WoW Petopia Community

Day 1


Exaltation.

No one knew exactly what it meant. Very rarely did anyone come back from it to tell of what wonders, or horrors, awaited them. It has been a long time since a dragon returned from exaltation and no one remembers what happened to them afterwards. Did they go back to their exaltation? Did they stay? Did they die?

The event of exaltation is a grand one. A gift greater than any other gift a dragon could receive; to be exalted meant to meet and serve the Deity of the land in whatever way they were needed. They would groom the Deity, bring them food or messages, work for them in whatever grand scheme they were working on, or they would fight in often-vicious wars against each other, monsters or the dreaded Emperors. Across the world of Sornieth, however, the means of achieving exaltation differed drastically.

Most believed that you became exalted by performing an epic task, going out of your way and possibly sacrificing yourself for another, or a series of tasks each rewarding the dragon with a changing of the patterns on their hide or wings until the final "proving" that would allow you access to the Deity.

Others believed it similar to a guardian's Search for their Charge, a self-exile to wander the world in search of the Deity. Yet others believed exaltation as transcendence, requiring the dragon to free themselves from their physical body either through meditation or, more commonly, death. Some clans left old, sick or mortally wounded members behind when they moved, leaving them to either survive and eventually rejoin the clan or become one with the Deity. Whatever that meant, even they weren't entirely sure.

Some simply had no idea.

For three young dragons it was about to be revealed, whether it be truth or their own expectation.

The three huddled close together in the shallow dip they'd managed to excavate. The biggest of them, a jade guardian by the name of Kelpie, kept careful watch over the land before them as the others, a silvery pearlcatcher with scales like diamond and a fae reminiscent of a shiny fruit, hid under the guardian's wings. All three were young, roughly the same age in each breed's terms and freshly matured into young adults. None of them knew why they were here any more. A water-born, a plague-born and a nature-born struggling to survive on the outskirts of Lightning territory.


Kelpie was bitter. Not at her companions but at herself. A band of lightning dragons had been trading with a maren troupe which she, too, had come down to browse the wares of, hoping for some connection or other to find her Charge having just left home on her Search. Disappointingly nothing they possessed helped. The lightning-borns overheard her talking to the fish-people about a Charge and quickly explained to her that there was plenty of charge in the Shifting Expanse. To them it was a joke, mixing a guardian's Charge with the charge electricity can make. Kelpie however did not realise this and followed the light-blue-eyed dragons back to their homeland. It quickly became apparent that she'd misunderstood and now found herself lost in Lightning territory with nothing to show for her efforts.


From under one of Kelpie's wings Yue also glared out at the barren wasteland she'd found herself in, shivering and twitching involuntarily at times. As a plague-born she was riddled with afflictions, one in particular acting not unlike the gembond disease caused by striker bites: her scales had fused together and solidified into a crystal-like shell. Gorgeous to behold but limiting her movements severely. Her family had taken her place to place in hopes of finding a way to free her limbs; other plagues currently known had no effect on the situation and thus far no other flights had been able, or willing, to help. The Shifting Expanse was to be their next stop with the idea that the harnessed power of electricity might do some good. A few tests later and cracks began to form in the pearlcatcher's hardened hide. Normally this would have been a cause for celebration as Yue began to flail her limbs around unhindered, except that she kept on flailing and screaming as electricity coursed through her. Disappointed and uncertain, her family left her for dead and the lightning-born disposed of her (though not before collecting some of the crystal that had fallen off - that stuff was good in machinery) out in the wastes. It was Kelpie that had found her twitching uncontrollably on the ground and protected her until it finally came to a stop. It would still be a while until she completely recovered however and until then she would continue to twitch.


Flora was simply scared and hunkered right at the back behind the others. Thanks to a stray strand of the same ailment that Yue carried the fae's wings had hardened and formed a crystal-like sheen. They weren't beyond movement unlike the pearlcatcher had been, indeed the little fae was capable of flight still but her wings were heavy and dragged her down. It was impossible to stay airborne for too long unless there was a good breeze to help. Due to this disability Flora had become separated from her family group while out bug-catching. A slight breeze and miscalculation had sent her spiralling off-course and crashing into the undergrowth below, pinned by her own wings. Despite her calls for help no one came. Warnings had been given and she'd ignored them. In desperation Flora tried her best to pick through the foliage, climbing the trees to help her glide from place to place. Too far and her wings too heavy she'd soon collapsed on a boulder where she curled up, crying softly to herself. Not realising she feel asleep the nature-born fae awoke to find herself in unfamiliar territory. Gone were the green plants and towering trees, replaced by arid plains with little more than a few scrubs here and there. The "boulder" turned out to be a stone-coloured snapper who'd obliviously carried her the wrong way. Panicked Flora had leapt off and ran and ran in hopes of finding a way back. Instead she'd crept into a large depression in the dusty ground to hide and cry. This is where Kelpie and Yue found her.

Together the trio of young girls cowered in their makeshift home as they pondered their next move. And the reason for their being here of all places. Could it be? Was this the beginning of exaltation? Were they to prove themselves to and eventually serve the Stormcatcher? It certainly seemed the better option for them all. A guardian on her Search, an electrified pearlcatcher with no family to return to and a fae who could barely fly. All the answers lay out in the wastes and what a sight they'd make as they worked together to achieve them.

((I meant to post this yesterday but was so damn tired after voluntary work that I forgot, whoops.))

Day 2


It was cold. It was dark. And it was raining. Inside the small excavation the girls were tired, hungry and irritable. Kelpie lay as still as she could, her larger form taking up most of the tiny space, as she stared out at the rain-sodden landscape. Her temper had improved over time thanks to the rain. It was soothing watching and listening to the sky-water falling on the otherwise parched desert. A soft grunt escaped her throat as the guardian carefully shifted to pull a leg from under her chest, followed by a sigh of relief. It had started to go numb. Wistfully she gazed into the many droplets as if they would reveal the location of her Charge. A great distance had been covered already - it would be a crime to not at least explore some of this land for a clue. For now though a rest was the best idea. Especially with the pearlcatcher's condition and the fae's fear.

A quiet squeak came from behind the water-born and Flora instinctively curled as small as she could against the wall, arms over her head and fins pinned back in fear at the sudden movement from Kelpie. Faceted leaf wings wrapped around her tiny frame. It had been a shock to the fae when the giant arrived at the den. Young as the guardian was Flora was barely bigger than Kelpie's paw. Every movement Kelpie made was a danger to the sprite-like dragon. Back home in the Everbloom Gardens the only size that mattered was that of the family unit. Large creatures that dared come too close to their sap-nests were quickly driven away by an angry swarm. Now that she was alone she had never felt so insignificant. She could barely fly. The two dragons she was with could barely hear her. Fighting was beyond her skills. Flora was small and useless and scared and just wanted to go home. And yet... The fae unravelled herself once the biggest member of their strange group settled and craned her long neck up to regard her. Kelpie had let her stay here despite it being her den. No one had said anything since they'd all gathered here but Flora couldn't help but feel a sense of security among the group. She parted her jaws to say something, however the words died on her tongue and the minuscule dragon drooped her fins in shame.

Yue had desperately been trying to snatch some much-needed sleep only to be jolted back awake either from the guardian getting comfortable or from her own, albeit less frequent now, twitching. Even going so far to turn around so that she faced the darkness didn't seem to help. It did, however, give the crystal pearlcatcher a good view of the fae who had been hiding here when they got back. With eyes narrowed from hardship and fatigue Yue watched the sprite's movements from pressing herself against the sandy ground behind her to perking up to turning solemnly away again. Yue cocked her head, debating if it was worth asking about it. An idea of what it was about was clear in her mind though; she had felt dwarfed by the guardian already and felt a little sorry for the little fae having to avoid every sudden movement for fear of being squashed. At least the plague-born didn't need to worry about that as much. One blessing for having scales made of crystal she supposed.

The night drew in, bringing with it utter blackness for a time as the rain continued to pound outside. It gained in force at one point, some drips managing to slip inside the dug-out refuge much to two the inhabitants' annoyance and discomfort. Kelpie didn't mind it. She'd lived in a burrow of soft, wet sand after all. In fact she allowed herself to poke her snout out further to feel the caress of the rain on her face. Yue and Flora remained inside, pushing to keep to the drier areas. Puddles began to form as water seeped in from above. It was the pearlcatcher who reached her limit as she watched Flora zipping around in ever-growing panic.

"We should leave."

The fae stopped her erratic hopping to face the charcoal-coloured dragon. "W-we... we don't h-have to..."she buzzed in her high, monotonous fae voice. "I-I just need to get off the ground."

Yue huffed. "No, I'm tired of this hole in the ground. We-ee-ee-" she twitched violently, abruptly cutting her sentence off and startling Flora. "Sorry." She apologised with no small amount of annoyance in the word. "We need to find somewhere else to stay."

A puzzled Flora regarded the pearlcatcher. It wasn't unknown that the maned dragon was suffering. "Are you sure?" the fae whispered. "You don't seem-"

"I'm fine!" Yue snapped, perhaps more aggressively than intended. No apology was given. "I'm fine." She repeated, more softly this time.

Silence filled the den for a time. Yue sat upright, cradling the pearl she'd had tucked between her legs while she'd been curled up and giving the opening to their little sanctuary a thoughtful look. Flora found a smooth but dry, banded stone to perch on, where she in turn watched the pearlcatcher. Presently Yue began to thrash her tail in an agitated manner, rising to stand and pacing in her cramped space behind Kelpie's wing. "It's far too wet in here now." she declared as each step left an indentation in the ground. "We need to go." Flora nodded earnestly as her dry spot slowly succumbed to the dampness. With a carefully-aimed leap she glided onto the pearlcatcher's back. And received a piercing glare for it.

