Scene #2079:

Owner	Pose
Valka	The world, to Valka and her family, has changed. No-one knew who first noticed that things changed - stars shifted in the sky just a little bit, the wind blew just a bit warmer from the north than before, and strange islands suddenly appeared and known ones disappeared from the horizon while out fishing. Sure, their maps were still good, but once you reached a certain point, they were out of date, or worse, completely wrong. This did not bode well /at all/ so, taking the initiative, Valka and Stormjumper, her dragon, started flying out to begin exploring all over again, trying to broaden the edges of the map and bring them into clarity from the fog of darkness. Valka and Stormjumper are resting on a clifftop overlooking an archepelago of islands that, when she last flew over this direction, had not been here, her crude pencil scratching quietly on the skin that she was using for a map as she sketched the outline of the island and, using some rudimentary tools, figured how far from Berk they were.
Ryu	While they're overlooking the archipelago, something shiny moves across one of the nearby islands. It's hard to see through the thick underbrush, but whatever it is casts a lot of light when the sun hits it... and it's moving. That same shiny object moves with a blurr of speed to dive off the island and into the water, disappearing beneath the depths. Then it emerges on the cliff side, and climbs up with far more speed than any ordinary creature has any right to, but slow enough to be able to make out what the creature actually is. There's a pearl-scaled dragon out there, and it caught a great big fish in its mouth.
Valka	It's Cloudjumper who sees it first, the light drawing his keen senses, a snort bringing Valka out of her artist's trance to stand and move closer, to watch as the object leaps off of the island and into the waters below with barely a splash. The woman places a hand on the larger dragon's shoulder, patting it lightly, as she watches it climb up the cliff from the water below. As she watches, the woman tries to categorize the dragon as best she can. Too big to be a stickleback, too bulky to be a night fury, but not bulky enough to be a gronkle, and even then, the colours aren't correct. A new one, perhaps? She looks to the owl-faced dragon and nods, moving to gather her things and tuck them away in various pouches before taking up her staff, looping it over the main span of Cloudjumper's wing, and pulling herself to his back. "Let's go." She murmurs softly into the dragon's ear, a gentle touch behind one of his horns telling him that she's ready to go. With a spring from his powerful legs, Cloudjumper pushes off the cliff, his wings spreading as he begins to fly to where the pearl-scaled dragon should be....
Ryu	That bright white dragon is unaware that he has been spotted. Ryu only came to these islands to relax a little and get used to the idea of being a dragon for a while, and he wanted to see what it was like to live roughly like a wild dragon. So far it's been a miserable experience and it's taken a lot of effort to claw a little temporary den into the island just so that the cold evening winds don't chill him to the bone. He stops at the top of the cliffside and drops the fish down on a patch of grass, then hesitates when he notices it flopping some. He rumbles, and turns to prepare for another jump, and hesitates when he spots something moving in the sky, his golden eyes following its flight path to try to determine where it's likely to end up. He'll watch even as they get closer, and he would stare when he realize that it's a dragon rider and not just a dragon. Which helps him relax, because he was worried he'd have to fight for his meal today.
Valka	It's not that Cloudjumper is trying to be stealthy - after all, a 1200+ kilo dragon with four wings isn't exactly hard to miss, but add on the fact that someone is standing astride him as he circles around where the pearl-scaled dragon rests, seemingly unbound by harness or saddle, only using a staff to maintain their balance...it is rather striking, as far as entrances go. The rider does wait to see if she's noticed and, when the dragon is openly staring, she laughs quietly - barely heard over the beating of Cloudjumper's wings - and directs him to land nearby so she can investigate. It does take a few minutes for Cloudjumper to land, finding an appropriate spot to set down where he can easily launch into space again if necessary, peering curiously at the pearl dragon while Valka slides off his back using her staff as a handle, the woman moving closer. She doesn't speak for the longest time, simply lowering herself into a crouch, crawling forward on hands and knees in a kind of shuffling that, when she gets close enough, she reaches out a hand to let the dragon smell her. Fearless. With cloudjumper behind her, she really has no reason to fear.
Ryu	Ryu didn't realize she was riding the dragon without a harness until she got closer. And that just made his eyes widen. With Cloudjumper's appearance also prompting a silent stare and a thoughtful rumble. He cocks his head, and carefully reaches over to grab the fish he hunted and start eating it with his dextrous claws assisting. Her approach gets more strange gawking, like this is the most unusual meeting he's ever had with anyone ever. Because it probably is. He's never seen anyone move like that, the fearless nature of her actions entrancing him. As she reaches out a hand, he does as instinct suggests to sniff at her after a bit of hesitation, leaning in toward the hand to do so. It confuses him, because it's a behavior he's not familiar with. He seems pretty content to watch them and eat his lunch. She hasn't said anything, and so he's not really inclined toward saying anything toward her. It's pretty easy to mistake him for any other wild dragon... except that he's very shiny and bright, brighter than most dragons she would ever meet.
