(no subject)

[calculusdragon]

Anyone who bothers looking up at the sky today might notice a large black dragon flying overhead. Anyone who doesn't immediately run for cover might notice the fact that said dragon appears to be rather frantic and occasionally yells "Laurence! Laurence, are you here?" in a British accent. If you happen to be standing somewhere next to a large enough spot for him to land in he might attempt to come talk to you.

[ooc: Because descriptions are key with non-human book characters: He is glossy black, with bluish markings on his wingtips, and blue eyes with slitted pupils like a cat's. He has four legs with five talons each and a pair of wings with six spines each. He has a ruff around his face and tendrils that hang from his lower jaw. He is probably around 100ft long, though he is far longer than wide and tends to coil his tail around himself when sitting.]

Comments

[watsonyourmind]

Jane was squinting up at the sky. She'd thought at first that the huge black thing in the sky was a helicopter, maybe even a rescue copter, but it was too big, and moving much differently than a helicopter would.

She and Shirley had been taking a walk, but Jane paused on the edge of a clearing and shaded her eyes with her hand.

"What do you think that is?" she asked her companion, pulling at Shirley's sleeve.

[nopolicelikeholmes]

Shirley stopped where she was and squinted upwards. And then she frowned.

"I think," she said quietly, "it's a dragon."

[calculusdragon]

Temeraire spotted a pair of young women on the ground, close to a place where he could actually land. In general young women did not respond particularly well to his attempts at conversation, but of course it was different if they were aviators, and aviators were the only British females he had seen not in skirts, so if these women were not in skirts perhaps they would talk to him.

He had to admit that it was tenuous logic at best, but he was desperate and confused and willing to try landing in the most non-threatening way he could manage.

"Pardon me."

[watsonyourmind]

Oh, he could talk! Watson let out a squeak, but she didn't run. There was something about a gigantic dragon with a polite British accent that made him seem completely non-threatening. And he'd been very careful not to land on them, which of course, she appreciated.

"Hello?" she said, a bit shaky, but doing quite well, she thought, considering.

[nopolicelikeholmes]

Holmes reached over and gave Watson's hand a gentle squeeze of reassurance. She reasoned that there was probably little to fear from this dragon, because if he was really a dragon and if he had intended to eat them, he almost certainly should have done so already. And he definitely seemed to be a real dragon because she couldn't see any evidence of machinery or anything, and thus could logically eliminate all other explanations so--

... You know, it wasn't that she had been particularly attached to a belief system where things like dragons and fairies didn't exist, it's just that the universe had seemed quite large enough without them. Now, having logicked herself into taking their existence as fact (at least for the moment), her world seemed overwhelmingly huge. Scientific discovery had long been known for creating more questions than it answered, but the things she had been finding out lately were more of the variety that called the very foundations of human knowledge itself into question.

It was a bit too much, but only if she thought about it. If she willfully blocked off that part of her mind, she could probably just act normal. After all, it wouldn't be good to have a repeat of the Earthbending Incident right now.

"Hello," she said, totally as though she talked to dragons all the time. "Can we help you?"

Actually, she observed privately, it was kind of surprising that he could speak English, considering that his mouth didn't seem like it moved anything like a human's and his vocal cords were probably much bigger. Though, since he could and was, she filed the information away as further evidence that he probably wouldn't eat them. Not that there was much evidence to draw these conclusions from - other than would-be murderers having a certain aversion to killing people they grow to view as, well, people - but she thought that probably someone like this wouldn't want to talk to potential dinner, let alone be particularly polite towards it.

[calculusdragon]

"Yes, actually, I would very much like to know where I am and what has happened to me."

How odd. They did not sound British at all, but they were clearly speaking English. Could he somehow have arrived in New South Wales already? But of course it did not look like Australia was supposed to look at all.

[watsonyourmind]

Oh, great, explanations. Anything they said would sound ridiculous. Unless this was the sort of thing that happened in the dragon's world all the time?

Because there was no way he was from their world. Someone would have noticed.

So, holding Shirley's hand still, she tried to figure out the best way to explain this.

"Have you ever heard of, um, Faery? The place? That's supposedly where we are."

Worst explanation ever.

[element_wizard]

Oooo... dragon.

Damn. He can't fly.