"S-s-sorry... I-I can't fly too well and, w-well, I hoped you'd... you wouldn't mind..." the fae quivered under the red-eyed stare. It was too much. She slipped off Yue's back and slumped on the muddied ground, shaking. The pearlcatcher sighed, rolled her eyes and used her jaws to carefully pick the smaller dragon up and place her on her back. "Y-you...?"

"I've seen your wings." Yue replied not unkindly. "I know what you're going through. I'm lucky I can move my legs and wings. I doubt I'll ever be able to fly again."

Once more they fell quiet, appreciating each other's predicament. The rain had eased by now. Yue made to leave. It was a slippery exit from the dip and the plague-born's feet were covered in mud by the time she'd climbed out. Except the one carrying her pearl, which she kept held high out of the way. It could have been a lot more graceful of an experience, except it had only been recently that she'd been freed from her own hide and then cramped back beside the oblivious guardian. Movement wasn't exactly fluid right now. Speaking of the guardian... Nothing from Kelpie. Maybe she hadn't heard the conversation with her head out in the rain like that. Surely she would have noticed Yue and Flora scrabbling to get out though. Yue tapped the giant dragon's nose.

"Hey you. We're leaving." No reply. "Uh so yeah. Thanks for helping and stuff." Still nothing. Frustrated, Yue pressed the great jade snout more forcefully. "Hey! I said we're leaving!" Kelpie grunted, shifted a little then settled. Yue stared at the guardian in disbelief. She was asleep! Muttering something distasteful the grey pearlcatcher shook her head and hobbled away with the red-and-green fae clinging on.

A moment later Kelpie's large jaws parted as she yawned deeply. That was a good, soothing nap. She shook her head to rid herself of the water droplets still running over her scales, stood, stretched like a cat and stepped outside. It was dark. Night. Whoops. She hadn't meant to sleep so long. Blinking away the sleep-sand that gathered in her deep blue eyes the guardian turned around to face her make-shift shelter. "Okay you two." She yawned again. "I think it's about time we found something to eat. What do you-" she paused, blinking in the gloom. The den was empty save for a large, round stone with tiny, muddy prints on it. Larger footprints led past her out into the wastes. They'd left without her! "H-hey! Wait for me!" Kelpie cried out as she dashed after the three-footed tracks left by the others. Shoot, she hadn't even gotten to ask their names yet!

Day 3


"So, um, why are you here? I-if you don't mind me asking of course..."

Yue's long ears flicked back to catch the quiet voice behind her. She'd been walking a while now and movement finally seemed to agree with her. This was great had she not effectively traded one curse for another: Movement for abandonment. How could her clan abandon her like that?! They'd found a way for her to be free then ditched her! A harsh snort shot from the pearlcatcher's nostrils. Her eyes stung. She wouldn't cry.

"I'm so sorry I won't ask again!"

What? Oh, right. "Sorry. Yue said, not very apologetically. "I was thinking about something." No reply. That response was getting all to common around here. Stifling a grown Yue twisted her neck to look at the fae riding on her back. Flora was turned away, perched right at the base of the bigger dragon's tail, sullenly watching the sodden ground pass below. Yue sighed. "That wasn't aimed at you. I'd rather not explain why I'm here." She turned back, lowering her head as she continued her three-legged trot to search for something edible or a dry place to stay. Maybe doing this at night alone wasn't the best idea.

"I'm sorry." Flora whispered, barely audible. The plague-born stopped suddenly, surprising the fae. She looked up to see Yue watching her again.

"Stop saying sorry." came the gruff command.

Flora baulked, tears threatening to escape her large, green eyes. "Sor-" It was automatic. She clamped her hand-like paws over her mouth to shut it and pressed herself flat against her companion's back, frills trembling in despair. This earned another exasperated sigh from the crystal dragon. Yue's gaze lingered on her charge a moment, studying the smooth but shiny skin the fae possessed, following it from tail to back where it ran into the hardened but still flexible thin wings, before moving off again. Definitely similar to her own affliction, definitely could have been worse. Yue marvelled at the fae's survivability. To have come here all the way from Nature territory. By all rights she should ditch the puny sprite. Plague and Nature did not mix. Flora should be left to fend for herself-

A spark of realisation hit the plague-born and she came to another abrupt halt. There was a saying that went around the Wyrmwound. "Survival of the fittest". Those too weak to endure their hardships were left to die. Could it be? Is that why her family abandoned her? Were they ashamed that they'd tried to help her to live with her fused scales that they left her behind? Was this... exaltation? Did they think they were giving her to the Stormcatcher, too embarrassed to bring her home to go with Plaguebringer? It couldn't be helped. A tear ran down a silvery cheek. It made sense now. She grit her teeth and clawed at the ground with her forepaws. Well she would show them! She'd live here. Live, dammit! Stormcatcher wouldn't have her! She dropped her pearl on the ground and kicked it towards her head where an oily secretion from the pearlcatcher's mouth began to run over it. She'd remember this revelation. Remember the shame her clan had brought upon her and themselves! Yue panted once she'd produced enough memory-mucus, waiting for her pearl to dry. The tear joined it.

From her perch on Yue's back Flora remained still, holding on tight at the movements beneath her but otherwise making no move to act. The pearlcatcher's body shivered, not from whatever caused her spasms. This was different. The fae said nothing. She was insignificant to this. She shouldn't even be here. What could she do to help? A whine left her throat, too quiet to be heard by anyone other than herself. Just as she was considering slipping off Yue's back and scuttling away a large shape came bounding towards them. Flora yelped, causing Yue to hastily wipe her face and turn around.

Oh. She came after all.

Kelpie skidded to a standstill a little behind the crystalline pearlcatcher, breathing heavily even as she lifted her head to grin at the pair. "Found you!" she said triumphantly between breaths.

"Good for you." Yue replied drily. She made to continue looking for food, shelter... anything really.

Face dropping Kelpie padded after. "Wait wait where are we going?" There was something off about the guardian, Flora thought from her vantage spot. The fae squinted, trying to work out what was different.

"Somewhere. Anywhere. You find any food?" Yue paused to sniff at something small, greenish and spiky on the ground, decided it wasn't worth it and kept going. "Or a place to sleep? Somewhere dry." She shot the guardian a withering glare at the last part. Kelpie returned that with a sheepish grin. That's a no. Yue thought bitterly. Hardly surprising.

"That's it!" The sudden cry caused both the larger dragons to shift their gaze to Yue's back, where Flora was now pointing excitedly at the guardian. "There! On your head! Is that cloth?" Before either could say anything the fae leapt off of the pearlcatcher and scrabbled up Kelpie's leg, shoulder, neck. Arriving at the head she plucked a piece of red fabric from one of the spines. "Where did this come from?" Flora asked excitedly, waving it in front of Kelpie's face so she could see. "You didn't have it before."

Everything shifted sharply and Flora had to grab a horn to stay on. Then everything righted again. Kelpie had begun to tilt her head in thought, already forgetting the mini rider. "Oh yeah! I found a pile of it back that way." She pointed back with her tail. "I poked in to see-"

Without waiting for her to finish the greyish dragon bounded off in the direction they'd come. Indeed not far from where they were stood what appeared to be an abandoned tent of some kind. Longneck maybe? The entry flap waved gently in the light breeze that had picked up, a small piece torn from one side. Hoofprints littered the immediate area - it had been set up in a hurry it appeared. But not because of the elements: a clawed pawprint was found nearby. And another. And another. Small but vicious. Several entities. Mirrors maybe? Whatver the reason the tent was there and the longnecks weren't.

"Good." Yue decided after giving the grounds a once-over. "Seems sturdy enough. Me and the fae will sleep in here."

Flora trilled happily as she climbed down from Kelpie to inspect the inside of the structure. The guardian simply stared. "What about me?" There was no way they'd all fit in there.

"Hm? Oh you can dig another hole." The pearlcatcher replied, not looking at the larger member of the group. She was looking inside. A few pouches stuffed with various plants had been haphazardly tossed inside. She grabbed one and tossed it outside. "You can have this one." And that was the last thing she said before tucking into another bag.

Outside Kelpie sagged. Why did she have to dig another hole? Alone? She sniffed the plant-filled container in front of her. Not much there for a guardian her size. She ate it anyway. Then stepped heavily on a scorpion that had unearthed itself close by. About to eat that too Kelpie stopped short when two big, green eyes peered hopefully up at her. Right, fae didn't eat plants. Reluctantly the guardian lowered the limp insect to Flora, who trilled again and disappeared inside with a grateful spread of her face-fans. Alone again Kelpie sighed then set to work digging out a spot to sleep in.

---
Okay I like that I've gotten to write a fair bit but I'd like something new please. On the other hand I think I'm getting an idea for the girls' personalities now.

Day 4

Morning broke over the arid plains that made up the Shifting Expanse. Sunlight glinted off the dew-covered cacti dotted around the landscape, pushing up through the earth made soft by last night's shower. It wouldn't remain so fresh for long as heat from the Ashfall Wastes began to blow in from the west over the Lightning lands. Soon the ground would be dry and cracked once more and water hard to find. With this in mind beetles poked their way out of the mud to scavenge for food as moths fluttered on what little breeze blew by. Lemmings puttered about in search of seeds blown in by the wind that sparrows rode upon overhead. Even a large, grumpy toad sensing the dampness hopped its way along. Such activity was rare in this part of the expanse.

At the northern edge of the wasteland stood a lonely tent, erected in a hurry by panicked longneck since chased off by predators. Possibly a mirror dragon pack. Now it housed a pearlcatcher and a fae. Neither had roused themselves yet even as the slight wind played with the material, sending it slowly rippling and dancing. A short distance away a large, green-blue female guardian lay on her back in a muddy trench. An adventurous moth landed on her lower jaw where it sat, wings spread, absorbing the morning heat into its body. The sensation of it's landing caused the large dragon to stir, opening her mouth and revealing many sharp teeth in a yawn which sent the insect flitting quickly back into the air. A long, thin tongue snaked out to lick at where it had been. It had tickled. Stretching luxuriously Kelpie shook herself fully awake, flipping her mass over so she could step out of the little dip she'd dug out and stretched again before trotting over to the tent.

