Game of Thrones [Zee]

[Batman]

Players: Batman & Zatanna
Location(s): Skyrim an alternate medieval universe
Plot Summary: While chasing Faust Batman and Zatanna are thrown across time and space into a savage land with wood elves and dragons!

The first thing Dick Grayson was aware of when he woke up were the sounds of a carnival. The smell of freshly baked bread and cheering crowds was something he had grown up with. So when he heard those sounds he immediately knew something strange was going on. The vigilante sat up in his bed hurriedly and let out a small groan as he pinched the bridge of his forehead. He felt as if he was suffering from some type of hangover. As Dick rubbed his forehead his fingers brushed up against his bangs. For a moment there he wasn’t all that worried but then he realized he had been cutting his hair consistently for a year now. Dick began to run his fingers through his hair obsessively and then realized that it was shoulder length. For a moment he felt overwhelming joy that he was finally bringing his 90s mullet style back. Then he realized that hair didn’t grow overnight. Something strange was happening. Dick stood to his feet and glanced around his environment only to realize that he was a stuffy tent. Leather armor lay on a chest next to his cot and a rapier and a dagger were stored on a belt next to his armor.

Dick squeezed his eyes shut in frustration and then opened them. He was still in a tent. Dick began to pace up and down the narrow length of his tent as he tried to remember exactly what had happened before he had woken up. “Ser Richard!” Dick turned to see a heavily bearded man poking his head through the flaps of his tent. A scar ran along his eye and at a first glance Dick knew this wasn’t the type of man he wanted to get in a fight with. “Yes?” was all he could say lamely as he stood there. “The Mistress of Magic demands your presence. I would hurry. She is in the most foul of moods.” Dick frowned. He wasn’t entirely sure who this Mistress of Magic was but it was definitely a title he had heard before. “Mistress of Magic?” The man nodded. “Yes. Zatanna Zatara. Careful now. I heard the last man who dallied to meet her was turned into a toad.” A grin crossed his face. She would know what to do. “By Mara! If you turn into one of her suitors she’ll turn you into a rat. Carreful boy.” The man left chuckling.

The man’s strange terminology was another clue to this mystery. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened. Either Dick was a victim of a very funny joke or he had been thrown backwards into a time…or into another reality all together. Dick quickly dressed in his leather armor though he was half certain that he was doing it all wrong. Yet if you could figure out how to put on Batman’s outfit armor wasn’t all that difficult to figure out. The only issue was his helmet which somehow didn’t fit over his full head of hair. This was why Dick had cut it in the first place. He could make do without the he helmet; though. At least for now. Dick strapped on his belt and let his right hand rest on the pommel of his sword. He was familiar with the tenets of swordplay but it was difficult to fight with a blade without killing someone. That was what the pointy end was for. Dick was sure he could make due and restrain himself. He wasn’t going to break his moral code even if he was in an alternative dimension.

Minutes later Dick strode out of his tent and after a few minutes of searching he finally found Zatanna’s tent. Dick glanced around before slipping inside the tent. “Zee!” Dick said with relief. “Thank god you’re here. What the hell is going on?”

[Zatanna]

The Mistress of Magic was most definitely in a foul mood. That was obviously displayed in anything from the tines of electricity flicking their tongues like webbing between her fingers to the strange gale that was blustering around her tent. What had she told him? Above all else, what had Zatanna told Dick not to do? Maybe it was her fault for saying that he couldn't follow Faust through one of the portals that he repeatedly whipped up every time the duo were about to bring him in? "Oh no," she told herself, pacing a rivet in the floor, "there's no way I'm to blame."

Not only had Dick cannonball-ed into one of the portals, but what had he done? He'd grabbed her by the hand and dragged her in after him! Where had that gotten them? I mean, honestly! Zatanna gave out an exasperated sigh, noting distantly how the objects around her tent were twitching and bobbing in the air like from the scene of some under-budget poltergeist thriller. Faust had booby-trapped his portal - like Zee knew he had - and the result of her and Batman using one had dumped them in a bizarre alternate reality. "Freaking brilliant."

Zatanna paused in front of a standing mirror that was situated in her tent to admire her reflection for the umpteenth time. Rather than her classic, but tasteful magician garb, Zee was wearing something that looked like what a gypsy hooker would wear. Just with a bit more class. I think I like it, the Mistress of Magic admitted to herself. A form-fitting black tunic with silver stitching squeezed her torso. It also went over the dress-like robes she wore to hold it in place. Robes that showcased her slender, bare legs by creating a flowing skirt that only swept around her waist, but ended in the front at each hip. Wide sleeves swirled around her wrists, and a hood lay disused cascading down her back.

At least her digs weren't half bad. This universe's version of her really had a good 'arcane' vibe going. Cloth, tapestries and other stretches of priceless fabric curtained off portions of the tent, and hung in arches down from the ceiling. Occult artifacts were scattered throughout, and a nice circle of runes surrounded the cauldron at the heart of her residence. Zatanna noticed how the robes she wore showed an unashamed amount of cleavage on display beneath - Heheh - a meshed material that looked like fishnet. The Zatanna in this pocket reality was a bit slutty, it seemed.

Dick ducked through the opening to her tent just before she completely forgot why she was seething. Zatanna turned on her heel, and the wind that tossed her hair and feminine robes made her look intimidating and majestic... And a tiny bit crazed. "I'll tell you what's going on," Zee emphasized the word 'tell' by slapping Dick against the arm. Not playfully, either. He looks good, the woman admitted to herself, and then her anger redoubled at the thought. "The one thing! What was the one thing I told you not to do?!"

Unbidden a mist had risen and began slithering about the roof of the tent. It bent in upon itself and thickened, quickly building up into a miniature thunder storm that grumbled at Batman. "You jumped through Faust's portal and landed us in this mess!" Zatanna saw a ruffle in the door to her tent not caused by the gale that was curling around her body in a show of anger. Her gaze narrowed as a young man's face - probably a lesser hired hand at the carnival looking to see Dick be turned into a newt - peek in. "Paz," Zee hissed.

The spindled lightning running over her fingers - bejeweled with gaudy, glittering rings - snaked out and gave a slight shock to the eavesdropper's nose. His hair stood on end, and with a yelp he was gone. Zatanna growled in annoyance. She gave Dick another look of disgust and turned away from him. Then, as if she had forgotten something, she whirled around, pounced, and hit him again, but this time across the cheek. Truthfully now, the Mistress of Magic stalked away from the newest dark knight (irony) and cast a look over her shoulder. "I can't even try to wish us out of here you, know."

