The Dragonbond Program discussion

Aleyne pulled sharply on the reigns in her hands, tugging the horse to a stop. Sliding from it's back, and lightly dropping to the ground, she tied the cords to a nearby post where about a dozen other horses all shuffled. She glanced over her shoulder, eyes searching for Weiss.

Weiss did much the same, although he allowed his horse some space, so that, in the event of an emergency, he knew where it was and that he could escape quickly. After all, it was better to be prepared. He didn't want anything to catch him off guard.

((Ugh, sorry. Spelled your charries name wrong again. Couldn't remember if the I came before the e....))

Aleyne turned as Weiss dismounted, making her way through the bustling crowd out into a lightly occupied street, with merchants shouting out to the passerbys as though they were looking for salvation in the empty faces. Aleyne ignored them, accustomed to the loud chaos of the streets, and instead scanned the wares. She hadn't seen the volume in question for a while, yet she hoped it would show up within these packed alleyways.

Weiss had no idea why she'd wanted to go to the market, and he didn't really care. He just silently walked beside her, in thought. Or, more precisely, un-thought. He didn't want to think at the moment. It was too hurt-filled, too difficult at the moment. He was tired of it.

Weiss was tired of almost everything.

Aleyne plucked a small woven figure off one of the carts, and turned slightly to show Weiss. A grin spread across her face, "you two look a little bit alike," which he clearly didn't. A laughed escaped her throat, her voice musical and serene, slipping away into the air as though intent on fleeing from the somber mood between the two. She turned a moment later, and placed it back onto the cart, realizing his sense of humor probably wasn't at all like her own. "Sorry," she added, glancing over to make sure he wasn't reaching for his sword to chop her head off.

"It's fine," Weiss murmured, not paying any real attention at all. He was simply... there. Why not? Maybe he'd get something to eat out of it, too.

"Are you okay?" Aleyne asked after a moment, watching him carefully. He didn't look that great, and on top of that, he wasn't acting like his usual fiery self. Her hand moved slightly to touch his arm, but she then thought better of it, letting it fall back to her side.

"Not really," Weiss said, shrugging. He wasn't sure what okay was supposed to be, but he knew he wasn't it. He didn't know what to describe his current mood as, however, so he didn't offer any explanation, simply walking onward.

Aleyne moved after him, again looking over the wares, but with a considerable lack of focus. She wasn't entirely sure how to react, so she said the only thing she could think of. "You want to talk about it?"

"What is there to talk about?" Weiss asked, looking over to her. He didn't really know what he was feeling, if he was really feeling anything. His usual hate was hard to call on, and he certainly wasn't happy.

"Well, you could start anywhere really." Aleyne prodded, "venting usually helps me at least, regardless of whether the person knows what I'm actually talking about." Though, in all honesty. Aleyne didn't have many friends she trusted enough to talk about her problems with. Weiss's bond had been the first one in a long time, and was probably the wisest choice in retrospect.

"I don't have anything to vent," Weiss said, walking forward still. He didn't understand what she was talking about. He just felt a great sense of exhaustion. What else was there? Sadness? No more than usual. Rage? Unfortunately, no. He didn't know.

Aleyne paused at that, suddenly unsure of how guys worked internally. Maybe venting was a girl thing. Should she just whack him on the back, like she'd seen some of her male class mates do to cheer each other up? Somehow that didn't seem like the answer. "You need me to get you anything?" she asked finally.

"Are you hungry?" Weiss asked, yawning. He didn't know what she wanted to get him, so food sounded like the best option.

"I suppose so, I think the food venders are over that way," she said motioning towards a location on the right.

"That works," he replied, shrugging. Honestly, he didn't really want anything else.

Aleyne followed him as he made his way towards the food stalls. Her eyes fell upon a small alcove, that appeared to be stocked with books and various scrolls. "You go on without me, I'll catch up in a second-" she said quickly, breaking away from their path and starting towards the vender, a burly man with very little hair.

Weiss did as he was instructed, moving towards the food. That was his medicine, he supposed. He wanted food, and, at the moment, not a lot else.

((I'm about to add a plot twist, go with it however you want xD))

As Aleyne moved into the alcove, she looked towards the man whose eyes lingered upon someone over her shoulder. She glanced around and saw it was Weiss. Looking back at the vender, his eyes left him and fastened on her. "Welcome, anything I can help you with?" He asked, his voice thick and gravely.
"I'm looking for something called the tomb of asgarth, have you heard of it?"
"Let me check our catalog," he replied turning and leading her over to a small desk in the corner. As she stopped in front of the desk, he looked up, an unexplainable glint passing his eyes for a moment. "So, you from that academy yonder?" He asked, his eyes never breaking hers.
The intensity of them caused Aleyne to glance away, and move across to one of the shelves before replying. A strange smell greeted her nose, slightly metallic and sickly sweet. She felt like she'd smelled that before, but couldn't place it. "Yeah, I'm from there." She replied distractedly, stepping closer to one of the shelves, her eyes noticing a a boot lying on the carpet a little ways off. It appeared to have been hurriedly shoved behind a shelf, out of view. She stepped towards it.
"Ahh, that's very nice... Very nice indeed." The mans voice almost purred.
Aleyne stepped past the shelf, her eyes landing upon the crumpled form attached to the boot. An elderly man lay sprawled on the floor, thick crimson ooze leaking from his head and chest, soaking into the carpet below them. She stared at the corpse, three heartbeats. Then jerked around, and came face to face with the barreled chest of the man from behind the counter. She barely had time to react as his fist smashed into her face, sending her reeling back to the floor. A spurt of blood exploded from her cheek, the flesh pounding from the contact.
She rolled over just as his boot came crashing down where her head had been moments before. From over head, she could hear his voice speaking. "They're dragon bonded, I'll take care of this one. You take the men and go get the other one, make it quick."
Aleyne's heart pounded,
Weiss.