As if on cue a bag similar to the one from the previous night was tossed out, bringing the guardian to a stop to sniff at the contents. A few plants and some dried meat strips. She devoured it all in a few bites. It wasn't enough to silence the rumbling in her guts however so she poked her nose into the tent to see if there was anything left. Only a glimpse of Yue picking through another sack of plants and Flora nibbling at a bean beetle was caught before the shiny grey pearlcatcher swatted at the green snout. Although no more damage than a slight scratch was done Kelpie recoiled quickly and raised a paw to cover her face.

"Privacy please." Yue's disgruntled voice called from inside. Kelpie frowned but complied by laying down by the entrance flap and waited.

"Is there any more food?" she asked hopefully, flicking her long tail back and forth.

"Yes."

"Can I have some?"

"No."

They fell quiet save for the crunching from Flora as her fae jaws worked at the beetles she'd caught. Burlap rustled as Yue pulled out the plants. Some of it had been scattered at her feet. Didn't she like them? But why throw them away? Time passed and the guardian continued to lay beside the tent. Nothing had happened, she was getting hungrier and the desire to track down her Charge made her impatient. When Yue still didn't come out Kelpie relented. Getting up she shook herself, spattering damp sand and dirt everywhere, then spread her dark red wings. A brief sprint saw her take flight, though the light breeze wasn't enough to carry her by itself so she pumped her wings to propel herself through the sky. The water-born closed her eyes and sniffed deeply, scenting water. Perhaps she could catch some fish.

Suspicious at the lack of anything happening outside Yue finally emerged from the tent, blinking in the sunlight. No sign of the guardian save for the hole in the ground she'd dug herself, paw prints and globs of muck stuck all over the place. Well that explained what had been hitting the tent. A shame, she'd collected up the plants she didn't fancy to give the big lunk to stop the whining. Guess they could leave it behind. The pearlcatcher dropped the sack and hopped further out onto the muddy plains. Behind her the entry flag wiggled as Flora tried to escape, eventually pushing her way out from under it.

"Where do we go now?" Flora squeaked, clearly in a much more confident mood than last night.

Yue twitched her long whiskers and snuffled at the fresh air. "South." Was the simple answer. In truth Yue hadn't a clue where to go now. A good night's sleep had cleared most of her resentment towards her old clan. She'd vowed to survive here... where to start? A prickling sensation ran up her tail as Flora clambered up to her favourite perch.

"Okay!" the fae chirruped as she seated herself on Yue's back. The pearlcatcher swung her head around.

"Don't you want to go back to your family?"

Flora hadn't really thought about that. Frills twitching in thought she weighed her options. It would take some time to get back to the Everbloom Gardens. And the pearlcatcher wanted to stay here. It would be almost impossible to get back alone. And even if she did would her family want her back? No one had come to help her when she'd fallen. But she didn't know anything about their current location. It was so barren in comparison to the vast overgrowth of her home with the wide-open space making her feel rather agoraphobic.

Find a way home by herself, unable to fly well and with no idea of which direction to take in order to find a family that might not want her or explore a desolate land with a complete stranger who seems only to tolerate her presence? Her frills drooped at the gravity of it all. Neither option was truly favourable.

Yue watched wearily as her passenger pondered, fins moving in obscure ways. Impatient the plague-born, making sure she had a good grip on her pearl, began her three-legged trot in the direction she'd picked. "It's okay." she told the fae, biting back annoyance. "You can tell me later. Or just go, your choice." At least that bothersome guardian had gone at last, one less liability to watch out for.

As they travelled it became increasingly obvious that they hadn't been the first to tread this path. Fragments of stone carvings and broken pottery possibly dredged up in the rain now littered the ground. Yue paused next to what appeared to be a large tusk of some kind riddled with inscriptions. "What's your name?" The question came from nowhere, making the crystal-scaled dragon jump. Better this kind of jolt than the static kind. Which, she noted, seemed finally to have stopped.

"Yue." Yue replied simply.

"What, me? But I asked-"

"No, my name is Yue." the pearlcatcher amended with a growl. That damned joke had been thrown around too much back home as it stood. She closed her eyes a moment and sucked in a deep breath. Why did she have to get dumped here of all places in the Shifting Expanse? She'd have probably preferred being thrown into the Wyrmwound. Still, may as well play along for a while. Relaxing she returned the question, "What's yours?"

Flora had been sulking again, not understanding what she'd done wrong and now feeling awkward at the mistake. The question from Yue made her feel a bit better though, glad that the pearlcatcher wasn't mad. "Flora."

"And I'm Kelpieeeee!" came a voice from overhead and getting closer very quickly.

Both girls lifted their heads up in surprise to see the jade guardian plummeting out of the sky, prepared to land, misjudged her position and ended up flipping over sideways and skidding to a messy stop alongside the faceted pair. Red and green eyes both stared blankly at this for a few moments, then Yue raised the foreleg opposite the hind leg carrying her pearl to slap a paw over her face. A loud groaning sound escaped her throat.

"I went fishing!" Kelpie beamed proudly as she righted herself and revealed the reason for her less-than-graceful landing: A wriggling orange-coloured trout clutched in a front paw. "There wasn't enough food for all of us and you needed the plants you found so I went to find something to eat for myself so you two would have enough and I found a river so I tried to get some fish and I got some oh but I ate a few while I was there but I brought one back in case you wanted it!" The words tumbled out of the guardian's jaws like a waterfall as she displayed her catch to the others. Flora continued to stare although amazement had crept in alongside startled confusion. Yue just glared.

This was going to be a long intent to survive.

---
More writing wheeee. I hope you guys like it so far cos I seem to be doing a lot of it so far xD

((Missed yesterday's update so merging it with today's.))

Days 5 & 6


It had been a long walk. A long, boring walk of... nothing, really. No more rain had fallen since the first night and the returning heat sweltered over the sandy expanse, hardening the ground and causing it to crack under its own stress. Few creatures beyond insects were to be seen save for small gatherings at dwindling water pools. Interestingly there were crimson emperors among those who'd stopped for a drink, standing out against the smaller rodents. Lemmings and a variety of mice huddled together as their tiny tongues lapped up the refreshing liquid.

This peacefulness was shattered as something massive barrelled its way through, scattering those visiting the watering hole. Barely taking a breath a large, scaly head was thrust under the surface. Bubbles billowed up as Kelpie relished that which her flight's element represented. It had been too long. She didn't even drink at first, simply enjoying the sensation of wet on her face again. Beside her and a lot more carefully Yue and Flora approached, dipping their heads to take in as much quenching water as they could from what was left.

"Kelpie." Flora buzzed as the great head resurfaced, splashing everything close by with droplets. The fae squeaked a laugh as she became such a target. "Kelpie, she tried again after shaking off the worst, "don't forget to drink. We're all happy to find water but you won't survive if you don't drink some."

The guardian had been preparing to jump into the small pool and roll around in it when Flora had spoken up. Even though it hadn't been chiding Kelpie still lowered her head as if scolded. "'M sorry." she mumbled, lowering herself so she could reach the water. Very quickly the remaining fluid began to recede.

"You moron!" Yue shrieked, batting at Kelpie's face to make her stop. "Not so much! There won't be any left if you do that." A stare of non-understanding met the pearlcatcher's red eyes which promptly rolled. She'd rolled her eyes so much at the bigger dragon that she was surprised they hadn't yet fallen out. "You don't need to drink so much at once. Take only what you need; there's others here that need it too." Yue lifted a paw to gesture at the crowding wildlife now staring balefully at the trio.

"But... It's water." Kelpie moaned sullenly, some of it still dripping wastefully from her jaws as she spoke, seeping into the parched earth beneath her. A few desperate ember mice raced over to the falling drips, hoping to catch a few for themselves. The guardian failed to notice them however, almost crushing them as she made to walk away.

This sent them into a panic. Squeaking in protest the two mice scurried as fast as their legs could carry them past, and under, many other creatures gathered at the pool. Other rodents also scarpered, the sudden movement spooking the crimson emperors who bellowed and lashed out in shock. Yue and Flora ducked as hooves swung wildly either side of them.

"Move!" Yue hissed to the tiny sprite-like dragon, turning to hobble away.

Flora was petrified by the goings-on about her however and panicked. For a moment she remained perfectly still until a cloven hoof stomped next to her. With a cry she wheeled around and spread her wings. A few short hops saw her take flight... straight into a coral carpenter. A smaller bumble hovered alongside. Enraged the blue bee-like creature began to assault Flora with both gusts driven up by its wings and its own stinger. In desperation Flora evaded what she could but a gust of wind aided by her own heavy wings saw her tumble from the air.

Yue and Kelpie stormed in to help, Kelpie pushing the brown bumble back so that it couldn't join in while Yue bombarded the carpenter with magic bolts, powerful bursts of air that would cripple the giant insect. With an angry buzzing the blue bee took back to the air, continuing to aim jabs at Flora - the tiny dragon crawling as flat as possible along the ground below. If only she could get under Kelpie... The stinger would mean so much less to the giant reptile. But it would be fatal if she herself were struck.

Everything happened quickly. A blur as a herd of the moth-winged gazelle stampeded both earth and air around the scuffle, startled by the intense activity. The brown bumble escaped Kelpie's advances to join its larger companion. Kelpie charged to scare it away again, aiming a clawed strike at the both of them and catching the coral carpenter's wings, shredding them. Unbalanced the blue bee aimed a jab at the guardian who, as predicted, shook it off. Buffeted by Yue's magic and almost grounded by Kelpie the insect was beaten badly but didn't yield. It spotted the one that had crashed into it. With its remaining energy it launched itself into the air one last time, stinger extended as it dropped towards the frightened fae. A heavy-handed swipe made it fly a short distance, crashing down hard. Legs and antenna twitched violently as it struggled to right itself... then fell still, dead.

