Creative Corner

@blaireau @sykotikkytten Keto had started to decorate their lair. It wasn't pretty. They had tied skulls around the edge of the doorway - the skulls of small creatures, like birds, mice and croakers. Polished ribcages and long femur bones lined the outer walls. The inside of the lair reeked like death. Neither Murex nor Botch had ever gone inside. Neither of them particularly wanted to. Weirdly, the lair decorations didn't bother Murex. Nothing Keto did really phased him anymore. He just tried to keep his head down. If anything, he was glad Keto had taken up a hobby. Better than them being a full-time sadist. Or at least, he wasn't bothered until Keto collected some bones that crossed a line. And they crossed it pretty far. He slunk out of his hovel one morning. On either side of Keto's doorframe hung his parent's skulls. Keto was staring directly at him, perched on their stump. It seemed that they had been waiting for him to get up. "What do you think?" There was undisguised glee in their voice. Their eyes glinted tauntingly, expectantly. Murex could only stare. He couldn't help it - tears pricked at the corners of his eyes, which he swiped away in a with a frustrated swipe of his forepaw. He stood mutely before attempting to process his emotions. Soon he was simply furious. "Y- you're a despicable excuse for a dragon." Murex spat. He hated the way his voice shook - but he meant it. He didn't care how big and mighty Keto was at this point. He steeled himself and lunged forward. His mouth opened to roar, and with it came a sudden billow of black smoke. He'd finally matured enough to breathe fire. It was exhilarating. His entire body tingled with an inner heat. Embers licked at the corners of his mouth. If his parents were alive they would be celebrating. He felt they were with him at that moment. Suddenly, Murex was broadsided with by something with the force of a runaway boulder. He was launched completely off his feet. His back slammed hard into the trunk of a tree. He saw stars. Gone was the excited feeling. Now he was scared again. Something big and pink and angry came barreling towards him. He was aware of an acute pain in his abdomen. His vision clouded, he heard muffled shouting, and he mercifully passed out. When Murex woke up, he was in Keto's lair. Day sixteen: [item=sparrow skull] [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/1528539/4#13475044]Day Eighteen[/url] I'm behind on updates. Will try to catch up today.

@Tar Your Nuzlock gives me all the feelings. I'm still rooting for Murex and Mycena, but I do feel a little bad for Botch... He reminds me of my own guardian, Keiden, who'd do anything for his (adoptive) mum. Lucky for him, she isn't a psycho.

Day seventeen: [item=broken clay pot] [IMG]http://i57.tinypic.com/t7ikix.jpg[/IMG] smol steve (so smol) Pixel art is pretty fun. I'll probably do more later. @blaireau Also, Keiden doesn't make your eyes want to fall out after 3 seconds of looking at him. So he's lucky in that respect too.

@Tar He's been scattered. :P He was never awful though. (Splash/silver/something)

STEVE

@blaireau @sykotikkytten [center][IMG]http://i62.tinypic.com/f3akiw.jpg[/IMG][/center] Mycena's studies brought her deeper and deeper into the woods. She wasn't a superstitious dragon by any means, but she was set more on edge as the woods grew darker and darker. Munchkin, the cave jewel, sniffed out a path in front of her. His hide was like a glowing yellow beacon to follow. It was the only shape she could properly make out in the dark. Munchkin was very good at finding mushrooms. So good, in fact, that Mycena hadn't eaten anything else in days. Just when she thought she'd get sick of them, Munchkin would find her a brand new variety. Not all of them were edible, of course. Thankfully the cave jewel had a knack for knowing which ones were good to eat. The edible ones were dropped in her paws while the the poisonous ones were dropped on the ground. She catalogued the ones that glowed - poisonous or not - in her notes. Mycena felt a rush of happiness whenever she looked at Munchkin. It was a little silly, but he was her best friend. Sure, he couldn't talk to her, but he was a great listener. And a great pillow too. Today, they picked their way through the trees carefully. There was an uncomfortable tension in the air. Munchkin felt it - he shook his head rapidly, as if shaking off flies every few meters. It was like the air itself was charged. Suddenly, Mycena spotted a flicker of light in her peripheral vision. She turned her head, and it was gone. She whistled at Munchkin to stop. Her ear feathers quivered. Then it appeared again, farther in the woods, and Mycena managed to get a better look at it. [center][img]http://i.imgur.com/lnxNpUV.png[/img][/center] The fox-like creature hung in the air like a ghost. Of course Mycena was a rational dragon and knew ghosts weren't real. [i]It's just an animal.[/i]She stood as still as possible to avoid spooking it. The fox appeared to be listening for something. [i]Maybe it's magical?[/i] She thought. She blinked, and it was gone again. "Did you see that?" Mycena asked her familiar. He flicked his tongue and blinked his bright green eyes. It was a purely hypothetical question, of course. The creature got Mycena feeling excited. She wanted to get closer and see what made float like that. Ideally, she wanted to capture it. Her mind raced in an attempt to remember a spell that might help her. Within mere moments the fox rematerialized. And within mere moments the fox was dead. "Woah!" Mycena exclaimed, ducking behind a bush. A wildclaw had appeared out of nowhere, sparks leaping across their coral-colored feathers. They made short work of the trick-of-the-light, which was bleeding to death of the ground. Grunting, they tore open its belly, ripped its guts out, and lifted it into their jaws with businesslike efficiency. It looked much less mythical as a corpse. Part of Mycena wanted to ask the dragon if she could study the remains. But there was something [i]wrong[/i] in that wildclaw's mannerisms, something dangerous. She kept still and quiet, hugging Munchkin closer to her body. They sniffed they air. Mycena didn't breathe. For a tense moment, she thought that the masked dragon was looking at her. The wildclaw looked away. No, she was being paranoid. They flicked their tail, and ran with the kill in the opposite direction. After a minute, she relaxed, released her breath, and stood up. "Well, never mind then." She whispered to Munchkin. "Let's go the other way." Day eighteen: [item=wispy foxtail] [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/1528539/4#13510829]Day Nineteen[/url] I'm caught up, yay! My house's wifi broke, so these are incredibly awkward to post. AND YET I PERSEVERE.

