Never Too Safe (Osiris/Open)

[Zekk Brinewater]

The man was running, screaming in terror through the city, baffling the usually superficially peaceful city. But no one moved to save him. Those too naive were too shocked to move, and the guards didn't care. They knew he was a goner. He fled through alleys, the terror for his life fueling his feet. He turned to look back as he turned out of the alley, only to see the beastly shadow following him. He yelped and picked up the pace faster than any man ought to be able too. Fear is the greates motivator.

The head of Ederra had been looking for this shifter for a while, a man who shifted into a rat that stole out of the treasury and was so elusive they could never find him. But Zekk had his connections, and one of them happened to be the same supplier who fed this guy the details on where to hit for money. Business was business, and Zekk rarely didn't get what he wanted.

This fool was sprinting for the docks, where his hired boat and crew were no doubtedly waiting for him and ready to depart. Zekk was on the roofs, despite what this man thought. His name was... Ratcliffe, he remembered. Very suiting. He ducked through the drapes covering a small bazaar stall and swung himself to the ground from a bar, not losing stride. He grabbed the man by the shoulder, and Ratcliffe spun and nailed him between the eyes. He hit the cobblestone road hard, apparently out cold. Ratcliffe raced back into stride, heading for his escape boat.

Zekk stood up and rubbed his eyes, groaning and swaying. "Bloody hell, that hurt," he spoke to himself, shaking the stars out of his eyes. Once he recollected himself, he shook the dust off of his black pants, and black hoodie laced with a sea blue color around the hood with his Blue skull with wings of the same color as the insignia on his back and inside his hoodie. His personal mark as an assassin. It was commonly known in Ederra, the place he always knew as his own even at the age of 7 when he first started this business. His black leather fingerless gloves studded at the knuckles with the same blue color shoom in a fist with rage. He had serious anger issues.

The sharp sharkteeth he always had ground together as the fury building up propelled him towards the dock. As he got there, he saw the boat taking off. He cursed, and jumped into the water, morphing into the 10 foot Frill Shark that had taken over as the primary instinct. He quickly slithered through the water as fast as a dragon can fly almost towards the boat in the distance.

Ratcliffe sighed in relief as he leaned against the mainmast on one arm, sweating heavily. Then, he began to laugh. Ha! Zekk had finally met his match. Maybe he wasn't the Nightmare people called him. Some people even called him a demon. The Demon of Ederra, the Sea Serpent of the Sea, the Immortal Nightmare, defeated by the wily Ratcliffe. He should be crowned king for this!

Then, the water to the left of the boat erupted, and he saw in horrific slow motion the worst thing and the last he'd ever see in his life as a gaping maw leading to hell opened and raced towards him so slowly he could see every detail of the monster yet so fast there was nothing to be done. For once he truly knew what hell was like, for one brief instant, and then time sped up again and all the crew saw was a Sea Serpent take the screaming man as it jumped from one side of the boat to the other without ever stopping, and the blood erupting from the other side of the boat.

Zekk emerged from the water as Frill Shark on a small isolated island a few miles off, shifting to human as he touched dry land. He touched his teeth to still see the blood of the fallen on his lips. An acquired taste, distasteful but necessary. He spat it out into the foaming shoreline, and sat down on a nearby boulder, resting and scanning the rocky shore for crabs. Surely he was alone, may as well eat something tasty for once. Then collect his bounty from Ederra later.

[-Osiris-]

There was blood everywhere. His entire cave, painted in red. What could have caused this? The silver dragon looked around. Where was Isis? Oh gods, where was Isis? Osiris swiveled his head frantically, calling out for his mate. What could have happened here? He let a roar ring out and heard only the echo of it ringing back to him from the few caverns spread before him. There was no reply. The beast lashed out and shattered the columns and walls separating the areas of his home, too fargone with worry to take the time and walk through them. He couldn’t even wait for the resulting dust to clear before charging in to the now large space and roaring again to find a hint of the smaller golden dragon.

He saw her, collapsed in a corner. And with his recognition, a thunderous roar erupted, echoing out of the cave and filling the valley outside. It was filled with agony and vengeance, for in the corner of his cave Osiris saw his beautiful mate, dead. Covered in her own blood. Her once glimmering golden scales were now dimmed and stained brown, her maw open in a dying scream. Osiris made his way over, sitting back on his haunches and staring in disbelief. He picked up the petite body gingerly, and the crushing reality fell upon him. A low, long roar now filled with melancholy and mourning resonated through him and out, and large tears began to stream unchecked from his eyes. He became intensely aware that the only sound he heard around him was silence, where previously there had been many echos of his pain.

