Simonpet
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Post by Simonpet on Aug 31, 2022 9:21:43 GMT -8
March Skye chittered as she ran through the trees, hopping from branch to branch. It was exciting to be a squirrel; she was so small, the world was so big, and the world was dangerous. It gave her a thrill. It would be chancy for most, but she was also a fire elemental so anything that got too interested was blasted in the face. It kept her safe and made the whole thing more practical. She liked to split from the patrol and explore on her own before rejoining at some later point. Thankfully, the other scouts were used to it by now. Raphael used to startle badly when she popped up out of nowhere and she learned that he and his sister had been used to diseased animals attempting to attack. She’d started giving some warning after that. It had taken her some time, but it made the teen more comfortable with her. Today, she and Foxglove were out on a walk; Foxglove because she hoped to gather some herbs for Liz, and Skye because the spring air was making her restless. They’d picked a small clearing to meet up at once the sun was at its peak, and then they wandered off on their own. Skye’s route took her along the edge of where the forest met the hills, which marked one edge of their territory. How nice it was to live in a village again! Skye didn’t need to fear hunger, thirst, or danger. With the many dragonriders, she didn’t even fear feral dragons or raiders. Birds chirped, insects buzzed, branches waved in the wind, and the colors were bright. Life was good. A scent caught her attention and she paused along the route. It smelled familiar, and a shiver of dread ran down her spine. Now she knew how Liz felt. Skye crept along the branches, seeking out the scent. She couldn’t leave the egg to its own devices! (Well, she could. Most dragons in the wild hatched alone, capable of feeding themselves from birth. Bonding with a person could only happen in its earliest days and brought both costs and benefits. Most dragons died when their rider did, their lives so entwined that one couldn’t live without the other. But she’d heard of dragons who lived on afterward, too determined to survive.) The egg was a mottled black and already cracking. Shit. Skye had no food on her. She clambered down the tree, shifting back into her human shape when she reached the bottom. A small snout pierced the shell, black and glistening with egg fluid. Skye knelt down and held her arms out, falling backwards when the dragonet leaped out and into her arms. “Oof!” The dragonet was heavy! It shimmered in the light, and Skye could make out the various colors mottling its scales. He was beautiful and inquisitive, nosing Skye’s face as if it was a tasty treat…oh shit. “Sorry little guy,” Skye said, finally getting up and carrying the dragonet like a puppy. “I’ll get you some food when we get home.” Liz was going to lose her shit. Whatever. She wasn’t the boss of Skye anyways. July & September part 1: Rlung Village Liz and Raf watched wide-eyed as Forest laid her third egg. They stared at each other, and then back at Forest. “So that’s what she was doing,” whispered Raf. “Taffy kiddo, you telling me you had no clue about this??” asked Liz in a hushed voice. Forest had growled at them once when they’d initially yelled, but they couldn’t seem to tear themselves away from the process. So quiet voices it was. “I’d have told you!” he shot back. “I even asked Forest, but she said she’d ‘tell me later’ and that it wasn’t anything I needed to be worried about. Not worrying about my dragon laying eggs, my ass!” Liz slapped her hand on her forehead. “Pine? Can you please try to get Forest to see sense and have her tell us who she was with?” It took Pine a while, but finally they managed to pull out her mate’s name: his name was Ryu, and he was a bonded dragon from the mountains. He was like a lung dragon except he had wings. His rider lived in a village where many people were elementals, and his rider was very nice. Forest hadn’t told him about the eggs and fine, she’d tell him. She was perfectly willing to show them where the village was, but only if someone guarded her eggs. (Forest reassured her sister that she would do the job.) It was a few days before the trip could be made, but finally it was decided that George, Jessie, Brian, Liz, and Raf would make the trip on their dragons. Hopefully, it wasn’t too threatening of a delegation, and it included Forest to ensure the others knew they were legit. “Alright, I got my iPod, phone, clothes, underwear,” Liz muttered as she went through her backpack. They’d each packed a week’s worth of clothes in case they stayed more than a day. Hopefully, it wouldn’t take too long but maybe it would take the other village some time to think about their offer or some time to decide who was coming. Best to be prepared. Worst case scenario, Liz supposed that she could burn the place down and run. “Oy kiddo, you ready?” she asked Raf, who was rifling through his own pack. “Mhmm,” he hummed absently. “Yep. Got my book.” “Which one?” “The fourth Artemis Fowl and the second Magnus Chase book.” “Doing a reread?” Liz queried. “Yep. You?” Raf asked. “Rereading The Dresden Files,” she replied. “New book came out a few weeks ago and I’m speed-rereading!” Raf blinked. “I thought your phone didn’t have multi-universal service.” “I thought so too!” Liz said brightly. “Turns out, when it comes to books and podcasts, I think I’ve scared it into submission.” Raf laughed. “Alright. Let’s tell dad that we’re ready?” “Yep.” Leaving their camp was weird. Liz hadn’t spent the night outside of it in years, not that she’d needed to. She was leaving her mom and her baby siblings behind (and no matter that they protested they weren’t babies, she and Raf agreed that four was baby). She was leaving her friends and her dragon behind. God, she hoped nothing bad would come of this. At least she she had her Brian.
