventually, he is finished, and holds up the kite-shaped gem. As it turns, the light shines through it, changing colors. With a satisfied smile, he rinses it off a final time before taking the similarly-shaped metal centerpiece and gently placing it in the mount. With an odd, claw-looking tool, he bends opposite prongs together around the gem, so that they hold it in. Then he attaches the chains to the centerpiece, and admires his handiwork. The chain was beautiful as it is, but the clever way he made the centerpiece caused it to look thicker than it was, even though it was far lighter than it looked. It also allowed more light to hit the back of the gem, increasing the chance the orange would show through.

Turning to Kellyn, he says "Here, I want you to have this. Don't be modest, I think the silver looks good with your brilliant white fur, and the purple will add some color. Even the design I etched in the surface compliments your black markings." It would seem awkward to wear at first, but it was made not to limit movement, while still being presented proudly on the chest. The design requires that the chains go over one's shoulders, cross, and come back around under the wearer's arms or legs to connect back with the center piece. It also has to be fitted if one ever expects combat, but luckily Niphanos thought ahead and had already judged the perfect length. Battle was to be expected in this world, only the animals on this island could really relax for any significant period of time.

((Again, not going to elaborate on how he made it because I really haven't done much research! >_< However, the final cut looks much like this: [link] On yet another note, he hasn't put the piece on her, I was merely describing how it would fit on her, should she accept it.))

((Now to go to the dentist... T_T ))

[BlackWind]

((eeww, I'm sorry))

[glow=blue,2,300]Kellyn listened as Niphanos explained the way he cut the stone and began to see what he was talking about. She supposed it was almost like cracking a bone to get at the marrow. You had to bite it in the weak point or risk hurting your teeth. With the gem, you didn't want to crack it so you avoided the weak points.
Slowly the gem revealed its beauty and Kellyn was truly surprised and happy. It was something she would never be able to do. Kellyn was a destroyer, she had battled for her pack and latter for her own life. She fought and killed to survive. She did not create. Niphanos did.
It struck her at just how different the dragon and she were. He enjoyed creating things, she enjoyed very little. It made her happy she got to spend such time with him and that he showed her the other things in life.
As Niphanos fitted the gem she admired it with him but jumped back as if she'd been burned as he offered it to her. Realizing Niphanos might take offense to her utter shock she moved forward again. "I would love to, Niphanos." She eyed and nosed the piece curious as to how she would be able to wear it. The last thing she wanted was for the piece to be destroyed by her recklessness or a fight.
"How will it fit? I don't want it to get destroyed." She smiled at looked up at the dragon. "I cannot simply mend it as you would. And I have to be able to get it on and off myself. I do not have opposable digits."[/glow]

((maybe a simple necklace would be better instead of a harness that way it is less likely to break in a fight and if someone grabs hold of it she can still slip away. that is unless you can think of some way she can get it on and off this way. or a piece that she wouldn't have to take off and couldn't be easily grabbed or caught by anything.))