How Are You, Kid?

"How Are You, Kid?" is a [SEASON NUMBER] thread written on [IRL DATE].
==Summary==
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==Full Text==
Deo spotted the half-breed from across the square and decided to pop by and see how he was doing. She hadn't had a chance to speak with him since coming to Haligan, or since she found out about Greg. The red-head came over and smiled. "Hey Liam. How are ye?"
Jun 21, 2020
Liam squinted and wrinkled his nose at her; the last thing he remembered of her was having the living daylights scared out of him while he had his pants down. “Um...really just, whatever, right now. What’s your deal?”
Jun 21, 2020
She hops onto a nearby fence and gently kicks her legs back and forth and cocks her head. "What'cha mean?"
Jun 21, 2020
“People only come and find me when they want something,” he complained. “Like talk to the Norn that lives in my girlfriend, or they need Nala to do a favor or to get me to lift rocks or some shit.”
Jun 21, 2020
She snorts at that. "Well, yer not really wrong." She says. "I want teh hang out wit' ye. That's all."
Jun 21, 2020
Liam looked over at her and made an “I-seriously-doubt-that” expression. “Alright, what’s-her-nuts. What do you expect us to do, exactly?”
Jun 21, 2020
She laughs and then shrugs. "Ah don't know, what do ye like teh do fer fun?" She asked as she hops off the fence.
Jun 21, 2020
He puffed out his cheeks and rolled his eyes. There was no getting rid of Deo. “I dunno, spar? I kinda like to hunt, but the island is overcrowded and all the good game is on the mainland.”
Jun 21, 2020
She reaches into her bag and pulls out her bow, which she strings across her back and a quiver of arrows. "Let's go to the mainland then." She says.
Jun 22, 2020
After doing a double-take, Liam looked at her incredulously. “W-wuh? Are you kidding? We can’t just...” He trailed off. They could just, he was just afraid of deserting in case something bad happened again.
Jun 22, 2020
"We absolutely can." She said with a grin. "If ye want teh that is. If not we can go do somethin' else." She said with a shrug.
Jun 22, 2020
He set his face into an indignant frown. “Okay yeah no, let’s go.” He immediately set off for the dragon stables with a purposeful stride, spurred into action by what he took as a challenge. “Last one there has to ride a Gronckle.”
Jun 22, 2020
She laughs and puts a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Dude, ah ain't tryin' teh push ye one way or the other. Ah'm just givin' ye options. If ye do actually want to go we can go, if ye don't wanna go we don't go."
Jun 22, 2020
“And I said,” Liam responded, firmly but not harmfully removing Deo’s hand, with a glint in his eye, “last one there has to ride the Gronckle. And I’ve got a head start.” And he took off again, weaving through the other rebels.
Jun 22, 2020
"Alright then." She said with a grin. Liam ran towards the stables. He turns the corner and he's back in the plaza. Had he made a wrong turn somewhere? Maybe. Running back towards the stables he turns the corner and again he's in the plaza. What the fuck was going on?"
Jun 24, 2020
Liam was tempted to reach out to Nala to ask her if he was having some kind of stroke, but he didn’t want to let her know he was going to be skating the island for a bit. 
“Deo, wait, stop! Start over! Someone’s fucking with me!” he called out, unsure of where she’d gone in his confusion.
Jun 24, 2020
"Yeah, no that's me dumbass." She calls from her dragon as the illusion fades. Suddenly he's at the edge of town and Deo has a massive head start.
“Aw, shit.” Liam whirled around and headed for the stables, going for Fraener and making sure to throw together a pack with a quiver full of arrows and his scout’s bow, heart beating at the taste of freedom he was about to have.
Jun 24, 2020
Deo had already set down by the time Liam reached the mainland, her hand brushing over Barry Manilow’s scales. She grinned over at the kid. “Better luck next time kid.”
Jun 24, 2020
“Come on,” he complained, painfully stretching his legs after dismounting. “I didn’t use my powers to mess you up.”