Zatanna stopped beside her cauldron and crossed her arms, looking at her watery reflection in the dark liquid that steamed inside the pot. "Faust must have dropped us here for a reason. If I try to mess with the boundaries of this reality, he'll know exactly where we are, and that," Zee gave a pointed look to reinforce her comment, "we really don't need happening."

[Batman]

To say that Dick often found himself in trouble with women was an understatement. There was a variety of foolish things he had done in the past that had ended him on the receiving end of serious pain from women who could probably kill him with a flick of their wrists or a single thought. Yet every time Dick found himself attempting to beguile and then pursue women with super powers. Either his methods didn’t work or he succeeded and wound up scorning the woman he had been with. This had been a habit of his for about a decade now and as a result he could tell the warning signs painfully easily. So after he finished his words of relief and actually paused to analyze the situation he realized he was in trouble. As he stood in the tent the hair at the top of his head stood at end and he noticed that nearly everything that wasn’t bolting around was hovering or vibrating. Zatanna Zatara was a master of magic and as a result she didn’t lose control over nothing. Dick was wracking his brain but he honestly couldn’t remember.

Zatanna stored forward in all her righteous anger and Dick noticed that she too was dressed differently. He had to admit that her gypsy style only accentuated her curvy figure. That was something he would probably comment on later because he didn’t get a chance to say anything before he was hit on the arm. All the leather armor in the world couldn’t protect him from the pain of Zee’s strike. Yet admittedly Dick had been through worst so all he could do was cringe as he waited for the barrage of words that would come next. “What thing? What one thing did I not do?” Dick really wasn’t focusing on what she was saying. His eyes were most certainly in the wrong place. While he was just as distressed as she was he had to admit he was somewhat distracted by how she was dressed. Honestly he really couldn’t decide if he’d rather barge in on the tent when Zee was half-dressed or barge in while she was dressed like this. That being said Dick really tried to make it a habit not to see someone naked without their permission or at least without meaning to. He wasn’t Dinah. He returned to reality when he heard the words “Portal” and “Faust”. It all came back to him. “Oh! Right…well.”

Dick paused as he tried to think of an argument to explain his actions. Truth be told he had become patient and exhausted. Like Bruce he planned things meticulously to the second but also like Bruce he took calculated risks. If Faust ran through a portal the nit was only logical to follow him. Earlier in the night Dick had thrown a bat-a-rang right after Faust while he had been fleeing through an alternate dimension and he had actually hit the man. After that he had come to theorize that if you jumped through a portal three seconds after Faust did then you could successfully follow him to the other side. When he had grabbed Zatanna and shouted a warning she had resisted and thrown off the time. So technically speaking it was her fault. Not his. “Well, maybe if you hadn’t resisted and thrown off my plan then-“ His sentence was finished by an abrupt slap. This time Dick did rub his hand over his cheek and show a significant response to pain. He hadn’t been slapped by a woman in a good week. Now he had to start the countdown from the beginning. Yet that slap was a type of wake-up call. He was starting to realize just how well and truly screwed they were.

“Don’t act like this is the first time you’ve been trapped in the past. We’ll find our way out.” Dick had been thrown into the past and alternate realities before. The longest he had been stuck in one was six months and when he had returned only a minute or two had passed in real life. For some reason his age had remained the same as when he had left. He had run tests on himself to confirm this. So at the end of the day he wasn’t terribly concerned. “Faust isn’t that hard to take down. Why else do you think he spent all his time running through portals? I say we summon him and take him out. You’re supposed to be Miss Magical Supreme. Prove it.” Dick’s cheek was still stinging and as a result he was in no mood to be the good guy.

Unfortunately Zatanna never had the time to finish her response because moments later an explosion was heard in the distance. Dick slipped his head outside of the tent and saw a dragon fly over the campsite. Dick ducked inside and quickly pushed Zatanna to the ground moments before flame engulfed the tent. The tent literally burned down around them and a wooden beam supporting Zatanna’s temporary home crashed onto the ground. As the dragon flew away roaring Dick awkwardly rolled off of Zatanna’s back and groaned as the wooden beam slipped off with it. He sat up and saw that the dragon was making for another pass. Oddly enough it didn’t have a rider. Dick automatically went for his sword but saw that the explosion in the tent had totally obliterated the handle. “Is your magic still working?” He questioned with a tone of urgency as he saw the dragon head right for them; he could see the flames stirring at the back of the creature’s throat.

[Zatanna]

Zatanna might have physically smacked Dick across the face - He deserved it - but what he said next was as good as returning the favor. Rather than explode right away, though, the Mistress of Magic was caught in a moment of shock. Her mouth fell open a fraction of a second before the accusation sunk its icy fingers into her. Zatanna's gaze narrowed dangerously, and the color of her outfit darkened exponentially until the shadows were actually writhing off of the fabric like serpents. Her magic was working for the most part exactly the same in this reality, it was just a lot more sensitive to her emotion. Apparently the Mistress of Magic that lived in that tent liked a show.

Zee wasn't minding the affect, either.

He was blaming her? Zatanna was indignant. Even Bruce wouldn't have had the courage - or ignorance, come to think of it - to level such an accusation. The magician's anger flickered in the blue of her eyes like azure flames, but beyond that her entire visage had become icy, and piercing. Beyond that original outrageous claim, he was challenging her to crap out Faust right there in the tent and whack him over the head with a spell book to make him go 'bye-bye'. All these Bats are the same! Zatanna's scowl deepened. Magic wasn't simple. It's subtleties, complexities, and variables made scientific experiments look juvenile.

Zatanna couldn't bend another magician to her will in a summoning unless she wanted to put every last fiber of her might to the test against the other - that is, if that 'other' didn't want to be summoned. That was a best case scenario. Odds were that Felix had a few nasty curses set in place for someone stupid enough to try to conjure him. These and many more like them were the thoughts that Zee's head filled with in a vengeful maelstrom at the verbal blows that Dick had hit her with. Zatanna didn't even know how she'd put into words the sheer audacity of his suggestion, but she damn well would.

