Vanguard: Into the Abyss

[Morty]

Vanguard: Into the Abyss

Far beneath the waves, in an area off the coast of an uninhabited isle, an ancient city sleeps. Abandoned for millennia, its civilization dabbled in technology few dragons could even dream of. That city is about to be awakened.
Years ago, a skeleton washed up on the shores of Dragon-Essence, of a creature unlike anything anyone had seen before. The discoverers of this skeleton were baffled. The specimen was nicknamed "Leviathan".
The discovery faded into obscurity for a time.
Later, a group of explorers sought to uncover the origins of this mysterious skeleton. Their goal was to explore the deep trenches scattered across the ocean floor, where even water dragons fear to tread. They would not return.
But not because of the innumerable monsters guarding the depths of the primordial sea. These intrepid adventurers would stumble upon something left sleeping for millennia, something that was not meant to be found. A giant gate. A device of unknown purpose. Their foolish actions would set in motion a series of events that could very well jeopardize the safety of their planet, opening gateways to the Infernal Plane all across the globe.
Now, another group of heroes must set things right and close the gates, before the inhabitants of the Infernal Plane can take over Dragon-Essence once and for all. This is where the story begins.

[Morty]

Perfect, thought Daedalus, putting the finishing touches on his shrine to Nautilus. He floated back a few feet and admired his work. A few nice shells and precious stones decorated one of the natural stone plinths in his new home, on which the shrine rested. Satisfied, he swam out of the cave, the dark blue tunnel opening out onto a austere coral reef. The colours were more subdued that what he was used to, but that was part of the charm. The place was a bounty of sea-life, and there was an island not far away that could provide red meat when he was sick of seafood. His mouth would have watered at the thought if he weren't already underwater.
A shimmer in the distance announced the presence of a school of fish. He drifted towards it, his creamy scales blending into the sandy, shell-strewn seabed, masking his approach. Now at the edge of the school, he was just about to strike, when his current senses alerted him to an impending disturbance. An ear-splitting pulse rent the water, scattering the fish, and he had to cling to the reef to keep himself from being blown against the rocks. His hands were numb by the time the currents subsided. What in the name of the elements was that? he wondered, his head pounding from the magnitude of the pulse. Gathering his senses, he made a course for the source of the blast, determined to discover its cause.

[Midnightmoon]

Silewe sat on a rock by the landmark the natives called the Three Sisters, cleaning the end of her worn staff which had a disgusting sheen of milky ectoplasm. The creature which the slime had come from lay smoldering a few meters away, already melting to into a puddle and evaporating away. It had run out to the bluffs when her chantings had finally taken hold and making it flee from the cave dwellings where it hid during the day. She scrutinized the end. When she was finally satisfied of it's cleanliness she gave it a bit of a twirl and got up, satisfied. The ominous chill down her back and gust of wind flared up just as she was heading back inland. "Ah, jinwu. What is that darkness?!" She cursed, spinning around and facing the open ocean. A very small part of her mind wanted to turn around to continue hunting the smaller demons that haunted the land, but her better half wouldn't even let her glance over her shoulder.
The dark echo passed and for a few minutes Silewe stood there in a solid stance. "My Lady would want me to confront this disturbance. And that means..." Pausing for a few more seconds, she let out a resigned breath, before straitening and heading to the cliff edge, looping the staff in the straps beneath her cloak. Taking a deap breath, "...Ok..." She grabbed all her magic and released it out of it's globe in her mind; she released the magic of the moon. The magic exploded in a torrent for a second before becoming a cooling stream throughout her being. When she to the next step to the edge she was on all fours, covered in white scales and could see everything from draconian eyes; seeing through Akari's eyes. In her mind she could see herself launching off the edge and soaring out to the evil presence, but in reality she just fidgeted there. "Aaaand-GO!...GO!.....nnnnnd....Now!.... nope..." It took a long time and much more fidgeting before she finally threw herself off the edge an into the water, opting to swim then plummet later.

[Nohiki]

Loki woke up suddenly. Even though it was still daylight outside, He was drawn to get out. A weird tingle was sent down his spine, making him jump on his feet. He licked his lips like he just ate something delicious. It certainly felt like it. "Hihi, dark, very dark. Me gusta." he said for himself and went to pack some of his stuff, humming one of his favorite tones. When he was done, he went out with the hugest smile on his face.

After an hour of following where the dark feeling led him, he stopped and his smile dropped to a face of somebody who just had his favorite toy taken away by older bullies. In front of him was nothing but infinite blue of the ocean. With a sad sob, he sat down and waited for an idea that would save the situation.

[Zetherus]

"I wonder what that was, A disturbance... or just my imagination?" came the voice of a wind dragon wondering the Kikan Forest. Hashin decided that it was worth his time, so he jumped and appeared over the tree and headed for the sea salt smell of the far ocean. When he finely could see the sandy shores of sun filled beaches he and scampered up to the water feeling the disturbance coming from here. "Hm, so it's underwater. This might be a problem!" As he sat there for a bit thinking, he felt as if someone was behind him. He looked over his shoulder and saw an earth dragon lurking sickly under the trees. Hashin turned and called out to him feeling there to be no problem to ask, "Hey you over there, did you come here too from the odd presence?"