The trip was estimated to take two days; one day to get into the mountains, and one day to locate the location of the other village. Apparently, it floated but it liked to “dock” in the nearby mountains. Liz wasn’t questioning these sorts of things anymore, not after developing fucking pyrokinesis and telepathy, and certainly not after watching her phone and iPod charge on nothing more than sunlight. Well, she suspected they were actually using ambient magic in the air but with no one around to see the magic, it was nothing more than a suspicion. It made more sense than charging via sun when they weren’t solar powered in the first place, at least. The first day was easy; Forest led the other two dragons, Rhodrolth and Crystal, to a waterfall in the mountains. The humans made camp there, Liz using her pyrokinesis to make the fire and Raf using his aquakinesis to make clean water. He’d been practicing, he exclaimed proudly. They had a light dinner and went to sleep, secure in the knowledge that their dragons would alert them if anything happened. The second day was much more eventful. It started when Forest flew down, looking embarrassed and proud in equal measures. “She says she brought her mate,” Raf said, scanning the skies. Liz quickly copied him, only to jerk her head down when the dragon emerged from the trees. He was beautiful; his scales were white and red, and his fur looked so fluffy. Something about him felt vaguely familiar to her, but she couldn’t put her finger on it. “Hello,” said Raf, taking point. Fair enough; it was his dragon who’d mated with the other one. “My name is Raphael and I’m Forest’s rider.” The dragon rumbled something in response and after a moment, Raf nodded. “Forest tells me that his name is Ryu of Rlung Temple, and that he is pleased to meet us.” He fell silent again as Forest and Ryu talked. “He’ll guide us to the temple right now, if we’re ready?” They weren’t ready, so they dismantled their camp and packed up. The group then got settled on their dragons and George asked Ryu to lead the way. The flight to the temple was long but pleasant. They circled a few times while Ryu apparently tried to determine the best place for several dragons to land with the least amount of panic caused for the residents. Finally, he bugled--causing several people below to run out--and dove, the dragons of Gold and Iron following closely behind. The four dragons landed but the humans waited to dismount. It couldn’t have been more than five minutes until a couple of locals arrived to greet them, but to Liz it felt like forever. The local delegation consisted of two people: a tall woman with curly teal hair and a broad-shouldered man with deep purple hair. The pair had suspicious expressions on their faces, not that Liz could blame them. She could feel unseen minds surrounding them, likely preparing an ambush if things went poorly. There was a moment of silence as the two groups sized each other up. Then, the teal-haired woman spoke. “To what do we owe the pleasure?” she asked, suspicion and wariness lacing her voice. Liz looked to her dad and was gratified when he responded. “It’s very good to meet you,” he said warmly. “We recently found out that one of our dragons, Forest,” and the dragon in question dipped her head, “has been meeting with your Ryu. She laid a clutch not that long ago and we wished to extend an offer of friendship to you.” The local pair was shocked into speechlessness. Then, the woman spoke again. “Really?” she asked. “And where are these eggs?” Liz jumped in. “I didn’t think it was safe to move the eggs. They’re still soft-shelled and need to be incubated. I wasn’t sure how long it would take us to find you, so we’re keeping them warm at home.” “Yes, thank you Lizavetachka,” said George dryly. “Like she said,” he directed to the locals, “we thought it might do the eggs more harm than good, especially if traveling took us more than a couple of days.” The locals conferred quietly with each other. The man spoke up. “If you would be so kind as to dismount, we will have someone take care of your dragons while you talk to the Council.” So, watcha think? asked Liz, projecting it to the others, noticing the bird that swooped down onto the man's shoulder out of the corner of her eye. She’d been practicing letting multiple people “hear” a telepathic conversation despite not being telepaths themselves, and the practice was paying off now. Should we leave someone behind? I can’t think of anyone who should stay back, Jessie responded. George needs to go because he’s the leader, Raf needs to go because Forest is his dragon and he’s 16-- Raf grumbled mentally but didn’t dispute it. You need to go because you’re the telepath and also can intimidate them if necessary, continued Jessie, I need to go as a second diplomat, and Brian is our muscle. I’m sure the dragons will be fine. I agree, several voices thought. Alrighty, then we go! Liz concluded, punctuating her thought with a feeling of soldiers marching. Raf snickered, George smiled, Brian shook his head but projected a feeling of soft amusement, and Jessie rolled her eyes. They dismounted with varying degrees of smooth; Liz, being the shortest, had to be helped down from Rhodrolth. Unfortunately, she was a cat. This meant she could climb very well but then had no clue how to get down from places. The purple-haired man smirked and Liz rolled her eyes. Whatever. She’d made her peace with it years ago. “Follow me,” the man said. As they walked, he talked. “I am Scout Councilor Feng. My companion is Hunt Councilor Kasandra. Ryu’s rider is Princess Nandi, who is around here somewhere.” He frowned, looking around. As he did, Liz felt a spike of alarm. A princess? Oh god, hopefully she wouldn’t be too upset by this. “You did not find us on your own, did you?” Councilor Feng asked. Jessie shook her head. “No, Forest led us to the mountains and then Ryu led us the rest of the way. Apparently this island floats? I doubt we could find it again easily without a guide.” Councilors Feng and Kasandra didn’t look especially reassured but didn’t question them further. All too soon, they were led through the temple doors, down some halls, and through some doors. Liz craned her neck, looking around. The inside was beautiful, with tapestries and soft-looking furniture. The meeting room held a table where three more people already sat. Liz’s eyes were drawn to a man in yellow robes with a blue arrow tattoo on his forehead. Her eyes widened and she mouthed a soft “Oh,” as she realized why Ryu had looked vaguely familiar. This man was either a very dedicated ATLA cosplayer…or he was a master airbender. Given that this was a floating temple, she suspected that his opinion was valued very highly here. She shared the thought with Jessie and Brian, whose eyes similarly widened briefly. It appeared that this universe had hella thin borders. “Are these the visitors?” asked the master airbender excitedly. Councilor Feng nodded. “Did you get Nandi?” “No,” Councilor Feng admitted. “I didn’t have time.” Liz suppressed a smile as the master airbender sighed, looking very put-out. Suddenly, she wondered: how old was Princess Nandi? From the sound of it, she either had to be a young child or a very busy adult. Liz guessed that, since she was a dragonrider, she was likely a firebender (pyrokinetic). Maybe she could share some tricks? Could be fun to see how their magics were similar or different. “Please get her,” the master airbender asked. Councilor Feng dipped his head and left the room, but not before glancing at Councilor Kasandra. “Sit, sit!” exclaimed the master airbender, waving to the Gold and Iron delegation. Liz and the others sat, scattering around the table. Her dad initially sat to the right of a gray-haired woman before she muttered something and George switched seats to one further down. Councilor Kasandra sat to the left of a pink-haired man and Jessie sat to her left. Raphael and Liz sat next