The plague-born pearlcatcher watched it warily, panting from the exertion of so many breath attacks, making sure it wouldn't get up again. It didn't. A soft cry came from behind and she spun about to see Kelpie sitting next to a red-and-green form. Flora. She wasn't moving. Yue padded over to join the mourning guardian to inspect the damage. Kelpie's attack had come too late: a large gash seeping crimson lifeblood spanned the fae's side. A faceted wing was torn. Her breathing was shallow. Her eyes were closed.

"Flora?" Kelpie asked, voice warbling and barely audible. Gently she nudged the fae, who stirred. But only slightly.

"I'm... sorry." Came the faint voice, made fainter still by her wounds. "I-it's time... for me to... to become... exalted." A small smile appeared on her lips.

Yue placed a finger carefully on the fae's shoulder. "Don't talk." she whispered, emotionless. Flora ignored her.

"I... I never thought... that I'd go to Stormcatcher... Always thought... Glade...keeper..." A final, rattling breath left her body as it seemed almost to relax. She was gone.

"F-flora?" Kelpie hiccuped, salty tears running down her finned face. When no reply came she lifted her head to the sky and cried, the bellowing sound reverberating across the dried plains. Yue simply bowed her head silently. No tears fell, no words were said. Survival of the fittest. Flora had not been fit to survive. That was all it was.

A light buzzing sound from behind made the pearlcatcher twist around. The bumble hovered next to the broken form of its once-companion. It was looking at her. "No." Yue said sharply, turning back to regard Flora's lifeless body as she decided what to do with it. Something bumped against her back. She swatted at it with her tail. First things first... The pear was dropped and rolled into place. A black, oily liquid oozed over it. The memories they had shared. The memory of Flora. Another bump. Yue growled. "I said no!" She yelled, flipping around to face the brown insect. It tilted its furry head at her, a leg working to clean an antenna. The plague-born huffed, looking over at Kelpie for help to get rid of this pest. The guardian was still crying. No help there. Yue sighed and returned her attention to the bumble, which hadn't moved, then at the carpenter's corpse, then back again. "Fine." she relented, picking up her pearl and carrying over to the blue bee. "Do what you want." She set to work taking the coral carpenter apart. No point wasting food. Unfortunately most of it was too busted to make much use of, save for a small amount of wax stuck to its legs. She scraped it off, rolling it together into a bar. Who knows, it might come in useful.

Now for Flora.

Yue shoved the bumble out of the way, pointing it the direction of the bawling guardian (how long was she going to cry for, anyway? They'd only known each other a few days) and returned to the broken fae. No use burying her here, the ground was too hard. She was nature-born, best take her somewhere with plants. How to get there though? Yue glanced at Kelpie, who had finally stopped crying and was now snuffling pathetically into her paws. The bumble bumped against her a few times then landed on her head, where it began to clean itself.

"Kelpie." Yue spoke firmly. The guardian lifted her tear-stained face to look at her companion. "We need to bury Flor-" Another wail and Kelpie's face was buried again. Oh for the love of Plaguebringer. "Kelpie, it must be done. Would you rather we left her here to be eaten by scavengers?" Not a bad idea actually. Saves effort and something might get a lucky meal.

The large paws moved to reveal two moist blue eyes. "Okay." Kelpie replied forlornly. Yue gathered up the fae's body and clambered onto Kelpie's back. "I-I already m-m-miss her." Once her passenger was secured the jade dragon took a few bounding strides until a thermal helped her into the air. From here a greater view could be beheld; it wasn't long before Yue pointed them to an area by the river where Kelpie had fished a few days ago. ...Wait, why didn't she just do that if she missed the water so much? She was the only one of the three of them that could actually fly!

A short time later and Kelpie and Yue, accompanied by the fuzzy brown bumble, sat next to a mound of earth. A big, red flower had been placed on top. Kelpie was crying again, thankfully not as loudly as she had been. Both sat silently, appreciating the cycle they'd witnessed. Life to death. Nature to rot. Rot to nature. Death to life.

"Let's go." Yue declared bluntly, breaking the quiet. Kelpie looked at her blankly. "You still need to find your Charge, right?" That cheered her up. With a nod the guardian stood, turned, waited for the pearlcatcher to join her. Both took one last look at Flora's final resting place, then set off once more.

---
I JUST HAD TO COMPLAIN ABOUT ALL THE WRITING MATERIALS DIDN'T I. RIP Flora, we barely knew you.

As stated in my rules post, if anyone took a shine to Flora she will be available to adopt for the next 2 days. After that she'll be exalted. Let me know if you'd like to care for the little fae in her afterlife!

Day 7


Nothing special to note today since it was coli time. I did the full 30 rounds, the maximum requirement for insects (20-30), and Kelpie and Yue are now both level 4. A bamboo phytocat decided to follow our favourite pearlcatcher home on her adventures.

Flora is still up for adoption if anyone wants her!

I'm curious to know how you guys are enjoying this so far You're welcome to post here. Who's your favourite of the trio so far? Does my writing suck? Got any advice on what I can do next or how to improve? Looking forward to more? Let me know

Day 8


Quick sketchy sketch of the three girls.


Last chance to adopt Flora! I'll be exalting her tomorrow morning.

((Apologies for the lack of updates, I've been under the weather and simply not in an RP-mood. Just a heads-up as well that I'll likely not include familiars in the RP that much so sorry if you were looking forward to seeing Kelpie's bumble, well, bumbling about ))

Day 9


Sand. Sand. Sand. Cactus. Sand. Sand. A few rocks. Cactus. Sand. More rocks. Was sand mentioned? Yue's head hung sullenly as she trudged through the heated landscape. What was she thinking vowing to survive in a land like this? Maybe because it had rained on the day it was made, the wastes becoming fresh and tolerable and encouraging some, albeit meagre, plant life to grow. Now it was hot, cracked sand everywhere you looked. A gurgling sound carried its way from the pearlcatcher's gut up to her ears, which flicked back in irritation. Some of the cacti around were small enough that the prickles didn't bother her as they went down - still not the best meal to have had - but most were far too big to even consider it. Now she wished she had. It had been quite some time since anything decent had been scrounged up. Again memories of the first day floated up. The tent. Shelter. Food. Where was it all now? Her scales felt heavy in the desert heat, pulling her down. No! She had to keep going or she'd never find anything-

"Yue? Can we... stop?" The voice was heavy and strained. Yue flinched. That deity-forsaken guardian had insisted on staying with and had become quite the burden. It was hard enough feeding herself let alone a dragon five times her size. Five times... Kelpie had grown considerably during this time - if Yue hadn't felt dwarfed before, she did now. It pained the plague pearlcatcher to realise that she could now do with Kelpie what Flora had done with herself. Ride shotgun on her back.

Flora...

"UGH!" The cry was sudden and full of disgust, catching Kelpie off-guard. A deep breath was taken. "Sorry it's..." Yue sighed. "It's getting to be too much out here." The charcoal dragon craned her neck up to meet her companion's eyes. A drop of sweat rolled off the great jade snout, falling past and seeping into the cracked earth. It was hard to tell if the water-born was having it just as hard or even harder than she was. Likely harder; plague dragons were made to live in harsh environments. It must have been tough for the guardian to be so far away from any of her element. "Think you can fly us somewhere before you keel over?" Perhaps not the best choice of words.

Kelpie nodded numbly- if she'd registered the last part Yue had said she didn't react. "I can try... where?"

"Remember where we buried the fa- Flora?" Another nod. "Think you could manage that?"

In wordless response the great guardian lowered herself to the ground, extending a wing so that Yue could climb up. She was panting heavily, barely noticing her passenger boarding. How much she yearned for the Sea of A Thousand Currents to crash over this moisture-less hell-scape, soak it in soothing, life-giving waters. There had to be a reason she'd come here though. Her Charge had to be somewhere. It was a struggle to get back to her paws, the desire to lay down and not get up again strong. Somehow she managed and, after a few short bounds, was soon in the air. It wasn't much cooler up here than it was on the ground but once they picked up a little speed the winds caressed their scales, whipping away the hotness. At least the heat was good for one thing, rising from the ground as thermals that allowed Kelpie to glide lazily across them to save energy.

The pearlcatcher held her head high to catch the breeze as it sped past, closing her eyes and enjoying the sensation of it on her face, her whiskers, her mane. Even at this slow speed it was refreshing. Over time the pair had managed to cover a lot of ground. Strange constructs had started to appear on their journey, marks left by pioneering engineers of the Lightning flight. Yue took great care to avoid the ones that buzzed too loud or sparked. Grateful as she was that the currents had shattered her crystal hide enough for her to move it had been excruciating to bear. Not to mention that it was the reason she was now alone. Well, not completely alone she guessed - Kelpie was useful for some things. Like flying. But not... oh hell.

"Hey." Yue called to her ride. No response. Not this again. Tightening her grip on her pearl she used her free claws to climb up the guardian's back towards her head. It was slow going with the wind forcing her back. "Hey!" she yelled again when she was at Kelpie's neck. Still nothing. Just great. Never task a dragon who was bad at directions to fly you somewhere. Especially ones who refused to respond when addressed. Gingerly Yue scrabbled up the larger dragon's neck until she was right next to the fin-like ear. "HEY!" she screamed into it. Surely she heard that one? ...Apparently not. Wait, were they losing height?

Faint words carried by the wind sped by the crystal dragon's long ears, causing the red eyes to widen. "I'm sorry. I... can't..."

Yue cried out as the exhausted guardian's bulk was pulled from the air. No more strong thermals to keep them aloft, no energy to flap her wings. The ground rushed up to greet them...