Then came the explosion. Zatanna felt a tingling in her magical awareness while Dick slipped his head out of the front flap of the tent. "That doesn't sound good," she said. The Mistress of Magic didn't get a chance to say anymore before the newest Batman side-lined her. The flame that engulfed the tent ate through everything in seconds. Zatanna felt jagged tongues of sheer magical wrath in the torrent of fire, as well, that scorched her outer wards. Ash filled Zee's lungs and she coughed into her sleeve while Dick slipped off of her with a groan.

Zatanna's head bobbed up, sending her hair cascading down her back as she looked up to the airborne threat. "Oh shi-" She caught Dick's pommel disintegrating out of the corner of her eye, and stopped speaking just short of his question. Zatanna climbed to her feet and widened her stance. "Only one way to find out." The dragon's breath exploded between it's jagged teeth at his second passing. All around them chaos caught on quicker than the flame. "Dleihs!" A multicolored barrier was erected to block the next blast of fire. The column of flame smashed against it with a physical force. Cracks splintered along the edges, but only cracks.

The dragon roared in defiance and swooped away in the beginning of a wide curve to make yet another round. Zatanna looked grimly at Dick in the aftermath while her barrier faded into memory. "Yes. My magic works." Zee glanced at his hand and gestured with an air of unshakable command. "Drows wener! Dnuob ni cigam!" A lance of light shone with brilliance in Dick's hand, and then dimmed until his previous sword rested there - brand new, and humming. "You're welcome," Zatanna added dryly.

[Batman]

The dragon was practically right on top of them when Zatanna used her backwards speech. That was a particular skill that was exclusive to Zatanna and her family. As she spoke Dick struggled to understand what she was saying but the only word he really heard was “shield”. He was guessing that it was because it was something he had been looking for. He knew he was no magician but he had been practicing magical speech and working on mastering it just so he could keep track of what Zatanna and her cousin would say. In all honesty who knew exactly how they conjured magic? As Dick protected a multicolored shield grew in front of them. Dick blinked in surprise at just how beautiful the shield looked from the inside. The dome was barely large enough to hold the two of them but it did the trick. The dragon reared back its head and released a spout of flame that washed over the dome. It cracked around them and Dick felt slightly stuffy in his leather armor but the shield held all the same. The flame washing over the dome only increased the beauty of the construct that Zee had created. Dick was well aware of the fact that he wouldn’t be thinking that if the shield wasn’t there.

Zatanna refurbished his hilt and Dick grasped the weapon and pulled it free. The weapon shined in the sun and a grin crossed his face. He was damn near unstoppable now! Or something. He had the feeling that actually wielding a sword he could use was making him feel far more giddy and chivalrous than usual. Which was odd because Dick was always giddy and chivalrous. “Awesome.” Dick murmured as the dragon made another pass. He heard the sounds of knights screaming and turned to his right to see a cluster of bowmen taking aim. “Be right back.” Dick sprinted towards the nearest archer and plucked the blow from the man’s hands before grabbing a handful of arrows from his quiver. “Be right back!” Dick sprinted next to Zatanna and notched his bow. He had learned a thing or two about archery from Roy. By a “thing or two” he meant all the basic tenets of archery and a few tricks that Roy hadn’t minded teaching him. Holding the bow and arrow in his hands made him feel a pang of guilt and pain but he pushed it aside.

He was in a whole new reality now.

“Try and keep that dragon focused on you!” Dick notched one of his arrows before shoving the rest into his belt. He sprinted across the field as the dragon continued to descend towards the archers and Zatanna. He was careful to put a long enough distance between himself and Zatanna and the others in hopes of being the unnoticed factor that could put the dragon down. Divide and conquer was the most simplistic strategy in the book yet it worked the best. That was his opinion anyway. The dragon landed in front of the bowmen and with one swing of its mighty tale it knocked the small group of men apart. Dick snarled and quickly raised his bow. After a moment of aim he fired. The arrow zipped through the air and sank into the flesh of the dragon’s neck. The creature roared in pain and turned towards Dick and released a torrent of blue flame! Dick cursed and flipped out of the way. Yet this particular flame had an effect he hadn’t anticipated. The flames struck the ground and exploded. Dick failed to compensate for that and was thrown through the air. He landed on his waist anxiously and felt all but one of his arrows snap. The other one slipped through the crevice of his armor and rendered a six inch gash in his thigh. Always keep your bow in your quiver, birdbrain. These things snap like twigs if you don’t treat them right

Dick struggled to his feet and covered his mouth so he wouldn’t inhale all the dirt and clouds of dust surrounding him. He could hardly tell what was going on.

[Zatanna]

Oh, so all Zatanna had to do to make Dick happy again was polish up his toy? Boys with pistols translated well to boys with swords, she supposed. Probably more so. Strangely enough, the newest Batman's sudden bipolar change in attitude due to the gift that the Mistress of Magic wished up for him made Zee even more annoyed than before. At least he was easier to satisfy than Bruce would have been. He held grudges like a crazed x-girlfriend, and she'd said that to the first dark knight's face, surly enough.

Dick and Bruce might have been different where moods came into play, but as for their sense of teamwork, they were rigidly the same. That is to say, the moment that Dick felt properly armed, he told her to wait - not in so many words - and charged off to do whatever his arrogant mind had thrown up. Not like they were fighting a dragon or anything. Not like Zatanna's knowledge on how to fight it would mean more than what Red Arrow had told Dick about archery. Not that Batman would freaking care! Zee scowled as the dark knight swiped a bow and a few arrows from a nearby archer, and sprinted off.

And then what did he do? He screamed orders at her.

Zatanna knew she was being hard on Batman - for reasons that were justifiable in her opinion, but even so. If Bruce were standing there alongside her she would be... Who was she kidding? Zee would have been just as angry, if not more. However, she decided she would show Dick the same courtesy that she would have shown his predecessor. That is, instead of taking her time to cuss out the man, she followed his orders - grudgingly? Yes. But, she still followed them. "Of course. I get to shoot sparks, and paint a target on my forehead. The standard job for a Mistress of Magic against a dragon."

The brunette made sure to keep her complaints in a low grumble that didn't carry three feet in the turmoil of the attack. What would be a good distraction, though? "Cigam pihw, eransne ym eof!" Zatanna brought back her hand and a tongue of silver flame lengthened in her grip. With a forward flick, the whip of mystic energy cracked through the air and lashed at the snout of the dragon. From the sound that he made afterwards, Zatanna thought that she had done her job well. It was either very fortunate, or very unfortunate that when the dragon turned towards her, the group of bowmen loosed a volley toward him.