Valka	The woman makes a pleased sound as the dragon sniffs at her hand, reaching forward just a bit more to actually rest her hand on his nose, her touch light. She smells....well...she smells of dragons, and smoke, and sweat, and other things that a woman who spends time in a village might smell of, but she's clean - no splatters of mud or anything to detract from who she is. She makes no move to take his food - or get anywhere near it, really - preferring to let the pearl dragon eat and simply observe. Theories on top of theories, tempered by what she witnessed as he moved from the top of the cliff to the waters below. The woman makes sure to stay in sight of the dragon as she moves, taking note of wings, claws, limbs, size of head, length of tail and the like, glancing to Cloudjumper from time to time who is simply sitting and watching, his owl-like face fixed on Valka as she gets close, ready to spring if the woman appears to be in any sort of danger. Finally, when she does speak, it's more to herself than the dragon. "Gods above..." her voice is quiet, the woman settling back. "You look like you've been dipped in quicksilver."
Ryu	The dragon, notably, completely lacks wings, though all the other features are indicative of a dragon. Unlike many species she is familiar with from back home, he appears almost humanoid, especially with the way he sits and eats his food. His comfortable watching her, likewise taking note in how instinctually she seems to take to dragons, like it was her entire soul. Her movements, he could tell, were meant to keep him from seeing her as a threat, and it did work on some part of him. The effort was accepted quite graciously, because he could interpret it as her having perfect dragon etiquette. He looks over to Cloudjumper, and recognizes some aspects in him, too. There is a moment of eye contact, and a quizzical tilt of his head, almost like a dog trying to hear something. He looks back to Valka as she speaks, her musings prompting more confusion. "I was covered in molten gold once," he tells her, his voice coming from deep in his chest like crystalline thunder, able to speak even while he eats. "Quicksilver would have been less painful." He spoke up so casually, not realizing that the assumption is that he's more like Cloudjumper there.
Valka	There have been many, many things that surprised Valka in her long life. Meeting her son astride a night fury was right up there at the very top of the list, but when a dragon speaks to her? Well? It's a shock, to say the least. The woman squeals and tumbles backward, almost doing a flip before she's back into her odd little crouch, a bit further away than she had been before, her staff out in front of her. Cloudjumper approaches a bit closer to give the silvery dragon that's not a dragon a more pointed look, his breath warm as he sniffs, settling near Valka in a wordless way of saying 'I take care of this one, watch yourself.' "Y...you can talk." A statement of fact that she can hardly believe she's making, if the tone in her voice is any indication. "I've never met a dragon that can /talk/."
Ryu	Ryu's head moves back in his own form of shock when she reacts in such a pronounced manner. He watches her move backward as if she was going to get attacked by his words. He pauses in eating and lowers the fish for a moment to regard her, and then Cloudjumper. He rumbles once more, thinking on the reaction they had. And then he carefully stands up, but he's only about five feet tall at full standing. He steps forward and carefully sets the half-eaten fish down as if in offering to Cloudjumper, a silent apology and a bow of his head. Then he steps back to sit on his patch of grass, one of his eyes closing as a gust of wind brushes against his muzzle. "Then I would be the first talking dragon you have met. There are others," he admits, and then goes on to say, "I'm sorry for scaring you like that. I didn't speak up earlier because I've never met anyone quite like you." He bows his head to her, too, and closes his eyes, resting his claws down in plain sight.
Valka	Cloudjumper lowers his head to sniff, first at the bipedal dragon that's making the offering of fish and then at the fish itself before deciding that this offering is acceptable. His head lowers to give Valka a small bump from one of the fringes on the side of his head before he slurps the fish up with a quick motion, chewing a couple of times, and then swallowing it almost whole. Valka slowly straightens, leaning on her staff although she doesn't need the support, taking a step back to be slightly closer to the more familiar Cloudjumper, as she watches the talking dragon sit and speak to her. "This is an entirely new thing for me. This..." She gestures to Ryu. "You being able to talk is something that has never been before. I knew dragons were gentle creatures, wise in their own ways, but being able to talk....that's something entirely unexpected and wonderful." She crouches again, her staff rattling a little as it's set aside. "Do you have a name?"
Ryu	Now that he's smoothed this over, Ryu nods at the both of them. He watches Cloudjumper eat the fish he caught with something of a yearning gaze, because he'll have to catch another fish later to make up for that generosity. But he doesn't think about it too much after that, looking to Valka instead as she speaks back to him and steadily copes with his ability to talk. He nods in understanding to her explanation, and then again when she asks for a name. "Two names. Ryan, or Ryu." He breathes a sigh through his nose, with a strange puff of white fire rolling from his nostrils, which casts no warmth yet makes up for it in how bright it is. "Use whichever you want. What are your names?" He makes an indicating gesture at both of them with his claws.