Jun 24, 2020
She leans back against her dragon and laughs, Barry laughing with her. “And that’s why ye lost. If ye had said, no powers, sure, ah would'a honored that. But ye didn’t. Enemy won’t afford ye such such a luxury. Anyways that was fun.” She notices the bow and pack. “Wantin’ teh get some huntin’ done?”
Jun 26, 2020
Liam stuck his tongue out at her while he started stringing his bow. “Duh. You got eyes on anything?”
Jun 26, 2020
Deo pulled hers off her back. “There’s a bit. A few rabbit tracks, a fox er two, or if yer feelin’ adventurous we could go afta’ a big bear.” She says with a grin.
Jun 26, 2020
The loop of his string slid into place, and Liam paused, staring at her as though he wasn’t quite sure she was there. “Listen,” he said. “There’s a difference between a rabbit and a big bear.” He held up two index fingers and moved them apart from each other as far as his arms would allow. “A huge difference. There’s only two of us, for starters.”
Jun 26, 2020
She chuckles. “Dude if we wanted to we could tear up this whole forest. But ah imagine somethin’ like a rabbit or a deer would be easier teh carry home. She starts heading into the forest. “Maybe we’ll get lucky and find a deer.”
Jun 26, 2020
“Yeah, I mean, worst comes to worst, Mom’s house is a few miles away. We can quarter it up there and take it back, then we won’t have to lug a stinking deer around. We don’t exactly have the meatiest dragons.”
Somehow, Fraener took offense from the insult in a language he couldn’t understand, and he took off noisily, clipping Liam in the back of the head with a wing as he leaped from tree to tree in the opposite direction of their quarry, clearly interested in doing some kind of other hunting of his own.
Jun 26, 2020
Deo laughs at that. “Good, ah’ll be glad teh see her again ah haven’t seen ‘er… Well ah was gonna say since Greg died, but in all honesty et was probably before that.”
Jun 26, 2020
Liam quieted a bit. “Yeah. Right. She doesn’t get out to see people much any more. Says it brings back too many old memories.” He shrugged and started the trek into the thicker parts of the forest, where the deer liked to feed and nest. “I mean, honestly, can’t blame her. She went through Hel.”
Jun 26, 2020
She nods as she starts climbing a tree so she’d have less a chance to be spotted. “Yeah, ah can’t blame ‘er. She went through some shite. And that’s comin’ from the girl who used teh be the guy who literally went through Hel.” She chuckles.
Jun 26, 2020
Liam peered into the brush, pausing while he looked for a good spot to bunker down. “Is that weird?” he questioned. “I really only get what’s filtered through Nala. It’s weird for her. Is it weird for you?”
Jun 26, 2020
She sits on a sturdy tree limb and sits silently, but using her magic she conjures a replica of herself to sit next to Liam and speak so only he can hear. “Et was at first. Still is kinda. Et’s like fightin’ against a river that was muh old life ya know? Currents slowed a bit but ah’m still tryin’ teh find muh feet. Sure makes muh love life Hel though.” She snorts. “How ‘bout you? How are you doin’ kid?”
Jun 26, 2020
A shutter attempted to close over Liam’s demeanor and he looked off into the distance harder, making like he was going to get up. “I dunno. Whatever, I guess.”
Jun 26, 2020
“Hey if ye don’t wanna talk about it ye don’t have teh. Ah just felt bad all we was talkin’ about was me. But we can go back teh that if ye want. It’s muh favorite subject.” She joked with a grin.
Jun 26, 2020
He twanged his bowstring a little, still seeming to be distant. He really didn’t know her as well as he liked; there were still several emotional hurdles to go before getting to that point. “I think I’ll…go up ahead. Wait for a minute by myself. I can signal if something comes up. You can be silent, but I can’t.”
Jun 26, 2020
She nods. “Fair enough. Ah’ll see you in a bit.” She said with a smile before fading from his sight.
