A cry for help

[autumnbold]

[Text appeared with an unpracticed hand, someone drawing crude runes into the book. Looking at them for a short amount of time, though, the text began to shift into something more... recognizable as language. The translated text was crude and mostly straight, rigid characters evocative of the runes they had been.]

hello this is asra

i hope someone can read this

everyone has one but maybe cant read dragon

my ladys mark has reactivated and i think she can see me

i heard her laugh when it started glowing again

i am scared and itchy

what do i do

Comments

[tequilasunset]

That sounds bad.

[autumnbold]

i am glad someone can read and write dragon

it hurts and is itchy

it might be bad i do not know

do you know what i should do

[tequilasunset]

Do you have an address? Tell me so that I can get the town guard.

[autumnbold]

i do not know what an address is

i live in b with the kobolds and also miss ralsei

does that help

[nobold]

(Son of a bitch, this is a familiar scenario. Cecil knew the two had a lot in common, but for things to come to this...)

Are you alright, Asra? Where are you now?

[autumnbold]

i am at home

i am hide under the bed

b is home for me with the other kobolds

i do not know if you know that

[nobold]

This is Cecil. I'm here for you, okay? Right in the living room. If you'd like to come out, we can discuss things on the couch.

Or we can discuss things with you under the bed.

[autumnbold]

apology mister cecil

i do not know everyone write

i will come out and talk

--

Asra scrambled her way out from under the bed, and peered around into the living room.

"Um, Mister Cecil? Are, um... you out there...?"

[nobold]

"I'm here. It's alright."

She doesn't need to be startled after all of this, accidental or not. Cecil makes his presence known first, answering her call and poking up from the top of the couch. Chances are, Asra will see his horn first and then his face.

"It's just us right now. See? No Anabraxis, no Tiamat. Simply two kobolds at home."

[autumnbold]

Asra does, in fact, see the horn. And the face. And lets out a sigh of relief.

Out she comes, keeping close to the walls and low to the ground, like she's trying to avoid being seen. A move Cecil was probably very familiar with in other kobolds worried they'd upset their masters.

A strange reddish-black energy seemed to ooze out from under the sides of her vest, along her upper arm, neck, and the sides of her torso. It looked rather painful, and she seemed to have tried to wear her vest in such a way to cover as much of the ooze-looking glow as she could.

Eventually, with great caution, she slips around to the couch. With a little scrambling, Asra got up onto one of the cushions.

"I'm, um, glad it is you, Mister Cecil. I, um..." She looked around furtively, panic still clouding her mind and seemingly lost on what to say.

[nobold]

Sneaking around the house as if avoiding a predator. Cecil wants to believe there isn't one lurking about and if there were, Anabraxis was content with sending out adult and ancient dragons. They would be easy to spot in a small house like this. He winced a little when noticing that evil energy trying to slither out from her vest, trying to make itself known and radiate proudly as the mark of an egocentric dracolich.

"...You know, Asra, I was in the exact same situation you're in now, a few months ago. A crystal fell from the skies and I regained my use of the Five Forms of Destruction, the martial arts style my clan and I were taught. At the same time, I heard Tiamat's mocking laughter, I heard her repeat the words 'found you' and proceeded to panic for the rest of the night...or I would have, if not for the friends who comforted me. I worried about Tiamat knowing where to find me and coming after and...

...To be honest, I still worry about that. I don't know for sure if she knows or if it's an empty threat. That's part of what she would do and from what I know of Anabraxis, she would do the same. There is, however, one thing you can take as a certainty: you won't have to face it alone. You can count on my support, whenever it's needed."

[bladeofconquest]

[Oh shit this is bad. If Anabraxis and Tiamat have a window into Concord, that's a recipe for disaster. And it could send Asra back into unhealthy patterns when she was just starting to break free of them. This is very, very bad.]

Okay, Asra, don't worry, okay? We're gonna figure this out. Where are you? I'll come over.

Can you keep me posted on anything you hear while I get over there?

[autumnbold]

i am at home in b

i am hide under a bed

i will write what i hear

i think i hear a bird singing

i heard the door close maybe lord rakka or miss pacca leaving

i hear people on the street making people noises

is this helpful

[bladeofconquest]

No, no. That's good, but I mean, let me know if you hear your mistress again. Okay? And if you do, tell me what you hear her saying.

You said it sounded like someone was leaving. Are you alone? I can be there in less than half an hour if you don't want to be.

[autumnbold]

ok i can do that

i think i am alone yes

you do not have to come if you do not want to

[There is a short pause before the next line]

i would not refuse company

[bladeofconquest]

Okay. I'm on my way. I'll just let myself in, okay? You stay where you feel safe.

