Creative Corner

@Digimon11 @Axqu @Tsukistar @Neige @Hanelli @Nimphy @gunslinger [center][i]Notes at the bottom again! And I'm posting this late at night because I got excited, so I'll get up and edit for typos and such tomorrow morning! Apologies for any errors you might encounter. D: [/i] [size=6][b][u]I.[/u][/b][/size] Day 6 - The Shifting Expanse. Distance Traveled 94/144 [/center] I couldn’t say that the next day was very interesting. It was more of the same – fly, hide, rest, and then fly again. Perhaps I was being a little too cautious – Keir was getting concerned for my health (to which I replied, “if you could stop growing for a day or so, that’d be great” and she just laughed at me) [i]and[/i] it seemed like we were out-flying the harpies. Of course, that was what I [i]thought[/i] until we went to sleep that night. I was curled around Keir like always (though I had only been half-joking earlier – she really was growing at a fast pace and she was almost too big to sleep like that) and jerked awake when I heard the quiet shifting noise of feathers. I growled and started sparking in the little cave we had found. Keir woke up a moment later, startled, and just looked at my sparks. I carefully crawled over her, standing between her and the entrance of the cave, and peeked out – - only to get my nose slashed at by a harpy! I growled loudly, shooting out several Shock Bolts, and then turned around to grab Keir. Keir, the smart girl, had already grabbed our little bundle of belongings and was ready to go when I held her close to my chest and took off into the night sky. She was getting heavier, but until she could fly as fast as I could or until we could afford to fly slower, it was faster to carry her. I glanced down as she yawned, blinking wearily up at me before giving me a sleepy smile. I returned it hesitantly. It broke my heart that she was growing up like this – on the run and being ambushed. Ever since we had gone out the day before, my own incompetency was glaring me in the face. Keir deserved better. [center][size=6][b][u]I.[/u][/b][/size] Day 7 - The Shifting Expanse. Distance Traveled [color=green]146/144[/color] [/center] We flew into the morning, further into the Highland Scrub. I didn’t know [i]where[/i] I was going, but it just had to be out of the Shifting Expanse. I had shifted Keir around so she was clinging to my back, wings tucked against her in an attempt to prevent drag and slow me down. While I was rather proud of my stamina, I had been flying for a while. "Lan," Keir whimpered from my back. I couldn't muster a response, so I just hummed loud enough to make sure Keir knew I had heard. "You need to rest," she said quietly. "Can't," I huffed out. I snuck a glance behind us and didn't see anything. Good. "Lan! In front!" I whipped around, shooting off a large bolt of electricity before I looked. It was just an Emerald Webwing, but the attack was enough to frighten it out of the way. After that, though, I was out of breath - in both senses of the word. Keir yelped as I spread my wings and half soared, half fell towards the ground, narrowly avoiding a cactus. I skidded to a stop, opting to stay lying on the ground as I caught my breath. Keir crawled off of me and sat at my side. "I told you," she said quietly, though there was no ill will or sarcasm in her voice, just concern. I just rolled his eyes at her good-naturedly, but didn't move. "Let me know if there's anything coming," I said, closing my eyes. Keir hummed an affirmation, and I tried to meditate. I needed to regain some Breath in case he needed to fight, and also rest a bit. It was difficult to push the multitude of thoughts from my mind, but I finally managed it and felt Breath begin to come to me, giving me the energy I needed to fire off electricity. Keir shook me out of it soon, though, with a whisper of "Lan, um ... There's another dragon. He's the same type as Rivis." [center] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=13354129] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/133542/13354129_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] [i]Huh?[/i] I opened my eyes, and then sat up when I saw the unfamiliar dragon. A Coatl. We were similar sizes, so we were probably similar ages. "Uh ... hi?" I called out warily. Coatls often had trouble speaking draconian, and while I could understand Coatl accents pretty well due to having a Coatl mother, I wasn’t sure how easily draconian came to this dragon and tried to speak clearly. "Er, are we in your territory?" I felt Keir grip my side with one hand, her Blue Quartz in the other, and half hide behind me. "We don't mean any harm," I said in the calmest voice I could muster, though I was sure I still sounded out of breath, "we just need to rest then we'll go, I promise." “H-hello,” the Coatl responded hesitantly. I cracked a small smile when he returned the greeting. I glanced down at Keir, who looked a little confused, and was about to say something else when a loud screech of “Zeeeeecht!” made me wince. Keir jumped and shrank back behind me, and I whipped my head towards the sound, only to see a Coatl female approach. [center] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=12608558] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/126086/12608558_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] I watched the Coatls warily as they conversed in their own tongue, bending down slightly when Keir tugged on my feathers lightly. "Lan," she whispered, "what are they doing?" "They're speaking Coatl," I said quietly back, and then straightened when the female spoke in draconian. “Oh, don’t worry about Zecht over here. We’re not too touchy about people passing by our territory,” she said before glancing at Keir. Keir met her eyes, but then hid a little further behind me. “…but where are you headed? This is the end of the Shifting Expanse, out there is… well… the world. I don’t know what brings you here, but feel free to stay a bit… I may not know where you’re headed, but…” I followed the Coatl’s gaze as she glanced away. … A ring of cacti? Their lair? “…would you want to stay a bit? Or are you in a hurry?” I tilted my head slightly to give her all of my attention and focus on her words. Overall, I understood what she said even if a couple of words escaped me. I laughed a bit before answering. "Sorry about that, we weren't really paying attention to where we were going." I