Work Text:
Hasn’t been proofread yet will do it soon
A young woman stood upon the hill overlooking a small port-side town. It was strange, while the homes were far from barbaric most of them included basic technologies. Things like stoves, refrigerators, internet, and other debatable necessities of the modern age. Agila always knew that her home was particularly advanced. Even to the point of being known as one of if not the most advanced in the world. All that said it was nice, the entire reason she began this journey was to leave the city and start her own life properly.
Speaking of which ‘Oi! Chel! We’re here!’ Agila shouted towards a tall but slim woman. Said woman’s name was Chelona, another girl of nonhuman origin. The two were opposites in many ways. Agila had a thin but strong tail, resembling that of a cow despite her draconic origin. Whereas Chelona despite supposedly being a turtle had a long and thick tail, somewhat similar to that of western dragons. Where Agila’s ears were sharp and attentive the turtle girls were soft and droopy. Agila's main draconic feature was her wings which spent most of their time hidden beneath her shirt. While she did make slits in her clothes so they may come out when needed, the woman preferred to keep them out of sight. She had no fear of being different from regular humans however her wings were small and malformed. These weak draconic traits are also to blame for her very thin tail and rare scales, most of which would never be seen by most. The only exception being her dominant hand and its minutely claw-like shape. These lackluster traits earned the ire of the majority of her family. Albeit with the silver lining of being the same reason she has cores and nanomachines to make up for it.
As for Chelona her main turtle-like features belonged to her hat, she claimed it was her shell but Agila has never seen it on her back so it’s hard to imagine. The other thing worthy of note is her practically god-like abilities. To Agila’s knowledge, they’ve never been used to smite someone or something but there was a time she herself was struck by lightning and didn’t notice. It was both terrifying and relieving to have an ally capable of virtually anything.
However, the biggest difference between the two would have to be their personalities. ‘Drop that! It ain’t food ya damn pig!’ This here would be the dragoness trying and failing to wrestle away a large stone the tortoise girl was trying to eat. This struggle lasted until Agila finally convinced her that the town was right over the hill and that it would have far tastier food. After that situation, they started walking back up the hill where the town unsurprisingly still stood. On the other hand Chelona upon seeing the town immediately shouted ‘Food!’. Then proceeded to retract into her hat and roll down the hill.....
Agila, far more used to Chelona’s actions than she’d like to be, simply sighed and muttered to herself. ‘Know what? I’ll deal with her later for now I’m gonna look around.’
One of the first things she learned upon leaving the city was that towns while plentiful were much smaller. This town consisting of only around 30 houses and the necessary buildings like doctors and shops. She spent her time looking for nothing in particular making note of shops they might need to get supplies from for their journey.
‘Well I’ll be, look what we have here.’ Stopping in front of a greenhouse Agila couldn’t help but look inside. While it would be an exaggeration to say that plant facilities were rare to come across they weren’t very common either. If memory serves only about 1 in 6 towns had them, the others receiving produce through trade from these locations.
Looking through the rows of various greenery she was surprised to see that the back was filled almost exclusively with flowers. This was her first time seeing most of these as while almost all the greenhouses she’s been to so far featured them, they typically only had roses and a few local breeds of flora. This one however held dozens of them. Ranging from many different colors of roses to every variation of poppy and even lilacs. Eventually, she came across something she’d never seen before. It was a decent sized bush containing semi- large flowers, each being about the size of her hand. They came in the shape of a long seashell but the side facing the stem had a single bud at the bottom with a petal behind it. Then behind that petal another, then another each a bit larger than the last until the final large petal creates the shell seen from the front. While the inward facing side was primarily white the outside started as a deep purple toward the base transitioning into what would become a very light green at the tip. Fascinated by such unique flowers She began examining one with her hand. The largest petal was hard and smooth almost resembling a sort of plastic. This toughness faded on the inner side with the smallest petals being relatively soft and the bud itself while nowhere near as tough as the outside was firm. Like a rubber perhaps?
‘Can I help you with anything miss?’
