Scene #2214: Evening in Berk

Owner	Pose
Valka	Evening in Berk is a quiet time for the residents that call this place home. The day's work is done, the dragons are out doing whatever it is dragons do before bed - leaping into the bay for morsels of fish, or chasing each other around the spires in makeshift races, joyfully cheering vikings making wagers on who might be the fastest, most agile, or which one might hit a wall first. It's all in good fun, of course - no-one ever really gets hurt, and if they do, there's plenty of help to be found. Valka is currently sitting quietly in a clearing by the sea, near the warp gate, watching the dragons. The red-haired woman is positively swarmed by the hatchlings who are chirping like birds to pluck bits of fish from her fingertips, while larger dragons land to pay their respects before taking off again. A fire burns brightly, giving her some warmth from the wind coming from the village while not blocking her view of the ocean where Cloudjumper and the rest of the dragons frolic. She feels at peace here now. Comfortable. This place is home.
Rhapsody	The noise of a new arrival is likely heard by the one near the gate. After off-loading all of the equipment that had been produced by the Izzet League had in recent weeks, the Guildmaster just did not feel like going back to Ravnica. With so much work done, the dragoness needed a break away from the guild, the magewrights, and the pressure of being a guildmaster. An island full of dragons, regardless of if they could speak or not, was such a wonderful discovery that Rhapsody had probably visited once or twice without Valka even knowing. As the white dragoness slips from the gate, she notices Valka surrounded by a whole hoard of little ones and begins to make her way over quietly. "Evening, Valka."
Valka	The gate, when activated, is almost silent, the surface rippling like a still pool that had a stone dropped into it, the only sound a gentle slurp as someone steps through it before it goes dormant again, so it's quite easy for someone to miss a visitor coming through. The dragons, though, rarely miss anything, and when it's the friendly white dragon with two legs that has come to visit again? Several of them detach from Valka once they've gotten their morsels and fly over to Rhapsody, swirling around her in an excited, welcoming dance. This, of course, gets Valka's attention. "Oh, Rhapsody!" She sounds pleased to see the woman, turning from the dragons she's feeding (once they're fed) and rises to her feet, wiping her hands off on a bit of cloth. "Welcome back. I was hoping to see you at the dragon talk but I do understand how things get away from people. The world is quite a bit busier now that the multiverse is known."
Rhapsody	Being so suddenly swarmed by a number of the smaller dragons was always a small delight to the Guildmaster. "Hello, hello, hiiii," this goes on for a moment, Rhapsody making sure that she greets each of the smaller fliers before her gaze catches Valka's. "Ah, it has been very busy around the Multiverse as of late. I'm sure you've heard about Reptilon and everything going on there. The Izzet have been working very hard to set up a defensive measure for a very important place on the planet.." she says, looking like she may move on to explaining a bit more but the energy just seems to fade, "Mm.. I'm sorry, Valka, I .. just don't want to talk ab out 'work'.." she admits, sounding apologetic.
Valka	Valka watches as the dragons greet the white-skinned one as one of their own, one of the smaller ones actually alighting on Rhapsody's head for just a moment, bending down to chirp a greeting, and then taking off to join the maelstrom swirling around. She also watches Rhapsody's response - people often shoo the hatchlings away, but it seems that their trust is well founded. The chirping becomes gleeful as they are greeted, some of the smaller dragons giving little licks of flame as a way of saying 'hello!' lighting up the air with colorful bursts of orange and green flame - none of it coming close at all, while one larger dragon, a blind Hobblegrunt with scales that shimmer in multiple colors and shifts like a chameleon, walks over to give Rhapsody a tentative sniff before rubbing his head against her hand. Valka approaches, the dragons parting around her and flying off to torment the larger dragons, Gruff, the Hobblegrunt moving to bump Valka too before going to rest by the fire. "I have. I was actually recruited to go there with Cloudjumper and lay down some suppressing fire. It was....extremely odd, to say the least, and it was an important, and eye opening view on how much different the world is." Monkey men and giant fireballs, anyone? Still, Valka raises a hand and nods. "No, no. Work is work, relaxation is relaxation, and never shall the two meet unless circumstances are dire. Come." Valka gestures to the fire, where seats and food beckon temptingly. "Care to join me for a bite and a talk?"