Good news: he wasn't looking at Zee anymore. Bad new: he was now dropping into a landing. The ground groaned as the immense weight of the vicious creature hit it unceremoniously. One swipe of a spiked tail and the archer unit were either thirty feet away in groaning heaps, or even less lucky. Zatanna had to raise her arms to block against the debris that the landing threw into the air. She peered over her voluminous sleeves just in time to see Dick's arrow sink deep between two panels of the dragon's scaly hide. Lucky shot, she thought grumpily to herself.

Zatanna was made slightly guilty, but mostly amused when the dragon glared at Dick and sent out an explosive kernel of sapphire flame at him. He dodged, but the detonation swept him up in its destructive wave, and Batman was lost to a cloud of dirt. Zee couldn't worry about him just then, though. The dragon had turned towards a gypsy woman hurriedly trying to get her children in their wagon home to flee the carnage. Time to get all Dumbledore on this lizard's ass, she thought with an air of finality. She wouldn't let more innocents die. Not when she could do something to the contrary.

"Dleihs meht!" The same multicolored barrier that Zatanna had magicked before now wrapped soundly in the air around the woman and her children, defending them from another gout of flame that roared from the dragon's gullet. Zee kept her hands up to work the spell and keep it from fracturing. The dragon wasn't dumb, either. He seemed to put the pieces together frighteningly fast that the person keeping him from turning these people to ash was the beautiful woman nearby. Hey, that's what I would think, she reasoned with herself. The monster stopped his attack, and turned on the ground to face her.

Zatanna widened her stance, and looked unflinchingly towards the dragon. It was a creature of magic, too. She couldn't affect his flames directly, that much Zee was certain. The magician knew, too, that piercing its hide with a blunt spell would be hard to do. No biggie. She was in these kinds of situations enough to know how to find loopholes. Okay... Not always against a dragon, but this wasn't her first fire-breathing enemy. "Whatcha gonna do? Sit on me?" Was she crazy, or was the dragon smiling at her? ... And then it started to turn around, blatantly planning on doing just that.

"You've got to be kidding me," she groaned. Zee threw out her fingers and unleashed a spindly net of magical electricity that zapped, and struck at every inch of the dragon it could find. Zatanna knew that it wasn't doing a whole lot of damage, but she maintained the spell until she was forced to dive to the side to avoid a scaly hind end squishing her into the ground.

[Batman]

Blood soaked the inside of Dick’s armor and he realized he wouldn’t be able to treat the wound until he took it off. The gash in his thigh wasn’t too deep but it was long and it hurt. Luckily he wouldn’t have to worry about bleeding out or really losing any dexterity. Dick had been shot in the leg before and adrenaline alone had allowed him to perform at near peak capacity for another hour. He was certain that he could handle himself well enough with a wound to his leg. The fact that he seemed to live in medieval times did worry him. People got infections for paper cuts in this era! Dick would have to treat this as soon as possible because he knew his body couldn’t handle this century’s antibiotics. He didn’t want to have to ask Zatanna for help but this was a life or death matter. Or at least that’s what the history books told him. It was a situation he really couldn’t handle right now because of the deadly fight he was in. Wounded or not wounded.

Dick stepped out of the dust cloud and heard a “snap” as he did. Dick glanced down and realized that he had stepped right onto his bow. “You have got to be kidding me.” He muttered under his breath. What was the use of his arrow now? He fished the weapon out of the crevice in his armor and glanced at Zatanna to watch her do battle with the dragon. He was going to help her but making his presence known would only get them both killed. Unlike Zatanna he didn’t have magic at his disposal to turn the situation in his favor. Admittedly someone like Zatanna would know more about dragons than Dick would. Bruce had always turned to Zee when he needed advice on the mystery that was science. Dick had too. While he knew that he probably had the upper hand when it came to strategy Zatanna clearly knew more about the situation at hand. Yet it would seem as if she was faring just as badly as Dick had. She just hadn’t had the misfortune of landing on her own sword. [Figuratively].

Dick unsheathed his sword and sprinted down the length of the field with the slightest limp. The dragon was now totally focused on Zatanna and this was a good thing. As long as its focus was on her and not him then the situation would play in their favor. Dick was confident that Zatanna could handle the dragon on her own but that didn’t mean she had to. He couldn’t help but smirk as Zatanna taunted the dragon and the dragon actually followed through on her snark. He wasn’t sure if she had done this on purpose but this was exactly the situation that he needed. Dick sprinted straight up to the creature as he held his sword tightly in his hand and as it landed he jumped. He landed on the creature’s backside and scrambled up its back. He had to work extra hard to avoid getting himself impaled on the dragon’s scales and its skin was hot to the touch but he ignored the pain.

Dick settled on the dragon’s neck right between the scales and its crown and grabbed the ridges surrounding its eyes. He was forced to flatten his body to do so but the dragon’s roar of pain told him that it was all worth it. He felt the creature attempt to blink and the fluids running under its eyebrows were hot to the touch. Yet he still held on and finally tugged upwards. The dragon immediately took to the skies as it was forced to follow his physical commands. If it attempted to deviate Dick could wind up blinding the dragon. Something told him it was a sentient being and he didn’t want to do so but creating the illusion vs actually doing it was a difference the dragon wasn’t aware of. Then as the dragon ascended it released bluish flames that completely destroyed a tent below and Dick realized he’d have to be more proactive. He let go of the creature’s left eye and pulled out his sword with his left hand. He then raised the blade and sank the weapon into the dragon’s upper-left limb. The dragon roared and bucked Dick off of it. Dick began to descend as the dragon flew away as fast as its wings could carry it. It was clearly intimidated.

Dick smiled. Mission accomplished. Now if only Zatanna would catch him before he ended being a smear against the green canvas that was rapidly approaching him.

[Zatanna]

Some people might have thought - and if certain heroes were present, they would have even gone so far as to voice these opinions (Flash, or Green Arrow, for example) - that all Zatanna had to do was tell a nearby sword to run through the dragon's heart and be done with it. Well, no. For a plethora of reasons, really, but the foremost were three in number. The first, and chiefly among the trio, was that Zee had sworn an oath long ago not to use her magical abilities with evil intent, or in blatantly dark ways. Commanding a blade to impale a beating heart sort of fit that description, and Zatanna would have none of it.

