Nick

(Outrunning Karma)

Nick stretched, feeling a small shiver of electricity pass through his talons, then yawned.
"Mornin, sleepyhead!" Ryder crowed, then the smell of cooking food wafting into Nick's nostrils.

He smiled, then opened his eyes groggily. Ryder had set up a small fire, with meat cooking over it on a spit he'd carved with his claws from a small sapling. It wasn't the full animal, sure, but it was food all the same.

Two days had passed since he had retained semblance with the element of electricity, and the Lyceen woman still hadn't awoken.

"Do you think she's in a coma?" Nick had asked.
Ryder shrugged. "Er, I dunno...maybe. Shots in those kind of places can do strange things, most of em kinda bad…,"

Nick frowned, staring at her chest's silent rise and fall.

"I guess I kinda hope she'll be okay. I don't want to feel like we failed to keep her alive, you know?"

"Yeah, I get yer meanin."
His focus returned to the present. The small chunks of beef were skewered on the spit, drying and darkening as the spit slowly rotated above the smoke and the fire.

Nick sat up, blinking the sleep out of his eyes. "How'd you start the fire anyways?"
Ryder beamed. "I found some flint in that riverbed over there. Good for startn' fires, eh?"

Nick nodded in approval. "Yeah...how's the Lyceen?"
Blinking in slight surprise, Ryder glanced back at her motionless body.

"She kinda stirred in her sleep earlier, a good sign, I suppose." replied Ryder, looking back toward the fire and rotating the spit. His tail created a small circle of flattened grass as he occasionally swished it back and forth as he hummed a cheerful tune.

"I guess so." Nick looked at the beef cooking then mumbled, "If only we had some buns, then we could have hamburgers for breakfast."

Ryder chuckled lightly, shaking his head slowly.

The sun was positioned toward the east, the day having only just begun.

I wonder what will happen today. He thought excitedly, shaking out his wings as they fizzled with crackling blue energy.

We might find someone we know! Or the second gateway!

Hmm.

Or if we're unlucky, an USCM scouting patrol. And maybe whoever shot Miss Brooke here.

He thought, recalling what her name tag read.

I'm hoping she doesn't think we're enemies.

Hey, maybe she'll see that she can trust us because we saved her!

I hope so.

Ryder pulled the beef off the spit, putting two pieces on each of the flat, plate-like rocks Nick assumed Ryder found in the riverbed along with his flint.

I wonder if dragons like us can fish.

He thought curiously, before picking up his food and recoiling.
"Holy crap, that's hot!" He yelped, tossing it back onto the plate.

Ryder shook his head disappointedly. "I just got done cookin' it, of course it's hot!"

He blew on his hot talons, shaking them out thoroughly. "You could have at least told me!"

Ryder didn't answer as he chewed on his breakfast, seemingly unaffected by the food's heat.

Nick exhaled on the food, attempting to cool it down. After it wasn't too hot for him to touch, he speared one of the pieces with a claw, then flicked it into his mouth with another.

He tasted it thoroughly, letting the juices stream across his tongue before swallowing it whole.

"Mmmm," he rumbled. "Nice job with the food Ryder."
Ryder dipped his head. "Yer welcome."

Nick finished his second chunk as Ryder stood up, walking toward the river for a drink, Nick assumed.

I might just join him, that meat seems to have worked up my thirst quite a bit.

Standing up, Nick followed Ryder toward the river.

The water rushed heavily, yet was clear enough for them to see the bottom without needing to stick their heads underwater.

Ryder stuck his head in near halfway, taking in multiple large draughts of water, before pulling back.

Nick imitated him, gulping down the chilling mountain water with a slight involuntary shiver.

"If you say it's too cold," Ryder said with a grin. "I'm gonna bite your ear off."

Nick chuckled. "No, it's fine."

"It better be," he snorted.

A light gasp seemed to have sounded behind them, startling Nathan and sending Ryder stumbling into the river.

Nick snorted, holding in a laugh before jerking his head back to see who was there.

Brooke, the Lyceen, was gasping for air in her sleep, her chest trembling uncontrollably.

Ryder shot him a fearful glance before they bolted for her, Ryder tumbling back ashore with a grunt as he clambered to his feet and chased after him.

Nick slid to a stop, digging his claws in for traction. "It's a bullet wound, how could it affect her breathing?"

Ryder stopped beside him, clutching her furred arm gently in his claws. "I dunno, you're the medic."
Nick sat for a moment. "It could be Cardiac Arrest." He suggested.

"English, please." Ryder said impatiently.

"When your heart stops functioning. The rounds might have had additional modifications, like EMP emittance, perhaps."

"And HOW EXACTLY, are we s'possed to fix a broken heart?" he exploded.

Nick snapped his claws together, producing a small spark of electrical blue light.

"Leave that to me."

He stared down at her, energizing his talons with crackling blue energy.

He nodded. "Tell me when."

Ryder's eyes widened, suddenly understanding.

"Clear!"

Nick slammed his talons into her chest, sending an electrical shock throughout her body, her limbs spasming as her nerves reacted.