Jun 26, 2020
Liam nodded at her and started picking his way forward, his lean form disappearing into the brush, and he slipped around a tree trunk and bent over, essentially vanishing from sight. The grass rustled and stilled, and the wind whistled through the trees coldly for several minutes. Liam still gave no signal, as the sun slowly crept overhead. His pupils thinned while he focused on the deer trail in front of them, his fingers sliding back and forth over the wood grain of his bow.
Jun 26, 2020
Deoiridh sighed as she hooked her legs around the tree branch and hung upside down. She was a bit frustrated. She wanted to talk to Liam, she wanted to be friends with him, but he was always so closed off that it was difficult, if not impossible to talk to him about himself. But hopefully he was like the deer they were hunting. If she was still and patient enough, maybe he’d come to her eventually.
Jun 26, 2020
He winced as he adjusted positions, and then he peeked around the tree to peer at Deoiridh. 
“Ey,” he called, “I think we should move posi–”
There was a sudden crushing of leaves and a racing doe blasted past Liam’s face, and he fell back with a yelp, his bow knocking against his shoulder. “What the…”
Another deer shot past, close behind her. And another. They had their tails up in alarm, and were fleeing past Liam as though they couldn’t see him. The half-breed tossed his paws up in bewilderment, looking back at his partner. “Deo?”
Jun 26, 2020
In a moment she was beside the boy and created a ring of fire around them, the crackling of leaves reaching their ears as Deo helps the half-breed into at least a sitting position. “Ye alright?” She asks as she looks around, trying to see what was causing the stampede.
Jun 26, 2020
He grabbed her shoulder as he stood, staring intently through the ring of fire into the direction the deer were so desperately trying to escape.
“They’re running from White Hallows,” he breathed.
Jun 26, 2020
“Dragons. Now.” She whistled and Barry came flying towards them and she quickly climbed on.
Jun 26, 2020
He didn’t hesitate; he knew Fraener was long gone. He whipped his leg over Barry’s back and grabbed Deo’s shoulders, his heart hammering so hard that his movements were violently shaking to the point of uselessness. “Go, go, just fucking go, please.”
Jun 27, 2020
As soon as he was secure the monstrous nightmare took off going as fast as he could. Deo gripped his horns tightly, afraid of what they would find when they reached White Hallows.
There was no smoke from their vantage point, initially rising into the air and racing towards the small spread of houses and crops in the distance, but the dark clouds began to rise as they moved closer, and they saw the dark shapes of bulky, thick-headed dragons landing and leaving in droves, along with several groups of half-breeds fleeing the edges of White Hallows, dragging children and the bare minimum of supplies and the occasional weapon with them as they sprinted through the tall orange grass. 
Liam’s claws were nearly piercing Deo’s skin. “Down, down, we have to find Mom,” he said in a rush.
Jun 27, 2020
She grunts in pain as they pierce her skin but she says nothing and puts Barry down. “Go get yer mum kid, I’ll start gettin’ the others.” With that they split off and the red-head begins using her magic to put out fires where she can and holding them back long enough for people to get away.
Jun 27, 2020
Of course it’s the fucking Conclave.
Liam knew them; he knew them from when he was barely as tall as Tree’s hip. They didn’t have names until later, but their pale ash-smeared faces, their armor, their leers, their dragons bred with heavy armor and thick muscles and glaring eyes had always been the same. There was a certain amount of strange caution to their raiding, nothing more than a good chunk of their crops, a bit of pillaging to satisfy their needs. White Hallows had gotten good at playing the Conclave’s game. Apparently, the game had changed.
Keeping an eye out for any sign of his mother, Liam sprinted down the street and around a corner and bounced roughly off the huge handle of a warhammer and a thick leather breastplate. Ears ringing, he tumbled to the ground, clutching the bridge of his nose, which was cut and starting to bleed, and he squinted up as a heavy gauntlet gripped his shirt and hauled him to his feet, putting his face very close to a woman with a hooked nose and a missing tooth. He bared his sharp teeth at her, trying to collect himself enough to yank away, and she laughed, gripping his scarf harder. 