to their dad, Raphael between his dad and sister. Finally, Brian sat next to Jessie. Once they were all seated, there was silence. The pink-haired man seemed to judge them. The gray-haired woman was glancing around, mirth dancing in her eyes. Councilor Kasandra looked as if she desperately wanted to sigh. The master airbender seemed to be trying to say something, but no words were coming out. The quiet was finally broken when the gray-haired woman started laughing. Liz blinked and her mouth curled up involuntarily. “Sorry sorry,” the gray-haired woman finally said, getting herself under control. “It’s just-- Ralo--” She continued to snicker. “Alright. I’m Gather Councilor Winair, the councilor across from me is War Councilor Azar--” “Pleasure to meet you,” Councilor Azar said quietly. “--and our leader is High Councilor Ralo,” she concluded. Her countenance grew serious. “Who are you and why have you come here?” George took point again. “My name is George, and my companions are Jessica, Brian, Elizabeth, and Raphael.” He motioned as he spoke each name, and Liz waved when she was pointed out. “We come because of an unusual situation. One of our dragons--” “Hi, I’m here now!” Liz’s head snapped to her right and she saw Councilor Feng reenter with a small, pale-skinned and dark-haired girl who seemed to be floating on the air. Oh. Princess Nandi looked young. And was an airbender? Liz shrugged mentally; maybe there were some airbenders in her recent ancestry. The princess sat down next to Brian, and Councilor Feng sat next to George. Councilor Winair must have been saving his seat. “Thank you, Councilor Feng,” said High Councilor Ralo. “Please continue?” he asked George. “As I was saying, we come because of an unusual situation. Raphael’s dragon, Forest, recently laid a clutch of eggs. As it turns out, the father was Princess Nandi’s dragon, Ryu. We come with an offer of friendship. As I’m sure you know, dragons are impressionable when young. We would like to ask if you would be willing to send some people to try and bond the dragons when they hatch.” Councilor Azar’s eyebrows soared. Princess Nandi’s eyes widened. Councilors Ralo and Winair met each other’s eyes. Liz had a feeling that they were all thinking something along the lines of “Oh shit.” Finally, someone spoke. “Where are the eggs?” Councilor Winair asked bluntly. “We decided not to take them,” said Liz (again, although not everyone here had heard her first spiel), “because we were concerned for their…health. Dragon eggs are soft when laid, and they were laid maybe a week and a half ago? They’re still pretty soft and need to be incubated. I didn’t think that taking them for a ride through the skies would be good for them.” “You didn’t think?” asked Councilor Ralo mildly. Liz quirked her mouth in a half-smile. “Yep. I’m the resident dragon-caretaker.” Oh, she had to be really careful how she worded her next sentence. “Many of our people back home have dragons,” she said. “We’ve been finding eggs for ages, but hardly any adults. I was one of the first to bond a dragon, so when we kept finding more, I took over their initial care. Dragon eggs take about a month to hatch, and these eggs are barely two weeks old. I didn’t want to risk them and also Forest, their mother, would probably have bitten my arm off if I’d tried to move them.” “Interesting,” murmured Councilor Azar. Liz glanced at her father. She had more to say that would hopefully help their case. He nodded. “Our dragons are pretty useful,” she continued. “They help our hunters catch prey and help our scouts patrol the territory. And we thought that, since one of the parents is yours, you should have a chance to bond with them,” she finished lamely. “But we would have to come with you,” Councilor Ralo pointed out. Liz shrugged. “How do we know that your offer is sincere?” “If it is sincere,” interrupted Councilor Kasandra, “then we’d be fools not to take them up on the offer. Think about it, Ralo. More dragons to help us hunt. More dragons to protect the temple.” “Yeah, and isn’t it good for Ryu to have more dragons around him?” Princess Nandi added. “I bet he’d probably visit them anyways because he’s lonely.” The argument devolved from there, leaving Liz’s head spinning a little. George, Jessie, and Councilors Ralo, Winair, and Kasandra were the main talkers, with Princess Nandi occasionally chiming in. Finally, Councilor Azar spoke, bringing the conversation to a halt. “I think it’s a good idea,” he said, apparently surprising the other councilors. “Kasandra is right; more dragons means better protection. And if these delegates truly have so many dragons, then they could have invaded us easily. But they come with a peaceful group, offering us some of the eggs. I say we take them up on their offer.” From there, the argument turned into a conversation. How many eggs were there? Eight. How many people should be sent? Four. It was possible that some of the eggs would be duds, but there was no harm in offering an equal number of people from both villages. Who would be sent? The foreign representatives allowed the natives to debate it and eventually, the names were decided: Councilor Kasandra, scouts Drusilla and Friesa, and hunter Anai. How long should the representatives stay? Jessie suggested they could stay up to a year, but Councilor Ralo immediately shot it down. “While I don’t doubt you would be hospitable,” he explained, “we have enemies that you may not be equipped to handle.” Instead, the temple residents would stay until their dragons were ready to fly, and then they would journey back to the temple. As it was doubtful that a few months would be enough for the dragonets to grow to riding size, the riders would ride older dragons while the dragonets would follow. Finally, with everything decided, it was time to inform the rest of the temple. Thank fuck we’re going home, thought Liz, with a smile and an exhausted sigh. She flopped her head onto Brian’s shoulder and he chuckled, running his fingers through her hair. “I dunno if I want to do that again or hide in a cave,” she groaned. “I like meeting new people and going to new places but ugh, diplomacy.” “You did well,” said Brian reassuringly. “We didn’t have to burn it down and run.” Liz chuckled. “Yeah, that was a pretty desperate plan for if everything went really wrong.” Their dragons were waiting for them, fed, watered, and washed. Princess Nandi was sitting between Ryu’s paws, chattering away to him and Forest. A pair of girls were sitting nearby; one was dark-skinned with purple hair and the other was tan with reddish-pink hair. “Thank you for helping,” said Liz, approaching the trio. The redhead jumped up and grinned. “It was no trouble!” she said. “I can’t believe you have so many different types of dragons,” she gushed, “and all so pretty too!” Liz and Brian smiled. “They’re surprisingly diverse,” agreed Liz. “I think every clutch we’ve found looks different! We’ve been categorizing them by where they were found and what their anatomy is. Makes the most sense to us. Say, what’s your name?” And that’s how they were introduced to Sakura (the pink-haired woman) and Murasaki (the purple-haired woman), who were both closer to Liz and Brian’s age than to Princess Nandi’s, but were the princess’ friends anyway. Liz could relate; growing up, she’d had more friends older than her than were her age. They chatted about themselves, learning that Princess Nandi was of the Fire Nation and that the temple was open to benders of all types. They were also told of a strange variety of bloodbender that sounded to Liz like a vampire. In turn, Liz and Brian talked about their village, the crazy variety of powers and dragons, and their families. All too soon, it seemed, their conversation was broken up when George placed his hand on Liz’s shoulder and told her that it was time for them to leave. They got the dragons ready, decided who would sit on who, and finally started the journey home.
