Characters present: Faulkner, Dan
Date: 2/14/24
Season: 3

[Dan wanders aimlessly on his way to Wisteria. He steps through a portal, seeing his surroundings and realizing suddenly that he has very little idea of how to get around this place. Dan hesitantly follows the path away from the portal, taking slow and labored steps, glancing around the trees, startling at any flicker of movement.

He vaguely remembers the direction he and the rest of Corroded went when they first retrieved the egg. Dan notices the castle, and then the deep dripstone cave beneath. He hesitates as he stands on the hill overlooking the Astroplane. Guilt washes over him. He stops in his tracks. Faulkner is probably down there, and wouldn’t be so welcoming to a second instruction from him.

Dan sighs softly. It’s only him this time. This visit isn’t under aggressive pretenses, maybe he can start to make amends.

He climbs down the hill and wanders into the cave, stepping around the massive dripstone pillars that tower over even him. He stops in the center and admires the massive space. It is much more peaceful without the echoes of fighting clashing against the walls. There is little sound besides the dripping of water, and the sound of wind whispering through the interior of the cavern. Dan touches his chest, regret for his action, disturbing the peace of the cavern, flows over him. He presses on.

Dan stops in front of the massive statue of the black dragon, figuring that the creature is guarding something important. He wonders for a moment if it’s too intrusive for him to wander around in Faulkner’s space. Dan needs to find them. He can’t search for the egg alone.

As quietly as possible, he reaches the end of the cave. There he finds the curled and sleeping figure of Faulkner. Lying in the same position he was when Ollie checked on him, a creature sleeps on a dais. Faulkner is curled up with its face covered, barely moving in sleep.

Dan feels quite awkward suddenly. It’s one thing to come in uninvited but a whole other thing to wake someone up from sleep.

However this is important; to both of them. Faulkner cares about the egg as much as he does.

Dan shuffles closer to Faulkner, not close enough to be caught by tooth or claw, but just close enough to lightly shake their shoulder.

Faulkner doesn’t move.

Dan shakes Faulkner a little harder, clearing his throat as he speaks Faulkner’s name, trying to politely wake him up.]

[19:30:09] <? [rp] DAN> ... Faulkner??

[Faulkner shifts in sleep, but doesn’t wake. He curls further in on himself.

Dan sighs dejectedly, pulling on Faulkner’s shoulder gently to get him to roll over. He calls Faulkner’s name louder, pressing urgency into his voice.]

[19:33:15] <? [rp] DAN> Faulkner..! Please wake up...

[Faulkner lets out a low, deep growl. It rumbles from his throat, and echoes down the length of the cave.

Dan pulls away slightly. He feels suddenly like he’s trying to wake a sleeping animal, and doesn’t want to scare Faulkner when it wakes up. He needs it to wake up.]

[19:38:00] <? [rp] DAN> Faulkner...! Please, I really need you to wake up. I can't do this alone, the egg... please get up, help me find it...?

[Faulkner slowly uncurls itself. It stretches out fully, revealing that it’s gotten bigger than its usual form, though it’s still small in comparison to Dan. It opens a single eye, it burns bright blue. Faulkner speaks in a deep throaty language, something low and animalistic. It sounds more like growling than anything else.]

[19:39:23] <?Faulkner [rp]> [...what are you doing here?]

[Dan is relieved to hear Faulkner respond, but then realizes that he has no idea what they just said.]

[19:42:42] <? [rp] DAN> Faulkner... please, i need your help to find the egg. I know its a big ask, and i'm really sorry that i came into your cave uninvited and woke you up but i just... i don't know what else to do

[Faulkner closes his eye.]

[19:43:22] <?Faulkner [rp]> [go away]

[Dan groans, either Faulkner couldn’t understand him or was pointedly ignoring him and going back to sleep. He rubs a hand over his face, growing impatient.]

[19:45:46] <? [rp] DAN> Faulkner! you cant just go back to sleep! this is important, i really need your help. you're the only one who i can trust to help me find the egg. Please..

[Faulkner curls up again, though not as tightly as before. A sigh leaves him, it sounds like a something akin to that of a dog.

Faulkner clears his throat, his voice is raspy. It strains as he speaks the common tongue, as if it’s difficult to do so.]

[19:47:03] <?Faulkner [rp]> one day

[Dan lets out a sigh of relief. He waits for Faulkner to continue. When Faulkner doesn’t, he speaks up again.]

[19:55:23] <? [rp] DAN> one day...????? we should go. right now to find the egg, Today Faulkner. Neither of us know where it went, isn't that really bad????

[Faulkner groans dramatically.]

[19:56:05] <?Faulkner [rp]> one more day

[19:56:57] <? [rp] DAN> one more day... to sleep? have you not slept enough??

[Faulkner pulls up a massive paw to shield their face.]

[19:58:38] <?Faulkner [rp]> tired

[19:58:42] <?Faulkner [rp]> one more

[Dan sighs softly. The situation reminds him vaguely of Finch in some ways. They’d be so much easier to deal with. He’d just pick them up and get going and they’d begrudgingly go with. Faulkner though, he really doesn’t want to overstep. Picking him up doesn’t seem like the greatest idea. At least not right now.

He leans back, sighing again.]

[20:02:43] <? [rp] DAN> i'm tired too. can we not just catch up on lost sleep after we find the egg.