She didn't move.
"Again!"
"Cleearr!" Ryder rattled.

Nick pounded her chest once again, watching the lightning-like energy flow from his muscles to his talons, then into Brooke's chest.

She let out a gasp, her eyes fluttering open.

Ryder fell backward in surprise. "What the hell!"

Nick froze, staring unblinking at her face.

Her magma-orange eyes came into focus, then widened as her breathing shuddered.

"O-oohhhh, hi…..dragon…." She mumbled quietly, her snout quivering when Nick blinked.

Oh, right.

Ryder struggled on his back, then flipped himself over, coming closer to Nick's snout.
"Is she-'' He looked down. "Oh! Why hello there, sleepin' beauty!"
"Don't hurt me…" she murmured.

"Errrrr, okay?" Ryder replied, looking back.

Nick snapped out of his frozen trance.

"Um, hi! We kinda uh, saved you from falling into a deep chasm and you know, dying of your wounds. So could you maaaybe not run away?"

She blinked woozily. "Oh, one can talk too... nice….uhm...sure...whatever you say….."

"Wait, you can't understand me?" Ryder asked, his eyes widening. "Oh no! I'm finally turning! Nick! Saaave meee! I feel myself melting awayyyyyy!"
Nick rolled his eyes, ignoring Ryder's lack of brain cells.

"What's your name?" He asked her.

She yawned, then frowned when she realized her arms were tied to her sides, a feature Nick wished wasn't present at the moment.

"Celise, and why am I tied up?" She asked, her voice hitting a dangerous tone.

Nick blanched, holding his claws in front of his chest. "I-I can explain!"

"It better be good, or when I get out I'm turning you into a pair of boots."
Nick imagined this, then shivered.

"Y-yeah, yeah, hold on."

He walked considerable distance away, then gestured to Ryder.

"Are you sure this was a good idea?" Nick whispered.

"Why are you askin' me? It was YOUR idea," Ryder countered, flicking his tail.

"Well, she kinda just threatened to turn me into a pair of dragonskin boots, and I kinda have seen that happen to a Wyvern, which is courtesy of Nathan, and I really really don't want that to happen to me and-"

"Stop worryin' so much. I'm sure she couldn't do that….could she?"

They both shot doubting looks at her direction in unison, then faced each other again.

"I dunno. What kind of skills do Lyceen usually have?" Nick asked, resisting the urge to chew on his nails. He then remembered he wouldn't even be able to, since they were nigh-unbreakable.

Ryder shrugged. "They're a species of hunters. Good hearing, smell, reflexes….almost the ideal soldier, really."
Nick shuddered, his mind flickering back to a pair of sapphire blue dragon scales boots.

Yeeeeesh.

A small current of electricity flickered between his horns, as he thought about what they were to do next.

"Should we just….see what happens?" he suggested, staring down at his talons.

Ryder was slow to respond. "Mmmmmmm….I dunnoooo….her attitude don't exactly sit right with me, if you get m'meanin'."

Nick sighed, then turned back toward Celise's direction, keeping his head lowered.

"Alright," He began. "We-" He was met with the sight of three grass ropes, one untied and the other two sliced.

"Where did you-"
Something dropped onto his back, in between his wings and neck.

"ACK! RYDER, TELL ME WHAT IT IS! IS IT A SPIDER? GET IT OFF, GET IT OFF, GET IT OOOOOOFFF!" He screamed, bucking and trying the swat whatever was on his back with his wings.
"SHEESH, CALM THE HELL DOWN, YOU MUTATED GECKO!" A voice yelled behind his head.
He dived to the ground, then went still.

"Celise?"

"Well DUH."

His shoulders relaxed as his tail flopped on the ground beside him. "Whuff." He sighed, relieved.

She poked one of his ears. "You could have killed me, you big baby! The hell were you thinking?"

Nick blushed in embarrassment, hiding his face. "N-nothing."

He felt her grab onto the spines covering his back, which he was able to fold up and down comfortably.

"Can you tell me where this is, exactly?" She muttered.

"After you tell me how you got yourself out and why you jumped on my back." He replied quietly.

Celise sniffed in amusement. "Ha, that was easy. You guys really stink at tyin' ropes. I just had to get one undone, and I was able to cut the rest with my knife. Oh yeah, you didn't search my stuff, did you? So you two are obviously not master kidnappers, and I think I'll be fine."

Nick nodded, making a silent not to brush up on rope tying when he had the time.

"Now my question again; where are we?"

Nick flinched.

"That's a uh, very, um, good question." He struggled, fumbling with his claws.

"You don't know, do you?"
He shook his head glumly.