The delegates from Rlung Temple settled in nicely and Jessie was greatly relieved. She was back home with her husband and daughter, Forest’s eggs were doing fine, and everything was good. Councilor Kasandra (“Call me Kasandra as I’m not here on councilor duties,” she insisted) was especially interested in the way their village functioned and Jessie was happy to oblige--although to a point. There was no need for Kasandra to know the powers of every person in the village, or what the full capabilities of their dragons were. Surprisingly, Cassie (and Liz) struck up a friendship with Fresia, a blind scout. The foreign woman was anxious about the possibility of matching with a dragon and then flying, which was even more understandable when Jessie discovered that she was an earthbender. It tracked that someone so connected to the earth would feel disconcerted by not having their feet on the ground. Anai and Kasandra were friendly with everyone, and Drusilla…hid. Oh, Drusilla talked to people and helped out, but it was less common that she sought out conversation. Jessie wondered if she’d been through some trauma, but didn’t press. Drusilla wasn’t doing anything suspicious, so the most Jessie would do was keep an eye out. George decided that the Rlung Temple delegates wouldn’t need to join on patrols, but they would have to help with the village if they didn’t go out. Thankfully, the delegates accepted the decision calmly. Jessie wasn’t sure what they’d do if they refused to help out. The first week went well. But then Cresselia, Helen’s dragon, laid a clutch of three eggs. Jessie wasn’t there that day, but she heard from Manny that Liz complained of a headache from “stupid dragons not telling us where the fuck they went so that we’re at the very least not surprised when they pop out a clutch!” Poor girl, Jessie mused. And then winced as she realized that she might have to go out again. “My wife, Liz, and Pat will go this time,” said George. “It wouldn’t be safe for both me and Helen to go, and I’d rather you stick around to keep an eye on our visitors,” he said to Jessie. She nodded in relief. “I understand,” she said. “Cool,” said Pat with a grin. He rubbed his hands together and George returned the smile. “When do we go?” “Cress says the journey is about three days,” said Helen, eyes flashing with irritation. The dragons were free-roaming, of course, since they couldn’t exactly tie them down, but no one had worried where they were going…until now. All of the dragonriders would probably be interrogating their dragons to make sure there wouldn’t be more “whoopsie!” clutches in the near future. “We’ll pack for ten days each and head out by the end of the week.” Decision made, the council dispersed and George and Helen presumably went to find their daughter. “This happen often?” asked Kasandra, sidling up to Jessie one afternoon. Jessie was relaxing by the incubating clutches, curled up into Crystal who herself was curled in a semi-circle. “Hmm?” “The eggs.” “Oh,” laughed Jessie. “Well, it seems like we find an egg or two every year. You missed the fit that Liz threw when Skye came trotting in, holding Shimmer in her arms. I swear that if Liz had had the ability, lasers would have come out of her eyes. But the clutches are new,” she said, grin fading. “I hope we don’t have more for a while, since the children are too young to bond.” “Why are they too young?” Kasandra queried, sounding genuinely confused. “Liz’s rules,” Jessie explained. “Comes from a book series she likes. She’s restricting the potential riders to people at least thirteen years old, preferably at least fifteen, because we don’t know how deep the mental bond extends. It makes sense plus it prevents babies from having to take care of a creature that grows and matures much faster than they will.” She looked up to Crystal’s and the dragon nuzzled her in return. I’d tell you if I met a nice dragon, the pale purple dragon assured her. I wouldn’t want you to worry like that. Thank you, responded Jessica, smiling. Kasandra nodded. “I suppose that makes sense, although I hear that in the Fire Nation, dragons bond young and help to take care of their partners as they grow. Jessie shrugged. “It’s probably a difference in species. I honestly don’t think it’s that big of an issue, but Liz is careful and I don’t blame her. I also wouldn’t want toddlers trying to feed a dragon and at the rate we’re going, it’s a possibility!” Kasandra laughed. “That does sound…inconvenient.” “God, can you imagine?” Jessie giggled. Crystal rumbled a laugh, also amused by the topic. “Little babies feeding huge dragons?” Kasandra snickered. “We’d need the parents watching super closely to make sure their babies don’t get eaten!” “Or, or trying to ride them. Teensy tiny saddles?” Now the two women were cracking up at the mental imagery. Crystal joined in by sending a mental image of her carrying a frowning Abigail, who was riding a too-large saddle. And that just set them off again.July & September part 2: Maple Cove Forest and Cress took turns incubating the eggs, which provided an interesting insight to dragon dynamics. Liz wondered if this was the product of “domestication” or if whatever wild dragons were in the area simply didn’t feel safe enough to co-parent. She’d have to study it more when they came back home. Raf, Abby, and Sam were harassing her, making sure that she had everything ( Yes, she had enough clothes, underwear, food, books, etc, now please leave her alone!) and her mom was deliberating over which jacket she should bring. “Just bring both, mom,” Liz said tiredly. “Seriously. You never know. And you’re only taking the two, right?” Finally, the three of them and their dragons were ready. Cress had barely been persuaded to come, with Helen finally reminding her that only she would be able to direct the group to the other village. It left the sunset-colored dragon in a bad temper that had even other dragons stepping carefully around her. They said their goodbyes and then they were off. The journey took four days flying straight (and suddenly Liz was daydreaming about Pine being able to go between with Pine adding places she thought would be cool to visit if it didn’t take so long) but finally, Cress indicated that they stop. Let me speak with Nemu, the dragon said to everyone, and he can tell the others. Helen dismounted and let Cress take to the air, presumably to find her mate. “Alrighty,” said Liz, laying across Pine’s neck. “Here’s hoping this also goes well!” “Elizabeth,” chided Pat in his rough yet thready voice. “It will go well.” “We’ll make it happen,” Liz promised and received a smile in return. I, will