Introduction: Smith & Wesson
Jun. 30th, 2016 04:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
dragonmagitechThey rolled into the canyon at high noon, a pair of shadows blocking out the sun. Windfall was the first to spot them, on her way back from a delivery, and rushed to alert Bulletin.
“Are they dangerous?”
“I dunno.”
They landed at the southernmost end of Sparkspell’s territory and walked over the border, walking in step, identical smirks on their faces. No more than ten feet in, a small group stopped them: Cromettle, accompanied by Chrys and guarded by Heron. Not the most imposing group, perhaps, but substantial enough that the intruders stopped.
Cromettle signed, What brings you here? There was no aggression in the gestures, or in Chrys’s frills when he translated, but there was an air of frustration about the group. Things had only just begun to calm down, and nobody had any desire to see them stirred up again.
The female smiled slowly. “Why, we’ve come to help, of course!”
“We heard you’ve had some…trouble,” said the male.
“Stranger trouble.”
“Just the kind of trouble that’s hardest to stop.”
Are you not yourselves strangers?
They laughed, not quite in unison. “We ain’t the troublemaking kind.”
“Quite the opposite.”
The female bowed. “You can call me Smith—”
“—and I am Wesson—”
“—and between us we’ve cleared out more insurgents than you can count on both hands.” Smith grinned, unusually needlelike teeth glittering behind her lips. “Now, our services do come at a price—”
“Room and board,” Wesson clarified.
“But my brother and I are worth the cost. We won’t make any trouble. That’s exactly what we’re here to put a stop to, after all. We’re excellent houseguests.”
“You won’t even know we’re here.”
“Most of the time.”
“Our Raptorik companions will need a roosting place as well, of course.”
“We hope you don’t have any problems with that.”
“That’s a problem none of us ’d like to run into.”
“Wouldn’t you say?”
They stood there, smiling, a feathered wall of blue-black. Cromettle felt himself at a loss. Newcomers were…not exactly uncommon, especially in times of less tension than this. But they usually came alone. And they usually did not begin with threats.
I will have to speak to the General, he said, finally. Smith and Wesson exchanged a look.
“Well, of course!”
“We’ll wait.”
“We’ll wait right here.”
It was only as Cromettle walked away that he thought to wonder who had spread the news of their…trouble.
“Are they dangerous?”
“I dunno.”
They landed at the southernmost end of Sparkspell’s territory and walked over the border, walking in step, identical smirks on their faces. No more than ten feet in, a small group stopped them: Cromettle, accompanied by Chrys and guarded by Heron. Not the most imposing group, perhaps, but substantial enough that the intruders stopped.
Cromettle signed, What brings you here? There was no aggression in the gestures, or in Chrys’s frills when he translated, but there was an air of frustration about the group. Things had only just begun to calm down, and nobody had any desire to see them stirred up again.
The female smiled slowly. “Why, we’ve come to help, of course!”
“We heard you’ve had some…trouble,” said the male.
“Stranger trouble.”
“Just the kind of trouble that’s hardest to stop.”
Are you not yourselves strangers?
They laughed, not quite in unison. “We ain’t the troublemaking kind.”
“Quite the opposite.”
The female bowed. “You can call me Smith—”
“—and I am Wesson—”
“—and between us we’ve cleared out more insurgents than you can count on both hands.” Smith grinned, unusually needlelike teeth glittering behind her lips. “Now, our services do come at a price—”
“Room and board,” Wesson clarified.
“But my brother and I are worth the cost. We won’t make any trouble. That’s exactly what we’re here to put a stop to, after all. We’re excellent houseguests.”
“You won’t even know we’re here.”
“Most of the time.”
“Our Raptorik companions will need a roosting place as well, of course.”
“We hope you don’t have any problems with that.”
“That’s a problem none of us ’d like to run into.”
“Wouldn’t you say?”
They stood there, smiling, a feathered wall of blue-black. Cromettle felt himself at a loss. Newcomers were…not exactly uncommon, especially in times of less tension than this. But they usually came alone. And they usually did not begin with threats.
I will have to speak to the General, he said, finally. Smith and Wesson exchanged a look.
“Well, of course!”
“We’ll wait.”
“We’ll wait right here.”
It was only as Cromettle walked away that he thought to wonder who had spread the news of their…trouble.
