Shenanigans!

[phaselocknroll]

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[nostalgiabomb]

[ His voice drips with irony: ] Right. Exactly. Should be a pretty easy next few days.

[phaselocknroll]

Consider it incentive.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ As if to himself, ] Just think of the puppy, Quill.

[phaselocknroll]

[ She laughs ]

Just keep telling yourself that.

[ But whatever levity they managed to scrounge up is quickly shattered by the sound of a dragon's roar, and Maya grabs Peter's arm and pulls him behind a nearby rock outcropping for cover, extinguishing her wings as she does. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ The roar definitely freezes him in his tracks, so it's a damn good thing when Maya yanks him into cover, seeing as how his instinct was to "pretend to be a statue."

(Ah, yes, statues. A dragon's greatest weakness.)

He hears the flapping of giant wings overhead, accompanied by another cry, and Peter ventures a quick peek out.

... He gulps and goes back into cover. ]

So, ah. I think we can maybe abandon the "runt" theory.

[phaselocknroll]

Oh, yay.

[ Maya chances a look of her own- the dragon's landed nearby, but didn't seem to notice them.

That could be, perhaps, because it's missing an eye. One side of its face is torn and scarred, and the wounds look to be newer. One point for Peter on the "bigger dragon" theory. ]

It's got one hell of a blind spot, though.

[nostalgiabomb]

Oh, good, so its depth perception is shot.

[ Apparently his natural reaction to danger is snark it into submission. ]

What do you wanna do?

[phaselocknroll]

I might be able to use my mind control abilities on it- though I doubt the effect will last.

It might buy you enough time to blind his other eye. Then we should be able to pick it off from a distance, so long as we keep moving.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ he takes a moment to center himself -- just think of this as another job, right? Think of this as a really big bounty, right? -- and he nods a few times. ]

Right. Sounds simple enough. [ he takes a quick second to chafe his hands together to warm them, then readies his bow, arrow notched but not drawn. ]

Should be fun, huh?

[phaselocknroll]

It will most certainly be an adventure. Are you ready?

[nostalgiabomb]

Ready as I'll ever be. On your mark?

[phaselocknroll]

[ She nods, moving out from behind their cover, taking advantage of being on the dragon's blind side for the moment. She brings her arm up, tattoos flaring to life, and all at once the dragon wheels around to stare at her with its good eye, fangs bared in as a low growl escapes it.

For a moment it doesn't look like it's working- it seems all she managed to do was piss it off- but Maya persists, her tattoos going from bright cyan to nearly white as she expends more of her power, causing them to glow brighter. The dragon's posture eases, and the growl stops, its face going slack. ]

Now, Peter! I can't hold it for long!

[nostalgiabomb]

[ At her signal, he darts out of cover, drawing his arrow as he moves. He takes aim, centering himself on the rough feeling of the fletching against his cheek, tries to ignore the fact that he's firing at a motherfucking dragon--

He exhales.

He fires.

The instant the arrow clears his bow, he quickly nocks another, taking aim even as he's watching his first shot sail through the air. Close, but it bounces uselessly off the scales of the creature's eye ridge. He makes the necessary adjustments and lets the second arrow fly -- this time it hits its mark, embedding itself squarely in the dragon's pupil, and Peter just barely bites back his whoop of victory. ]

Got it. Move!

[phaselocknroll]

[ She would take a moment to point out to him just how good he is at what he does, if she weren't so busy trying to keep hold of the dragon's will. It feels like she's trying to move a mountain, and she's lucky it worked at all. Maybe its injuries weakened its resistance? She doesn't know.

But when Peter gives the all clear, she drops her hold altogether, and the dragon roars, finally allowed to react to the pain. It claws at its wounded eye, but it's a lost cause. It's been effectively blinded.

