Dominion Chaldea or No Deal | GA Dominion of Chaldea

[Ishida Ashina]

THERE'S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SKIN A PERL DRAGON
CHALDEA | PARK RANGER'S OFFICE
Yula Perl | Ishani Dinn

​

"Did you know him well? Before his tantrum, I mean."

"No." Ishida admitted, glancing away from the proximity where Yula and herself might have made eye contact. "I didn't. Therefore it might not be my place to pry." The Ashina admitted and rolled her shoulders into what could have translated a shrug.

"Though, calling the pull of the darkside is an interesting coping mechanism." She simpered, as if it were a joke the two of them could share in while she tread these uncertain waters. "I'm curious because my broth——"

"Did you se-!"

Startled, Ishida took an involuntary step backward. Curving the side of her hand against her brow, she looked up to the sky, squinting at the circling silhouettes. It didn't take her very long to detect the source of the wayard weapon, and she dropped to her knees to scoop up the object that had caused the zeltron injury.

"Are you alright?" She asked, though it was mostly a formality before she let a knowing, tight-lipped grin take over her countenance.

"I think we have a bargaining chip for a ride now. Worth it?"

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Objective II: Flight of the Dragons
Location: Unnamed national park
POV: Arlo Renard, a Chaldean Mystic
Tags: Yula Perl Ishida Ashina​

Fire blazed past Arlo’s side, singeing the hairs on his arms as he narrowly evaded the dragon’s breath. His spear gouged the belly of the beast, but the wound was far from fatal—and now the dragon had his scent.

He guided Jarael in a downward spiral, seeking cover below the treetops. He wished he still had his slugthrower.

The dragon followed him, leathery wings spread as it glided just above the branches. A stream of blue flame erupted from its teeth-ringed jaws, turning orange as it blazed through the forest in his wake. Trees caught fire around him, burning leaves and branches whipped into a crackling frenzy.

Sweating profusely in the heat, Arlo really wished he still had his slugthrower.

Straight ahead of him was the park’s visitor center. He turned the corner, trying to avoid a collision, but the dragon probably wouldn’t change course. Realizing that, he goaded Jarael upwards, emerging from the woods and soaring high in the air.

It worked. The dragon turned its head, flapped its wings and rose up to meet him. Arlo waited until the last second before moving. Jarael cawed in fear as she felt the dragon’s jaws snap at her wings, gnawing off a few feathers but narrowly missing the fragile bones. Chancing everything on his reflexes, Arlo leaped from his saddle, landing on the dragon’s neck.

He clung to the scales for dear life as the dragon thrashed, trying to buck him off. They crashed into the tree line, branches beating Arlo like switches. Still he hung on, his spear clenched in one white-knuckled hand—but he knew he wouldn’t be able to take much more of this abuse. By now the rangers and other hunters would have noticed the dragon in their midst. It was impossible not to, given that the creature was currently tearing up the forest. He could hope for their help, or start praying for divine intervention.

 

[Yula Perl]

"Are you alright?"

"Yea-" Yula rubbed the sore spot on her head, brows furrowing through the splitting headache. "Yeah, just peachy."

"I think we have a bargaining chip for a ride now. Worth it?"

"I thought there was only one?"

She squinted at the gun in Ishida's grasp, why were there two? It took a few moments for hazy outlines to merge back into one slugthrower, and Yula didn't comment on that. "I guess, but how do we-"

An angry Chaldean dragon tore through the sky, crashing into the tree line like a downed warship. The beast had swooped low enough for them to see a man grappling at its neck spikes, and whether it was necessary or not, Yula dove for the ground with a start.

"Woah!"

Turns out the hunt had come to them, belching flames that ate away at the dry tinder of the forest with alarming speed. "How is this place not constantly burning down?" The Zeltron groaned as she scrambled upwards, not sure what to make of this turn of events but eager to capitalize on this all the same. Her eagerness unfurled as she unhooked her rifle from its sling, aiming her sight at the dragon's eye. One slug to the face, two slugs to the belly—basically anywhere she imagined would be the softer part of a creature renowned for its nigh impenetrable hide. If she had paid attention to the instructional snoozefest earlier, she would have been more prepared.