"Fantastic. Who exactly are you two? And how come he can't talk?"
"I can damn well talk, you ignorant little-"

Nick tuned him out. "I had a theory about that. You see, a friend of mine," More like a brother, now that I think about it more. He was always pretty supportive.
"-figured out something that had to do with some kind of rainbow-looking stone that could be used to speak universally with any sentient being, no matter how savage or possibly near-unintelligent they are. Usually, the practice would involve melting the stones, which even long after they cooled, would remain in a liquid state. You'd then inject the stuff into your bloodstream, and that was that, along with a few magical restraints on any elemental semblances or enchantments. Until he created a type of….almost ray gun, that refracts a small laser which absorbs the essence inside the- You know what, forget it. It's just a gun that makes you be able to talk to anyone without having a drag on semblances and enchantments, and he wasn't shot, I was. He's actually a Novakid stuck in a dragon's body, and I'm a human."
She didn't answer for a short second. "So you can probably guess who tried to off me then,"

"Someone from the USCM?"

"Who else? I don't think anyone else would shoot at me and think low enough of me to assume I was already dead."

"I've only been shot at by Goblins. And Skeletons with guns and rocket launchers. And Snowmen with Tommyguns."
"Are you sure this wasn't a dream?"
"Well, the Goblins were partially my fault. Oh yeah, there were pirates too!"

"Oh my god…." She laughed.

Ryder grinned. "I got in a tussle with some Avali Spec ops once. Drop kicked one of those feisty balls of feathers right over the bar."

"Thanks Ryder. We needed that."

"Then there was this one time where an Avian Stargazer tried to burn down the bar because he didn't like whiskey. Something about "Kluex disapproves of your attachments" and such. Tackled that crazy old crow like a star offensive tackle." Ryder reminisced fondly.

Nick rolled his eyes, minorly annoyed.
"I think I get the picture, so how abou-"
Ryder continued. "And then there was this one time I accidentally spilled my drink on a tall lookin' feller. I don't think," He spat on the ground. "That I've ever had a more worthy brawl, in my entire life, heh heh. Hell, I'll even admit that he tossed me clear into the drink shelves."
Nick grumbled in frustration, trying to ignore him.

"And then-"
"OKAY I GET IT." Nick yelled, covering his ears.

"Mn-hm. Okay then."

A small silent moment passed as a chilled breeze seeped through the pass.

"What's he talking about?" Celise asked, a small hint of curiosity in her voice.

Nick shivered as he felt her tail brush over his back. "Um. Brawling stories."

"Ah! What's his best one yet?"
"Wait, really?"

"Hell yeah. I love a good brawl story."

"Ryder one, Nick zero." Ryder muttered in the background.

"Oh, shut up." Nick growled. "Just...tell me the story and I'll pass it over to her, alright?"

"Gotcha."

"You heard that, right?" Nick asked her.

"Of course I did, I'm right behind you, stupid." Celise grumbled.

"Oh right."

A small snort of laughter came from her direction.

Bah.

"Alright Ryder, you can start." Nick sighed. Ryder grinned back wickedly.

"So I was sittin' at my favorite bar, you know. The Sixth Shot, is what its name is. Anyways, me and a buddy were hitting up a ton of shots that day, looking to get ourselves spinning silly, when this tall gray figure walked in.

He never said a word to no-one, only the barkeep, asking for a bottle of chardonnay, which, much to my surprise, the barkeep happened to have, though he did mention it'd cost the creature. He replied calmly, saying money wasn't an object, taking several good draughts of the intoxicatin' stuff.

Wine, I never had much of a taste for, but this stuff was so strong, lemme tell ya, that you could just SMELL it across the bar."

He stopped to breathe, chuckling softly as he did.

"Anywho, I ignored him for some time, grabbin' a few more shots until the world felt like a muddled watercolor paintin'. I think I must've tilted my glass back and tossed the stuff over my shoulder, or I missed completely, because soon my chair was spun to face the large furry creature. "Look what you've done." He snarled, showin' me a sparkin' tech augment that looked pretty flooded and just real useless, with little drops o' whiskey sittin' here an' there. I shrugs and says, "Hey, come now. I didn't mean you no parley, it'll be fiiine." He shakes his head in disappointment. "I'm afraid you're mistaken."
Ryder spat on the ground once again, grinning with grim humor.

"And thennnn the fighting broke out."

Nick finished relaying the information to Celise. "Finally."

Making a rolling circular motion with his claws, Nick signaled for him to continue.

"He grabs me by my shirt and tosses me over the bar like a ragdoll. I grin, then I vault back over the bar, and knee 'im in the snout, causin' him t' stagger. We both took our positions, me grinnin' like an idiot while he draws his lips back in a snarl. I lunged at his gut, then really aimed for his jaw, startlin' him quite a bunch on the change of direction. I prepared to hit 'im again, until I felt somethin' tap my my shoulder. I turn around, then get a nice solid hit to the gut, while I realized too late that he'd tapped me with his tail. I tackled him, and we went to to the floor a'swingin'. A bit too late though, I woke up on the floor about an hour later, right next to the guy, also sleepin'. I tossed a buck or two on his chest an' grabbed my hat, then left." Ryder finished, his expression pleased.

Nick finished transferring his story to Celise, who managed to suppress her laughter.

"That was great." She amended, setting her hands on his neck. "Most of the ones I heard had to do with tossing chairs."