The second reason in Zee's mind was that even if this dragon were threatening lives, and wreaking havoc, it was a living, breathing creature in itself. Odds were - though the Mistress of Magic couldn't be certain, given the altered reality of the situation - that it could even speak, in its way, and had thoughts greatly above what the average monster, or beast could process. Killing it would be a waste, and Zatanna wouldn't have been able to feel right with herself in the aftermath. Wounding? Maiming? Grievously injure? Well, alright then. Kill? Not happening.

Lastly among Zee's justification tri-fecta - and probably the most obvious - was the magic that surrounded dragons. Or, at least, the one that they were up against. Dragon slaying was a stick business, steeped in as many technicalities as anything magical in origin ever was. For the standard sell sword parameters were fairly straightforward, and not hard to process. Criteria for a magician was a little different. Zatanna couldn't animate a sword, because it would just bounce of the scales of the lizard. Something about valor, or bravery, or some other rubbish that she couldn't remember, but there you have it.

In other words - it was a good thing that Dick chose that moment to make his return. Zee rolled out from beneath the dragon's hind end just with time enough to keep all limbs from being flattened, and the dark knight mounted the dragon in the same instant. Zatanna had hardly managed to gain her footing again before Batman grasped onto his improvised handholds, and the pair were off. Zee shielded her eyes with one forearm again against the vicious buffeting of the wind that the dragon pounded into the ground with its wings to gain altitude. What's he doing? she questioned with half-awe, half-dry incredulity.

Screening her eyes, Zatanna watched the progress of the beast, and its rider, and her lip twitched when another tent fell to a pile of ash. In the meantime, while her eyes were still locked on Dick's progress, Zee called out a backwards command and water from a distant stream began diverting its course, rising in a number of fountains into the air, channeling in great arcs to put out fires that were getting out of hand. Zatanna was just committing her concentration to the task when Dick made the brilliant tactical decision which, coincidentally, sent him flying off of his new pet's scaly hide.

"Typical," the Mistress of Magic sighed. With one hand swept out in Batman's direction, she called out an order. "Etativel!" As if grasped by a giant, invisible hand, Dick's descent slowed exponentially, until he was marshaled gently to the ground before Zatanna. She couldn't let him have a free pass, though. She made sure to keep a nice rainbow-sparkle affect around him to counter any would-be epic moment her magic would have given him. Mimicking the visual display around her palm helped any witnesses to know who was really behind the feat, too.

She still wasn't happy with Dick. Zatanna looked out towards the horizon, and the speck that was the fleeing dragon. "I think we won." Zee turned to look at the dark knight over her shoulder, and then her gaze became narrowed. Blood was oiling the panels of his armored leg. "Just a bit of friendly advice, Dick," she said, "battle scars might help with the ladies, but so does having both legs." Zatanna was just as aware of the risks that were taken upon a flesh wound in this unknown era. Her tone was light - maybe she was feeling a little apologetic at being so harsh on the former Nightwing - and teasing.

Nevertheless, Zee spoke a go-to phrase for this kind of situation, and, kneeling, put both hands out, several inches from the armor on either side, palms facing each other. With a sound like someone striking a tuning fork, Zatanna's fingers and the air/leg between them shimmered with a white, pearly glow. After a small span of time, Zee withdrew, and stood. A single delicate note rang out into gradual silence to mark the end of her healing spell.

[Batman]

To Dick there was nothing more entertaining than free-falling. The feeling of air running through his hair and the total lack of control thrilled him in a way he couldn’t quite describe. Yet he had to admit that this situation was different. The air was cleaner and the lack of smog resulted in him feeling a whistling in his ears. His leather armor was very different from what he wore as Nightwing or Batman and as a result it was extremely difficult to keep his body aligned. Most important there were no buildings or grapple hooks or anything of the sort that he could utilize to save himself. This complete and utter lack of a safety net meant that Dick was in Zatanna’s hands. Hopefully she was up to the task. Just when Dick was beginning to contemplate whether he’d be a red sphere on the green lands below Zatanna saved him. He suddenly felt as if he was encased in a warm pillow and was moving much more slowly than he had been before. The rainbow spectrum of colors made it fairly obvious who was responsible for saving him too.

“You think?” He questioned as he massaged his right leg right above the scar. It was itchy now and that was never a good thing. Scratching an open wound only made it worse. Dick really wasn’t trying to injure himself even further. It was just a flesh wound but that didn’t mean it wasn’t painful. Yet he’d take this wound over any other arrow wound. He had been around Roy long enough to learn how to dodge projectiles. Unfortunately that particular skill hadn’t done much good when he had last faced Roy. His former best friend had fired so many arrows in so little time that Dick was surprised his body wasn’t riddled with tiny holes. “Trust me. Tripping and getting gashed by own arrow wasn’t exactly a lady’s move on my part. I have better moves in my arsenal.” Dick liked being pretty. Not that he ever told anyone that. He was one of those people that was always “cute” instead of “rugged”. That had first gotten on his nerves but over time he had started taking it in stride.

As Zatanna healed him Dick felt a tickling sensation on his leg as his skin sewed itself back together. He winced more in surprise than pain. That wasn’t a sensation he was necessarily used to feeling. When she was done Dick rubbed the armor with his leg. Good as new. He had never had a wound healed quie that quickly before. “Fancy.” He said with a grin. “I really-“ His apology was cut short as a bearded man approached them. “Dragonslayer!” The man came to a stop in front of them. “Yo-You saved us!” Dick exchanged glances with Zatanna. “Always glad to help….what city are we in?” The man shook his head urgently. “Never mind that! The nearest city isn’t for hundreds of miles! We are in the Wildlands now which is probably why the dragon attacked. You two have demonstrated a fighting prowess that I have not seen in years. I could use your help on a quest. I know a man who can put an end to the dragon attacks for the duration of our trip yet I fear I cannot stop him without your help.”

Dick glanced at Zatanna again. “What is his name?” He questioned as he returned his gaze to his stalwart companion. “He is an exiled Greybeard and has a strong grip on the Wildlands due to his ability to summon and control dragons. He goes by the name of Faustus.” Dick crossed his arms over his chest. “Tell us more about this Faustus.” The bearded man shrugged. “Very little is known about him other than the fact that he is a master of magic. The day he was exiled from the Greybeards a massive battle took place that shook the Earth! Next thing we know there were rumors of a man that walked the Wildlands who was able to summon werecats and wolves to defend him from burglars. Then he was able to summon lions and giant lizards…then he was able to summon dragons and since then the Wildlands have been a dangerous place. Yet I think I know where we can find him. I just need a man who is good with a sword. Your friend can come too if she wishes yet she can stay here with the women and tend to the sick. She’d be safer.”