Time itself seemed to slow down, and a noise broke the eeriness. A clicking of talons against stone behind him. Osiris turned, setting down his departed love. In the mouth of the cave, a bright blue younger dragon stood confidently, with grin that chilled the older to his bones. He had done this. And he had come back for more. The silver dragon’s vision was suddenly clouded in red, and with a fierce cry of vengeance, he lunged for the soft underbelly of blue.

Osiris woke with a start, panting heavily. In his ears rang a cry of fright, and he realized it came from himself. He also realized there was water coming from his eyes. So she closed his mouth and stopped the tears, looking around somberly. That nightmare again. It comes ever more frequently as the years wear on, and each time it feels so much worse. Osiris had long since ripped out that throat of cobalt blue which had dared touch his mate, but the vengeance he felt toward the other had never died away. And every time he was visited by that nightmare, the silver dragon just had to lay waste to something. Who knew what it would be today? For he was currently burning with the drive of sorrow and loss. But there was nothing here around him except barren piles of boulders and sand. Nothing to destroy. Nothing to kill. Maybe that was why he camped out in places like this. So he couldn’t hurt anyone.

But as soon as he accepted that there was nothing for him here, a rather large animal leapt out of the water below him. Perfect. Breakfast. Osiris stood up and prepared to take flight, intending to tear this creature limb from limb, but before he leapt off the rock, the aquatic animal morphed in to a person. Ah, of course. One of those newfound shifters everyone was always buzzing about. He was indifferent toward them, personally. To the silver dragon, they were just more people that didn’t mean anything to him. What would humanly and elfly matters matter to a wild dragon? Still, if rumors meant anything, they proved to be meddlesome as the other races, and he didn’t want them in his area right now. It was already tempting to roast him from up here. So the beast gave a snort to alert the thing of his presence, puffing smoke out of his nose for show. Either the man would come up and bother him under threat of becoming food, or would flee. Based on the shift of the person, he would probably do the former, as that wasn’t exactly a meek animal.

[Zekk Brinewater]

Zekk spotted a crab and lunged at it like a snake, for a split second shifting to shark as Frill Sharks are capable of eating crustaceans. He loved being able to do that, and he wa seven working on ben able to only change half of his body to his animal, of that is even possible. His gills always exist hidden behind his ears and his sharkteeth always remain as it is.

Then a grunt rang out, deep and definitely far from human. He jumped and fell off of his rock onto the sand, flipping to his feet and whirling around to face the direction of the noise. And as he suspected, it was a Dragon. A silver one at that. Silver was an attractive color to him, as it was one of the most beautiful colors of the sea.

He almost wanted to resume searching for more food as he had already devoured the first crab. He was awfully hungry. But doing so could be extremely hazardous to his health as the dragon might just think he is ignoring its magnificence. They tended to get very egotistical, or at least that's how they have all been so far.

Zekk hopped from rock to rock up to the dragon with ease, his feet somehow finding grip on the slippery rocks. It comes with years of coordination, balance, and quick feet. There were so many perks to his job, killing in the law being one of the greatest. He caught the last rock, a bit of a jump, and smoothly hauled himself up to his feet in one fluid motion.

He brushed himself off before the dragon, smiling. He knew his life was more than likely at stake here, so he figured he ought to he polite. And meeting dragons was something he enjoyed doing. They were so unique to each other, even more so than humans. "Good morning!" he said, still smiling casually.

[-Osiris-]

Osiris groaned inwardly as the man looked up at him without fear, as he had only succeeded in surprising the shifter. As expected, he seemed rather confident, reflecting the attitude of his other form. But in the mood he was in, the silver dragon would have much preferred someone who turned in to a mouse or a small bird or something, with a personality to match. Someone who would turn tail at the sight of a large beast who could breathe fire. He was barely interested in dragon friends, let alone human or elven or shifter friends. There was hardly a point in that.

But for some reason, the man felt the need to come up and interact with the creature on the rocks above him, and Osiris watched as the aquatic shifter made his way up the cliffside. He had to give it to the man, he was a good climber. Even for a nimble person. With talons and extra limbs, the dragon wouldn’t have even tried to climb when he could more easily fly. Of course it wasn’t the same thing, but scaling rocks wasn’t a skill that the silver dragon possessed.