“Cute little kitten,” she grinned. Liam puffed up in rage and heftily swung his paw at the side of her head, which was already cloaked in shadow. Caught off-guard, she stumbled to the side, letting Liam wrench himself away, but he backed into another man, who snatched his upper arms. With another hiss of smoke, he slipped away again, drawing one of his knives before the Conclave woman was on his tail, grabbing the back of his shirt and throwing him down into the freezing mud. The knife flipped end over end to land a few feet away, and he scrabbled for it, trying to get his feet under him. A heavy boot kicked it away and someone else tackled him again, making the wind explode out of him and leaving him wheezing as his shocked lungs refused to draw in air. An angry pool of shadows boiled beneath him, and it burned and smoked, but it was formless and without direction. 
NALA!! he screamed in his head, knowing he was too far to reach her. The butt of something strong and weighty knocked into the back of his head, and he saw stars as he briefly went limp from being stunned, vaguely hearing a muffled conversation as his vision swam. “Strong kid. He’ll go good with the others.”
“What a fuckin’ bother…”
“No shit, this wasn’t s’posed to be easy, idjit. Come on.” They started to drag him.
-
Back where Deo had landed with Barry, she was making good time in helping the others escape from their attackers, which were an easily-identifiable band of loud, heavily-furred and armored marauders. But she had seen neither hide nor hair of Tree and Liam yet.
Jun 27, 2020
Her blood ran cold. Liam wasn’t the type to dally, especially not in times like this. She made sure everyone one was safe for the moment before running the direction Liam had, the direction of the Arnason house as she remembered it.
Jun 27, 2020
As she sprinted, a few cackling Conclave men stumbled out in front of her, drunken on either mead or bloodlust, and they spotted her and one of them took a bold step forward. “Ain’t it a sight, lovely?” he said loudly, twirling his axe in one hand. 
“Don’t know why she stickin’ round here!” another one mused, gesturing at the houses around them, which were beginning to burn. “Better run along. We’re roundin’ up the animals and cleanin’ up after ‘em. Don’t want you to get caught in the cages.” He laughed and eyed Deo, but kept his distance, clearly also having the same eye on the Monstrous Nightmare behind her.
Jun 27, 2020
The one closest to her is blasted back as a ball of fire punches him in the chest. “Ah give you no further warnin’.” She says as the previously frigid air turns sweltering. Her body becomes wreathed in flame and her eyes burn brightly as an orb of flame sits in the palm of her hand. “You will release any prisoners you have taken, you will leave and you will never return. And if any of you mother fuckers even thinks about touching a hair on any of these people’s heads. I’ll scorch you to a fucking crisp. Don’t believe me? Ask Gunmar Rosso if I play around.”
Jun 27, 2020
The man’s companions cried out and ducked as he was thrown backwards, rolling several feet in the soggy dirt before coming to a smoking halt. One of them uncovered his head, gaping at Deo and slowly backing up. The other was staring at the now-corpse behind him, starting to breathe hard. 
“She’s a–she’s a goddamn rebel,” he said hoarsely, and the other grabbed his shoulder and pulled him.
“We’re telling the Jarl, come on.” They started to sprint away from her.
Jun 27, 2020
She doesn’t wait for them to leave her sight before rushing the way she was heading initially. She had to find Liam or Tree, preferably both.
Jun 28, 2020
As the village emptied and the fires continued to burn, the last of the of dragons took to the sky, heading east by northeast. The sides of their dragons were specially made with several long strips of leather fitted with three or four handcuffs across the top and loops of leather dangling from the lower sides. As White Hallows was sparse in terms of population, there weren’t as many captives as there were bonds to hold them. But the Conclave was definitely getting away with several prizes, roughly a third of the half-breeds that called it their home.