make it happen. I, just wanna dance, with you. All the way all the way to Chicago… She shook her head, hopefully stopping herself from getting even more distracted. Which was good, as a pair of people (?) were approaching alongside Cress. One was practically a bird, something that looked vaguely like a road runner with cream and red feathers. The other was humanoid, with umber skin and neon-orange hair. Liz simply had to stare and she could feel Pine doing the same. What…the hell? asked Pine, baffled. That’s- That’s a bird! I have no clue, Liz replied honestly. Maybe it’s a bird-person? That’s a thing ? The two were cut off from further conversation when the pair halted and the bird-person spoke. “Hello!” she chirped, literally. “I’m Uchale and this is Drekec of Maple Cove. Who might you be?” She sounded much friendlier than Councilors Kasandra and Feng, but Liz wasn’t completely fooled by the pleasantries; they’d likely be wondering just why three strangers with dragons had shown up to their home. “My name is Elizabeth,” Liz said, taking point, “this is Helen, and this is Patrick. Our dragons are Cresselia, Pine, and Kiwi.” As she said each name, she gestured to the individual so that the pair from Maple Cove would know who she was talking about. “We’re here because our Cress mated with your…Nemu?” She paused and locked eyes with her mom, who nodded. “Yeah. And we’ve got three eggs in our Pit from her and we figured that it’d only be fair you have a chance to get an egg or two from the clutch.” Drekec and Uchale locked eyes. Drekec started snorting, likely with laughter, while Uchale’s head hung down. Oh god, was Nemu Uchale’s dragon? A small snort escaped Liz. Man, imagine finding out like this. Oh wait. “Would you and your dragons come with us?” asked Uchale, sounding resigned. She waved a wing, indicating they should follow and the two still on their dragons hurried to dismount, figuring that it would make them seem less threatening. “Sure, where to?” asked Liz, hurrying to walk closer to Uchale. By god, she had legs. Also, road runner likely wasn’t her species of bird, but alas, Liz was very uninformed on the myriad species of birds that existed in the world. She’d once had a classmate who probably could have told her. Stop doing that! I thought you were a bird! echoed in her head, the remnant of their eighth grade camping trip. Good days. “I need to ask Nemu something,” Uchale responded. “Ah, the good ol’ ‘Is that seriously what you were doing and you didn’t bother to tell me?’” asked Liz, nodding wisely. Uchale cackled. “Yeah, that’s right. Dumbass dragon,” she said fondly. “I feel ya. My-- Uh, Helen wasn’t all that happy when Cress started laying out of the blue.” God, how was Liz supposed to address her mom? “The doctor?” Nah, that sounded too scifi when they weren’t in the office. “Helen?” That was probably the right way to go about it, but it felt weird because that was her mom. Ugh. Uchale sighed, a hint of a laugh in her voice. “It’s not the first time for us, but I wish our dragons gave us more of a heads-up.” “Right?” At the cliff, the group split into two. Liz stuck with Uchale, who went down to the waterside while Helen and Pat went with Drekec, who presumably would talk to the leader (or leaders) of the village. Pine took to the air and circled from above, assuring her rider that she’d look out for them. Just in case. Neither really thought that anything would happen, but it was best to be sure. Liz saw the blue-and-red sea serpent rise from the water and her eyes widened. Oh God, Nemu was huge. Well, not that big--he looked to be a little longer than a bus, but he certainly gave off the feeling of “bigness”. I don’t know what Cress saw in him, Pine confided in a low tone. He’s… Liz pursed her lips and struggled not to laugh. She lost the battle when Uchale started berating Nemu and bemoaning that her precious companion hadn’t entrusted her with knowledge as important as this. The tirade was impressively long-winded and it felt like forever before Uchale turned to Liz, head drooping in apparent defeat. “I’m so sorry,” Uchale said. “He’s just a dumbass.” Liz snorted with amusement. “Eh, we love ‘em despite it.” “That we do,” Uchale said, nodding in agreement. Later that day, over dinner with the village’s leader, Liz was told what was going to happen. Maple Cove would send three representatives, although only two were actual candidates for the dragon--the third was to keep the pair in line. Like with Rlung Temple, the other village wanted their people home as soon as possible. Liz warned them that the dragons likely wouldn’t be rideable for at least a year, but that they could work something out. Likely, the representatives would ride back on older dragons, with their dragons following close behind. This was a compromise that everyone could live with. The food was good; it was seafood, and Liz hadn’t had proper seafood in a while. She dove into the shrimp and clams with relish, although she silently bemoaned the lack of proper sauce. Alas, this wasn’t a restaurant so she had to take what she could get. The shrimp was really good, though. “Have you ever…” Liz trailed off. Ylva cocked her head in a clear question. She was mute, but talked using clicks and sign language. Interestingly, Liz was able to pick up her thoughts as she signed and clicked, which made it easier to understand her. Liz’s mouth twisted. “Ever considered sushi?” Ylva clicked. Sushi? “Raw fish and rice,” Liz explained. “I’m oversimplifying it but it’s really good. Back home, fancy establishments would put a lot into their sushi--cucumbers, sauces, crab, fish, seaweed, fish roe, mango…” She sighed in happy remembrance. “It’s so good when done properly. Probably hard to make--I’ve got no clue how the rice is made--but it’s so good.” “Hmm,” Ylva considered. She nodded. Interesting. Her brow furrowed a moment later and she signed something. Raw fish? “Yeah, raw anything usually ain’t all that great,” admitted Liz, assuming that Ylva meant to ask about its safety. “But the fish are raised in special hatcheries and screened for disease. I think. You could probably sear the fish and still have it come out really good. But please don’t take my word as gospel. Uhh, as fact,” she quickly corrected. A thought suddenly struck her. Shit. Did Ylva assume that she knew sign language? Because she really didn’t. What she was doing was almost mind-reading, which was very different. Well. When put it that way… “Uhh, I should probably tell you something,” said Liz, heart pounding in her throat. Ylva folded her hands into her lap. “Soo, I’m telepathic. That means I can communicate