When Kelpie came to everything was dark. Or at least darker than the relentless brightness of sun glaring off white sand. It was cooler too. Something small bounced off her flank, followed by another and another. Hail? No... it wasn't that cold. Indeed it was still moderately warm. Nowhere near as hot as the searing heat from earlier thankfully. Then what was falling on her? A stream of whatever it was suddenly poured onto her snout, making her shake her head and sneeze. That's when the pain started. Everything hurt and the world spun sickeningly. She lay her head back down and covered her eyes with a paw. She felt sick. The scent of sand and stone stuck in her nostrils, drying out her throat.

"Finally awake are we?" a peeved voice accentuated by fear floated up to her. Wait. Up? Slowly, carefully the guardian lifted her head once more to look around. Either side was sheer cliff, jagged and crumbling. Pipes and wires poked out here and there, snaking along the wall either a short way or further in. Some sparked, lighting up the gloom briefly. A couple of them were crudely held together with bits of cloth and leather. A particularly mouldy piece dangled a short ways in front of her. The ground she was laying on didn't spread far however: Almost immediately to the left was nothingness dropping into darkness save for a scattering of ledges and outcroppings, some baring strange objects and equipment, others rocks and one further down... Yue.

"What happened?" Kelpie asked groggily, once again lifting a paw to her head as she pulled herself closer to the edge. From where she had been laying there would barely have been enough space to stretch her arm out before reaching over empty air.

"What?" Yue called, straining her ears. There was a fair distance between them.

"What happened?" The rippled guardian bellowed again, her cracked voice echoing around them.

For reasons unknown to the jade dragon the pearlcatcher shot her a piercing glare. "You don't remember?"

Kelpie started to shake her head. She instantly regretted it. "No."

Yue sighed, shifting on her too-small platform. A part of it crumbled from the change in weight. She needed to get to another one quick or risk plummeting down. Or better yet, out. "I'll tell you later." she barked up at Kelpie. "First get us out of here!" A very slow answering nod came from the guardian, who began to rise to her feet. A roar reverberated around the chasm they were stuck in and she collapsed again, shaking. "What's wrong?!" Yue screamed once her ears stopped ringing.

"My wing." Kelpie sobbed from above. "It-It hurts. It hurts so much."

Perfect. Just perfect. Of course of all the body parts it had to be a wing that broke. "Can you not move it at all?"

"No. What happened?" Kelpie repeated, voice heavy with pain.

Scooting back further against the wall as another chunk of rock broke free the charcoal pearlcatcher recalled the events of the past hour. Or at least it had felt that long. "You passed out while you were flying. The wrong way I might add." Probably wasn't necessary to say that. Oh well. "We crashed next to a chasm. You hit pretty hard. I tried to pull you away from the edge but you're way too heavy for me so we both fell down here."

Kelpie glanced up, wincing at the ledges and protruding rocks she may or may not have bounced off of on the way down. No wonder it all hurt. "What do we do now?" she asked miserably, almost forgetting to shout.

"I... don't know." Yue admitted, panic returning as her already small ledge gradually got smaller still. Loose stones clattered against the wall, other platforms, pipes... couldn't hear them land at the bottom. Even the occasional electric pulse, which the plague-born was extremely antsy to be near, did little to reveal how much further the gorge went. Great. This was how she died. Trapped on a tiny piece of rock that was slowly crumbling until she fell Plaguebringer-knew-how-far onto likely more rock, shattering every bone in her body. And of course she had that wailing, pathetic excuse of a dragon stuck here with her. Just peachy.

((Bonus update cos I want to get this caught up for you guys ))

Days 10 & 11


Neither of them had moved. Neither of them had spoken. The only sound and movement in this dank place was rock and stone clattering off rock and metal. A beetle emerged from a hole tantalisingly out of reach of Yue's ever-shrinking ledge. She tried to grab it anyway, holding onto the wall with one forepaw and reaching out with the other. Something cracked underfoot. Quickly she snatched her paw back, pressing herself against the cliff as yet more of the outcropping broke free. Of course she'd land on likely the weakest of all of the ones in this place. Breathing hard the pearlcatcher watched in dismay as what could have been a decent snack scuttled up the wall effortlessly. How she wished she could do that too. But her crystal hide would hold her back and her pearl would get in the way. Yue shot a glance up at Kelpie. Or rather, what she could see of Kelpie: the tip of a pointed jade snout, a black-clawed arm dangling lazily over the edge, a blood-coloured wing that looked like it was streaked with water hanging loose. For once Yue desired for her companion to say something. Anything. Just to chase away the silence. No such luck.

Another chunk of rock gave way. No time left, she had to get to safer footing. Twisting her serpentine neck the plague-born surveyed the chasm: that ledge looked stable but it was too far to jump. Cables hung a little way overhead, attached to some mechanism or other. No way she was going to climb onto that. What if it was active? She could get fried by grabbing the wires. That pipe seemed nicely embedded in the wall. But only there; the length of it further along was sagging and she was fairly certain it had come loose along the way. Or she could drop down and pray to Plaguebringer that it was actually safe. Heck no.

An eerie cracking sound from behind stole Yue's attention. How long had that gap been there, spanning her platform from side to side right where it connected to the wall? The world jerked as the ledge slipped. Move move move! Where where where? The other outcropping was too far. The pipe wasn't safe. The cables... She grit her teeth hard. No choice. Gripping her pearl as tight as she could the pearlcatcher jumped to grab the broken cables. Please don't be active, please don't be active...

Nothing happened. For a perplexed moment she hung there, swinging slightly from the momentum. Below her little sanctuary finally lost its hold and fell into the abyss. Far, far below came a dull, faint thud. Yue swallowed. That could have been her. No point hanging here like a nocturne. She scrabbled as fast as she could up the cables, claws clattering and scratching against metal as she pulled herself up onto the abandoned machine. Panting from the effort she examined what she now sat on. Dials and lights and gauges not powered for a long time. A spiked, cone-like object stuck in the cliff-wall, rusted and dented from a great deal of use. A drill maybe? Perhaps that's what the Lightning inhabitants used to get the pipes and wires into the walls. What had they once carried? Water maybe. Now only sand and dust ran out where the parts had separated. And how did they get such a thing down here? Even guardians, ridgebacks and imperials would get tired lugging the thing around.

It didn't take long to find out how they did it. From below the drill had appeared to be nothing more than a random machine plugged into the cliff. It wouldn't be too much of a stretch considering the flight they were dealing with. As it was there was a thin path carved into the stone upon which the device had been moved. Maybe wheeled, hard to tell in its current condition. At the end of the walkway was some kind of lift. A wooden platform supported by metal beams and rope running, to Yue's joy, all the way to the top. A thin crack where sunlight was peeking through. It seemed so far away.

Now that a way out was potentially present the only obstacle now was Kelpie. The drill was higher but not quite on the guardian's level. Plus it was on the other side. Yue gauged the distance, inspected the walkway, considered Kelpie's courage. It was a stretch but she was big enough that clearing the gap wouldn't be impossible considering how much lower it was. And the ledge seemed strong enough to survive the impact. Indeed the problem here wasn't the geography but Kelpie herself. All this time she'd been moping and feeling sorry for herself.

"Kelpie?" Yue called to the listless lizard. To her relief the Water-born lifted her head to gaze down at the pearlcatcher's new position. Good, no permanent brain damage. "I think I've found a way out!" In fact the stupid guardian would've seen it first if only she'd stopped moaning and actually looked.

The frilled dragon blinked a few times then followed Yue's gesture towards the lift. "...Oh." she responded as if she'd recently woken from a dream. "Was that always there?"

Really? "Yes as it turns out now get your tail over here."

"Bu-but... my wing..."

"Stop crying and jump."

Kelpie groaned but stood - slowly - and half-turned to face where her small friend was waiting. Her ledge wasn't big enough to let her turn the full way. Pain surged through her limbs as she moved, drums pounding in her head. She winced as she managed to kick her broken wing, which she kept hung low. It hurt too much to try and furl it. Pacing in small steps the guardian surveyed the pathway Yue had shown her. Could she make that jump? It seemed too far... She turned carefully around to face the other way, jostling her wing again and whining at the pain, and checked again. It was slightly wider on this side and the grey-box-thing was closer to her too. But it wasn't very big. For another minute or so she turned and paced back and forth, considering her options

Yue was getting quite impatient waiting for the lout to make up her mind. It took effort to keep her nerves in check as she offered verbal support. "You're a guardian, you're big enough to make that jump". "Come on it's not as far as it looks". "You can do it, you have strong leg muscles". Just as she was about to give up and inspect the lift alone Kelpie jumped... at the drill. "Not this way!" Yue leapt clear as Kelpie came crashing down behind her, sending tremors through the ledge.

"I... I did it." the rippled guardian breathed. "I did it. I did it!" she began prancing around, excited by her triumph. "Yue I did it I jumped across!" An ominous creaking sound came from the drill as the Water-born continued to dance. Then she kicked her wing again. "Ow! Ow, ow, ow..." The creaking stopped. A stone fell.

"Kelpie you moron are you trying to send us to the bottom of this pit?!" Yue seethed. A deep intake and long exhale of breath calmed her enough to continue, "Come on, let's go."

The creaking came again and more stones fell. Both dragons looked back to see the drill slowly becoming dislodged from its gap in the wall. A crack of rock and a shriek of metal being ripped apart saw the machine tumble into the murk with a resonating bang, followed by a few clatters as bits flew off. Neither Yue nor Kelpie moved nor spoke. That could have been them.

"...Well then." Yue said simply, breaking the silence. "Let's go."

"Oooooh shiny!"

"Kelpie we don't-" The pearlcatcher turned to chastise the guardian again, only to be cut off by a glittering sight before the two of them. Embedded in the rock behind where the drill's cone had been stuck and ripped away the surface of the wall were chunks of glittering gold. Not much, but it was there. Could that be what the Lightning members had been looking for?