Rhapsody	With Valka understanding just how Rhapsody feels, the guildmaster's expression brightens lightly. She takes a moment to give Gruff the petting he seemed to come for, and then moves to follow him, "I would love to." the dragoness muses before slipping toward the fire. She takes a deep breath, stretches to the point she's even higher on her toes than normal, and then Rhapsody just kind of flumps to the ground by the fire. Summer or not, a nice fire on a cool night was something she hadn't felt in a long time. "This is nice.."
Valka	Valka lowers herself to one of the logs surrounding the fire, crossing her legs beneath her and adding a second log to the embers, sending a few swirling up into the star-strewn sky where playful dragons chase them before they flicker out into nothingness. "The sky changed...that's the one thing that's taking the most getting used to. Stars moved, constellations vanished and new ones appeared. At least the sun rises and sets in the same place." Gruff, after getting his touches, turns a light shade of violet and then a brownish green yellow, then a bright green, flopping down next to Rhapsody once he's established where she is, his tail touching hers Valka leans back in her seat and sighs, smiling, turning her head to look at Rhapsody. "It is nice. Quiet is something that I've found is hard to find anywhere. So these little moments, when all you can hear is the fire, the wind, and the flapping of Dragon wings, are ones that I've learned to cherish." She trails off, looking up again. "You're welcome to visit any time, you know."
Rhapsody	The comment earns Valka a light smirk, "I've been here a few times, actually, I think you were out or busy at the time," she admits. With Gruff not far, Rhapsody actually starts to lightly pet and scritch the other dragon without even thinking about it. A lot like how an owner would pet their dog when it settles nearby. "The dragons here are just a delight compared to so many others I've ran into in the Multiverse.." pause. "Except Ryan," she muses, not sure that Valka has even met him yet. "I appreciate the official invitation though. It's just .. calm here. It is something that Ravnica simply does not have a lot of." A pause, a sigh, then a glance skyward. "Though, there's a particular star that is only in our sky. I was born in the Multiverse, so I didn't really know a world previous to it. I know Ravnica was somewhere else once but.. the strange worlds and multiple suns and all? I've just never known it another way.
Valka	Valka chuckles softly at that admission, taking a sip of something from a goblet and setting it down, filling a second with the same straw-colored liquid she's drinking, setting it close to Rhapsody where it can be easily grabbed. "Well then. You're welcome back here any time, even if I'm here or not. No wonder the dragons like you so much." The woman sounds chuffed to bits at that, barely able to hide her smile. Gruff's head swivels a little at the scratching, a soft rumble of delight escaping the large dragon who starts to rumble quietly in time with the scratches, his milky eyes closing, his colors shifting in time with the sounds. "I've met a few, here and there. A few talking ones, one named Ryu, another on the radio. One half dragon on the radio, too. She and I should meet soon, I think. There was one on the Confederate side last night at Reptilon, but I didn't catch his name." Valka chuckles and reaches over to scratch Gruff on his rump just above his tail, which causes a rhythmic rumble to go through the dragon. Bet you didn't know dragons could purr! "My grandchildren, when I have some...all the children here...will grow up with new stars in the sky, and so many new things to learn. It's almost too big to wrap your head around but...." Valka smiles and nods. "Vikings are tough. We can get by."
Rhapsody	The content sound from Gruff keeps Rhapsody at her idle scritchings. At first, she wasn't sure how this fella was going to ask but with him seeing so content, she's happy to keep at it. "Oh, you met Ryan?" pause. "Ryu..? Huh. Maybe he decided to go by a different name. He was really uncertain about his life as a dragon, at first. I'm glad he's come to accept it so much," Rhapsody says. "He's... a bit different, as a dragon, but he would need to explain it. As for the others, I'm not sure. My father was good about keeping track of all the dragons in the Union but I've been a little lacking with it." The guildmaster notices the offered drink, takes a sip to test, and then continues, "Mm.. I think it's an interesting life. There will be so much to explore, here, but you always know you can get home from wherever you are. It doesn't matter how far it is.. you know?"