"I hope he's ready for death, first," Weiss said, crouching atop the shack of the shed of the false shop. His swords weren't drawn, because he was busy eating a meat-filled pastry in his hand. He'd circled around to go back to her, before he noticed her disappear into the shelves. He looked at the men through a hole in the ragged roof, balancing on it.

Aleyne heard the clank of armor, and guessed there were about a dozen men in various positions throughout the room. All of them surging towards the door to go get Weiss apparently.
She yanked her knife out of her boot, and scrambled to her feet as another fist hurtled towards her. She lunged to the right, nearly missing the blow, and spun on her heal, whipping the knife towards his exposed side.
She met the clang of wood as a spear appeared out of no where.
"Filthy pig," he growled, arcing the weapon and jabbing it towards her torso. Again she dogged, leaving her side exposed however, which he rammed the wooden shaft of the spear into. Aleyne grunted, keeping her feet under her.
"The alliance between the dragons was made out of fear, there are many of us who believe the war should never have ended. We lost family's to those monsters, women and children burned to crisps before our eyes." he spat out at her. "You're alliance with the creatures makes us sick, you've betrayed humanity and cursed upon the graves of those we loved. We will bring this idiotic treaty to an end, and you with it."

Weiss felt their numbers move beneath him, and he knew he'd need more than just his normal skill. He drew his blades as he drew in a breath, tapping into the primal rage of his dragon-like soul, tapping into its power. His white eyes flashed as the power flowed once more, canines lengthening into fangs, muscles surging with adrenaline. He felt the poison, the venom, and he breathed out a toxin, aiming it at the men climbing to face him, to blind and weaken them before he would strike. He was ready. The hunt was on. His food had been swallowed and his soul had reawakened. It was time for battle.

Just what he needed to kick-start his system.

((Whoah, that was awesome.))

Dancing backwards as the spear whirled in a series of lunges, Aleyne fended off the blows as they came. Her back hit the table just then, startling her enough that her stance faltered for a vital moment. The glint of steel pushed through her skin, eliciting a stream of hot blood which poured down her front. A cry of pain tore from her lips which was quickly suppressed by another fist to the face. She crumpled against the table, the spear lodged into the area below her shoulder.
She felt, rather than saw him moving again. For a moment, she was tempted to give into the pulsing darkness now dragging at the corners of her vision. She had been tempted in this same way, so many times before. What was it that she kept herself alive for?
There was nothing but an empty void of feeling inside her, as the blood began to trickle down her legs.
He was moving towards the exit now, apparently thinking her dead. Wasn't she though?
Fingers trembling, she reached up, and without comprehension pulled the spear from her chest in a spray of blood. Aleyene blinked, making out the man's form as he turned, then rolled to her feet and lunged towards his exposed form. Eyes wide in shock.
She felt the jolt of the spear as it drove through his chest, penetrating his ribs and tearing through his back. He fell to the floor, as she stood over him, unblinking.

Weiss crashed through the ceiling in a haze of violet mist, his hand over the mouth and nose of a man, his swords sheathed. Every one of them had been knocked out except for that man by then, as he'd worked quickly, poisoning then whacking one after awhile.

Aleyne barely registered Weiss as he crashed down through the ceiling into the room. Her eyes lingered at the fangs protruding from his mouth, yet she displayed no reaction to them.
Face devoid, eyes blank. The noises around her had receded into a dull humming, mirrored only by the suddenly distant beating of her own heart.

Weiss stood, the man beneath him suffering slowly, painfully. He might even die. The others were alive, but that one had wanted to stab him, and he wasn't having any of that. He cracked his neck, calling the dragon back. His canines receded, and his eyes became a bit less wild. He wasn't all monster, of course. Just some of one. And Violaceus was a good dragon.

The thudding of rain against the roof was what first awoke her. Her raven hair streamed across the bed she lay in, a halo of bleeding onyx onto the white pillow. Aleyne's olive sin, and pale blue eyes completed the aesthetic appearance of her youth. Something that in the future would taint for the remainder of her life.
"You won't remember any of this," an aged voice echoed distantly. "When you wake, it will all be over. Aleyne nodded, closing her eyes once again. Closing her eyes from the pain.

There was no pain now. Nothing at all. Aleyne recalled the memory now, unsure of where it had come from or why. Numbly, she reached up and pressed her fingers into the gushing wound leaking from her chest. It stained her already grimy fingers, a deeper shade of red.

Weiss strode over to her and applied pressure to the wound with his own hand, trying to not seem a bit unsure. He breathed sleep toxin towards her face, deciding to take her to the doctor pre-sedated. He didn't have any better plans, and he needed to act decisively.

Aleyne slumped, letting out a sudden jarring gasp, as the shock faded and the pain began to flood in along with the drowsiness. She had just enough time to focus on Weiss, before consciousness vacated her.

((And now where to?))

((Up to you, we can go anywhere.))

((Hmm...))

((Pressure xP))

((Maybe we could skip to somewhere, like a dorm, since the Infirmary's used. He could drop her off at her dorm after she's been treated, and she finally wakes up.))

((Okay, sounds good! I'll go post then.))