Kelpie bounded up and down like a hyperactive dog. "Can I take some? Can I? Can I? Can I?" She turned and gave Yue a big, toothy grin as her tail lashed behind her. The Plague-born stared mutely, then nodded. Anything to make her stop acting so stupidly. Honestly both of them were nearing maturity at this point and yet she insisted on acting like a newborn hatchling. A squeal of joy and a few complaints as her wing protested and Kelpie pulled a decent-sized lump of the mineral from the wall. Satisfied with this they both made their way to the lift.

The mechanism for it had been long since inactive with all efforts to turn it on proving fruitless. So Yue suggested that Kelpie tug the ropes herself. Which she tried, to no avail. Tired from the exertion the guardian flopped heavily against the control panel. Something at the bottom of it sparked, making Yue jump back and hiss at it, then stopped as a whining sound came from the box. Just like that the lights flickered to life - one glowed far too brightly at first then burnt out with a loud pop and bright flash - and a whirring sound emanated from the metal supports. Yue stared open-jawed at what Kelpie's childish actions had achieved, shook her head and pressed a big green button. A series of clanks and up they went, juddery at first and then smoothing out. Kelpie placed her prize on the ground and stared upwards, grinning like an idiot. Without really wanting to, the pearlcatcher examined it. Then it struck her.

"Uhm, Kelpie? Hate to tell you but this isn't..." Kelpie either didn't hear or wasn't listening. It didn't matter in the end, Yue supposed, but it was a damn shame that this pyrite was next to worthless. Whatever kept the big lug happy she guessed. As the lift carried the two back towards freedom Yue positioned her pearl in front of her and let loose a stream of oily mucous. Another memory to add to the ever-growing collection.

---
Kelpie and Yue are both halfway through level 5. Nothing special happened although both had a couple close calls. Fighting with only two dragons is not fun.

Also I think I fixed the broken images. Yay. Let me know if they're still not showing (and really, let me know anything! I'd love to see you guys' thoughts on this )

Day 12




Wanted to try a different style but I'm rather ehhhh about how this turned out. Oh well. RIP in peace Flora.

((Still catching up from where I left off. Yes all this time I was still managing the other account and getting Pinkie's life determining items.))

Day 13


28 rounds. Once again nothing special: the girls are both level 6, 2/3 to level 7. I used up all my potions

Day 14


"Ow..."

"..."

"Ooh..."

"..."

"Ungh..."

"Kelpie..."

"Ahh..."

"Kelpie. Stop it."

"Uurgh..."

"Shut up!"

"But it hurts."

"Complaining won't fix your wing now be quiet."

So had been what passed for conversation since the escape from the crevasse. Except that it hadn't been that long. In fact if the pair were to gain some height and look back they'd still be able to see it, a thin crack nearing the horizon. Too close. They didn't look back. The going was tough; the change from the somewhat comfortable temperature inside the shaded chasm to the searing heat of a post-midday sun baring down on the sand-strewn wastes was stifling. Not for the first time did the thought of returning pass through their minds, seeking refuge in the darkness. Except they were hungry now and there was no food down there. At least not that could be gathered safely and in any great quantity to sustain both a pearlcatcher and a guardian.

"It's so hot."

"Great detective work there."

"Can we stop?"

"No."

"But I'm tired and it hurts."

"No."

The objection to resting wasn't completely out of rudeness. If Kelpie were to stop and lay down now it would be incredibly hard to get her back up again, if not impossible. She would bake alive if she rested out here. Yue didn't like to admit it but she was at least a little bit concerned for her companion's well being. Not that she wouldn't happily ditch the blundering guardian at the first opportunity, she'd much rather ditch her at the first opportunity that wouldn't see Kelpie kill herself. It would attract scavengers and Yue did not fancy fighting off buzzards.

"Please Yue."

"I said no."

"I'm so tired..."

"Okay look." The crystalline dragon hopped in front of the water-born and stopped, causing the jade dragon to stop as well, and motioned for her to lower her head by pointing downwards. Once it was in range Yue grabbed what she could and glared at the single blue eye she could fix. "If we stop now, out in the middle of the desert, we'll die. Trust me I'm also tired and sick of being so hot but we will cook in our own scales if we lay down. Then we'll be too hot and in too much pain to get back up and then we'll die. Do you want that?"

"N-no."

Yue let go of Kelpie's face, turning about to fae the direction they'd been moving. "Then move your ass. We need to find shelter. And fast."

Prospects did not look good. Kelpie kept stopping and Yue had to coax or swear at the guardian until she moved again, then had to bite her tail, then later started blasting her in the face with magic blasts. To make matters worse the plague-born was wearing down by this point as well. Up until now her crystal hide had been helpful in reflecting most of the heat and light (often into Kelpie's eyes). Now it served only to weigh her down. They should have stayed in the chasm, waited for the day to roll past a little longer. Evening tended to be much cooler. At least Kelpie's shadow helped.

It came as a massive shock then when Kelpie suddenly stopped all complaining and stood stock-still, staring off into the distance as if she'd heard some distant sound, or seen some distant wonder. No matter how hard Yue looked or listened she couldn't figure out what was going on. A little to the right of where they were going. The pearlcatcher cocked her head to check the way the rippled guardian was staring, the way her own frilled head was held, and tried to mimic the position. Still nothing, even with her longer ears. Puzzled and frustrated Yue parted her long jaws to demand what was so special and yet silent and invisible to everyone except Kelpie only to cry out instead and hop out of the way as two sets of green tree-trunk-like legs stampeded past, churning up the dust and sand as they moved. Yue blinked, dumbfounded. Not moments ago Kelpie had no energy. And now she was charging off like an Emperor was chasing her.

"H-hey! Wait for me!"

What could possibly have possessed her to run off like that? Whatever it was gripped the Water-born's attention enough for her to forget even her damaged wing. Her movement was hurried, bordering on desperate. A glint never before seen sparkled in her ocean-like eyes. Her mouth hung open as she gulped down great lungfuls of air, breathing heavily.

"Kelpie! Stop!"

No good, the guardian was getting further and further ahead, oblivious to her partner's calls and the path which she took. Many stones crunched and shattered under her massive paws, gouges appearing in the cracked earth where her claws dug in to give her a little extra speed. At least it wouldn't be difficult to track her down if she went out of sight.

Wait. There. As the ground flew beneath their feet the scenery ahead of them slowly began to change. A couple more cacti than usual. Different plants. Up ahead... were those trees? How could that be? ...An oasis? Water! It all made sense now. Of course the water-born would be drawn to little havens like- Something wasn't right. Those weren't vines hanging between trees were they? Were those even trees? Yue drew out of her lopsided gallop, the momentum carrying her forwards several more steps until she came to a halt. No. Trees didn't spark. It was hard to tell against the bright, bright sky but every now and again something brighter still, barely noticeable, popped out of the tall, thin objects. Pylons?

The pearlcatcher warily padded up next to Kelpie, who had also careened to a halt. She rasped loudly, struggling to replace the air in her chest. It was almost a miracle that she was still standing. Neither spoke, only stared. It was an oasis - an oasis once used by Lightning dragons as a camp. Research? What were they studying. Kelpie was still staring, neck extended long and low. Yue moved ahead to investigate. It was strange feeling the sensation of grass under her feet. Fertile at that, not like the rotten stuff around the Plaguelands. Definitely water here. So why wasn't Kelpie screaming with joy, diving in and wallowing in it? A few steps more brought the pool into view, nice and big. Big enough for an imperial to lay in it comfortably.

"Kelpie?" Yue had to admit, the questioning of her companion's name was tighter than she'd intended. What the heck was wrong with-

"My Charge."

"What?"

"My Charge!" Kelpie wheezed. "It's... it's... here..." She was teetering back and forth unsteadily. Running through this heat with as much pain as she'd been in could not have been good for her.

"That's great." Yue replied hurriedly, running behind the guardian and pushing her hind leg. "But if you don't get in that water right now you'll damage yourself."

Kelpie took a staggered few steps. "My... Charge..." For a moment it didn't seem that she was going to make it. Something made her push forwards though, distressingly slowly. Then she collapsed and slid on the muddy bank head-first into the life-giving oasis.

Good, Yue thought as she slipped down into the water herself, let her rejuvenate. Let us both rejuvenate a little. It was refreshing and cool and took the weight off of their wary legs. Since her own hide was liable to bringing her down the plague pearlcatcher opted to sink a little into the mud. Some of the liquid was gulped down as she lay, allowing her worries to temporarily wash away. The only thing on her mind being the reason for this place's existence. There was too much technology here. Did someone make it? It wouldn't be surprising if a pump were hidden somewhere, bringing hidden water deep underground to the surface. There had to be a reason why it was here specifically.

How much time had passed? Yue blinked her eyes open drearily. She'd fallen asleep. When did she fall asleep? It had gotten darker; evening was drawing in. It was good that she'd lay where she had else she may well have drowned.

Kelpie.

She leapt to her feet, scrabbling out of the water and shaking herself of the excess liquid still clinging to her. There, in the middle of the pool... no, she'd moved. She was at the other side now, though still. Curious the pearlcatcher dipped back into the pond and paddled across its length. Climbing out the other side and repeating her previous ritual Yue inspected the still form that was the guardian. Asleep, head in a bush, half of her body still in the water with the rest draped over the green ground. Her sides heaved out and in again. Good, still alive. Although now Yue took note of the injuries the bigger dragon had sustained from the fall. Nicks and scratches and torn scales. And of course the limp wing, hanging at an awkward angle. That really did look painful. Survival of the fittest. She'd have to deal with it until they found an outpost or village or hell a factory - whatever came first and had dragons living there. So why was she not resting it in the water? What could be in that bush that she'd be so interested in?