[20:02:52] <? [rp] DAN> how can you rest so easily not knowing where it is?

[Faulkner pulls away its paw, opens its eyes, letting out another huffed sigh.]

[20:04:32] <?Faulkner [rp]> Not that easy

[20:04:45] <?Faulkner [rp]> Used a lot of energy

[20:05:01] <?Faulkner [rp]> Need sleep to get it back

[20:05:07] <?Faulkner [rp]> One. Day

[Faulkner wraps his tail around himself.]

[20:05:50] <?Faulkner [rp]> Waited this long. Wait little more

[20:06:08] <?Faulkner [rp]> or don't. Look without me

[Dan sighs again.]

[20:07:06] <? [rp] DAN> alright. one day

[Faulkner pushes its face down into its chest, covering its face with its paws again.]

[20:08:06] <? [rp] DAN> i've been trying to look, but two cover more ground and i feel like im slowly losing it whenever i go out searching. so i guess i can wait another day

[Faulkner rasps out again in the throaty language.]

[20:08:39] <?Faulkner [rp]> [Exactly. Now go away]

[Dan holds his head in his hands, groaning. He still has no idea what Faulkner said, but he understands the message.

He stands up from a crouch, looking down at Faulkner.]

[20:10:15] <? [rp] DAN> i'll be back in a day. no longer than that, so. sleep good. i guess.

[Faulkner doesn’t respond, seemingly already asleep once more.

Dan shakes his head softly. This whole ordeal felt like trying to get a stubborn kid to get out of bed.

He turns around slowly, and quietly makes his way back out of the cave. He’ll have to come up with a better plan for tomorrow.]

A day passes–

[Dan returns to Wisteria, he stops in the clearing just before the house. Faulkner clears his throat loudly. Dan looks up at the sudden sound, surprised to see Faulkner already awake, laying across the roof of his and Ollie’s home.

Dan hesitantly walks a few steps towards the house. He can see that Faulkner is still in his more draconic form, his face looks the same as Dan’s been used to, but his body is larger than normal and is covered in dark fur. His hands have become thick paws, with bands of reddish scales around where his wrists and ankles should be. Its coat shimmers with patterns of dark blue and reddish scales. A thick collar of dark blue fur sits around its neck like a scarf, and a pair of bright red horns have manifested on the top of its head. Its tail lashes behind its back, with the same tuft of that blue collar fur at the end. A pair of small fangs protrude from its mouth, and its normally light blue eyes have turned dark blue and slitted like a cat’s.

They have donned some of their armor, which Dan recognizes easily from the many times he’s seen them in combat. They regard Dan with an unreadable expression.]

[20:19:02] <? [rp] DAN> i'm guessing you slept well?

[20:19:59] <?Faulkner [rp]> It would have been better without you interrupting. But yes

[Dan grins snarkily.]

[20:20:50] <? [rp] DAN> well. i figured it was pretty important

[Faulkner slinks to the edge of the roof, looking down at Dan.]

[20:21:32] <?Faulkner [rp]> Yeah yeah

[20:21:57] <?Faulkner [rp]> You suck at looking and need me to do it

[Dan’s smile falls a little.]

[20:23:13] <? [rp] DAN> well. one of us was able to catch up on their beauty rest and the other has been through some emotionally draining scenarios recently. so yeah. i need a little help searching every faction for the egg.

[Dan clears his throat, feeling a little awkward after saying that.]

[20:24:33] <? [rp] DAN> and you want to be invoved with the egg, so, im involving you.

[Faulkner huffs.]

[20:25:17] <?Faulkner [rp]> I don't remember the part where you breathed several stars worth of stardust during the attack on YOUR faction. Excuse me for needing some sleep after that

[It sighs.]

[20:26:11] <?Faulkner [rp]> Well it's not here. No one here has any reason to have it

[20:26:30] <? [rp] DAN> thats fair. but what if someone hid it here anyway?

[20:27:24] <?Faulkner [rp]> Why would someone hide it here? Thats- [...stupid]

[20:26:43] <? [rp] DAN> whoever took it might be carrying it around. but they also mightve stashed it

[20:26:52] <?Faulkner [rp]> I doubt someone in your faction took it, except maybe the small annoying cat. So that just leaves the other one

[20:28:43] <? [rp] DAN> well obviously my first thought is that is in fucking malfaction, but i doubt i could go there by myself without most of corroded trying to come along with. and ive roped them into enough of my shit

[20:29:23] <? [rp] DAN> and i know it sounds unlikely that someone hid it here but i cant just not look for it because i also think its stupid

[Faulkner rolls his eyes.]

[20:30:19] <?Faulkner [rp]> We can talk about this elsewhere. I'm tired of everyone invading my space

[Faulkner slips off the house with ease.]

[20:30:54] <? [rp] DAN> sure. we can head to my place, its the last spot the egg was anyway, so its probably a good enough place to start

[Faulkner nods, walking past Dan to the nether portal. Dan swings his head back towards the house, his brow furrows as he looks into the window, almost trying to spot Ollie. He’s not at all opposed to leaving the area, he and Ollie-

Dan feels bad for trespassing on top of everything else he’s done to Ollie.

He follows behind Faulkner and heads in through the portal.]

PREVIOUS NEXT