Valka	"If it's the same person we're talking about...yes? White dragon, two legs, kind of like you? He was actually the first person I met in the multiverse. He was hunting fish, and I saw him. Of course, me, being curious, I got Cloudjumper to land and did my dragon dance..." Valka chuckles, looking out over the water. "The dragons here do a lot nonverbally. Gruff, there, makes noises from time to time, but he can sense quite a lot of movements. Even your footsteps on the ground will tell him where you are. So I've kind of learned to talk to them without using words. Dragon dance." The liquid is sweet and coats the tongue, a soft feeling in the back of the throat proving that the drink is mildly alcoholic, but nothing that will knock anyone flat. It tastes of green growing things, summer, and sunlight. Valka takes another drink. "I may end up taking over for you in that regard, keeping count, if you'll let me. Dragons are kind of my thing, after all." Valka nods. "It does take some getting used to - the access to anywhere, instantaneously. I'm happy I get to experience it, and a little jealous of those who got to experience it before me."
Rhapsody	A tasty drink, then. Not one that Rhapsody is going to turn down! She'd take another sip while listening to Valka's story. "You ran into a wonderful first person in the Multiverse, Valka. I haven't gotten to speak with Ryan in a while, now. Things have been so busy.. I hope he's not upset with me over it," she considers. "But yes, to answer you, that does sound like him. I have to wonder how he may have reacted to your form of dragontalk, though. As for keeping tally, it wasn't anything official. It was just a hobby he took on. He was keeping track of all the dragon she encountered. He was rather disheartened, once upon a time, at the sheer amount of dragons that seemed evil by nature than not.
Valka	"Well, judging from Gruff, Cloudchaser, Stormfly, and the rest that we have here, I think we might have swung the number a little bit to the positive for the side of good." The woman stretches and turns a stick with her toe, the meat roasting over the fire turning to brown the other side just a little more, the fat sizzling on the heated rocks below. "And I don't think he would be. He was rather polite when we first met, even after the dance. Said I had perfect dragon manners, which I took as a great compliment."
Rhapsody	"Well, you do, actually. And I don't feel I was raised much as a dragon, and more like a resident of the Multiverse. But... well, the way you act and talk, Valka, makes me very comfortable." Another compliment, sure, but Rhapsody's being quiet honest at the moment. "And the dragons around here are just... a delight. I always was concerned how I would feel around dragons other than my siblings and ... it's just refreshing how accepting they are, here." For Reasons she isn't going into.
Valka	"You're not that different from them, in their eyes. You're more similar to them than we are, after all. I mean, we don't even have a tail! Do you know how much easier communication would be if I could get the tail movements in too?" Valka laughs softly, setting her goblet aside after she's taken another sip. "My son actually had the idea of making a tail to help with that, and as you might have guessed, it flew about as well as a dragon made out of lead." She pauses now, thoughtful. "Thank you, Rhapsody. I don't try and do anything special - I, and the village, simply treat dragons as we wish to be treated. As equals. And they treat us the same. They know, and we know, that we will never ask them to do anything that we wouldn't do ourselves. I mean, they even help around town! Fishing, lighting the forges - even sheep herding." That must be a sight, watching a dragon herd sheep from pasture to pasture, and shows a lot of trust that they put in the winged creatures. Valka goes quiet for a moment or two, considering and then, finally she asks. "Are dragons elsewhere not that accepting of you?"
Rhapsody	The guildmaster's hesitation is hidden behind another sip of the drink that Valka had provided, "It's.. not quite like that," she manages, sounding uncomfortable. It wasn't that she didn't trust Valka, far from it. It was just a worry that she had posessesd since the day she was hatched. "I just.. didn't expect dragons beyond my siblings to be so accepting, I guess.."
Valka	"Well, they are. The hatchlings, Gruff..." Valka leans forward, turning to Rhapsody to look at her, pushing her braids back behind her shoulders. "This place is special, Rhapsody. I'm not just saying that because I live here, but because of what this place means. Dragons living with people, I've found, is exceedingly rare. It helps to have an open mind, after all, and it seems to have rubbed off on us, too. We wouldn't be integrating so well in the multiverse if we were frightened of anything that was different than the world we were used to before." Valka actually reaches out to touch Rhapsody's knee lightly, patting once before leaning back. "I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, Rhapsody. It's my motherly instincts coming out. We can always tell when something is wrong and my mouth got a little ahead of myself."