mind-to-mind.” Ylva narrowed her eyes and cocked her head. She made a sign with her hand that Liz had no clue how to interpret. The “thought” she was getting from Ylva felt like she was asking about mind-reading. Which, fair. Not what Liz could do, not really, but it was definitely a reasonable question. “You’re asking if I read minds, right?” Liz asked to clarify. Ylva nodded sharply. “Not technically. Like, I guess it’s a form of reading minds? But only what you ‘send’ at me. I honestly have no clue what you’re signing but you’re also thinking what you sign when you sign, and it corresponds to what you’re trying to tell me, so I’m guessing based on that. It’s not as accurate as it’d be if you were thinking full sentences at me, though. And I could talk to you mind-to-mind. It’s really useful sometimes,” she said, grinning, “because it can help me get a point across with emotions and images, not just words. But even if I could read minds, I wouldn’t,” she said, grin falling away, “because it’s a huge invasion of privacy.” Ylva nodded again, this time considering. You can understand this? she thought, signing slowly at the same time. Liz nodded. “Yeah, that came through loud and clear!” Ylva made a thoughtful noise. Why tell me? she asked, appearing to forcibly still her hands. Liz guessed that Ylva wanted to test something. Maybe whether Liz could “hear” the thought without the accompanying gestures, or a test of whether Ylva could communicate without signing. Liz sighed and her brow furrowed. “Everyone back home knows,” she finally said. “And since you communicate via sign, I dunno. I thought you especially should know? Because I don’t think anyone back home knows sign, let alone your variant, and it didn’t seem fair that I might give the impression that I actually know. But you can continue to sign around me!” she said hurriedly. “I’ll probably pick up some of it. It’s how I relearned a language, actually--listened to music while reading the lyrics so eventually, I got better at discerning words and whatnot. So I bet that eventually, I’ll learn what gestures correspond to what you’re, ah, thinking about.” She gave a little half-grin and Ylva smiled in return, catching the accidental joke. Okay, said Ylva while signing simultaneously. Thank you for telling me. It’s…an interesting magic. I’ve never encountered a telepath before. “Until my dad asked where the music was coming from, we didn’t realize that I was telepathic either,” Liz admitted. Ylva cocked her head, apparently interested in the story. “I like listening to music and I like trying to recreate it in my head. I’ve got a really good memory so sometimes, I’ll be thinking about music and it sounds so realistic that I have to check someone’s not playing the song and that it’s just me. When my dad was hearing the nonexistent music too, that’s when I realized that I was ‘broadcasting’ it. And then we started playing around with it more. Was an interesting time,” she said with a chuckle. That had been around when she’d realized that she was a pyrokinetic too, if she recalled correctly. (Which she did. It was a couple of weeks later and then Liz had started bugging her dad to figure out if he had any magic too.) It must have been, agreed Ylva. By this point, Liz was feeling a little more at ease. Ylva didn’t appear upset at the telepath revelation (although she wouldn’t be surprised if Ylva was a little wary) and the whole dragon egg thing seemed to be proceeding nicely. Tomorrow, they’d go home and make sure that no one had burned down the village while they’d been gone. [ Dance to Chicago ] July & September part 3: the hatching The eggs hatched in early September and by this point, they had a system. It was funny, Liz considered, how much she had managed to steal from Dragonriders of Pern. The day the eggs were supposed to hatch, nearby dragons began to hum and croon. Forest, whose eggs were laid first and thus were hatching first, went hunting. She was joined by Pine, Quasar, and Cress. Together, the dragons brought back a couple of bucks that the villagers--everyone from Gold and Iron, Rlung Temple, and Maple Cove--helped to butcher. (Except for Liz, Cassie, and a few others who were too squeamish. They helped to coordinate and keep the kids out of trouble.) When the humming began to increase in intensity and the eggs started shuddering, the first batch of candidates were moved into a circle around the Pit; from Rlung Temple, there was Kasandra, Fresia, Anai, and Drusilla, and from Gold and Iron, there was Foxglove, Cassie, Finn, Ed, and Brian. It was enough for the eggs but Liz still worried that it wouldn’t be enough, or that the dragons would try to bond with one of the kiddos. She shuddered, thinking about Abby or Sammy with the responsibility of a dragon. Raph with Forest was bad enough at 10, and he’d had the misfortune of spending his formative years growing up in the zombie apocalypse. When the eggs hatched, it was as if everyone held their breath. The first dragon to hatch was blue with orange stripes, dull from egg fluid, and had fuzzy tendrils on its head, back, and tail. It swung its head side to side before latching onto Brian, who was holding out a chunk of meat. It lunged towards him and practically swallowed his hand before withdrawing gently. Liz turned her head to see that Kasandra had also Impressed a brown and green dragonet, and that the rest of the candidates were trying to coax the dragonets to themselves. Even Cassie was braving the dragonets, holding out her piece of meat delicately. As a pale white dragonet approached Cassie, Liz saw that Drusilla was caressing a red dragonet with orange feathers, still damp from being inside the egg. The rest of the hatching proceeded quickly after that; seven out of the eight eggs hatched, four of them going to Rlung Temple. Those left Standing left to continue their duties while Liz took over with the new dragonriders. She taught them how to feed their dragonets--“Don’t let them eat too fast or they’ll choke. It hasn’t been a problem more than once, but that once was enough!”--how to bathe them, and where they’d sleep. She congratulated everyone, especially Brian and Cassie, and then left to be with Pine for a bit. “God, I know it’s super exciting, but I really hope we don’t ever wind up doing these huge feasts for every hatching,” Liz groaned into Pine’s side. “I guess maybe in fifty years if we only have one hatching every five years or less, but right now when we’re finding a dragon practically every year? Fuck no.” Pine chuckled. But surely you’d like to celebrate the fruits of your labor? “Not if I have to make the food myself!!”