glanced down at Keir who looked utterly confused. It seemed like she couldn't understand the Coatls. "We're headed to ... er ..." I trailed off a moment in thought before speaking again. "Well, anywhere outside the Shifting Expanse, really. And, um, thanks for the offer, but we're in a bit of a hurry. I'm not really sure what my clan did, but we really angered a flock of harpies and ... well ... we'll be traveling for a while, I guess you could say." The Coatl hissed, sounding concerned, and Keir moved out from behind me to look up at me with a furrowed brow. I'd have to talk with her a bit later. "Ah, right," I said, nudging Keir out from behind me to face the Coatls properly, "I'm Lan, and this is Keir. And you guys are, um, Zecht, was it? And ... ?" “Ariadne. My name’s Ariadne,” the female – Ariadne – supplied. I couldn’t understand her next bit, which was in Coatl, but I gave her a nod and a smile to show that I understood her draconian. Keir gave me a look that said she was lost. “Ariadne and Zecht," I said to Keir, gesturing to each of them in turn. She nodded shyly, still half-hiding behind my leg. A moment later, I glanced around nervously, looking back towards the way we had come. "Er, if you guys could point us in the direction of the border of the Shifting Expanse, we'd be really grateful ..." “Follow us, and stay close. It’s not that far to the end of the borders… but… wherever you’re going, be careful out there.” I returned my attention to Ariadne as she spoke again before pausing a moment. Some of her words were in Coatl, but even without understanding every word, I think I got the gist of it. I looked at Zecht as he gestured to Ariadne. “Follow her, I’ll take the rear.” Zecht's words were a little harder to understand, but with the help of his gestures I got the idea and nodded. "Thank you," I said to both of them before nudging Keir to follow Ariadne. Keir still gripped my feathers lightly as we followed the Coatl. Her eyes grew wide as she peered into the ring of cacti, taking in the sights. She perked up when the sound of hatchlings and a hissed tune reached the group, then looked up at me. I laughed a bit and glanced at Ariadne as she explained. “Sorry about that, the kids are a bit rowdy.” "Oh, it's no problem," I said before turning to Keir. "Hatchlings," I explained to her, "they're probably only a couple days younger than you." Her eyes were still wide as she looked up at me. "But I didn't sound like that, did I?" "No," I said, laughing, "but you're also not a Coatl. And you just ... started talking. Pretty amazing, really." Keir's wide eyes lit up and she grinned with pride, seeming to relax as she kept staring at the lair, probably hoping to catch a glimpse of the hatchlings. Both of us turned when Zecht returned with a package, watching as he and Ariadne spoke in Coatl. “Take it, we insist,” was all Ariadne said as she suddenly handed it to us. I stared wide-eyed at the package, looking at the Hallowed Ivy inside. I lowered it so Keir could see and she smiled. I felt a similar smile spread on my face, and after a moment I spoke, still shocked, "th-thank you! This helps a lot." A moment later I noticed Zecht looking around. I followed his gaze behind us and shifted nervously. "Well," I began, tucking away the gift and picking Keir up. She really was getting too big, but there was no choice. "We should get going. I'm not sure how the harpies are tracking us, and I don't want to bring you guys trouble." Keir gave the Coatls a shy smile and a wave as I stretched my wings. "Ah, um, we're from Clan Scion, and our matriarch is named Dian. If you see any of them ... could you tell them that we're alright?" I gave them a thankful but nervous smile before taking to the air, starting to get antsy. "Thanks again, Zecht and Ariadne!" Keir waved and echoed my sentiment quietly, "thank you!" And then I turned towards the border. To be quite honest, I wasn’t really sure [i]which[/i] border was closest, but I picked a direction at random and stuck with it. The sunlight started getting brighter, and judging by the lack of increase in water or lava, I had a pretty good idea of which border I was heading towards. In the distance, I could see a tall but broken tower. The Beacon of the Radiant Eye. Suddenly, Keir started sparking and tugged rather sharply on my feathers. “Ow!” I said, stopping and hovering in the air. I turned to look at her on my back. “What was that for?” She looked confused and her nose was scrunched up. “Um … I don’t really know,” she said, and I just gave her a [i]look[/i]. “But there’s something here. I can feel some static …” “Harpies?” I asked, casting a wary look behind us. “No,” Keir said scanning the ground, “it’s more like … the kind of static I felt when we passed Ariadne and Zecht’s lair …” She suddenly jumped off of my back and soared to the ground, nearly giving me a heart attack. I dove and landed beside her quickly, watching as she rummaged around in a nearby shrub. I had no idea what she was looking for, but the shrub seemed to be a bit of a garbage dump. She tossed out a couple of old scroll cases, a broken shell, and even squeaked in surprise and hurriedly tossed out some bone. Then she bent forward and grabbed something, walking back to me triumphantly. My jaw dropped and I stared at her in disbelief. “This is it!” She said, holding the item out to me, “er … what [i]is[/i] it?” “That’s …” I began, pausing for a moment to find my voice again, “that’s a Lightning egg.” We were about to head into the Sunbeam Ruins. With an egg. [i]Gods help me,[/i] I prayed, [i]I am not ready for this kind of responsibility.[/i] [center] [IMG]http://i230.photobucket.com/albums/ee169/Tainted-Kitten/3abffeda-1bce-45b0-9629-3800d8cffb42.png[/IMG][/center] ----- [i]Eventful update this time! And a huge thanks to Hanelli for the gift and small crossover! :’D Also who would’ve thought that I would scavenge one last time before posting this and moving to the next area and find an [b]egg[/b]?! This is literally my third egg find ever – I honestly did not expect to find any – I thought I’d have to buy eggs for my Nuzlocke! Also, I'm actually pretty happy that the RNG gave me the Sunbeam Ruins next! Mostly happy for Lan - the poor kid wouldn't know what to do in the Sea of a Thousand Currents or the Ashfall Wastes. xD As always, thank you all for your continued support! I’m super excited to hatch this egg omg. :’D [/i]

