sleep in the fire

Melita

they should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive

It’d been a long while since Melita had ventured towards Ludo’s sanctity – not for any plausible, discernible reasons, but likely time and an expanse of adventure taking her elsewhere. But thoughts, impulsive and emboldened as they were, had been clustered, cluttered, and coiled around the youth’s head for weeks on end now. Wars. The need to be more.

She had the weapons. She had the skills. Or at least, that’s what she told herself, in that unholy confidence that spurns from youthfulness and audacity. And those needling notions, scattered and then taken hold in her mind, sent her craving off into the abyss, and then towards the shrine along the port, the morning sprawl coasting upon the waves.

With Fangorn bumbling and grumbling on her shoulder, she wandered across the top of the surface, beholden to the anklet and its charms dangling along her leg, hands full of promised offerings. Finding a free space along the statue amidst the harbor, she placed the doll she’d found in the market (and its mixed bag of clothing – some assortments of dresses, suits, hair, accessories) upon the edges, and bowed her head. “Ludo, I was hoping you could aid me in finding another companion.” The gourd didn’t seem to pay heed or mind – perhaps they’d already had the discussion surrounding the topic at hand. “A dragon.”

--

Melita comes seeking a quest for Ludo!

because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life

Ludo "Oooh! Okay!" Ludo spares Melita the pomp - she has been to its shrine a hundred and one times, and it doesn't need to give her theatrics. Indeed, it appears as a smaller version of itself, perhaps, like a child clad in rags and wearing a mask, black fingers dressing the doll in a suit and a jaunty hat. "What kind of dragon?" it asks. "A fiery one? Or a sparky one? Or a chilly one, maybe?"

Melita

they should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive

While the theatrics were always appreciated, the fact that Ludo was there at all was worth acknowledging – granting a warm, bright smile, vivid for her favored deity. She watched, tilting her head as it dressed the doll in a suit and hat, not even bothering to hide the laughter lingering in her throat. Fangorn peered as well, insatiably curious.

As for the question – it took no more than a second of thought – a customary procedure in Melita’s life. Instantly, she nodded, voice never miniscule. “Fire.” The element she’d long since savored, despite no incantations buried within her – a part of her soul and blood and bone.

because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life

Ludo "Fire," Ludo echoes, though its voice becomes squeaky and dramatic, as if its trying to make the word come from the doll (which is waving its arms about now, like there is a fire). "Nothing like a warm and toasty fire to warm up your toes." Putting the doll down, it peers its masked face up at her and nods. "Okay. But you'll have to do stuff to get one to come and see you." Melita has received a quest for a DRAYGON! She must: 1. Complete 2 collection threads: one collecting ash from Apopo and another collecting volcanic rock from Angel's End. 2. Complete a thread interacting with another character and their dragon companion. 3. Fashion a nest using the ash and rock you collected, along with any other materials in a place of your choosing. 4. Complete a thread hunting a ramphire and harvesting the meat. 5. Complete a thread cooking the harvested meat over the Lava Pits. 6. Start a thread placing the cooked meat in your nest, and let the admins know in your admin chat!

Melita

they should have checked the ashes
of the women they burned alive

Watching and waiting, and while the list was long, she wasn’t daunted by the task ahead. Determined, tenacious, bold, and obstinate to a degree that could be obnoxious, she nodded. “I can do that!” Because she could. She would. “Thank you so much!” And she bowed her head towards the deity, mind already flickering over the tangibles, the possibilities, the wakes and earths she’d have to ramble over – the resolve and willpower already churning through her figure. “I’ll be back soon!” Whatever that timeline managed to convey.

Spirited and boundless, she and Fangorn then leapt away, the tabulation of parameters instilled in her brain.

{FIN <3}

because it takes a single wild ember
to bring a whole wildfire to life