Six days later, Cress’s eggs hatched. The same procedure was followed, this time with significantly fewer candidates. Ed was the only one from Gold and Iron to Impress this time, but Finn wasn’t too disappointed. “I’m sure there’ll be a dragon for me soon,” they said good-naturedly. “We’ll either find one or wind up with a clutch!” “Don’t even joke. Please,” Liz begged. The three new riders walked away a little tired but happy. In the background, Anai shrieked as Omnira splashed her with soapy water. When the dragonets were older, they wouldn’t need such frequent baths--although did once a week when they were babies really count as frequent?--but Liz remembered from her own experience with Pine that it helped ensure the scales grew in and, later, molted well. All in all, everything had been a success. Thank God.
The first month after the eggs had hatched was especially hectic; the dragonets were constantly growing and needed ridiculous amounts of food. Everyone was run ragged trying to provide. Liz, Raph, Jessie, and Manny took point on helping the new riders as their dragons were the oldest, and Forest was the mother of one of the clutches. They helped teach how to anticipate their dragons’ needs, how to communicate with their dragons, and general dragon care. They also helped the new riders actually practice riding dragons; the riders of Forest’s clutch generally practiced on Forest or Pine, while the riders of Cress’s clutch generally practiced on Cress or Rhodrolth. The second month was calmer, with routines and lines of communication between the three villages better established. An alliance was made between them, which Liz was extraordinarily grateful for, and Princess Nandi had suggested that she and Ryu might come visit sometime soon. Uchale had instead offered for Helen and Cress to visit Maple Cove, as Nemu was unable to swim so far inland. (Which, fair.) Liz also took the time to interrogate ask the villagers of Rlung Temple how their bending worked. She knew it was connected to martial arts somehow but nothing beyond that. None of the Rlung Temple riders were firebenders, but Kasandra was a waterbender and the firebending and waterbending styles were somewhat similar, apparently. So Liz dragged Raph over and the three spent time discussing their magics. When Fresia caught wind of the magic discussion, she too joined the group. The benders were mildly horrified by Liz and Raph’s form (in their defense, Liz had done karate for less than a year at five years old and Raph had never taken martial arts classes), but intrigued at how their magic worked with little more than a thought. Liz and Raph, in the meantime, were curious to learn how forms were developed, how specific forms corresponded to specific outcomes in bending, and how necessary forms were to those uses. By the third month, the non-native riders were all itching to go home and Liz agreed that it wouldn’t be long before they could leave. The dragonets weren’t big enough to be flown on but they were starting to be capable of flight for several hours at a time. Additionally, there wasn’t much more that Liz needed to teach them; it wasn’t as if they were building a dragonrider army that needed to work together. So they decided that everyone would go their separate ways by the fourth month. In the third month, time was mostly spent getting the young dragons used to flying for longer periods of time, and the older dragons started teaching them how to hunt. Some flying drills were practiced to teach the younger dragons basic precautions, such as how to avoid a dragon flying too close. Forest and Ryu’s clutch started to show their variety of feathers and fur, which Liz was fascinated by. She itched to know the genetics behind it all, but quietly bemoaned the lack of someone knowledgable in the field. And she had other priorities now anyways, like the health and safety of both humans and dragons in the village. In the fourth month, everyone said their goodbyes and see-you-laters, and scattered. As much as Liz would have liked to go, she couldn’t as her parents were going instead. The Rlung Temple group, headed by George, took about two-and-a-half weeks to return. This was partially because the temple had moved its position in the sky, partially because the young dragons needed more rest than the adults, and partially because they took an extra couple of days to get everyone settled again. The journey back apparently took less than five days which was significant, but nothing like the journey there. The Maple Cove group, headed by Helen, only took a week. The groups returned with alliances in place and all the young dragons happily settled in their new homes. Liz could finally rest. Thank God.November “I was thinking,” said Brian slowly, fingers playing with the little box in his hoodie pocket. He and Liz sat on a log a little ways into the forest, watching Pine play with Puffin. “Dangerous occupation but do go on,” Liz said quickly and with a smile. It was a lazy November day; frost nipped the air and the trees were looking increasingly bare. The sun was out but the wind was blowing, so everyone was bundled up. Brian snorted. Then he inhaled and exhaled. “I was thinking,” he repeated, “about our future.” Liz straightened up, giving him a wary look. “I…want… us.” “Me too,” Liz said quietly. “Never really thought too hard about it because nose in the books. Was studying, studying, and then…” Brian quirked his lips. “Zombie apocalypse. I can’t even imagine.” He looked away but swung his head back just as quickly. “I want a family,” he said suddenly. “What’s stopping us, really? No school,” he said with a half-smile, “no one keeping us apart, no world-changing obligations--” “Hey, we don’t know that!” Liz interjected playfully. Her smile dropped. “I’m just--” Her mouth worked silently for a moment. “I’m just afraid,” she finished quietly. Brian looked at her tenderly. “You’ve got your mom and dad here. You’ve got your siblings. You’ve got a whole village of people who care for you. I love you and your quirks. I want to be there, every step of the way. If we have kids, I want to be there for them. I’ll always have your back.” Liz pursed her lips and looked down. She stretched out her legs and then tucked them back under. Brian wondered, yet again, how she was so comfortable sitting in the ways she did. But that was just one of the things that his Liz did. He waited silently. He’d give her all the time in the world. “I-- Yeah. I want kids. I want a family,” she finally said, voice cracking a