But it remembers where they were, and it rears back, orange flame already spouting from its maw. Maya is already moving, and she grabs Peter by the hand to help his speed in the snow. They clear out of the way just in time for the dragon to let loose a stream of fire that chars any nearby plant life. ]

We have to keep moving. Keep it confused.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ he starts moving when she drops her hold on the dragon, but he's not as fast as she is, and it certainly doesn't help that the snow is slowing him down. When she grabs his hand and hauls him out of the way, he stumbles before he finds his footing.

The flame melts the snow instantly, and the steam kicked up is like a thick fog. ]

Run around the fire-breathing dragon. [ it comes out breathlessly as he grips her hand. ] Got it. You know, most people run away from these guys.

[phaselocknroll]

I don't think letting a blind dragon run around will do anyone favors. We need to finish it off.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He bites back the urge to make some smart-ass response, something about caving a mountain on top of it, but. You know. That's not constructive. And the sooner this is over with, the sooner they can be someplace warm. ]

Dunno if my arrows can puncture its hide. Need a weak spot.

[phaselocknroll]

I wonder if my acid can make one for you.

[ The dragon roars again, taking a few stumbling steps towards the sound of their voices, and Maya drags Peter away again ] I'd need to get close, though.

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He envies Maya's ability to basically float on top of the snow, while he's laboring his way through it, but-- ]

How close are we talkin'?

[phaselocknroll]

... I need to touch it.

[nostalgiabomb]

... That's. Really fucking close.

[ The dragon cries out in frustration, a gout of flame erupting from its mouth straight up into the sky. Because, you know, sometimes you just have to remind folks how god damn scary you are. ]

Split up? I distract it while you move in?

[phaselocknroll]

[ She hates the idea, but it is the best one, so she nods.

A split second later, she grabs his collar and pulls him in for a kiss ] Be careful.

[ And then her wings unfurl, and she flits off ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ He's just starting to turn when she grabs him, and, right. Kisses are great. It's just too damn bad this one is a you'd better not die kiss and not, you know, a sexy one.

He runs in the opposite direction, nocking an arrow and aiming it at the creature's underbelly. He doesn't stop long enough to take careful aim, just lets it loose as he runs. The arrow hits, nonetheless, though as Peter figured, it doesn't do much more damage than a quick nick to its hide before bouncing away.

It does however, have the intended effect of making the creature turn towards him, and Peter has to leap to avoid the blast of fire it sends his way. The snow turns to steam, and Peter's pretty sure the moisture clinging to his clothes is going to fucking freeze when they get out of this. He jumps back to his feet and repeats the process, firing as he runs. ]

[phaselocknroll]

[ Maya would be loath to admit it, but she holds onto their link like a lifeline, because as long as she can feel it, she knows that he's still with her. (She might actually resent Lilith, just a little, for asking something like this of them, but if s Siren isn't any match for a dragon, then what is?)

The dragon whirls around to try and find Peter, and Maya dashes in, dodging the beast's feet and claws and lashing tail, getting underneath its belly. When it rears back again to let loose another stream of fire, she comes up, planting both her hands on its chest. The dragon's hide begins to smoke and sizzle as her magic eats through it.

There's a brief second where it sounds like the dragon is choking on its fire, as it sputters and coughs, but that quickly gives way to a roar of pain. It claws at its chest, trying to remove the source of the pain, and Maya has to duck away to avoid being slashed to ribbons.

The wound on the dragon's chest is still smoking, but it wasn't enough. She'll need to do it again if she wants to get through to the soft flesh beneath the dragon's hide. ]

[nostalgiabomb]

[ The fact that Maya is still dashing around and hasn't signaled him to fire is instruction enough -- he needs to keep the creature distracted, still. ]

Hey! Over here, maggot brains!

[ He lets loose another arrow, this time catching it in the sensitive flesh just beneath its recently blinded eye. He has a satisfying moment to appreciate the trueness of his aim before he's dashing off again.

The dragon screams out in pain and anger once again, lurching forward on all fours. It whips its tail in the last place he heard Peter, and Peter is forced to drop and slide on his knees beneath it. He regains his footing soon enough though and is on the run again in hardly any time at all. ]