@Cien

Lan and Keir are just so cute x3 And congrats on the egg!
*is also excited to see what you hatch* xD

@Cien

*is now wigging out at the cross over part*

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhh yessssss

Also oml congrats on the Lightning egg!

@Neige
Wahh thank you! It's been taking all of my self control to not hatch it right away. :'D

@Hanelli
Hehe, thank you again! I had a lot of fun! c:
And thanks! I'm so excited to hatch it! *v*

@Digimon11 @Axqu @Tsukistar @Neige @Hanelli @Nimphy @gunslinger


Keir asked me endless questions about the egg we found as we crossed the border into the Sunbeam Ruins. She was situated on my back and I carried the egg in my arms as we flew, and I could feel Keir peering over my shoulder.

“So …” she began, speaking quietly near my ear, “a dragon will come from that? Did I come from one? Did you?”

“Yep,” I said, trying my best to speak while flying and carrying a nearly grown Skydancer and and an egg, “dunno what kind though. Probably a Mirror, Fae, Guardian, or Tundra.”

Keir made a noise of confusion. “Have we met any?”

I shook my head. “No, you’ve only seen Coatls, like Rivis, Zecht, and Ariadne, and Imperials, like Sulis and Aine. And Skydancers, of course, like us.”

Keir was quiet for a while and I focused on flying. We were officially in Light Flight territory, and I could see some ruins in the distance, but … they seemed kinda … dark? Wasn’t it supposed to be really bright –

“Woah!” I yelped and wobbled in the air as Keir suddenly shifted her weight to get a better look at the egg and slipped a bit. I stopped flying, staying in the air, and let Keir readjust herself on my back. “What’s going on back there?”

“Sorry,” she said, not sounding very apologetic as she stared at the egg. “I can feel the static from inside,” she said quietly.

I turned my head and raised an eyebrow at her. “What do you mean?”