little. “But marriage first.” Brian grinned. “Marriage first. Then I have something to give to you.” Liz’s eyes widened with delighted surprise as he got off the log and knelt in front of her. He was vaguely aware of Pine and Puffin stopping their game, focusing completely on them. He took out the box and opened it, revealing a gold band with tiny inlaid diamonds. He’d created it himself, first sketching out the design and then creating and creating until he found something that worked. It had to be simple; he’d noticed that all her jewelry tended towards simplicity. And it had to look good as a necklace; he knew she hated the feeling of rings, and would likely convert it to a necklace as soon as she could. He didn’t mind. He hated the feeling of dead leaves on his feet and imagined that wearing a ring for her would be like constantly walking on leaves barefoot. “Elizabeth Ruben, will you marry me?” he asked. Liz laughed joyfully. “Yes! Yes I will.” He plucked the ring from the box and put it onto her outstretched hand. She held it up to her face, admiring it from all angles. Brian grinned like a fool, bursting with pride that she liked it. “Next year,” Liz said suddenly. “Huh?” “We’ll plan our wedding for next year. Don’t want to rush it. I’m thinking maybe March? Or April? But not too close to my birthday on either end.” “Yeah,” said Brian, understanding. “Yeah, that sounds good. March or April. We can talk about it more later, but I like that.” He and Liz met each other’s eyes. They kissed. Elizabeth scrolled through her playlist to find the right song before she started the dishes. They’d come far technologically in only seven years, but dishwashers were still unavailable which was an absolute tragedy. Ah, there. She clicked on the song, set the rest of the playlist to shuffle, and picked up the first plate. “If I was a younger man, I’d probably make, the same mistake twice,” she sang, voice higher than it probably should be. Sue her, she was doing the best she could. It was a good distraction from the monotony of washing the dishes. “The closer the heart is, the harder it becomes, to do what’s right. Even through, the thick and thin,” she continued, pitch rising and falling to match the singer, “secretly we want to win. Well I’m takin’ it back, takin’ it back, takin’ it back, it’s time to confess our si-ih-ins. Woah before, the world you’ve built crumbles away.” In her mind, the guitar continued to play. Elizabeth continued singing as she scrubbed at the dishes with her totally-not-stolen-from-some-other-universe sponge, finding a certain comfort in knowing that she was relatively alone and wouldn’t be bothered. This chore would never be her favorite--especially since she was doing the dishes for seven people today--but there were so few times she got to do something like this. Just be alone, with nothing but some music and her voice for company. She loved people, she loved her family, and she loved her fiance, but alone time was necessary for her mental health. “It started with cold feet, lemme begin again,” she sang, voice hard to match the original singer’s voice. “ Hindsight’s obviously the clearest option. I’m takin’ it back with all that I believe in. Everything happens I won’t fight the reasons,” she finished softly. Then, she turned to the remaining pile of dishes with a glare. Dammit, why couldn’t the dishes be magically done after one song? Ugh. Stupid universe, not acquescing to her every demand. Nothing to be done about it but continue on, she supposed. So she picked up the next dish and sang on.
CONSUMPTION[ The villagers 21+ years old (14) consume 14 servings: x2 trout and x1 mushroom. ] [ The villagers 8-20 years old (3) consume 1.5 servings: x0.5 rabbit and x1 strawberry. ] [ The animals (16) consume 4 servings: x1 rabbit and x1 sheep. ] ADDITIONS & RANK CHANGES[ The following animals are welcomed: Puffin, Shimmer, Sunset, Temrot, Willow (dragons), and Reynard (fox). ] [ The following villagers are welcomed: Finley Pearson (gatherer). ] [ The following births are welcomed: none. ] [ The following have completed testing: none. ] [ The following have completed training: none. ] PATROLS[ Cassandra and Finley go on a gathering patrol. ] [ Emmanuel leads Edwin and Maximilian on a hunting patrol. They bring Quasar, Sunset and Limeade (dragons), and Reynard (fox). They use x1 steel spear. ] [ Patrick and Brian go on a border patrol. They bring Mila (dog). They use x1 iron pickaxe. ] [ Grace and Skye go on a scouting patrol. They bring Noodle and Shimmer (dragons). ] [ Helen researches medicine. ] SEEDS AND CRAFTING[ George uses x1 copper, x1 glass, and x1 wood to craft a compass. ] INTERNS AND APPRENTICES[ Mary and Amanda test scouting. ] [ Grace teaches Raphael diplomacy. ] INJURIES & SICKNESS[ N/A ] FAMILIES & CHILDREN[ Foxglove goes into labor! The father is unknown. Elizabeth (6 KP) helps. ] [ Jessica goes into labor! The father is Emmanuel. Elizabeth (6 KP) helps. ] [ Brian and Elizabeth try for children. ] ANIMALS[ Mila (dog) hunts for scraps. ] OTHER[ George stays back with his children. ] MOD NOTES[ Please don't kill anyone with a ★. If a ★ person has a dragon, please don't kill the dragon either. ] PERSONAL NOTES[ In post 8, Finley will become a fabrics alchemist and defender (aura-sight). ]
𝐀𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐬CATS (0) | COWS (0) | HORSES (0) | SHEEP (0) | None yet | None yet | None yet | None yet |
BIRDS (0) | DOGS (1) | FOXES (1) | None yet | Mila | ♀ | 2 years | black lab | Reynard | ♂ | 1 year | red fox |
DRAGONS (14) | FIRE-LIZARDS (0) | Cresselia | ♀ | 4 years | wyvern Crystal | ♀ | 5 years | mountain Forest | ♀ | 6 years | forest Kiwi | ♂ | 2 years | forest Limeade | ♀ | 2 years | forest Noodle | ♂ | 3 years | lung Pine | ♀ | 6 years | forest Puffin | ♂ | 1 year | forest dragon hybrid Quasar | ♂ | 5 years | mountain Rhodrolth | ♂ | 4 years | wyvern Shimmer | ♂ | 1 year | forest dragon Sunset | ♂ | 1 year | wyvern Temrot | ♀ | 1 year | dragon Willow | ♀ | 1 year | forest dragon hybrid | None yet |
George Ruben Helen Ruben Foxglove Sunbright Emmanuel "Manny" Cohen Patrick "Pat" Stark Jessica "Jessie" Thompson-Cohen Elizabeth "Liz" Ruben Cassandra "Cassie" Lewis Finley “Finn” Pearson Edwin "Ed" Haber Maximilian "Max" Peterson Brian Cliffshield Grace Brown Skye Rivers Raphael Ruben Mary Watkins Amanda Abigail "Abby" Samuel "Sam" Mila Reynard Cresselia Crystal Forest Kiwi Limeade Noodle Pine Puffin Quasar Rhodrolth Shimmer Sunset Temrot Willow
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