Liam’s vision was still shimmering and fading in and out; one second he was in the mud, the next, he was being shoved up against the hot belly of a huge dragon, bigger than the ones at Castaway. His hands were dragged above his head and locked up, and they managed to tie one of his legs up under the dragon before he came to enough to kick at the one tying him up. “Quiet down,” the man snarled, pinning an elbow into the back of Liam’s neck and catching his foot, making sure it got strapped up as well. Liam pressed his forehead into the dragon’s scales, smelling damp earth and hot ash and worn, smoky leather and the iron of his own blood as it dripped down his nose over the rest of his face. 
“You can’t,” he tried to spit at his captors, but the man ignored him, thumping a hand twice against the dragon, and it stretched its wings and started to take off. The vertigo made Liam fade out again, and the next thing he knew was nothing but white clouds, freezing and windy against his skin. He couldn’t see the ground. If he tried to mist out of his bindings, he would fall to his death.
Liam shut his eyes and clenched his fists.
Jun 28, 2020
Deo searched everywhere but she couldn’t find Tree or Liam. She did see the dragons leaving though, and the troop of prisoners they carried with them. That wouldn’t do. She quickly hopped on Barry the Monstrous Nightmare not even waiting for her to be seated before taking off. The Archer herself didn’t even sit. No time could be wasted, especially now. Looking back behind her she takes a deep breath and sends two fireballs behind them, exploding and causing a large burst of hot air. She did this several more times, trying to make an updraft to speed them up.
Jun 28, 2020
At the rear end of the convoy, six dragons rolled in place and doubled back on themselves; three Rumblehorns, a Nadder, a massive Singetail, and a Snafflefang. Only the Nadder carried a rider, and she roared and urged the others into converging on Deo, who was rapidly approaching.
Jun 28, 2020
Deo sees the dragons approaching and takes a few quick breaths as she considers her options. Finally she takes a deep breath and suddenly she disappears. And then after a few moments the world goes dark for the rider. The bright light of the sun is blotted out by an inky blackness. "You should have listened to my warnin'." Deo's voice rings in the riders ear. It is low, quiet haunting. Suddenly the blackness is replaced by an island. An island engulfed in flame. Acrid smoke and the stench of blood and death hits their nose. As they look around they see Central forces waging a battle against the islands inhabitants, and it appears that Central will take the victory. Suddenly the point of view changes towards a man, badly wounded, and after a moment there is a searing, blinding heat as fire races forth from this man. And suddenly the heat is gone and so is the smell, and so is Central. All life in the city had been snuffed out in an instant. "This is what ah'm capable of." And suddenly they are back in the sky the redhead in front of them on the dragon, arrow in hand. "Ye were a fool teh cross me." She goes drives the arrow forward, intent on stabbing it through their throat.
The woman’s lifeblood splattered back across the dragon as it roared and twisted, bucking in an attempt to throw Deo off. The dragons wheeled and circled in confusion for the time being, thrown off by their pack leader being killed in midair. 
Jun 28, 2020
“Shit.” She cursed as she tried to stay on the dragon. There wasn’t enough room on the saddle for the both of them and she didn’t need it anymore more, so the red head pushed her off to fall to the earth below. Hopefully that would be enough.
Jun 29, 2020
The Singetail passed under her in a practiced movement to catch her, but she was already dead, and she clipped off the dragon’s back and continued falling to the earth below. The small patrol of dragons flocked around the Nadder in a whirlwind of wings and claws, a few limbs passing dangerously close to Deo as she crouched in the saddle. They roared, and screamed, and the Nadder panicked, diving in an attempt to get away from the other dragons.
Jun 29, 2020
She gasped and tried to protect herself but it was absolute chaos. One of them manged to get a blow in on her as the Nadder dove. Suddenly the world went dark as she cursed in pain.