‘HOLY SHIT!’ Agila shouted having been ripped out of her apparently intense focus. She was startled to the point that after jumping away from the voice her wings slipped out and machines started slipping toward her non draconic arm. Seeing as the sudden “threat” was really just a florist doing their job she quickly undid both actions with no small level of embarrassment. With a small chuckle, the man asked ‘Are you interested in buying some?’ ‘*ahem* No sorry I’ve just never seen these before, not even in books.’
‘That’s not too surprising. They were extremely popular for a short time but before they could become mainstays anywhere else it was discovered that they could be used to make highly lethal poisons with the right ingredients.’ He bent down and gently cupped one of the flowers. ‘They’re called dragon shells, around here it’s believed that turtles and similar creatures are descendants of the first dragons and that their scales became the shells of these creatures.’ He then makes a quick gesture for her to kneel beside him before turning the plant so she can see it.
‘They got their name not only due to their unique colors and hard exteriors but, also because at the time they were discovered the common belief was that these dragons still watch over us today. Unlike most flowers, they don’t pollinate. instead, the bud at the base will fall and attempt to grow into a new plant once this one begins to wilt.’ After this little lesson, the two spent a half hour or so talking before Agila had to part ways to continue
with their main reason for coming to this town. *dragon shells huh? Definitely keeping those in mind for later.* She thought to herself making her way to the port. Unfortunately for her, she didn’t make it far before being interrupted.
‘Hey Agi!’ Someone called from behind, Agila was about to greet her friend before turning to see that Chelona was currently in cuffs. ‘Oh boy, what’d she do this time?’ The officer escorting her was the one to answer ‘Your friend here just ate a food cart along with everything in it.’ ‘Ehhehe I was hungry.’ The accused turtle responded with a carefree grin on her face. Clearly annoyed the officer tried to give her a hard stare. But between her obliviousness and tall height being contrary to her gremlin like nature it had no effect.
‘Look someone’s gotta pay for damages, or I have no choice but to put miss munchies behind bars.’ ‘Does that mean I have to give it back? I can do that!’ The sneaky turtle raised her cuffed hands. Sliding her left hand into the sleeve of the right, she pulled out a long feather. Agila, having a good idea of what was happening walked to stand beside the officer. Before they could question the duo's strange behavior Chelona brought the feather up to her nose and began tickling it. ‘He-, he, HACHOO!’ Out came the cart in its entirety. Not only was it all in one piece but by looking at it chances were it was in better condition than before.
‘How did-, when did you-, WHERE THE HELL DID THAT COME FROM?!’ Agila put her hand on the confused officer's shoulder ‘Just be glad we’re leaving before you get the chance to get used to it. Chel, did you pay for the food?’ ‘Yep! There’s some gold inside!’ She said while casually slipping her hands out of the cuffs. The other two went to the side of the cart to verify this. And just like the former criminal stated, dead center of the cart sat a gold bar weighing at least 10 kilos. ‘Good job, now cmon. We’re getting a boat before you cause another incident.’ ‘Kay!’ Just like that the two left behind the cart and the poor confused officer.
At the pier, Agila had begun looking for a boat to purchase. Her family was rich and despite their strained relationship they never tried to cut her off entirely. Although they did call to complain about how much money she spent. Let’s see them go long-distance traveling with Miss Loony Toon and see how much they spend. Regardless the entire purpose of their journey was to make it to the South Pole so Chelona could see the penguins. She says it’s her life goal and Agila kind of owes her so here they are. The pier Agila is currently standing and Chelona fishing on was above a relatively small portion of a large river. A boat capable of ocean fairing should be cheaper here and while it’s at least 3 days of travel away it is connected to the coast.
The choice was hard to make though. All the affordable boats worked on gasoline. By itself, that wasn’t a problem but the girl only had experience in technology using electricity and on rare occasions nuclear cores. There was an exception though, they had exactly one boat that she really liked and had some level of experience with. A modified steamboat. Sure steam-based technology was at least 200 years old but it snaked it's way back in here and there. And in all honesty, Agila had a soft spot for it. Finding the technology itself fascinating and tinkering with it fun. Looking at the price it fell in a reasonable margin. Losing some price because of the outdated technology but gaining it back due to its novelty and popularity among collectors.