The shifter reached Osiris’ vicinity quickly, and looked at the beast in nothing resembling intimidation. In fact, he seemed rather friendly. What human or humanoid had ever been stupid enough to greet a dragon with the same manner one would greet an acquaintance? They couldn’t even communicate through spoken word, and most dragons didn’t know how to speak telepathically. He didn’t understand the logic in this decision. But the shifter went one further, and greeted the dragon cordially. Good morning, huh. What was so great about it?

But Osiris had been raised with manners, and being an old soul believed in them. So he wouldn’t just turn away from a polite conversation, since he was able to project words in to other’s minds. The silver beast looked at the man with a minute of blank contemplation. “Good morning.” He replied with mental words in a blank tone, and laid his head back down on his crossed paws, turning away from the shifter slightly. His voice was a deep rumble, similar to a roll of thunder.

[Zekk Brinewater]

Zekk regarded the depressing dragon with awe and maybe the slightest of fear. More than likely the first image of him the dragon thought him of was 'snack.' but nevertheless, Zekk showed no fear to anything, so he had decided to casually confront the creature. Hos sea blue eyes placidly looked over the dragon.

He seemed old. Ancient even, one might dare to say. The silver scales just gave even more to that appearance. He had been able to project thoughts into his head, something he hadn't originally thought about as he came up but now incited curiosity. What was his story? Why this isolated tiny island? Or maybe he hasn't claimed the island, just resting here. Who's to know?

Zekk's mouth felt salty from the sea and the crab also, and he could still tatse the bloo and fear of Ratcliffe. Cowards tasted horrible, just to set the record straight. If anyone is about to get eaten, the least the can do is die with honor and courage. But hat rule didn't apply to him. He was an assassin, paid to avoid such aspects of life. Such hypocrisy.. Oh well. Even he wasn't perfect.

He realized he was mentally rambling and focused himself on the present, cursing his tendency to lose attention to easily. It didn't happen often, but when it did it hit hard. "Why so solemn, O Great One?" he asked, squatting down over the ledge and overlooking the small span of sea towards Ederra. "Today seems a wonderful day for rampaging."

[-Osiris-]

Osiris watched this brave shifter from the corner of his eye. He didn’t seem to have actually had a purpose in climbing up here and bothering the silver beast, and the dragon found that somewhat irritating. You rarely saw dragons doing things without a reason and driving purpose, even if that purpose was trivial. It was still a purpose. Only hatchlings did things just for the sake of doing them, and Osiris knew enough about humanoid development to know that this man was not a hatchling, or ‘child’, as he knew them to be called. But even if this impressive shifter was not compelled in his actions, he could at least do more than stand there with his head in the clouds like an idiot after the dragon had been good-natured enough to greet him cordially and without threat. Apparently said greeting had sparked a train of thought in the shifter’s head, because he wasn’t even looking at anything. Perhaps if his thoughts were that engrossing, he should have thought them down there on the shore. Out of the dragon’s personal bubble.

But eventually, he seemed to remember that his small shifter self was still invading the dragon’s privacy, and once again focused on the stuff around him. Osiris looked at him contemptuously for a few seconds, and gave a small snort of annoyance, but trying to make it clear that he was less than happy with the current situation. Perhaps if he sent the message strongly enough, the man would leave him alone to his business, and this encounter wouldn’t have to be prolonged very much further. At least, that was his plan. Things hardly ever went according to the plan anymore, especially when there were humans or elves or shifters involved. Dragon’s and humanoids just usually didn’t mix, unless they were a pair. And he never had a rider. So Osiris just preferred to stay away from them altogether.

But of course, following with the trend of the proceedings, the shifter made a move to halfway sit down next to the beast while speaking. The silver beast groaned inwardly and rolled his eyes away from the man, because he still had to be a polite, right? Not that he was really a host, because this wasn’t his land, but he was an old dragon, and retained the habits of his time. Manners were important, regardless of the situation. So when the shifter spoke, he couldn’t very well ignore the words. And when the aquatic shifter spoke of rampaging, his head shot up with a start in alarm. No. It wasn’t a good day to rampage. It was never a good day for that. Because after laying waste, one was left with even less than they started with. And that was accompanied by a greater feeling of loss every time. Osiris was no stranger to loss before that. There was no sense in increasing that.

So he projected a simple, solemn “No.” in to the shifter’s mind. Followed by “There is no sense in destruction.” Osiris laid his head back down slowly after imparting his thoughts, and couldn’t help a tear from beading up on his eye as he thought about all the havoc he had wreaked on the continent in senseless vengeance, and how little it had meant, because he could never bring her back. Sometimes he even regretted killing the one who had destroyed what he loved. Because that still gave him nothing. He was still restless with the remorse he had hoped the deed would absolve.