All told it takes about twenty minutes for Corrin to get there. When she arrives, Asra gets a foot-first view as she enters the bedroom. "Hey, Asra?" She says softly, getting down on her belly to be able to see the kobold. She smiles reassuringly. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

[autumnbold]

Asra waved to Corrin from under the bed. There was, apparently, a large pile of Ralsei's Sol she was curled up on like the smallest dragon. Corrin could see, in the darkness, a dark red glow, flecked with black, oozing around the edges of her vest. It looked almost painful as it spread around her shoulders and around the base of her neck. Or, at least, it looked uncomfortable with how she was scratching at it.

"Um... itchy?" She responded to Corrin, a current of panic gently underlining her words. "I, um..." Oh, she should probably get out from under the bed. She squirmed her way out from the darkness to get closer to Corrin, but shrank a little from the light, squinting. Light sensitivity.

"...Um, t-thank you for coming. Um... it's good to see you."

[bladeofconquest]

"Asra? You look a little...different." Corrin notes, not having expected the change. She shifts over to allow Asra more room to get out, getting into a seated position as she does so, but she leans down when the kobold hesitates. "What's wrong?" She asks. "Is there something I can do?" She follows Asra's gaze to a nearby window, streaming light in. Making the connection, she doesn't wait for a response but stands up, walks over, and pulls the blinds. Immediately the room dims considerably.

"How's that? Better for coming out now?" She asks, bending down again to have a better view under the bed. She smiles kindly. "Of course I'd come. A friend needed some help. I'm glad to see you too. Here." She offers her hand to help Asra pull herself out from under the bed more easily.

[a_sweet_little_peach]

(This felt... too familiar. At least this time it hadn't been in the middle of the night.)

I'm on the way home, Asra. You're there, right? This is Ralsei, by the way.

[autumnbold]

hello miss ralsei

did one of the kobolds teach you to read dragon

also i am hide under the bed

wait all can see this

i am not hide under bed i am somewhere else

[a_sweet_little_peach]

The... book you're writing in seems to be translating it for me. And for you. I'll be there in... four minutes. Make that three.

Short, stilted, just like he was on the way to find Cecil. It didn't take nearly as long to get to Asra, though. He'd just been out delivering some cookies to Corrin in thanks for her help on the expedition. She hadn't taken all of them which... was all the better, really. Hopefully Asra would like cinnamon oatmeal cookies.

A short time later, the door creaks open. "I'm here, Asra, it's just me!" He calls out, to assure her. He approaches the bed, going prone next to her.

"Hey. You're safe right now."

[autumnbold]

Asra, who was surprisingly far under the bed on a large pile of Sol, looked at Ralsei when he addressed the small kobold

It wasn't hard to see her. She had the ominously glowing mark on her body, glowing with a dim red light that, flecked with black, seemed to be crawling along her skin at the edges of the vest she usually wore.

"I, um, didn't take any money." She said, sounding sheepish and a little scared. "I didn't, um, know it was, um, under here... also, um, hello Miss Ralsei..."

[a_sweet_little_peach]

"Oh, I'm not worried about the money. If you need any, feel free. I never use it. Usually just do favors for people... Um." He clears his throat a little, moving to the side a little, just to make sure she had a line of escape, if she felt she needed it. "Do you mind if I come under there with you?"

If he didn't know that it was -- at the very least -- uncomfortable, he might have found that mark pretty, but as it was all it got out of him was a concerned look. "...I'm here, though. Not going anywhere unless you want me to." He pauses, considering for a moment how to phrase this. "...I'm gonna be on your side no matter what happens with Anabraxis, okay? Tiamat's not gonna keep me from Cecil, and neither will Anabraxis keep me from you."

[autumnbold]

"Um... you can if you... um... want? I don't... I can also, um... come... out. It might, um, be more comfortable... for you..." The words were being forced out of her, she clearly didn't want to be speaking much. "I... um... is... Lady Tiamat... um... going to... find me... too..?"

[a_sweet_little_peach]

Ralsei quietly burrows under the bed with her, pulling a pillow from atop it with him. One of the smaller ones, with how claustrophobic it was under the bed. "It's fine, little one, we can be under here, if you feel safer."

He places the pillow near enough her she could lay on it if she liked, and settled in beside her, arms open in silent offer. "If she does, I'll fight her off too. The only one that gets a choice in how your life goes is you."

Sure, it might not be that simple, but... He wouldn't let them hurt his friend.