Ariel/Stories
Quotes
- When Entering Dragon's Roost
- I have been waiting for you.
- Are you in need of healing?
- Come, let us experience nature together.
- After Receiving a Gift
- I pray you will receive this healing.
- May the Goddess protect you for all of your days.
- After Bond Level Increase
- You bear the kindness of a soft breeze.
- Perhaps you are the one to bring about the world the Goddess envisioned.
- Idle After Bond Level 1
- When I must fight, I show no mercy. My healing is not gentle.
- To think I would live to see humans and dragons working side by side.
- Your wind is comfortable. I pray it never changes.
- Idle After Bond Level 10
- I seek to temper my body. Would you accompany me?
- I would speak with you, if you have a moment.
- A pleasant wind blows through the Halidom.
- Idle After Bond Level 20
- I am proud to be of assistance to you.
- You are irreplaceable to us.
- Oh, dear. I'm supposed to heal you, yet I find myself healed BY you.
Dragon Story Episodes
A Fitting Distance
I was tied down to the altar.
A sacrifice awaiting death.
There had been earthquakes of late
that clouded the waters, fissured the
ground, and brought down boulders.
It was clear a major volcanic event
was all but imminent.
This was a danger because the
dragon who ruled over the area
was a savage who had run wild.
My village decided to offer a
human sacrifice to the dragon in
an attempt to appease it.
Being rather weak and of little use,
I made a most suitable offering.
And so I lay stretched upon the altar,
hands clasped together in prayer.
A sacrifice most obedient.
I prayed without ceasing.
Without pause.
It was all I could do.
Soon, the dragon arrived with a great
rumble, so close I felt its hot breath.
I continued to pray, though I had no
illusion my pleas would be answered.
But then...a miracle.
The miracle was not that I yet lived—
it was the being that appeared
before my stunned and weary eyes.
Large, beautiful wings. A fine body.
Hair that fluttered in the wind.
With a voice like honey, she told
me her name: Ariel.
Blocking the dragon's path,
she questioned its intent in
a polite, almost bemused tone.
However, the dragon had already
taken leave of its senses.
Seeing that dialog would avail her
of naught, Ariel took swift action.
In but an eyeblink, the dragon who
ruled this region was brought low.
Ariel brought me back to the village
and told her tale: She was a traveler
who found rampaging dragons and
saved people from the horrors they
sought to cause.
She went to the people of the village,
proselytizing the teachings of the
Goddess Ilia and sharing the good
news that we would no longer be
harried by our mad dragon.
From that day forth, the volcano was
becalmed—which was a source of
great happiness for the villagers.
After that, Ariel would come to the
village from time to time and speak
with me at length.
I was truly happy to see her—as
were my fellow villagers, who sang
her praises as if she were one of
our own.
But the next time she came...
My savior Ariel came to visit often,
and we talked on many matters.
She taught me the words of the
Goddess Ilia, and told me tales of her
travels. They felt like something
from a dream to a sickly person like
myself.
She journeyed to maintain a world
where humans and dragons could
live in harmony. This was the purpose
behind both her rescue of me and
the saving of my village.
"Compared to dragons," she said,
"humans are incredibly weak. So if
the strong would share this world
with them, it is their duty to help
them as they are able."
"However, this does not mean I must
save you from every foolish decision
you might make. Human and dragon
should maintain a suitable distance."
"And if I get too close?" I asked.
"Ah," replied Ariel with a troubled
smile, "I fear that is a question for
another time."
I adored this being who saved me.
For all the things she spoke about.
For being so strong and confident.
There were reasons as abundant
as the autumn leaves, and yet...
And yet, in truth, she was my ideal.
Cursed as I was with a body both
weak and incapable, I aspired more
than anything to be strong like her.
I wanted to do something for her.
I wanted to be of use.
One time, while praying at church,
I heard a most curious rumor—one
with a not-inconsiderable connection
to the duty shouldered by Ariel.
If I could investigate this rumor,
I thought it might prove useful to
Ariel—and so I went all about the
village asking after it.
When Ariel next came to visit me,
I spoke to her about the rumor:
Apparently, several dragons had
formed a group and were attacking
a village in the far north.
The look in her eyes changed upon
hearing this. This unusual reaction
delighted me, and I hurried to spill
forth all I had learned.
After listening to me, Ariel rose and
spread her wings as if to fly away.
This confused me most greatly.
Had I wronged her somehow?
I made to arrest her flight, but she
simply stared at me and spoke
three simple words: "I must go."
She then thanked me for what I had
told her, but I did not hear. My mind
was reeling; I had thought only to
help her, not to trouble her as I had
most clearly done.
"You will be all right now," she said
as her great wings beat. "You can
go anywhere and do anything that
you desire in this life."
I knew she was pushing me away
with her words. And yet, before she
soared away, she looked back and
said, "We will meet again, Sarima."
As I watched her go, I suddenly
understood what she meant when
she spoke about a suitable distance.
Not too close...yet not too far.
Soon, my fragile body found the
strength to leave the village and
venture into the world. In this way
did Ariel save my life once more.
As my village receded in the
distance, I swore to myself that
next time, I would be the one
who found a way to save her...