The butcher let out a grating laugh, a mix of condescending and amused, “Of course, here’s your tour. This is the marketplace, over there is the barracks and at the base of the cliff are the mines. Ya need sleep? Go to the camp place. Or ask the goblin gal to be situated at barracks - at the cost of your fire.”
His multiple tentacles moved like a wave, pointing at each location in a hypnotic dance of focus and confusion.
“You’d be a good cooker with that fire of yours though, so don’t be so quick to sign up. We deal in trades here, boy.” The butcher lifted a crystal from under his stall, “Ya see this? This is what the plant-eaters eat but it’s good for anyone really. Cooking it makes it edible and it gives ya lots of water. It’s from the mines, anyone can go get some.”
The alien leered at the dragon, waving a few stumped tentacles, “May just cost you a limb or two.”
With a chuckle, he lifted the large, canine-like skull on the side of his desk, “That, or you could go hunt down one of these bad boys from the mud cracks over yonder. Give some to me and I can give you a more… varied selection.”
(Edward, played by Hanafuda)“Uh, I-I’d rather keep my limbs, thank you,” Ed says, rubbing his shoulders. He looks nervous. This place must be one of those black markets. They usually sell things not found anywhere else, especially body parts; the prices can also be ridiculously high. Better to not make any unnecessary sacrifices. “I’ll go hunt some… wolves or whatever equivalent there is here, then. Sounds easier to me.”
...
"It'll work this time, I assure you."
Those were the last words Colt heard before closing the chamber door behind him. He stood not in the Shaazgha Lab, but a desert in the midst of a small pack of sleeping dogs unlike any he had ever seen. They were massive. Standing up, they must be as tall as he is. No problem, so long as they are asleep. With a hand on his hilt, he picked a silent path across patches of stony ground until he reached the other side of a crag.
How far away did Abagth-ka miss the mark this time? There isn't a desert like this within 10 provinces of Shaazgha.
Sand shifted a few yards behind him. Sneaky freaks. Don't attack all at once. These watch and wait until your guard is down. Colt drew his sword as he turned, catching the soft underbelly as the dog lurched forward, and rolled out of the way. Prepared for an ambush from any side, he quickly circled back the other way around the crag and took out another before it had the chance to pounce. 2. Another leapt from above. 3. Within a few more minutes, he took out 4 and 5. That was all of them, as far as he had noticed before. Carefully, he buried each according to his custom, and leaned against the shady side of the crag.
I was this close to something valuable. If that job went through, I'd have big money right now. And instead, I am soaked in gritty blood in a biome devoid of water or rain, wasting my effort on these unwelcomed beasts. Dang it!
He started walking off angrily in the direction his gut led him.
...
(Colt, played by me)Colt, still fuming, looks up for moment to spot a ragtag group of adventurers up ahead. They look friendly enough. Clueless, even. But all they need to know is the way back to the base. He slicks his blood-greased hair back and wipes the grit off his cheek. Honestly, this only makes him look worse.
Ah, they have me at a disadvantage. I look pitiful. He shook his head. No, drenched in my enemy's blood and without a scratch on me. I look downright valorous.
As he approaches, he makes out exactly who is in this group: A...wow, two dragon-looking people, a little...pet thing? With two heads? And cat person riding one of those dogs. Eugh. Hope they aren't rangers allied with those things. Imagine my luck if I get arrested for killing some protected species in self-defense when I'm not even supposed to be here. This entire job has been stupid since the first word out of the doctor's mouth.
They are absorbed in their own conversation and apparently haven't even noticed him. He clears his throat and calls to the most humanoid member - the tall, pale girl. His voice came out curt.
"Which way to Shaazgha?" He wipes more blood off his face. "You speak English, right?"
She turns towards the newcomer- the fifth so far, she thinks, and why are there so many here- with a calm expression, despite the gore staining his hair. He looks almost human, but his features are slightly off. His skin is unnaturally green, and just below his bangs... well. Poisonous things know their own.
For a moment, her heart leaps at the possibility of kin, another child of the Great Mother. But no, the names he mentions are wholly unfamiliar to her, and most likely she is to be disappointed.
"I don't know either of those, I'm afraid. All of us here have found ourselves transported from where we were."
"Pleasure to meet you Kaos, and yeah, it is a relief to know you're not the only one stuck here. Had the same feeling when I met these two." He said, looking back at Ed and Cyramis, who seemed to be on their own conversations with the new guys.
Wait- was that blood on the guy's face Cyramis was talking to-? He quickly shook his head, dismissing the thought, it's not like he hasn't seen blood before.
He looked back down at Kaos as the boy asked his question.
"As long as you show him you're not a threat he's pretty chill, standoffish, but chill nonetheless." He replied, hugging the hound's neck. Just in case it had a feathery appetite.. speaking of-
"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, what are you? You're completely different from the rest of us, and you look pretty young too."
"You what?" He shot her a nasty look and ran his mouth without thinking. "You and half the mercs in Shaazgha!"
The sunny optimism in her voice danced in his ear. He winced and met her eyes apologetically. If he had just taken one look at her, he would have known she's as far away from home as he is. Her clothing is too ornamental for a wasteland like this. She doesn't even look like she can fight.
"Look, it's been a bad day. Uh, sorry. Really. I don't mean to be--" Something was really off about her teeth. "--sharp with you. I just don't have a lot of time." He looked around at the nondescript desert and sighed. "Ah, well, it probably doesn't matter anymore."
He turned to the cat person. The cold eye of the dog didn't intimate aggression, but he never could read their expressions either way. The cat, on the other hand, he could read easily. He was clearly an affable person.
"You know, a whole pack of those dogs ambushed me all at once. Nothing I can't handle, of course, but they're deathly cunning when they work together. You clearly have better luck than I do. I'm Colt."
He held out his empty hand in formal greeting. Universal custom, right? Please don't think I'm weird.
“Oh, man, this is a lot of people,” Ed says, more to himself, as he crosses his arms over his chest and smiles at the group that has formed. “I’d say we could be great friends, but that might be jinxing it. Either way, I think we should get going. There’s a squid guy we gotta give wolf meat to—uh, not the wolf the cat guy is ridin’, mind you. Who’s with me?”