She shook her head. “I can’t explain it. I can feel the static coming from you, too.” Keir paused before laughing quietly, “well, it’s less like static and more like a … lightning storm.”

I laughed at that, and continued to fly as we talked. “I'm not really sure what you mean, but that’s because I’m a Storm Dancer. We’re initiated by flying into a thunderstorm, and our job is to weave storms for Stormcatcher. I’ll tell you more about Storm Dancers later,” I added, breathing heavily, “when we’re not flying.”

We were silent as I flew towards the ruins, and as we got closer the sun seemed to fade. It was like the entire area was in the shade, but … there weren’t any clouds in the sky. Weird.

I landed in the remains of what looked like it used to be a four-walled structure. Before I let Keir off my back, I poked around the ruins, making sure it was safe. Once satisfied, I carefully sat down and felt Keir ease off of my back. I handed her the egg and flopped down. I suddenly had a thought and turned to her. “Could you sense anything from Zecht and Ariadne?”

She hummed noncommittally. “Er … maybe? Not static, but … something.” Keir was silent for a minute, holding the egg, then turned her gaze to me with worried cyan eyes. “… Is that strange?”

I shook my head and wrapped a wing around her. “I'm sure it's not. I’m no expert, but if I had to guess, I’d say that you’re just … attuned to magic.” I withdrew my wing and shot her a smile. “If you’re concerned, we can find a market and find someone to ask.”

Keir’s eyes lit up. “We can?! Really?”

“Sure,” I said with a laugh, “now that we’re out of the Shifting Expanse, I think we should be in less danger. Maybe not today, but we can go soon, alright?”

“Okay!” Keir said, nodding with enthusiasm.

I stood up a moment later, smiling. “Then, I’m going to go hunt. I won’t go far. Will you be okay watching the egg on your own for a bit?”

She froze up, expression turning to one of nervousness. “I … um … Don’t we have enough food? Zecht and Ariadne gave us a lot …”

“We do,” I said, “but we only have plants right now. If the egg hatches into, say, a Mirror, we’ll need some other types of food.”

“Well …” Keir still didn’t sound sure. “Okay … just … come back soon.”

I ruffled the feathers on her head and nodded. “You got it.”

---

I didn’t get back to Keir that quickly.

I hunted in the Training Fields for a while, and got a small amount of insects, meat, and seafood, and then got a little cocky. I went to the Woodland Path and quickly got over my head. I immediately ran into two Janustrap, and I just couldn’t generate Breath fast enough. I shot off Contuse after Contuse, finishing one off with a Shock Bolt, but by then I was injured heavily. There was no choice – I had to flee.

On my way back to the ruins I had left Keir in, I chugged a health potion I had found. While it didn’t help the bruises and remnants of blood, it helped some of the cuts and my energy. I paused to try to clean off some of the blood, but gave up quickly and flew back to the ruins.

Keir gasped when she saw me, running to meet me with the egg in one hand. “Lan! What happened?! Are you okay?”

I groaned and nodded, flopping onto the ground as Keir sat beside me and started looking over my scratches. “I’m fine. I just got in a little over my head.” I pulled out a small bundle of things that I found and nudged them towards her. “I found some stuff, though.”

She just glared at me. “You need to be more careful. Let me come with you next time.”

I just sighed. “Sorry,” I said quietly. “And … in the future, I’ll need your help, but for now I need you to watch the egg. And when it hatches, the hatchling.” Keir looked like she was going to protest but I was too tired. I flung a wing over her, laying my head down on my arms and glancing up at her. “I know, I know, you’re almost full grown. But I can’t protect you both out there. We’ll have to wait and think about it again later.”

Keir didn’t seem very happy about my decision, but conceded. She reached over to grab our small bundle of belongings and put the food I had gotten in with them. I noticed her Blue Quartz as she did so. It’d be nice if we could get that made into something she could wear so she didn’t have to carry it around. I yawned again and closed my eyes. Keir didn’t move from under my wing, opting to use it as a blanket since it was pretty much the same size as her and sleep by my side.

The egg was tucked between us and, for the first time in a while, I fell asleep with a relaxed smile.

---

In the middle of the night, we were awakened by a noise. I opened my eyes and yelped when I saw one large cyan eye staring at me – wait a minute. I peered more carefully into the darkness as Keir stirred beside me, sleepily asking what was going on.

“Er,” I began, sparking a little to generate some light, “are you … ?”