[Nohiki]

"Eheheh, who me?" Loki said, looking around, wondering where did that dragon come from and how long have he been there. "And yes, but, the ocean... Problematic." He said, making a noise that sounded like something between a noise and a hick up.

[Zetherus]

Hashin smirked when he heard the dragon's odd response then turned his entire body as he slowly walked up. "Your a strange one I give you that but why not fly out to that island? You don't have to go in any water to get there just fly, come on lets go?" said the wind dragon giving the earth dragon a little push before taking off into the sky. He circled above him waiting for the stranger to do the same.

[Nohiki]

Loki shrugged nervously and hopped in the air as well, deciding not to ever look down. "But don't listen now, the source IS underwater. Suppose we get there, you know, without either of us drowning, what then?" he said, but headed for where he was drawn anyway.

[Morty]

The further Daedalus swam, the deeper and darker the water got, the vegetation changing from coral reef to a vast kelp forest, until there was simply sand. All the sea life seemed to have disappeared. The shadow of a pod of whales heading in the opposite direction passed overhead. He swam further on, heading deeper into the dark water. The light from above was now barely enough for him to see the end of his tail by. Hanging above the abyss, he closed his eyes and reached out his mind. His sense of the currents extended like a tendril into the dark. Something was stirring in the depths. The deepest, oldest currents, like the arteries of the ocean, had been thrown into disarray.
He opened his eyes again, and found that he had sank further into the darkness than he'd realized. He could now only see the middle of his body when he looked back. Nervously, he flicked on his bioluminescence, the spots along his body enveloping him in a comforting yellow glow. Something moved in the dark. Daedalus froze, the luminescent spots on his body fading black again. Just as his own light flicked out, a glowing, shimmering screen appeared before him. Mesmerized, he watched as the fluorescent butterfly shape changed from red to blue purple in an ethereal, hypnotic display. It seemed to be getting bigger, the light from above becoming fainter. Suddenly, Daedalus realized what it was. Hespin
The panic flooded through him like a paralytic poison, and it was all he could do to wrench himself away before the creature's deadly stinger rent the water he had just been occupying. His heart racing a mile a minute, Daedalus shot towards the surface, towards the safety of the sunlit water. He broke the surface with a gasp, his breathing method switching to accommodate the pure, undiluted air. Taking stock of his surroundings, he noticed that the sky had grown dark and brooding while he had been underwater, and ominous clouds now blotted out the sun. There was an island in the distance, its wooded cliffs seeming like a welcome refuge from the dangers of the open water. Perhaps it could provide the answers he sought. His heart still pounding from the terrifying encounter, he swam for the island.

[Nohiki]

Loki was glad he seen a piece of land ahead. With no further discussion, he headed straight for it and landed on the shore, sat down with the sad look on his face again and just stared at the infinite blue...
Until a bullet cut right through it and started heading straight for him. Th epoint slowly grown to the size of a pea, then and orange, then a melon until loki finally recognized it as a water dragon. And something scared him good. "hihi, visitor!" he pointed.

[Zetherus]

Hashin walked up behind Loki and stopped beside him with a smirk. "About time you got here! I could have started a fire, cooked dinner, and finished it by the time you got here!" said the wind dragon sarcastically, "By the way my name is Hashin and you are?" asked Hashin as he noticed something real fast coming on their location out in the ocean. "I hope whoever that is, is not after us!" He spoke as he kept his cool when the water dragon neared ever closer.

[Morty]

Daedalus slowed down when he reached the shallow waters then stopped, noticing the two dragons. "Oh. Hello," he said, primping his fins self-consciously. Now how was he supposed to leave the water, with these two watching? "I don't suppose you'd also be investigating that odd disturbance in the area?" He asked, standing knee-deep in the water, his fins dripping with wetness. With that hespin on the loose, he didn't want to take any chances.

[Nohiki]

"Was the whole world notified?" Loki thought out loud for himself, "It must be strong." he followed, "Really strong." Why did the gods torment him by placing it under several hundred meters of sea. "Hey, more of you!" he said suddenly and pointed to a silver dragon swimming nearby.

[Midnightmoon]

Akari perked up when a voice drifted out to her from one of the dragons she spotted a she finally caught sight of. "Er, yes, there are others. You guys hadn't have felt that too-aAh!' Akari started to flounder in the attempt to speed up. "S-s-something touched me!" Scrambling to land she quickly made her four waterlogged legs take her as far away from the water as possible. Laughing nervously she straitened out again -once at a suitable distance, "So yes, as I was saying you guys were heard the call as well? And you came? It feals dark and clammy.... sinister even. You all have the heart?"

(ooc: I feal like I'm pushing your character too much nohiki sorry if that's the case)

[Zetherus]

Hashin shrugged as he looked at the two strangers with a confused glare. "So uh, is there a reason why you two are all of a sudden startled of the water?" Asked the wind dragon noticing a quite disturbance in the strangers. He sighed thinking it was nothing and walked up and placed his paw in the salty ocean. When he noticed the movement under the water he backed up and glanced at the water and wind dragon. "So there's haspins in the water and noon of yah thought to let us know?" he asked irritatingly.