@Tar

"Mycena felt a rush of happiness whenever she looked at Munchkin. It was a little silly, but he was her best friend."

REDFLAGSREDFLAGSREDFLAGSREFLAGS OH GOD MYCENA GET OUT OF THEREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Also, good on you Murex. It's gonna get you killed, but good on you, kid.

@blaireau @sykotikkytten [center][img]http://oi59.tinypic.com/5ptad.jpg[/img][/center] The smell in the lair was unbearable. Murex found himself slumped in a corner, jaws bound shut by a tightly cinched belt. His abdomen ached - it was sloppily bandaged. It hurt when he drew breath. Blood was soaking through the linen. His legs were tied up with rough twine. It chafed against his hide uncomfortably when he moved. He raised his head and looked up. He was incredibly startled to see a bizarre rabbit-like creature in front of him. [center][img]http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/flightrising/images/5/57/Extinguished_Jackalope.png/revision/latest?cb=20150823010419.png[/img][/center] Murex froze, unsure how to react. The jackalope stared back at him with glassy eyes. It took him a minute to realize that it's eyes were [i]literally[/i] made of glass. It was a taxidermy rabbit. This didn't really put him at ease, to be honest. He absently wondered where Keto had found the glass eyes. Murex craned his neck to look to his left. The most striking part of the room was the multitude of creatures hanging from the ceiling. A mantled foo hung by its legs, blood dripping from its open mouth. Next to it were a pair of mossy cerdae in a similar state. Flies buzzed around their eyes, noses, and open wounds. The more he looked, the more he saw. There was an incredible variety in the animals Keto was catching and preserving. A shellion's emptied shell was propped against the wall. A pile of apparel was gathered in a heap in the opposing corner. Miscellaneous limbs littered the ground. Everything smelled like it was rotting and festering. Murex knew that he was in trouble. He felt like he had to escape as soon as possible. He wiggled his front paws to try and slip loose of the bindings, but they were tied too tightly. He crawled over to a sickle kamaitaichi hide that was slumped nearby and attempted to cut the rope using one of its long, curved claws. It was slow going, but he finally got his front legs free. His legs felt raw and sore where the twine had been. He raised his paws to undo the belt around his snout when, as if on cue, the door to the lair slammed open with a bang. He instinctively flattened himself to the ground and wiggled farther into the corner. Keto strode forward, the trick-of-the-light in their jaws. They placed it gently on the ground, and turned to look at Murex. "Finally awake? Good." There was an icy chill in their voice. Their eyes were narrowed. They walked toward him, claws clacking on the wooden floor. If Murex could cower more he would have. "I've come to a realization Dirt-pelt." Keto intoned. They stood directly in front of Murex now. "I've been [i]far[/i] too nice to you." Without warning, Keto slashed at Murex's face with their feet. The belt was torn apart, and Murex howled in pain. There was an bleeding scratch over his left eye. "Know your place." Keto hissed. "You will remain here for two days to reflect upon your mistakes." Murex nodded weakly. Keto grabbed a new belt from the pile of apparel and re-bound Murex's jaws. They looked at Murex's untied front paws and scowled. "I'll be back with something stronger for that. Don't move." Keto exited the lair, teeth bared. They looked absolutely livid. Murex didn't move - how could he? He could only meet the extinguished jackalope's gaze in a despairing silence as blood welled from the slashes on his face. Day Nineteen: [item=iron belt buckle] [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/1528539/4#13533066]Day Twenty[/url] The material streak. It keeps happening. Oh well, I don't mind. Gosh, those jackalopes look miserable.

@Tar I don't know how you manage to make Keto creepier every update, but D:

Pinkerton mostly gives me battlestones because hhhhhhh. I swear he has it out for me.

@blaireau
Honestly, I could deal with a battlestone at this point. Six materials in a row is great as a story-writer, not so great as a gamer. I haven't been to the coli in nearly a week.

I also like battlestones because they can seriously shake things up. Lets put it this way - if Keto had died instead of Steve on day nine, this story would have been WAAAAAAAAY different. (lol rip Murex)

That said, the fact that you're getting them so often is definitely messed up. :V I hope you get lucky on the coin tosses.

@blaireau @sykotikkytten The patterns which which make up a dragons hide are a curious thing. Some dragons are born with them (Keto and Steve were such dragons), while other dragons accumulate them over time. Some dragons, even the very ancient ones, are never blessed by them at all, and die looking plain. The acquisition of patterns is often triggered by important invents in a dragon's life, such as learning to fly or falling in love or making their first kill. Sometimes, the patterns appear seemingly out of the blue. [center][img]http://oi62.tinypic.com/o1rac.jpg[/img][/center] Botch felt like a true guardian after 'defeating' Murex. He's saved his charge's life, hadn't he? And the stripes which began to envelop his hide were proof of that. Surely. He was a [i]great[/i] guardian. The transformation occurred overnight. As soon as he noticed, he ran to find Keto immediately. His eyes were bright and his tail was wagging. "You'd make one [i]hell[/i] of a rug, Eye-sore." They laughed. Botch took it as a complement. Day twenty: [item=copper steampunk wings] [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/1528539/5#13648381]Day Twenty Three[/url] A short update, but a concise one. None of my female dragons can breed yet, so I gened Botch instead. Tomorrow is my birthday, so I might not post an update. We'll see what happens. Fingers crossed for a birthday familiar?