[Zatanna]

Zatanna knew how sensitive men could be. She did, honestly. Though women were supposed to be the more 'gentle gender', males had pride too big to fit behind what thickened skin they possessed. Regardless of that knowledge, the Mistress of Magic couldn't help but snort in unexpected amusement - or something along those lines - when Dick elaborated on how he had governed the nasty scratch. "You tripped on your own arrow?" she reiterated, as if just to make sure she had heard him correctly. Then, with a tone of blatantly forced, sarcastic approval, she continued to say, "Smooth."

Once the healing spell was done, and the newest Batman's would-be wound was nice and mended, Zatanna stepped back to let him work out the kinks himself. Magic wasn't a one-step solution to every problem, and even with the power at the magician's fingertips, she didn't know how many unreserved healing spells she could pump out without there being consequences. For her, or the person she was healing. Setting bones and sewing flesh together with magic had many more variables than just firing lightning bolts. That's why the restorative schools of magic were always the least respected, if you could imagine.

Zee was opening her mouth to accept the compliment that Dick volunteered - in her way - when a beefy man with a crazy beard that the young sorceress was impressed by interrupted the pair. Zatanna crossed her arms slowly and raised both brows at the title given so readily to the dark knight. She gave him a bemused look, dry enough to let Dick know that the Mistress of Magic was not entirely pleased that he was awarded all the credit, while mischievous enough to show that Zatanna was thoroughly entertained to see Batman squirm with the sudden spotlight aimed on him.

Not everyone can work a crowd, Zee thought to herself. Especially when that one had been trained his entire life to operate anonymously, and through the shadows. Though, Dick was definitely a step up compared to Bruce where people skills were concerned. After the sparse glance that Zatanna shared with Batman, she surveyed the scene of destruction that sprawled around them. The man talking to Dick said that the nearest towns were distant. That must have meant that this was a caravan that had settled down for a day or two before continuing their travel to their nearest destination.

Circuses, carnivals, or whatever this was didn't set up in the middle of nowhere. Now that Zatanna was taking her time to look at her surroundings, she discovered just how strange a world her and Dick had been dropped into. His fault, of course. There were a great many of the caravan's members who looked very human, though many had bizarre traits mixed in with the mundane. However, a vast fraction of the populace milling around in the aftermath of the dragon attack were definitely not human. Some had skin in shades from charcoal to ashen grays with eyes crimson and cunning, with faces otherworldly.

Others, with a facial structure similar to the gray-skinned travelers, had more normal skin tone, verging from tan to a light brown. A couple - male and female, Zatanna guessed - nearby had skin that shimmered like gold, and were bedecked in jewels and priceless silks, looking condescendingly in her and Dick's direction. Then there were the spattering of creatures that were either reptilian, or feline in the fact that they had the heads of cats and lizards. Zee kept one ear on Dick's exchange with the man while she looked around.

She turned back, completely forsaking her survey of the caravan, when the conversation turned toward someone who could most definitely be Felix. Zatanna's look was grave, and focused while Dick asked - in a tone both business-like and casual - for a name. The sorceress's eyes had narrowed without her realizing, and once the title was spoken, she shook her head in disgust. "How original," she muttered, barely moving her lips and just loud enough for Dick to discern what she had said.

The Mistress of Magic was learned enough in lore, legend, and - admittedly - the modern world to know in what light she was viewed by the bearded brute before her. So far he had been talking directly toward the dark knight, and had done his utmost to pretend like Zatanna did not exist. When it was suggested that she stay behind, and tend to the women and sick, her patience was sheered just a little too thin to remain reserved. "But if I didn't go," she said in tones of feigned sweetness, "you wouldn't have an innocent maiden to save."

Without waiting to see what reaction the man would have - though, he'd probably agree with the statement - Zatanna turned on her heel and marched into the sooty mounds that had once been her tent. Shame, Zee thought. After a little bit of rummaging, the Mistress of Magic found a few articles that had been untouched by the fires. Either by coincidence, or because their magical properties saved them, Zatanna didn't know. At last she stood and clipped a small bundle of scrolls to the belt of her robes in loops meant just for the chore. Finally, Zee swept a cloak around her shoulders made entirely of raven's feathers, and drew the hood after clasping it around her neck with a silver broach.

"Ready." Zatanna pushed the cape behind her shoulders, and strode from the smoldering remains of the tent. None of the fabric had picked up any ash or soot, most likely due to charms woven into them, for which the Princess of Prestidigitation was thankful.

[Batman]

“What is her problem? Does she need to be put in her place?” and with that statement Dick realized that their newfound companion couldn’t come along. Which meant he wasn’t a companion. Just a stranger who had information that he needed. “Look-“ Dick reached up and squeezed the man’s shoulder reassuringly. “Er-what’s your name?” The man frowned. “Silas.” Dick nodded as he lowered his arm. “Look, Ser Silas I think it’d be best if we handle this on our own. I am sure that you are a powerful and capable knight but this is an adventure I need to handle on my own. I feel it’d be best if you look after the children here.” Silas pursed his lips and opened his mouth again but Dick decided to nip their conversation in the bud. “You’ve greatly offended my friend and I think she’s a little more powerful than you realize. I’d appreciate it greatly if you just tell me everything I need to know and we’ll be on our way. We can handle this without you.”

With some coaxing on Dick’s part (and some golden coins that he had magically found in his pouch) he was able to get a map from Silas covered with information. Dick didn’t bother to look as he folded up the map and patted the man on the shoulder before heading for the nearest tent. “You won’t regret this!” He yelled over his shoulder as he ducked into an abandoned pavilion. After rummaging around he was able to find loose-fitting breeches, a tunic and a robe complete with a hood. Dick quickly changed out of his armor into the new outfit. Hopefully he’d be able to navigate in these clothes much more easily. Lastly he exchanged his sword for a staff. This weapon would be much easier to wield. While he hadn’t mastered the weapon to the proficiency that Timothy Drake had he was handy enough with it. He also wouldn’t risk killing someone. He knew he was in an alternate reality but that hadn’t changed his values.