A bush rustled to one side, snatching Yue's attention. What was that? When nothing happened she turned back, curious to see what the guardian had found. More rustling. She stopped, flicking her ears back. Again it stopped. She waited anxiously before moving again, pushing through the leaves that blocked Kelpie's apparent Charge from view. And promptly got bopped on the nose by a hanging pipe. What. Pushing it aside the plague-born glared up at the swinging object. Who in their right mind would put that there? Then her claws met more pipe. And cables. She looked down, peeved. Way to go Lightning, you ruined a perfectly good oasis by leaving your trash... littered...

No. It hadn't been haphazardly dumped by some careless ridgeback getting as far away as they could from the wet. They were coiled neatly in a circle, held in place by sticks of sparking metal. And in the middle of the coils... three Lightning eggs. Two broken, one still alive, still pulsing with the electrical energies gathered from the Stormcatcher's domain. Is this...? Could this egg be? Kelpie's Charge?

Another rustle, close by this time. Too close... Yue bared her teeth and spun around to face the noise. By every right as a plague-born she should have run. But she didn't. Something about seeing the egg awoke something inside her hard, hard shell. "Show yourself." she hissed, gripping her pearl tightly and readying an attack. Leaves parted. Eyes glinted in the dying light. Reptilian. Something hissed back. What could it be? What kind of creatures lived here? Strangler? No, it would be lower to the ground.

A flash of movement and a flurry of feather and scale was in her face, a cry both shrieking like a bird and hissing like a snake piercing her ears. Basilisk. And not your standard basilisk with the appearance of a chicken on the bird side. This one was more like a raptor, maybe a buzzard. Yue unleashed her spell quickly, blasting the amalgamation off of her and scurrying away to make space between them. She turned to fire another blast but the creature was already on her, screeching and pecking and clawing. A clawed foot slashed at her face, causing the blast to fly harmlessly into the sky. Another assault, down her side. A horrible shrieking of claws on crystal rang in the air, their ears. Now another on her back, her wings. How? How was it so fast?

It wasn't fast, she realised belatedly. There were two of them. Furiously the pearlcatcher lashed her tail, knocking the second basilisk back and pulling herself away. They stared at her, eyeing her, preparing to attack again. Energy pooled between Yue's jaws. They jumped. She let go. One of them fell back, hit directly in the chest, squawking loudly as she jumped to avoid the other
one. Quickly she whirled around and bit at it, missed, took a beak to the face. Yue cried out in pain as she felt something crack.

Kelpie wake up. she silently begged the slumbering guardian. I need your help.

Wait, where did the second bird go? Her eyes darted back and forth. There: approaching the makeshift nest. Oh no you don't. Momentarily forgetting the other basilisk Yue launched herself at the far too inquisitive bird-thing, misjudged her aim, only pulled out a few feathers as she fell past. An angry squawk and both basilisks were clawing and pecking at her. Most of the attacks glanced off her solid scales, Others... Yue screamed as a claw hooked under where her hide had cracked, ripping it away. She flailed every limb she could, fired off all the magic blasts she was able. The assault lessened a moment, then came back in force. The sound was deafening. The pain was unbearable. They'd learned too, aiming at the vulnerable cracks and open areas.

"HELP! HELP ME!" was all Yue was able to scream out as more basilisks appeared from the brush. It was too much. Everything went dark...

"...ue. Yue... are....... okay?"

The voice was faint, distorted. Let me sleep...

"Yue. Yue please. Don't die."

Not dead. Let me sleep.

Then she was in the ocean, being washed out away from the land. Had she upset Tidelord somehow? Why? Why her? She tried to scream but water flooded her lungs. Kelpie why?

And then it was dry again. Except it wasn't. Can't breath. She rolled over and coughed out half a lake. Then it hurt. It hurt bad. She screamed, writhing in agony. Something caught on the grass, pulled off. Another explosion of pain. Another scream.

"Yue!" Kelpie wailed, moving to pick up the distressed pearlcatcher, then drawing away uncertainly. Should she help? Of course she should help. How should she help? Yue was hurt. But she'd hurt Yue if she helped. Kelpie dug her claws into the ground and tore chunks out in panic. The egg! Her Charge! She turned. Still there. Good. The feathers helped. Yue! Turned back. Still flailing and crying. What should she do?! She got up ad paced back and forth. Her wing hurt with each movement. Ow, ow, ow. Egg! Still there. Yue! Still in pain. Panic, panic, panic. The pearlcatcher had rolled over. Part of her smooth, shiny hide caught in the grass and pulled out, revealing more blood. Okay okay she needed to stop moving. "Yue stay still." Kelpie gently laid a large paw over part of Yue's not-yet-cracked body. She resisted and cried out again. The guardian placed her other forepaw over Yue's tail, pinning her. "Please keep still..." Egg. Still there. Back to Yue.

It hurt so much. So, so much. Her world was black and red and pain. Now she couldn't move. The demon held her, whispering things to her. Leave me alone! She struggled. Nothing changed. Kept trying. It hurt. She stopped. Let me go...

It was a long time before the small, red-eyed dragon relented. Her ruined charcoal body fell still save for the rapid rise and fall of her chest. Exhausted. Good, she won't hurt herself any more. Egg. Still there. Now what? She let Yue go. That blood had to stop. Kelpie padded over to the pool and took another mouthful, transported it over to her wounded friend and carefully let it spill over the wounds. Yue hissed in pain. Had to clean the injuries. A clawful of feathers, scattered from the bird-snake-things she'd fought off earlier. She pressed them against Yue's side. Another hiss. More feathers. On the face. She yelled. Egg. Still there. More feathers. Who'd have thought they'd have found a flock of basilisks, here of all places? But she was big and they were small. Some died. Others ran away. Lots of feathers. She'd eaten the dead ones. Egg. Still there. Yue. More feathers. More pain. No more blood. Yue looked silly but not bleeding any more. No sound?

"Yue?"

Silence. No more hissing or crying or screaming. Dead? Tears pricked her eyes. She blinked hard. Yue's chest and sides heaved. Alive. Thank Tidelord. Kelpie angled herself to lay so she could see both her Charge and her friend. Neither were leaving her sight. No more basilisks. Yue was in bad shape. What should she do? She lay her head down, tail lashing in desperation. What do I do?!

Something big flew overhead. She ignored it. Another. Ignored. They landed nearby. Ignored. Protect the egg. Protect Yue. Then they weren't alone.

---


NOW. I realise people don't seem willing to post in this thread, and I respect that. Less gaps between my glorious role-play skills, yes? No really my RP skills suck. However, I would love, love, LOVE some feedback for this little conundrum: As stated in the rules all gathering and coli loot are unrelated to the Pinkerlocke. However I have been hurting badly for a third dragon. Should I or should I not hatch the egg and introduce the babe in the next RP installment? Or would this be considered as cheating as it sort of goes against the rules and that I should wait until Pinkie gives me a familiar? Please, please let me know what you guys think!

I am horrid at rp and i have just been amazed on your writing skills and your persistence on this project! I think the rules are a bit weird so i got no idea if it would be cheating to hatch the egg.. probably best to ask the other Pinkerlocke ppl

Thank you Tarn and I'm glad you're enjoying it It's fun to work on especially now that I've developed a better idea for the girls' personalities (writing Kelpie's view was great fun xD). Of the FR 'lockes I've read only one has hatched an egg so I'm not completely sure. There's still a few updates I need to catch up on, I'll decide by the next RP post if no one else offers any insight.

Speaking of updates.
Day 15

My first piece of apparel. As stated in the rules this means either breed two eligible dragons or give one a gene. Since I only have two girls currently (not that I'm against same-gender pairings, it simply doesn't work in the FR mechanics) my only option is geneing. Well I could skip if no ideas come to mind but I have an idea. An idea which will be kept secret until the next RP post

EDIT:
Yue got cherub

Sorry for the lack of updates again. I blame WoW. And I accidentally made myself sick at one point, too. Turns out binging on chocolate and cola all day isn't a good idea

Day 16

Not fully recovered yet but art will happen soon. I'll edit it in here and let you guys know when it's ready!

Day 17


Yue and Kelpie are both level 7, almost level 8. Kelpie now knows how to eliminate stuff and Yue can heal. It's getting excruciatingly slow as they've started Scorched Forest where elemental attacks are a threat... I've had to run from a LOT of fights purely because a crit from a super-effective attack will one-shot my girls. Not fun. Ireneus is happily accepting battle item donations! Potions especially

Day 18

Joining this with the previous gene idea, once again secret until the next RP

EDIT:
Yue got underbelly

Days 19 & 20


Where were they even coming from? Left, basilisk. Right, basilisk. Ahead, basilisk. Behind, basilisk. Even from above basilisks dropped as they leapt for her. Why? They didn't even belong here! Pain. So much pain. Crystal shattered. Skin ripped. Blood flowed. A distant scream. Hers? She couldn't tell. Toughened feathers. Strong muscles. Claws sharp enough to rend the ground. Beaks strong enough to crack diamond. Everywhere. Everywhere. No escape. This was it. This was it. Another grouse basilisk flew at her, talons outstretched, beak open. She couldn't move. It shrieked...

This was a bad place. Bad bad place. So much noise. So many wires. So much electricity. It coursed through her without needing to be near to it. It arced towards her whenever she passed it. Egg. She turned. It was there, safe, it that weird clear-fronted machine. It was beeping steadily. Yue. She turned back to her mangled friend. The pearlcatcher was shaking and twitching violently, not unlike how they'd first met. Another machine was next to where she lay. It also beeped. It wasn't steady. Not at all. It was fast. Erratic. Egg. Still there. She hated that it was inside the machine and not with her. They'd said it was for the best. Yue. Pain. So much pain. Good chunks of her hard, hard hide had been torn off in the fight. She was covered in blood-soaked bandages. Every inch. She screamed in her sleep. Was she even sleeping? At least she still had her pearl, clutched tight against her chest. Not good, that was one of the worst spots. No good, she wouldn't let go. Egg. She hated that machine so much. There were several of them, also with eggs inside. They'd insisted she put hers with them. She refused - it was heregg. Her Charge. She wanted it with her. They made her put it in there because it would help it. Yue...