Jun 29, 2020
Both Deo and her temporary mount made ungainly spirals towards earth, dropping like rocks. The Nadder, with wings it was born with, managed to catch the wind and unsteadily follow the convoy, and the other dragons followed suit, satisfied that the threat had been handled, and not wanting to get left behind. 
Liam, hearing the clamor and commotion from behind, leaned out far enough from the dragon to see the knot of conflict taking up the rear of the flight, and his stomach dropped as he saw a tiny human figure drop out of the sky, and then another. “Come on,” he mumbled under his breath, inaudible in the wind flapping in his ears.
Jun 29, 2020
Deo fell, and she fell, and she kept falling. It seemed it the fall would only end when she reached the ground. Suddenly the monstrous nightmare swooped in and snagged her out of the air, crashing though some trees as it comes to a stop on the ground.
Jun 30, 2020
Liam’s shoulders slumped and he shut his eyes tight, burying the lower half of his face in his scarf and twisting his paws in his manacles, weighing the odds of ripping his wrists free and trying his luck, but knowing how much empty air was between him and solid ground made his stomach turn. Eventually, he heard no other disturbances. His wounds congealed and solidified in the freezing wind, and his limbs began to grow numb, and the only thing he could do was look up at the sky and and curse anything and everything he could.
White Hallows was gone.
Jun 30, 2020
It was hours later when Deo woke again. The world was dark and she had only Barry. “Ugh, muh head.” She groaned. The dragon was quick to lick her face. “Oof not now bud.” She complained. She looked around. “Where’s Liam?” She asked. The monstrous nightmare bowed his head and warbled sadly. “Berry where. Is. Liam.” She demanded firmly again in dragonese.
“The… The remaining dragons escaped with him… I’m sorry.” He replied.
“No.” She gripped her fists tightly. “NOOOOOOOO!” She roared as fire blazed from her mouth catching the nearby trees on fire. But she didn’t care. She was angry and sad and tired and concussed. The whole forest could burn as far as she was concerned. She went made her way back to White Hallows and tried to find Tree and give her the news.
Jun 30, 2020
The Arnasons’ house wasn’t completely destroyed, but neither was it livable any more. It was charred and smoldering orange in the evening light, and very much empty. A few of the older half-breed leaders crept back into town, approaching Deo when they saw her investigating the abandoned house. As far as she could tell, the three of them were alone. 
“Thank the gods,” the biggest one said wearily, a large black bear half-breed with a huge scruff and a fully animal face. “We thought they had killed you.”
Jun 30, 2020
She shakes her head grimly. “They call me the Phoenix, et’ll take a lot to kill me. How many are still ‘ere.” She asks glancing around for other survivors.
Jun 30, 2020
“They are evacuated,” a short, thicker sheep half-breed answered. Her horns curled tightly around her nervously-flicking ears as she, too, surveyed what was left of White Hallows. “We managed to stave them off to rescue most of them–around sixty or seventy. Many are still unaccounted for. What happened with you? Did you manage to catch their heading?”
Jun 30, 2020
She nods. “Ah need to get back teh Haligan and tell ‘em what’s happened.” She falls down and prostrates herself before them. “Ah’m so sorry for everything. Ah’m sorry ah couldn’t save any of them. Ah can take ye all back to Haligan island if ye want. Ye’ll be safe there.”
Jun 30, 2020
She felt a bear’s paw heavy on her shoulder. “None of that, now,” he said gruffly. “There’s time for grieving later. If you know where we can be safe, we’ll be in your debt.”
Jun 30, 2020
She pulls herself up, taking a deep breath. “Aye, Haligan island. Ye’ll be safe there ah promise.”
Jun 30, 2020
“We’ll take you back to the others. Then…we’ll follow your lead, Phoenix.”
Jun 30, 2020
She nods and follows them. This was going to be a long journey.
Category:BOTGD 2
Category:Events
Category:Act II
Category:Deoiridh Tuathanach
Category:Liam Arnason
Category:Barry Manilow