Rhapsody	The touch doesn't cause Rhapsody any alarm. "No no, you're fine, Valka, truly. I never actually had anyone I could call a mother, so, to be honest, it's a bit refreshing to me. For a lot of my early life I my father tried to fill both roles but, well, he was a father and a guildmaster. It was hard to maintain all of those roles at once." A sigh. A glance upward is given, silently wishing a particular red star was there, before going on. "The scales on my head and down my back are the only ones I have, Valka, and I only have them because of a spell cast by my father."
Valka	Valka is quiet after that admission, sitting back and just looking at Rhapsody, studying her for a moment, still patting Gruff's rump lightly. "I don't offer this to many - mainly dragons, but I think you'll fit the bill. If you'd like to think of me as such, I'd welcome another child." Valka smiles, looking up into the sky for a moment, the scale thing causing her to think. "I can see how that would have made growing up difficult, in a land of dragons." She finally says, giving Rhapsody a smile before standing and moving to sit next to her. "Don't ever doubt yourself or waste a second of your life worrying because of this." She says quietly. "Life's too short and you're too special, scales or not. Not having scales does not change who you are." Not judgmental in the least, this woman.
Rhapsody	It gets a very small smile from the Guildmaster, however, it doesn't seem to convince, for one reason or another. "Thank you," is what she finally responds, but it's clear there are words in her head, likely from another, that are keeping her from fully being able to take in and understand the note about her scales. Whatever it is, it's a deep scar. "For both offers, Valka. I wouldn't want to cause you any trouble, though I'm certain you hardly think of it in such a way. It would take some time to get used to. So many years awake, but trapped, in the shell that we were in plus the things that happened in our first two years alive just made things.." pause. She glances over, down from the sky, finally, "Complicated.."
Valka	"The heart is never a simple thing." Valka says quietly. "The smallest, innocent touches, the unexpected ones, can leave slashes that never heal. Those are the ones that hurt the most - the ones you can't anticipate, or shield yourself from." Valka's hand rests on Rhapsody's knee again. "The time when you were young...I can't imagine it, being trapped, or what you went through in the first years of life, but I do know that simply speaking of it helps. Knowing that someone else knows and understands, helps." She straightens. "The offer is there, and is open, for as long as you need it. It is no trouble at all. If you ever want to talk or share, or just want to sit in silence, you are welcome in my home and village. You are welcome in my family too, if you would wish it.
Rhapsody	A quiet "Thank you," escapes the Guildmaster's muzzle again. It wasn't that she was rejecting Valka's offer. It was just something a bit deeper that was going to take some time to let go of. The whole time, at least, she hasn't stopped her hand from it's idle movements for Gruff. Proof of just how much she was enjoying Berk and it's residents; every single one of them. "I'll have to bring you to Ravnica. It's ... very busy, but at least you can get to see just how large a city can be. Some have described it as being 10 cities pretending to be one.
Valka	Sometimes the offer being there is enough, and in time, Rhapsody may let go. Patience is something Valka has learned works well with dragons - they will decide exactly when they want to do something, and not a moment before, and forcing the issue is the easiest way to get them to push back. It's kind of unconscious for Valka, really, how to act properly around Dragons. Even taking ones with very few scales. "I would like that, Rhapsody, to see your home." A glance at the fire shows its burned to nearly embers, flickering, begging for another log to satiate it's hunger. "Not tonight, though. The moon is coming up and it probably would be best for us to stay where we are for the evening. Unless you'll be missed." Valka rises, pouring some water on the fire, a gush of steam billowing up. "Gruff? Can you lead Rhapsody to the gate or, if she would like a bed, our home?" A gentle touch behind the dragon's ruff has him turning a brilliant crimson as he stands, stretches, and nudges Rhapsody before walking off, his tail in contact with her until he's reached the end of it, looking back at her as if to say 'you coming?' Valka rakes the coals over and follows behind, seeing what Rhapsody chooses.
Rhapsody	A quiet night with a bright moon or the never ending bustle and tussle of the Nivix Spire? "I think for once a night out won't do me any harm," Rhapsody muses. Velka -may- notice a fair flinch when the fire goes out and it gets so dark. "Erm.. after you.." she offers, forcing a smile, but keeping rather close to Gruff as they go.