However, he can get the dragon's attention.

Standing in a open space Alec sends a burst of flame into the sky. He shapes it into a bird and sends it to circle the dragon's snout.

[calculusdragon]

Temeraire jerks back in surprise and then realizes with a combination of relief and dismay that rather than burning him, the flame is doing something rather irritating in the vicinity of his nose. He snorts and tosses his head a little while hovering--one of particular talents of his breed.

"You down there, what are you doing?"

[element_wizard]

"Trying to catch your attention! Unfortunately, I haven't developed the ability to fly without wings yet."

Now that he has the dragon's attention the bird vanishes.

[calculusdragon]

"How on earth did you do that?"

Of course he also wonders why the man would want his attention and also what is going on in general, but he's never seen anything quite like that before and it piques his curiosity. He lands with a gust of wind and coils his tail around himself.

[element_wizard]

"Magic. Well, for me it's an inborn ability."

Well, frantic dragons aren't usually a good thing and could cause trouble. Since Alec's had dealings with dragons before he figures he might be the best man to calm this one down.

[calculusdragon]

"But magic is not real. Or at least that is what Laurence always says when I try to talk about ghosts."

Temeraire begins wondering if he is having some sort of elaborate dream. Maybe it was something he ate.

[onlyforever]

A dragon searching for someone named Laurence--that's something that one doesn't see every day.

Jareth, having determined that any dragon searching for someone with a name like Laurence can't possibly be a threat to life and limb (or, more importantly, hair and wardrobe), watches the creature from one of Burby's open squares. Perhaps the dragon will do a slightly more impressive trick if he waits long enough.

[calculusdragon]

Temeraire spots a man in some rather splendid clothing, circles closely for a moment to observe his behavior and scout out the landing possibilities, and then comes to a very careful rest, doing his best not to crush any statues and only the minimum possible number of shrubberies and decorative plantings.

"Excuse me, I am looking for a gentleman named Ca--Mr. William Laurence, who has yellow hair. Have you seen him anywhere?"

[onlyforever]

Unfortunately, observing Jareth when he's observing someone himself doesn't lead to a great deal of information; the Goblin King, however, has an unmistakeably haughty air about him and an almost permanent look of mild disinterest.

This doesn't change when the massive creature lands, even if the dragon is a curiosity.

In response to the dragon's question, Jareth makes a show of looking to his right, his left, and then back to the dragon. "I certainly don't see him now."

[calculusdragon]

"I rather think I would spot him first, if he were right here."

Temeraire raises himself up a bit higher.

"If you have nothing useful to add I suppose I shall be going. Are there any other dragons nearby?"

They might be a bit more helpful and sensible than the local humans, with added advantages of range and sight for searching.

[onlyforever]

He shrugs magnificently. "I haven't seen them if there are, and there are remarkably few things that I don't see."

[calculusdragon]

"Really, why is that?" After all, it is not as though he could see over buildings.

[o_tea_p]

A delighted gasp escapes from Iroh as he looks up, his gardening forgotten. That creature looks little like the dragons from his home, but it's unmistakable.

He'd never thought he would see one again.

[calculusdragon]

Having failed to find anyone entirely helpful or any other dragons, Temeraire decides to land by the next semi-friendly person he spots. Someone who looks happy to see him is an added bonus so he lands as best he can without crushing the man's garden.

"Good afternoon."

[o_tea_p]

Iroh stumbles back as the dragon suddenly lands in his yard. He's wise enough to know how dangerous dragons can be.

"G-good afternoon!" The last dragons he had seen had not communicated in words like this.

[calculusdragon]

"I suppose it is a bit much to hope at this point, but can you tell me how to get home? Or, really, anything at all useful about this place." Temeraire is a dragon who uses a lot of words to communicate. It is often hard to get him to stop.

[o_tea_p]

Iroh has been known to chatter on himself, but he was a human, not a dragon. It takes him a moment just to register that the creature had indeed talked again, and another moment to figure out what it actually said.

"I wish I could help you," he said regretfully. "Unfortunately, we all seem to be stuck here."

[calculusdragon]

"Oh, that is too bad. Not that it is not a very interesting experience, but I really need to be getting back to Laurence. Or getting him here, somehow. That would do as well. Where did you come from?"