One of the few bondless dragons in the Fire station, this unusual Xenodragon mutt has essentially adopted the entire building's worth of crewmen and women as his Hive. He is smart, however his intelligence is somewhat limited by the fact that he is a follower - a very brave, extremely loyal follower.
He will enter any building, burning breaking or whatever, and seek out the life forms in it. Once there, he uses his resin secreting ability to seal up things - doorways, exposed burning areas, or even people to carry them back with more ease. The secretion can be dissolved at his whim, and it's definitely saved some lives.
His flexibility and extreme-sport style wall climbing are also very good reasons to have Itsayss around. Plenty of buildings in the Talon City downtown area reach much higher than even the longest ladder company and hose can reach - and are too closely packed together to allow for full on dragon-riding assistance. Some of the dragons admit: where they can't go, he can. Scurrying up the sides of buildings, able to sense where the living people are hiding, and being able to carry them through even the most difficult terrain... Those are all things the Station really appreciates.
It's almost like he can't be crushed. He can be injured, and it's very bad when that happens. His blood is still acidic like most Xenos, but in point of fact he's got such strong armor skin that there's hardly ever going to be a moment when it's pierced.
Perhaps some day there will be a few more Xenos here. Right now, his Mindstream is a little dry, very few of his kind of dragon to speak with mentally. But he quickly takes on any duties which he's assigned, and that has kept him quite busy with rescues since he's arrived!
All that... Plus he comes in ready-made emergency colors!
***
(2022)
"They might be too small to be of-" The station's chief, Manny Steele, started to say, but Itsayss dramatically shook his head, shifting his bright wings to indicate his surety about the subject.
Since Manny was 'one of his Hive' he reached out to the human's mind. Knowing that the contact was difficult, the Chief's big black dragon Ishamashii helped out a bit with translation.
He will come back with helpers, he thinks it is ... urgent, the dragon tilted his head, I think he is also lonely, Isha added privately. There are few of his kind here, though we are his immediate Hive, he misses having his own breed around.
That was true, though there were one or two other Xeno-breed types, particularly a few spending time as students down in Carramba High, they were still apt to be thought of as threatening. Itsayss had done a lot in his time with the crew, to alleviate the idea that all Xenos were somehow 'bad and evil'. He was the farthest thing from evil that Steele could possibly imagine.
In the time that the Talon City emergency departments had had their dragons, Itsayss had proven his worth over and over. Plus he made for terrific photo ops. But he was serious now, and had heard somehow - probably drifting distantly on their Mindstream, their hive mind, whatever it was called - that new life blossomed and he wanted in on it.
Will come with help, promise hive. Itsayss made that part clear all by himself.
He did need assistance to reach the Heimdall - its connection to the Nexus had grown, but he still didn't have his own ability to teleport. There were a decent number of available 'rides', which, once they learned of the size of the dragon needing to be moved, dropped a little... But soon Itsayss was brought to the Heimdall, signed up (how did he manage that? Who knows?), and ready for some little xeno-creatures to come to his side. Perhaps some day they would have a more complete Hive in Talon City, but for now, the xenodragon paced and waited, enjoying the mental contact with the unburst eggs...
** FROM HATCHING **
Among the candidates were several xenomorphs and their derivatives; shifters (both from the Heimdall and otherwise), xenodragons, and hybrids. The hivemind called strongly across the Nexus. Itsayss felt like an oddity to Krum. Far to kind and cheerful for a proper xenomorph, but as he stood among the hatching bursters he seemed utterly content, despite all the chaos. He'd intervened when a burster got too violent with a nearby human, gentle but firm in keeping people safe.
He was... interesting . And the gamut of temperaments coming out of this clutch would likely serve him well.
Itsayss was in the process of pulling a particularly vivacious burster off an unarmored human when a little tan warrior squirmed up to his side.
:: I can help :: she said with a firm nod. :: I'm Lonicerass and I like what you're doing. ::
:: Don't leave me behind! :: snarked a pale purple female, hurrying after them. :: I'm Coreopsiss and I'm coming with you, too. ::
:: It would be easier to help if people didn't run amuck so much :: squeaked a third voice.
Itsayss glanced about in search of the noise and found a miniscule cloudy blue burster wriggling under his feet. She was barely the length of a human hand, but composed herself with fierce determination.
:: A good hive can work together and come up with a plan, right? :: she asked, craning her neck to see Itsayss' face. :: That's what Phlokss thinks, anyway, and that's me! ::
A hive of his own kind! Itsayss beamed with warmth.
Name: Itsayss
Going with: Shard
Abilities: Telepathy, Acid Immunity, Acid Blood, Mindstream Communication, Resin Secretion, Wall-Climbing, Armor Skin (You think Normal Xeno-skin is tough? It's nothing comparied to this guy!)
Size: medium 8'6" shoulder
Rank: Warrior? Too busy and attentive to be merely a drone, but since they don't have a proper 'queen' for his hive to listen to, he's likely a warrior-caste
From Everrealm
Name: Coreopsiss
Gender: Female
Caste: Drone
Color: Black-Purple
Adult Height: 5'1" at shoulder
Alignment: Chaotic Good
Personality: acrid, cautious, open-minded, motivated
Gift: Vivify
Abilities at Birth: acid immunity, acid blood, mindstream communication, resin secretion, telepathy, wall-climbing
Abilities at Maturity:
Soothe: the user numbs the pain felt by another creature
Drain: the user can touch another being and transfer some of its lifeforce to the user, weakening the target and healing the user
Resurrect: the user can resurrect a single deceased creature using a fragment of its corpse (eg. a bone, tooth, or feathers)
Name: Lonicerass
Gender: Female
Caste: Warrior
Color: Black-Yellow
Adult Height: 8'4" at shoulder
Alignment: Lawful Good
Personality: cryptic, cunning, phlegmatic, harmless
Gift: Atmos
Abilities at Birth: acid immunity, acid blood, mindstream communication, resin secretion, telepathy, wall-climbing
Abilities at Maturity:
Drizzle: the user summons a light rain cloud and causes it to drizzle for a short period of time
Snowfall: the user chills the temperature and summons snowfall in a 30-foot radius
Equinox: the user can alter the climate in a small area to mimic seasonal changes, turning a small grove from spring to summer for example
Name: Phlokss
Gender: Female
Caste: Drone
Color: Blue Buckskin
Adult Height: 4'1" at shoulder
Alignment: Lawful Good
Personality: analytical, headstrong, upbeat, detached
Gift: Aqua
Abilities at Birth: acid immunity, acid blood, mindstream communication, resin secretion, telepathy, wall-climbing
Abilities at Maturity:
Spring: The user can summon water from underground, creating a small natural spring.
Dive: The user can dive unnaturally deep without exhaustion or feeling negative effects from pressure.
Flood: The user summons a massive burst of water, flooding the area around them. In the right environment, this can be enough to create a pond or small lake.
All text is ©Lethe of Droppin the Fork 2003. Many images on this site (background and character) are from photographs taken by local news crews during the 2003 wildfires in Southern California. They are not meant as an infringement on the photographer - they are meant only as a tribute to the hard working firefighters and emt crews who are the pictures subjects. Any other images will be credited on the pages they appear.
This site takes place in the Alabaster Universe - also known as the Body Dancing universe - a subset of the Kshau Protectorate.