The Storm Seeker cocked its head before hopping towards me, dropping a Lightning Runestone at my feet. My eyes widened. “It is you!”

“What’s who?” Keir mumbled, squinting into the darkness before her eyes widened. She smiled happily when she saw the Storm Seeker. “Oh! I remember you!”

The Storm Seeker nipped affectionately at Keir’s feathers before hopping over to me and fluttering its wings a little, hitting me in the face. “That wasn’t an accident, was it?” I grumbled, but it only seemed to laugh. Keir was laughing too, and I watched as it hopped under my wing between Keir and me and lay down between us. “You … you want to come with us?”

The Storm Seeker bobbed its head before it noticed the egg. It looked from me to Keir and back to me before cawing in an accusatory tone and puffing its chest. “What?” I asked, and then it hit me. “No! For Stormcatcher’s sake, she hatched like five days ago! We found it!” My ears burned. Even though I didn’t know exactly how eggs … happened, I knew enough to understand what the rude bird was asking.

It just huffed and settled down again, but not before nipping at my feathers and giving me a deadpanned look. Keir just looked at me, confused, and I shook my head, embarrassed and not really having anything to tell her. She shrugged and sighed, laying her head back down.

It looked like our little family had grown by one again.

The Storm Seeker returns! :’D
I was so happy when I scavenged him – in Light no less!

Also holy Stormcatcher I freaked myself out. I got too impatient with training Lan and he got his tail feathers handed to him. ;w;

Also spoiler for the egg; it hatched into a Tundra! I'm having a really hard time in the coli with just Lan as a magic user, and I was really hoping for a Mirror or Guardian. I kind of want to breed change him into a Mirror, but I also kinda feel like I should keep him the way he hatched? Hm ... I'll have to sleep on it. :'D

@Cien

Dat spoiler hnnnnngh

I'll PM you what I think about it, since what I'd say might end up spoiling e'rryone else lel

Also, if that Storm Seeker is the same as the one from the Shifting Expanse... I lol so hard

@Hanelli
Alright! Lookin' forward to it! :'D

And yes, it's the same one! I originally wrote the Storm Seeker in on a whim, but then I got attached so I've been hoping to get a Storm Seeker familiar through scavenging! c:

@Cien

So glad to see the Storm Seeker coming back, I really liked him ;3



As for the egg... you can train every breed into either being a fighter or a mage (even Lan could become a fighter if you have a too hard time with im as a mage)... although you have a breed change free for finding the egg, so you can turn it into every breed you want it to be... I'm curious to see what you're going to do ;D

@Neige
Ah, I'm really glad! :'D

And thanks so much for writing that up! I actually got a (hopefully!) good idea reading that. I think I got a little closed-minded ... Hm, well, we'll have to see how well this goes! c:

@Digimon11 @Axqu @Tsukistar @Neige @Hanelli @Nimphy @gunslinger


I woke up to Keir calling my name and hitting my wing in a hurried attempt to stand up. I jerked awake, withdrawing my wing and standing up quickly. “What? Keir, what’s wrong?!”

“I-I don’t know!” I looked around, trying to figure out what was freaking her out so much. The Storm Seeker squawked and flew up to my shoulder, perching on it. After a moment, it was evident that there was no immediate threat, and I turned to Keir. She was still shifting nervously, then her eyes landed on the egg.

“The egg?” I asked, bending to glance at it. The Storm Seeker hopped down as I did so, looking at it closely, then cawing indignantly when the egg twitched.

My eyes widened, and I looked at Keir to see she was just as surprised. She caught my eye and shrugged. “I felt something weird … it must’ve been the egg.”

We sat together in silence for a while, watching the egg. It appeared to move occasionally, and may be close to hatching, but not for a while. Eventually, I stood up. “I don’t think it’ll hatch for a while,” I said, getting Keir and the Storm Seeker’s attention, “I’m going to go look for some supplies. And don’t worry,” I said, cutting Keir off, “I’m not going to go past the Training Fields.” I turned to the Storm Seeker. “Can you keep an eye on them?” It nodded seriously, and I took off.

As promised, I didn’t go past the Training Fields, and I didn’t stay out long. As soon as I had a small bundle of food and materials, I headed back to our little shelter. ‘We should move soon,’ I thought as I flew back, ’I don’t know if there are harpies in the Sunbeam Ruins, plus this area’s shade is kinda creepy …’

I landed beside Keir, and she and the Storm Seeker looked up at me. “Did I miss anything?”