At least one of her shots hit, because the next thing she knew, there was a spiny tail swinging towards her.

Ishida Ashina | Ishani Dinn

 

[Ishida Ashina]

THERE'S MORE THAN ONE WAY TO SKIN A PERL DRAGON
CHALDEA | PARK RANGER'S OFFICE
Yula Perl | Ishani Dinn

​

"I thought there was only one?"

Ishida hardly heard Yula's question. Too entranced by the distant thrill of a chase.

The distant scene above was spectacular, far better and more lifelike than the imitation animation she and Yula had been forced to sit through. With bated breath, Ishida watched as fire warmed the dragons belly and spewed out toward its attacker, missing, and setting the canopy of leaves ablaze instead. Her grip on the slugthrower tightened.

It was so distant, looking up against the blue, dragon-filled sky, that she only saw a silhouette leap from one place to another, and she was filled with deep, burning envy. So warm that she felt as though her next words might exhale flames as well. That's what she should be doing. Leaping onto a dragon's neck, not down here filling out forms and watching with a hunter's lust at the spectacle above.

Above quickly shifted to oncoming. And oncoming morphed into right here.

"How is this place not constantly burning down?"

Only managing a humourless heh of acknowledgement, Ishida's mind was shifting from attempting to establish a mutual foundation for an empathetic exchange on Sith-turned family members, to her typical predatorial perspective.

Embarrassingly, Yula was quicker on the draw.

With a crude manifestation of technology. It was sad, that such ancient, magnificent creatures were subject to the whims of instantaneous, uncivilized weapons.

"Uncouth." She condemned with a single word and a click of her tongue, before she could do anything else though, Yula drew the creature's ire (rightfully so) and its tail. With a swipe of her arm, she wagered her bets that giving Yula a Force-push to get her out of the way would be easier than trying to manipulate the incredible, volatile mass, of the dragon through The Force.

Ishida darted after the trajectory she sent the zeltron, grabbing at the fabric between her shoulders to drag her along and back up to her feet, within the arc of the tail and closer to the dragon's body. And it's newfound rider.

"Our sabres will be more effective at this close range. Remember what the video said about their impenetrable hides?"

Even their sabres were doubtful, honestly, but it would be better than the erratic plasma of a blaster.

Maybe the slugthrower she still had in her hands was...some sort of mystical weapon and not as crude as a typical pew-pew gun. "Need this?" Ishida hollered to get the furry-shouldered mystic's attention, gesturing as though she'd throw it to him. He seemed preoccupied with holding on but..she didn't want the thing anymore. If he said yes, she'd toss it to him.

If he said no, she'd drop it.

She wanted to use her katanas for success, and this situation was holding her back.

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Objective: Kill dragon
Location: On top of dragon
POV: Arlo Renard, a Chaldean Mystic
Tags: Yula Perl Ishida Ashina

Two young women who looked more like ditzy college students than hunter-warriors started shooting. Holy feth, Arlo thought, his prayers turning from surviving the dragon’s thrashing to surviving their aim.

A few bullets tore into the dragon’s belly and throat. It rapidly lost altitude, falling to earth in a heap of scales and leathery wings. But make no mistake—the creature was still alive, in pain, and now very, very angry.

Arlo leaped down from the dragon’s back, glad to be free of its thrashing and on solid ground again. He leveled his spear, readying a killing blow—

"Need this?"

Arlo turned toward her, missing his chance. The dragon snapped at him, teeth coming within an inch of his retreating form.

Still, he held up his arm as he skipped away. The white-haired girl tossed his slugthrower. It was indeed an ordinary rifle, devoid of mystical attributes save that it was owned by a Mystic. Catching the weapon one-handed, Arlo aimed between the furious dragon's eyes and fired.

In an instant, it was dead. The massive corpse went limp with enough force to make the ground shake. But Arlo was already running for the trees, trying to stay out of sight.

The pink and white duo would soon find out why. With the death of one of their kin, the rest of the dragons above were now circling the body, seeking revenge on the killers. The corpse could be retrieved at a later date—for now, the safest option was to run like hell.