If push came to shove then he was certain that Zatanna could do a thing or two to the staff that would make it a more formidable weapon. For now he was fine with looking like a jolly traveler. Dick stepped back outside the tent and soon encountered Zatanna. “Our former companion isn’t tagging along. I don’t need you turning anyone into toads.” It wasn’t like the man didn’t deserve it. Dick just didn’t want to deal with the hassle. He couldn’t deny that he’d find such a thing amusing. He reached into his pockets for a map and as he did a squire approached them leading two horses. “These are for you and the lady…” The squire stared bug-eyed at Zatanna. Just not her face. Dick grinned. “You just can’t get a break can you?” He tossed a gold coin at the squire before he hopped up on his horse and with Zatanna at his side galloped into the unknown.

----

They rode for about two hours before Dick realized he was lost. They were both lost. It wasn’t like he was fulfilling some type of stereotype because there hadn’t been anyone to ask for directions. Then again he had been following a map with a totally foreign language on it without consulting Zatanna for decoding it. The language was some strange blend of Latin and German. He had been able to make out the name of the mountain (High Hrothgar) and a few other words but other than that he was hopelessly lost. So far he had been following a basic trail and while Mount Hrothgar was clearly in the distance he wasn’t sure how to get there. The closer they got the further away they seemed and had wandered off the trail an hour ago. It looked like Dick would have to swallow his pride and admit they were lost.

“ We’re pretty close to the mountain as you can probably tell but so far I’m having a little trouble decoding the last few instructions on this map. Can you make any sense of it?” He extended the map to Zatanna and prayed that she wouldn’t give him any unnecessary backlash. Then again he was pretty sure he deserved a long lecture for getting them stranded in this fog.

[Zatanna]

Zatanna had been a little too steamed upon leaving Dick and the other man to really note what he was doing afterwards while she rummaged through the leftovers of her once-humble abode. When the Mistress of Magic exited the debris of the tent, looking at the knee-high laced boots of worn black leather to make sure there was no dirt smeared along them, she looked up to see the metamorphosed Batman. "Nice threads, Indiana Jones." Zatanna didn't even attempt to hide the smug look on her face upon hearing that the unpleasant man from before would not be tagging along.

"Toad's are last season," the sorceress said dismissively with a delicate twitch of her shoulders, "weasels are what's in." About that time a young boy in his mid teens stumbled over. His clothes were weather-worn and several sizes too big, which made the fabric hang from his scrawny form. Mousy strands of dirty auburn hair flared above a pinched face spattered in freckles, and the youth was leading by the reins two sturdy horses. One was coal black arrayed over its muscular chest with ashen spots and a mane of silver. The other was pure white, save for a gray smokiness to its coat along the legs and a mane and tail of platinum blond.

Zatanna smiled thoughtfully at the approach of the two steeds, and reached up to stroke the nose of the paler horse. She opened her mouth to give proper thanks to the squire, but when the Mistress of Magic turned to do so she saw where the boy's eyes were locked. All semblance of kindness fell away from Zee, leaving a disgruntled, annoyed expression in it's place. Rather than give an actual response to Dick's observation, Zatanna gave a grumble while she swung into the saddle of the white horse. She had been trained by her father to ride pegasi as a girl, so horses were easy in comparison. With a flick of the reins, the Mistress of Magic and the dark knight left the strange caravan behind...

. . . .

While Batman played navigator, Zatanna was just as busy with her own pursuits. The ride had been mostly silence between them while Dick assessed, and reassessed the map. Rather than sit idly in her saddle, though, Zee was being productive. Her eyes were constantly scanning the horizons looking for something that struck her as peculiar. Runes or other mystic symbols woven into the topography, or some magic residue that she could latch onto. The problem was that this alternate reality was so foreign, and so pumped full of enchantment and mystic power that it was impossible to sort one thread from another without some extensive spellwork. Time consuming with too slim a chance that it would even pay off.

The entire time of the ride Zatanna was muttering under her breath in incomprehensible languages steadily. From what sounded like spurts of Latin or Arabic to phrases that sounded like water trickling down ice. Fog started to sweep in around Zatanna and Dick as they traveled, and that unsettled her beyond anything else. With so much energy in the air, the sorceress couldn't decide with any measure of certainty if the phenomenon was natural... or summoned, and if it was the latter then they needed to move. Quickly. Zee looked down from her critical observation of the mist milling around them and down at the weathered parchment being handed to her.

Zatanna looked at the strange language intently, brushing her bangs aside and pulling her cloak closer around her to fend against the chill hanging dead in the air. "It's... a puzzle," Zee said, thoughtfully at first but then with enlightened surprise as she riddled it out. "And this fog is part of it," she added grimly. The ground-logged cloud banks were so thick now that the only thing truly identifiable was a ghoulish shaded silhouette of the mountain's peak rising up above the mist. "I can't make out everything... Something about defeating the fog, and the bridges will follow."

[Batman]

So it turned out that Dick had been reading the map the wrong way. He had assumed that the runes scribbled onto the map were instructions on how to reach their destination. It turned out that he had been fairly far from the truth. This was one of the fundamental weaknesses of the Bat-Family. While they were good at puzzles and detective work they tended to be logical thinkers. Thinking outside the box was something that Dick was accustomed to but he didn’t automatically think outside of it. Instead he assumed that mathematics, science and history were the clear tools used to solve a problem. He hadn’t really considered the fact that it could be something differently entirely. If he hadn’t detected the Latin and German traces in the words than he might have assumed it was a puzzle. Yet the fact that there was a chance it could be a logical piece of work instead of a abstract one had resulted in him assuming it was the former.

A common enough mistake but it was something that had gotten them lost. Their destination was close by and just out of reach. Yet he couldn’t quite grasp it. He needed to do that if they wanted to get out of this mess. As magical and mystical as this reality was Dick knew that he preferred home. “Fog?” Dick held up his hand and waved it in the air aimlessly. The air did feel a bit thicker here and his clothing was starting to get damp. He had known it was the fog but hadn’t put much thought into it. He should have. One thing he had just now remembered was that fog tended to be an integral part of the setting in fantasy stories. Just like how smog tended to be an integral part of Gotham City. Dick lowered his hand and tugged his right glove off and surveyed it. It was wet as well. “Bridge?” He finally questioned as he pulled on his glove. “What would we need a bridge for?” He glanced down at the ground and realized that the fog obscured it as well.