"Will... will she be okay?"

An exasperated sigh escaped the big, blue coatl that was standing watch, monitoring both dragon and egg. So much work, busy busy busy. He'd had enough on his claws with the incubators and the eggs they held as it was. Now he had another one which the guardian had insisted be kept separate because it was hers. It wasn't, he could tell. Too young. Stupid guardians and their stupid Charges. He'd lost several lackeys because they had to go on their stupid Search. Not only that but he had to care for the pearlcatcher sprawled out on the table in front of him. It wasn't his choice. A research group studying the various oases out in the wastes had found them and dumped them here. No one else wanted to help. There were doctors here for Stormcatcher's sake! Actual doctors! Who knew medical things! He was a scientist! A blue paw extended, lifted to his blunt snout and pinched the bridge of his nose as the guardian asked the same question for the umpteenth time since arriving.

"It is... indeterminate." Apotequil replied as steadily as his frayed nerves would allow. Had to keep up a professional appearance after all. "It is not in my area of expertise to treat injuries of any kind, let alone of this scale." He gestured at Yue who, for now, had stopped writhing. The coatl slunk closer, adjusting a couple of the wires attached at various locations on the smaller dragon's body. Electrotherapy, he'd tried to explain, to help stimulate healing, blood flow and relaxation.

Kelpie didn't take it all on board. Her deep-blue eyes had only fixed on her friend or her egg, never the Lightning-born coatl in the white lab coat and weird glasses. He'd given up and simply said, "It will help". So Kelpie waited for it to help. Sat at the end of the table the Plague-born rested on. Her wing hung limp against the floor. It hurt. Apotakwil or whatever his name was glared at her out of the corner of her vision. She ignored them both.

Apotequil rolled his electric-blue eyes at the lack of response. Did she have to sit there? This cave wasn't really big enough for a guardian to be sat in the middle of it when there was another inside. Then again he'd always hated how small the cave was in general. So much to do, so much to do, not enough room to do anything. Satisfied the pearlcatcher was stable and the machinery set up efficiently the coatl scuttled over to the incubators. A hiss came from behind him. Oh how he'd love to smack the big green lump in the face. "I'm merely inspecting them." he replied, stifling a growl. Glass was tapped, lids were lifted, temperature was checked, eggs were turned - another, louder growl from Kelpie when he got to hers - lids closed, dials turned one way or another. "All in order." he announced plainly as he drifted from one side of the room to the other to care for other projects inside the lab. Then he returned to the incubator with the lone egg. "Tell me again how you came across this one?"

There'd been no need to add "again" to that sentence. It hadn't been said in the first place. The only information given was from the research team consisting of a massive black ridgeback, a couple of red imperials and a bunch of fae of varying colours. They wanted to check that particular oasis, the ridgeback had explained, because of the unique wildlife living there, cut off from the rest of the world when the area around the pool died away. The number of grouse basilisks had gone up, successful despite the isolation. The plan was to count them and decide if they needed culling or not. No one had expected anyone to lay an egg there. It was a miracle that the egg was untouched, one of the fae had buzzed, translated by the ridgeback. Possibly because, one of the imps joined in, of the electrical nature of the shell developed from the Stormcatcher's essence. The nest had been abandoned soon after laying. Had Kelpie and Yue not arrived when they did it likely would have died. It had been a few days since they came in. It would soon be close to hatching barring any side-effects. And all this time that frigging guardian had taken up almost half his cave!

"I felt it." Kelpie began, not looking up except to check the egg, "We were lost. We needed food. I felt it as we got close because it is my Charge. It called to me."

Apotequil's feathered brow furrowed in annoyance. And here he'd expected a more scientific explanation. "Do you have any connection to the ones who laid it?"

"No."

"So you had no idea it even existed until you found it?"

"No."

"And yet you claim it as your own because of your instinct to guard it?"

"Yes."

Why did it not make any sense? "What will you do if the parents are still alive?"

At first there was no reply. The air seemed to grow thicker as the guardian fought an internal battle between conscience and instinct. In the meantime Apotequil continued to fuss with the various gadgets, pieces of paper, tools and unidentifiable-but-clearly-useful-objects littered around the room, then Yue because she was crying again, then back to the incubators. A notepad was pulled from his coat pocket, a pencil retrieved from his crest and he jotted down notes about this and that. When Kelpie still didn't answer the coatl regarded his "guest" impatiently. Was it really that hard to answer a simple question?

Before he could utter the words he was going to rouse the guardian with she finally spoke. "I don't know." Normally the scientist would have pressed further. He hated short answers. But something about the way she'd said it made him hold his forked tongue. Quiet. Plain edged with despair as if it hurt to admit it. Just how did a guardian's Search work? Apo had always studied the technical side to things an instinctive natures meant little, resenting the guardians who had abandoned their work. Now he was intrigued. Did those who stayed find their work to be their Charge? He'd have to ask next time he saw one. The truth was there though. What if the parents were alive and looking for their egg? How would they feel if some Water-born guardian had taken it with her? So many questions... The pencil worked, words forming on the lined sheets.

Silence returned, broken only by the beeps and whirs and sparks made by the machinery around them. Kelpie stared at Yue, at the egg, at Yue again. Yue remained still, chest heaving. Apotequil carefully changed her sodden bandages, briefly revealing the gore beneath. It would take time even with the electrotherapy for her to heal. They needed a true healer up in here. The coatl puttered around a while longer, adjusting settings on the incubators under Kelpie's scrutiny. Then, wordlessly, he left.

It wasn't clear how much time had passed before he returned. The recurring thought of finding a healer had gotten the better of the coatl scientist, forcing him to double, triple check that everything was in working order and leave his work to seek out help. And no wonder the pair had been dumped at his cave rather than anywhere else. His was far away from the main construction zone, likely the closest one to the oasis. The imperials and ridgeback had literally carried the guardian and pearlcatcher to him, Yue for obvious reasons but Kelpie... it had taken him time to realise her wing didn't work. He didn't want to think about how much it had taken to convince Kelpie to move the egg.

His powerful feathered wings carried him neatly and deeply into the more populated areas of the expanse, flitting hither and thither in hopes of finding someone, anyone, who could help remove the troublesome pair from his lair-away-from-lair. And find one he did - a beautiful rose-coloured skydancer who had paused in her rounds to watch a group of assorted dragons working on the latest of many great contraptions. No one yet knew what it was for, but that was beside the point. It didn't take much to convince her to help. Pesky skydancers being able to read emotions, another thing he disliked.

Upon their alighting in front of Apotequil's cave it was a relief that nothing had exploded while he was gone. Something, however, had changed. Kelpie. She was no longer loitering in the middle of the floor. Instead she was up against the incubator containing her egg, face pressed against the glass. Claw marks ran the length of the glass cover. She was making sounds that could have either been of joy or distress, it was impossible to tell.

"Hey stop that!" the coatl scolded her, shooing the guardian away. A great effort considering she was three times his size. Behind him the skydancer swooped over to Yue, crooning over the mangled pearlcatcher. "So can you fix her?" the coatl asked sharply, doing his best to keep Kelpie from pushing him out of the way. What was her deal anyhow?

"Fix? She is not one of your little toys you know." Zelda, as the skydancer's name was, closed her light-blue eyes, whiskers wavering gracefully. "It will take much," she replied with a calm, melodious voice of which one would be forgiven for thinking she was singing. She opened her eyes again and fixed the coatl with a glance. "You had told me she was in bad shape. You did not say how much so." the bird-like face returned to the pearlcatcher twitching on the table. "You did a good job with what you have. I will work from here. Oh, and do let the young lady see the egg hatch, hm?"

Deities now another dragon was clogging up his workspace. Had they not been affixed to the great, jade snout pressing against them Apotequil's paws would have clenched in frustration. Whatever, if it meant getting them out of here sooner. ...wait did she say "hatch"? He let go of Kelpie's face, almost getting bowled over for his trouble. Was it really that close already? Indeed, through the scratched glass they both stared in awe as the egg rocked slightly, so slightly, back and forth. A whimper of joy escaped Kelpie's throat. A smile cracked on the coatl's lips. No matter how many times he'd seen it happen it was a momentous occasion to watch new life emerge from such a tiny space.

"If only Yue could see this..." Kelpie murmured quietly. For all intents and purposes she may as well have laid that egg herself.

Minutes passed, then an hour. Almost three hours had ticked by until the first cracks began to appear. Begrudgingly Apotequil had to remove the egg from the machine and place it on a desk across the room so that the guardian could get close. It was that or have the incubator be flattened under her desperate weight. Even the skydancer had moved over to join them, standing such a way that her muted yellow wings blocked Yue from view.

A few more minutes. The cracks grew bigger, longer. Fragments broke off. Everyone held their breath in anticipation. The shell came off...

"Welcome to the world, little one." Zelda whispered.



---
No more apologies. So far this 'locke has not been as fun to work on as it was to begin with. Fighting in the coliseum with only two dragons is absolutely brain-numbing and difficult and I kept losing inspiration for the story. Things will happen when I can muster up the desire or ideas for them. Hopefully with the arrival of the hatchling and future events things will smooth out a bit. Coliseum news: Kelpie and Yue are both level 8, 3/4 of the way to level 9. I hate seafood right now. 30-40 rounds with two dragons, yuck. And there will be more incoming soon. I'll probably just lump all the outstanding coliseum updates together as I'm sure no one wants to read those.

Woo for existing dragons in my Lightning lair making appearances. Sort of. Zelda's technically a spiral right now. Shh.

Accepting names for the earthy mirror girl! Oh and I'll reveal my gene choices next update. Sit tight!