After some haggling Agila shook hands with the seller purchasing the boat for ($150,000) 150 platinum coins. It was by no means an amazing price but one she was happy with. Now to find the turtle before she gets herself into more trouble. ‘AGIIIIIII!’ ‘Well that didn’t take long, oi chel I go-‘ Agila was quickly cut off as the girl lunged into her, very nearly knocking them both to the ground. Before the bullish girl could ask her what was wrong they had turned their head (which had landed in the dragoness’s chest) upwards. ‘The fishy bit me Agi!’ She said with tears running down her face. Agila looked down to see that somehow she got the hook of the rod into her bottom lip. If that wasn’t enough while she was running she dragged the rod along with her. ‘Calm down would ya?’ She said softer than normal and grabbed her spastic companion by the cheeks.
After making a little distance and making Chelona stand mostly straight she examined the area. The hook was larger than most and the barb had managed to go all the way through. This at least explained how she dragged the pole with her. ‘Stay still and open slightly’ Chelona obeyed with a small whimper. With this better angle, Agila used the sharper nails on her left hand. Her thumb rested just below the hook while her pointer found the eye at the top. Careful not to accidentally poke her, Agila pushed the eye just enough for the hook to straighten out. After making sure it was secure and wouldn’t slip back in, she leaned in close. Her lips almost touched Chelonas but she didn’t notice as she was in what some called work mode. Carefully she grabbed the hook between her barely sharp but very strong teeth. And with a bit of pressure, the hook snapped allowing the top to fall out and Agila to spit the sharp piece into her hand.
‘There, now what did we say about eating the fish?’ ‘Ehehe… not to eat them off the hook?’ ‘Good, now if you're done playin around. I got us a boat, look over there.’ Agila points at the somewhat large steam vessel only a couple of boats down the pier. Under normal circumstances, it wouldn’t be fit for ocean travel but with Agila’s know-how with the technology and Chelona’s well… Chelona-ness it should do the job. ‘It’s great! Just needs one finishing touch.’ With this said the girl took off her shell/hat and began to pull out an umbrella. ‘Oh? Are ya gonna pit that on the bow or something?’ ‘Nope! Watch this!’ She said gleefully putting her hat back on. Pulling the handle it revealed that said umbrella doubled as a sword sheath. Agila knew that there was no point in questioning her further. So instead she just took a step backward to hopefully avoid the potential splash zone. ‘Hyup!’ With one smooth throw the sword smashed through the window and landed in the kitchen area just above the stove. Immediately after hitting its target, the ship sank despite there being no leak. By the time Agila had recovered from the shock the ship was already completely underwater. Immediately after however, she was pissed. She grabbed Chelona’s shoulder and forced her to face her. Her thin tail had begun snapping back and forth creating the sound of a whip with every sway. Gripping the girl's shoulders with more than enough force to keep her still smoke began to leak out of the corner of the enraged dragoness’s mouth. ‘Chelona… what.. the FUCK.. did you just do..’
*RUMBLE* Before Agila could properly chew out the troublemaker in front of her, a loud distinctive sound rang through the air. The river's current slowed and came to a stop. Bubbles began to rise from the spot where the boat had sunk. Beginning as a slow trickle rising to the surface it quickly evolved into a furious boil acting as if a volcano sat beneath it. You’d be forgiven for expecting an eldritch horror to come from the water, as the horrific screech of wood contorted far past its natural limit sounded.
For Agila what rose from the water was far more terrifying than any Cthulhu-esk being. When the screeches stopped, and the bubbles faded a large yellow-orange beak rose from the waters. The ship rose straight upwards defying all logic and progressively showing its new form. The beak was attached to a large round head at the bow of the ship. It and the majority of the vessel were now a sleek black with two protrusions on both sides resembling large flippers. Lastly on both ends of the paddling mechanism were large orange webbed feet. And thus came down the new penguin boat splashing those unfortunate enough to be near it.