Valka	"Valka." The woman's voice has gotten a little less surprised sounding, lowering into a more conversational tone. "And this," She turns her head to indicate the dragon settling protectively over her. "Is Cloudjumper. He and I...well...we're exploring. This island..." She uses her staff to indicate the place that they're standing. "Wasn't here the last time we flew by. Whatever happened to change the world has required a bit more exploration to find out place. It appears that the land isn't the only thing that has changed." She looks up to Cloudjumper, giving him a touch beneath his jaw. The dragon responds with a snort and a look, to which Valka replies. "Go on, then. I'll be fine. It will give me a chance to talk to Ryu here." Seemingly soothed, Cloudjumper moves to the edge of the cliff and, with a beat of his wings and another look to Ryu, the dragon launches himself from the cliffside, his four wings beating the air like thunder, to go do whatever it is that he was asked to do.
Ryu	As she speaks, Ryu realizes that she is new to the Multiverse in general, and that she is far beyond any place that she would otherwise have been familiar with. He makes a sympathetic rumbling noise and stands up again, and steps over to the edge of the cliff, fearless when it comes to heights. The wind whistles around him and his attention is turned toward the distant ocean horizon. He points in that direction, "If you go in that direction, you could fly for years without finding anything but islands and boats," he tells Valka. "That's because the world you are from isn't the only world you're a part of now. For some reason, your world is a part of thousands of others now, a part of a great patchwork that spans farther than anyone can imagine. You could spend your whole life exploring it on the back of the fastest dragon and never see everything there is to see." He turns to look at her, and rumbles at her, "Welcome to the Multiverse, Valka. We are from different worlds, and your world..." he looks up pointedly to where Cloudjumper went, and back to Valka, "Your world is much different than mine. Dragons are rare and feared in my world, so rare that even I know very little of my own kind." And then he blinks once slowly. "And I was once human." He looks out at the ocean, to enjoy the thought of an endless world of wonders, while he lets her try to process all of the revelations he just gave to her. It's a tall order, he's not expecting her to just take it at face value, either.
Valka	Cloudjumper is gone. Where, exactly, is unsaid, but for now, it's only Valka and Ryu on the cliff face, the red-haired woman approaching the edge as well, looking in the direction he points as if she can see the boats and islands he mentioned from where she stands. Valka is quiet, listening as Ryu explains the enormity of the situation she, and the rest of the island of Berk, find themselves in. A new world entirely, with dangers and wonders never dreamed about. A world where dragons, like she has spent her life protecting and defending, are strange and mystical beasts. "For the longest time, Dragons were feared in my world as well. It took my son and his bond with his dragon to teach my people that dragons were not the killers the legends told us they were. It was luck or fate that brought he and I together, I suppose..." she trails off, looking into the distance, hefting her staff in her right hand and giving it a quick twist, a hollow rattling sound coming from the end. "It's a lot to take in, you'd understand..." the woman says after a bit, looking over. "A talking dragon isn't going to be the only surprise, I'd wager." She turns, her back to the cliff edge, to look at Ryu while Cloudjumper lands behind her, depositing a massive mouth full of uneaten fish at Ryu's feet. "He says thank you for the gift, by the way."
Ryu	Ryu regards her while she tells him about the story of her world's dragons. His eyes widen, impressed by the idea of a man and a dragon, on their own, convincing people against a long-standing legend. His eyes fill with a strange kind of hope and happiness as he imagines the ability to help his world understand dragons and that they are not the terrible monsters the stories claim them to be. Cloudjumper lands nearby before he can speak up again, and soon he has a large meal of fish before him. He sits down again and stuffs one of the smaller ones in his mouth, chomping and crunching it only enough to swallow it without issue. "I'm glad to have met both of you," he tells them, suddenly so happy about all of this, "I can introduce you to some of the people I know, I'm sure everyone would love to meet you." "Especially Rhapsody." A beat. "She'll be even more confusing than I am. She's a dragon, she's got siblings, but the place she's the leader of... A great tower in a city that's just impossibly big. And Rynn! Rynn and Arokh, she's another dragon rider, and he's bonded to her soul. Dragon riding is something that's existed for a long time in her world, I think. Then there's Bahamut, and..." He realizes he let his excitement get the better of him when his tail knocks a rock down the cliff. He makes an embarrassed squeaking noise, and resigns himself to eating his fish. "One step at a time," he says more hushedly.
Valka	Valka settles against Cloudjumper as he curls around her, using his forelimb as a makeshift seat, carefully scratching him behind one of his massive horns as he rumbles, his belly full of fish, listening to Ryu tell of worlds. Of people. Of places, impossible to imagine. More dragonriders. More dragons. More people, with siblings, with families. Dragons that take part in societies. It's a tad overwhelming, to be sure. "I...I think I would like that but...yes, one step at a time. First we crawl, then walk, and then fly. Skipping a step is a perfect way to end up flat on your face." She sighs softly, leaning back into the heated chest of the dragon behind her, chuckling at his little squeak before looking up into the sky, letting out a long, slow breath. "In this world, it seems, legends are true."