He frowned and dismounted from his horse and slowly sank into the ground. As he did he sank a good three or four feet into freezing cold water. Dick grunted as he rapidly began to sink even further. He lashed out a hand and managed to grab the bottom of his horse’s saddle. With some effort he managed to jerk himself out of the freezing muck and with little effort got back into the saddle. It was beyond him on how the horses were able to walk but he wasn’t about to tempt fate. “Well I can see why we’d need a bridge…” He murmured. That’s when he decided to think outside the box. Maybe the horses were able to walk across the swamp because of the fog. Maybe they didn’t realize they weren’t supposed to be able to. Maybe when the fog cleared Dick and Zatanna would have to cross an actual bridge since the horses would know they no longer couldn’t cross the swamp. There was also the fact that the bridge would lead them somewhere.

Again he wasn’t going to say it out loud because he had no intention of testing fate. Yet it was something worth considering.

[Zatanna]

You'd think that a Mistress of Magic would be at home in a world that had mysticism suffused into the very earth trodden underfoot. Quite the contrary. There was more magic in the modern world than any Bat would care to believe, but it was refined and honed enough to be more easily sorted. As it was, Zatanna was having a great deal of trouble trying to sift through all of the different energies that pressed against her senses. One thing that she knew beyond any shadow of doubt, though, was that this fog was unnatural. The map's riddle aside, it had risen too suddenly and become too thick. Not just a muffle on the sight, scent and hearing, but every other awareness that the Princess of Prestidigitation possessed.

Beyond the thoughts that made Zee's brow crease in wariness, she realized plainly the discomfort that Dick seemed to be in upon being so far out of his depth. The thing that the Mistress of Magic was failing to admit to herself was that the same could be applied to her. "Sort of a go-to defense system for ancient dark sorcerers," Zatanna elaborated in barely more than a whisper. Somehow she felt that though sound could not penetrate the vapor, she would be overheard. "They put a 'girdle' - like an optical illusion on steroids - around their hideout." The magician pressed her lips together while Dick tried to dismount.

A spell to save him from the mist-veiled waters they were suddenly in died on Zee's lips when he righted the situation himself. "Primarily it funnels travelers trying to get to them toward a catalyst - the more lost, the closer they are - where they set up... Guard dogs." Zatanna reached down and caressed the neck of her horse, whispering soothing words in her backwards speech that quieted the creature, who had begun to stamp its hooves anxiously. "The map says that after the fog comes bridges, and an unknown third challenge."

Zee's tone became grimmer yet. "My guess is that no one's made it that far." She closed her eyes and a wind loosed from her shoulders that stirred what raven locks spilled from the cloak's hood onto her chest. "The question is: What's in this fog that presents a challenge?" Zatanna called out several spells in succession. At first trying to dispel the mist, which didn't work. Then to glean something from her surroundings - to see if anything living or threatening was in the murk - that turned out to be just as useless. And then?

Clattering. Creaking.

The click-clack of something hollow striking something else, not altogether unlike a drummer tapping two sticks together and bows of a tree moaning under a great wind. Zatanna's eyes flared wide, she held up a hand and lightning curled over her palm. She knew that sound! He wouldn't, the sorceress thought with growing comprehension to herself. The scene was set accordingly, and the clattering grew greater and more numerous. Whatever made it was multiplying. "Really?" Zee questioned. "Necromancy?"

[OOC: Zombie, skeletons and mist, oh my!]

[Batman]

The horse shuddered under Dick’s saddle as the ground began to quake. “So did you call those things out intentionally?” Dick questioned idly as the horse began to squeal. It reared upwards and Dick gripped the reigns with both hands in an attempt to hang on. He wasn’t sure just how effective he could be in a fight if he dismounted. He also wasn’t certain if he could be all that effective fighting horseback either. It was a skill he had never quite mastered. Mainly because he had never been put in a situation where he’d have to fight someone while on a horse. Luckily it wasn’t all that different from fighting someone while riding around on a bat-cycle. Dick had enough experience in that to remain confident in this situation. When Zatanna brought up necromancy Dick felt his confidence plummet just a little bit. “Zombies?”

He glanced at the staff in his hand and sighed. He should have known better. You didn’t always deal with living and breathing flesh in fantasy. Every now and then you’d deal with creatures that were neither living or dead. Dealing with these kinds of creatures were always a treat because you didn’t have to worry about killing them. Yet Dick had chosen a staff and it was hardly an efficient weapon for a fight like this. He’d just have to make due. Dick flinched as something grabbed his right ankle. Slowly ice began to spread across his heel and Dick quickly swung downwards. He couldn’t see anything through the mist but his aim was still true. His staff struck the head of the creature grabbing onto him. The wooden “thunk” of the staff striking the skull told him exactly what it was. It was some type of skeletal creature with magical powers. “I hope we don’t have any more of those.” Dick muttered.

His horse neighed again loudly and Dick glanced in front of him just in time to see two red glowing eyes staring at him through the mist. He was unable to register what it was before a seven foot tall zombie burst through the fog and tackled the horse. Dick fell backwards into the water with a splash, as he sank he heard the sound of the horse’s neck snapping. Before Dick could find his footing the dead horse crashed on top of him and effectively pinned him under the water! Dick didn’t waste any time as he planted his hands on the dead horse’s flank and began to push and struggle. His lungs burned but Dick gave it all and somehow he managed to wriggle from underneath the horse. He pushed himself up and gasped for air as he broke the surface. The ice was still frozen on his ankle and the freezing cold water didn’t help.

Dick was waist deep in the water but he could still try and use that to his advantage. The seven foot tall zombie turned and stared at him with its glowing red eyes before it began to run forward. “Can I even call you a zombie?” He muttered. Maybe it was a ghoul or something more frightening. Whatever it was it was coming at him fast. When it was only a yard away it jumped at Dick in an attempt to tackle him. The vigilante ducked under the hasty attack and the zombie burrowed under the water before it slowly pushed itself to its feet. It occurred to Dick that this thing probably wasn’t all that great a fighter. That being said Dick doubted that he could take it down. Not in his current state anyway. A frozen ankle and being waist deep in murky water didn’t help him any, either. The zombie stood and faced him and Dick cracked his knuckles as he surveyed it for weaknesses. “Ready for round two, big guy?”