‘See Agi! Look how pretty! This is exactly what we needed to-‘ *CLANK* the ecstatic girl fell silent as 3 metal rings clasped around her. They were all connected through a spine piece with a chain linked to where it and the middle ring met. On the other end of said chain was a very unamused dragon. ‘So let me get this straight, you get to goof off and eat your fill meanwhile I have to go supply hunting for the trip YOU insisted on. And on top of that, YOU get to customize the boat that I found that I purchased with MY money!?’ Agila’s tail returned to its previous motions cracking back and forth even faster than before. Now being less like that crack of a whip and closer to repetitive cracks of thunder, perhaps accentuated by the previous smoke now carrying sparks within it.
Quickly retracting the chain she grabbed the cross section of the bars and jumped onto the deck. Immediately afterwards retracting the machines leaving her companion to plop onto the floor. ‘ I’m going to make sure your little transformation didn’t break anything. YOU are going to stay here and not touch anything!’ ‘Y-yes ma’am!’ She said scared to the point of having tears in her eyes. Seeing this Agila immediately wanted to apologize but her pride wouldn’t allow it. Instead, she quietly turned and left to examine the machines.
Down in the boiler room while there were obvious signs that things had been forcibly moved everything seemed fine. All she could do was hope she hadn’t missed anything in her anger. *Y-yes ma’am* the scene replayed in her head most of the rage with Chelona having turnt into frustration with herself. Obliviously she had no right to make such drastic changes to their ship without Agila’s permission but that did little to alleviate the guilt. After all, if anyone knew what it’s like to be put down for being yourself it was her.
‘Damn iiiiiaaauughht!’ She bellowed into the heat chamber sitting beneath the boiler. A moderate flame escaped her lips followed shortly by her coughing up small amounts of blood. The flame she let out may have impressed a normal person but she knew better. In her family, this was nothing. A simple matchstick compared to the mighty flames they wield.
‘Fuck me…’ Time passed slowly as she stood there. Taking deep breaths to calm both her temper and throat. After Agila had settled and her mood improved she made her way back up.
Passing through the kitchen she opened the door connecting to the main deck. There she found Chelona huddled against the ledge of the ship to her right. The girl had her face in her knees and could be heard silently sobbing, the sound immediately bringing the stabbing guilt back.
Agila walked up to her and took a knee to be at eye level. ‘Oi.. Chel?’ ‘..yeah’ the turtle girl's voice was hoarse and with her face now out of its hiding place her puffy eyes were immediately apparent. ‘I- *hic* I’m really sorry. I- *hic* didn’t me- *hic* mean to ma-*hic*-ke you mad. I-I-IM SOWWY!’ The floodgates were open as the tears started anew. Chelona tried to hide her face back into her legs, but Agila stopped her. Instead embracing the crying girl and giving her shoulder as an alternative. ‘Calm down ya big baby, besides I ain’t innocent here either. Just tell me next time you’re plannin' on messing with my stuff, alright?’ ‘*sniffle* o-ok’
They stayed like that for a while, both basking in each other’s presence. By the time Chelona’s tears were dry and both felt it was time to let go the sun was beginning to set. Agila was the first to get up and offered her hand to her companion ‘What d’ya say we go get some ice cream?’ ‘Really!?’ The chipper girl shot up, unintentionally ignoring the offered hand. ‘Yeah, saw a place earlier. Bit small but I doubt you’ll mind’ ‘Yay! Oh, and I can pay for yours too!’
‘Sounds good, but use your real money this time. We don’t need you destroying the economy now.’ This was met with a large pout making the girl look more chipmunk than turtle. ‘Boo! Meanie!’ ‘Yeah, yeah we goin' or not?’ ‘Race ya!’ Chelona jumped from the boat and ran down the pier. Agila could only give a good-natured sigh in response ‘3.. 2… 1..’ ‘Where’s the ice cream shop!?’ ‘Get back to the land go one street forward then head left and look for the blue sign! I’ll meet you there!’ ‘Kay!’
As the turtle sprinted towards a shop she’d inevitably run past her dragoness companion jumped from the boat and began to run after her. This wasn’t where they met or anything but something told Agila that this would be the start of an entirely new adventure.