Keir shook her head, “nothing big … I think there’s a crack in the egg though.”

I nodded, and then opened the small bundles of food and materials I found, dropping it with a yelp when it moved. There was a small squeak, and a little Yellow-Throated Sparrowmouse hopped out.

“Aw!” Keir exclaimed, bending down to pick the little creature up. It shivered and cocked its head, looking up at Keir, and then chirped and snuggled down into her hands. “What is it?”

“A Yellow-Throated Sparrowmouse,” I said, glancing over as the Storm Seeker landed on my shoulder, “they’re pretty common, and this one seems pretty friendly.” After hesitating a moment, I glanced at Keir again. “If you want, you can keep it. It seems like it likes you.”

“I can?! Really?!” Keir laughed happily and brought the sparrowmouse to her face, looking at it closely. “Do you want to come with us?”

The sparrowmouse let out a small squeak and bobbed its head, hopping a little. I guessed that was a “yes.”

Once we had determined that the egg was well on its way to hatching but still had a while to go, we packed up and moved to a slightly bigger ruin further into the Sunbeam Ruins. Keir flew on her own this time – we weren’t being pursued, and she’s grown to be nearly my size already. The Storm Seeker has taken to flying beside me or perching on my shoulder, while the sparrowmouse has taken to sitting on Keir’s head between the feathers framing her face.

By the time we had found a suitable space to make camp, night was beginning to fall. I decided to go out and find some firewood and try to make a fire for the first time – try being the key word. I knew that lightning could start fires, but I had trouble keeping my output small. I tried a few times and ended up blasting the pile of sticks until the Storm Seeker flew onto my shoulder (smacking me in the face with a wing as he did so – I’m starting to think that he likes doing that) and shot a small bolt at the sticks, successfully lighting it. It turned its head and stared at me with deadpan disapproval before hopping in front of the fire for warmth.

The egg had a large crack in it when Keir got my attention again. Slowly, the crack started to get bigger and chip. “Should we do something?” Keir asked me, still watching the egg.

I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I think we’re supposed to let it hatch on its own.”

We fell into a comfortable silence as the dragon inside the egg worked its way out. The egg stilled for a moment, and Keir’s sparrowmouse hopped towards it, then squeaked and jumped back to Keir when the egg suddenly shook and a shard of the eggshell was forced off. It looked like whoever was inside was getting impatient.

The egg shook rather violently after that, and we watched as a little green and purple Tundra forced his way out. Once free of the egg, he sat up and breathed heavily, looking agitated.


I bent down to smile at the little Tundra. “Hey little guy,” I said in my best soothing voice in an attempt to calm him down, “don’t wor – OW!”

He punched me! This was the angriest Tundra I’d ever seen – a surreal sight to say the least. I recoiled as the hatchling fell over from the movement. Keir stared at us with wide eyes, the little Sparrowmouse hiding behind her leg and the Storm Seeker cawing in a startled tone from beside the fire.

“Are you okay?” Keir asked, glancing between the Tundra and me worriedly.

“I’m fine,” I said, voice muffled as I rubbed the sore spot on my face. “At least he didn’t bite me.”

Keir tried next, albeit slowly. She sat in front of the hatchling and slowly bent down. “Hello,” she said in a quiet voice, “I’m Keir, and the one you punched was Lan. You’re safe with us.”

Her voice seemed to work much better than mine, and the Tundra cocked his head, shuffling around for a moment before giving up and staying still, looking up at Keir. She looked at me for help, but I just shrugged. Hopefully he’d warm up to both of us in time.

“What should we call him?” She asked, looking a little lost.

“Um … how about …” I wracked my head for a suitable name. I pulled Keir’s name out of thin air, so I’d have to do the same for this hatchling. “How about Solin?”

Keir smiled softly. “I like that.” She turned back to the hatchling – Solin – and gingerly lay down next to him. “How do you like your name, Solin?”

The Tundra just looked at Keir, still looking a little angry (an angry Tundra – the concept still baffled me) and then curled up into a loose ball and closed his eyes. I sighed with a tired smile and lay down on the other side of Solin, opening a wing and looking expectantly at our familiars. The Storm Seeker cawed to the sparrowmouse and they both flew over, settling between Keir and I. I draped my wing over Keir, enveloping her, Solin, and the familiars, and then scooped some dirt onto the fire. Once it was out, I put my head down and caught Keir’s cyan eye in the darkness. “Goodnight,” she whispered.

“Sleep well,” I murmured back.