Creative Corner

@Istoki Haha XD But yeah, Jormundur was beaten senseless by a Janustrap, but I forgot about my 3 life rule and killed exalted him *cries* Such a dumb mistake... plus I also forgot to save a pic of him and his armour, and only put his BBCode. Someone slap me please. And I'll be sure to pass on your hugs... somehow.... :P

@Cerastes Adding you now! And yeah, I've no problem with it :) I'll be sure to check out your Nuzlocke too :)
EDIT: After checking out your thread (too late now to read the entire story, but wow it's long), I'd be honoured to have my link on your thread. That's a pretty good idea, it's a way for writers to support each other :)

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Onawa yawned, before sitting up and stretching. She opened her eyes, only to wince and squeeze them shut once more, blinded by the sunlight streaming into the room. Her eyes still closed, she picked herself off the stone floor and turned away from the window, trotting over to where she knew the doorway was. She opened her eyes, blinking the black spots from her vision, before continuing down the staircase.

Reaching the bottom, she bounded over the last few steps, landing in a crouch. She realised that she was in an oddly good mood this particular day, but didn't question it. Lightweaver knew she didn't have enough good days.

The castle they'd settled in was fairly small, but large enough that plenty of space laid unoccupied. They'd each picked out their favourite places; Onawa had taken up residence in the largest of the four towers, the four sleepers snoozed away in the Great Hall, Bruinen stayed in one of the guard towers next to the water gate leading to the river, Ilaria busied herself in the kitchen and pantry and often slept there too, and Tauriel had recently taken to sleeping in the castle's Keep. Even then, dozens of rooms laid unused; all the quarters had been left untouched, along with the armoury, the smithy next to it, the library, the stables, the chapel, and the dungeons, which had a musty smell to it that none of them particularly liked.

Onawa only knew all this after discovering an old, yellowed map within the rotten, crumbling books in the library. The barely decipherable map was, surprisingly, in Draconian. Onawa wondered if other dragons used to live here, but so far she hadn't found a trace of it.

She planned on looking for Tauriel to discuss the day's activities, but as she padded through the empty courtyard, she decided to take a detour and visit the four sleepers on the way.

The clacking of her claws against the stone floor echoed through the empty hall. Ilaria, who was hovering over Sandstorm, turned around in surprise. "Oh, it's just you," she said, before returning her attention to the snoring Nocturne before her.

Ilaria had become the sleepers' unofficial nanny; cleaning their scales, feeding them soft food, making sure they were comfortable. Even though she did her best to act indifferent to it, Onawa knew that she secretly like taking care of them. Onawa had once snuck into the Great Hall to find Ilaria holding a thick book and telling them bedtime stories. The Water Sprite had a surprising motherly side to her that reminded Onawa of Marmalade a little. The thought made her sad, so she pushed it out of her mind.

"How are they?" Onawa asked. Ilaria shrugged, slipping a mushy bit of meat through Sandstorm's teeth with a spoon. The same. I can only tell that they're alive when I try to speak to them and nudge their mind a little, like what I'm doing now with yours. I can't communicate with them, though, their minds are too deep in slumber. They seem perfectly healthy if that's any assurance.

Onawa sighed. It was an answer she'd come to expect. They had no idea when the sleepers would wake up. They could sleep for years, for all Onawa knew. She just hoped it didn't come to that. "Well then, if there's any change in their condition, be sure to notify me."

Onawa turned to leave, before turning back around to face Ilaria. "Would you happen to know where Tauriel is? I was planning on looking for her in the Keep, but I figured that I might save some time asking you."

She's in the storage room. At Onawa's questioning look, Ilaria added, the one with all the apparel.

Onawa frowned. "What's she doing there?"

Ilaria rolled her eyes. Looking for apparel, duh. What else would she be doing?

In response to that, Onawa turned to the door, shaking her head with a small smile on her face.

Just to let you know, she doesn't seem to be in a talkative mood. Onawa paused for a second, before continuing on her way. "When is she ever, nowadays?" She muttered.



"Tauriel?" Onawa called out. Piles of junk blocked the sunlight, casting everything into darkness.

"Here." Onawa pricked her ears up at the reply, using the sound to navigate her way through the maze of clothing.

When she and Tauriel had snuck into the Fallen's camp to get back the clan's money, they'd also stumbled across Aurelia's entire stash of clothing. In fact, smuggling it out was what had nearly gotten them caught, although Onawa personally felt that it was worth the trouble, for some ridiculous reasons she'd refused to share with Ilaria, but Tauriel fully understood. It's a female thing, Onawa had explained to Ilaria, who immediately took offence since she too was considered female. Female dragon thing, Onawa hurriedly added.

She found Tauriel perched on the windowsill, staring outside. The sun had risen above the hilltops, bathing the land in its bright golden light. Even the shadows of the Hewn City were reduced to little more than small patches of darkness on the ground.

Onawa joined her on the windowsill, patiently waiting for a reply or at least some sort of response. Lately, Tauriel seemed distant and detached, and Onawa suspected it had to do with Jormundur's death a mere few days ago.

"How's your wing?" Onawa asked.

"Alright."

What felt like hours passed without either of them emitting a single word afterwards. The silence was driving Onawa nuts. It wasn't that she didn't like the quiet — on the contrary, she usually preferred silence over endless chatter. It was the endless waiting for a reply that wasn't coming that she couldn't stand.

She glanced at Tauriel, and noticing her new clothes, took the chance to break the silence. "Nice outfit," she said, noting the bright, venom green armour across her chest and the darker green wraps around her arms, legs, tail and wing bones.

Tauriel nodded. To Onawa's relief, she deigned to reply her question. "After the Woodland Path, I decided that some protection could be useful."

Onawa frowned, wondering how far she could go without aggravating fresh wounds. "Would this new change of wardrobe have anything to do with Jormundur?"

Tauriel didn't reply. Onawa sat there with her for a little longer, hoping to coax her into a few more words, to no avail. Finally, Onawa gave up. Inwardly sighing, she hopped down from the windowsill and headed to the door.

"Do you remember our first trip to the Auction House?"

Onawa turned in surprise, and it was a few seconds before she replied. "Of course I do." She padded over to Tauriel, waiting for her to continue.

"None of us liked it, but Jormundur especially hated it. When we returned, he was furious. He swore to me that he would do everything in his power to stop the slavery."

Tauriel gazed out of the window. "You didn't see him that day, so you wouldn't know. There was... a fire in his eyes when he made that oath, and I knew that he was serious about it. That he planned to rid Sornieth of the slave market."

She turned to Onawa, eyes blazing. "I swore to him that I would help him through his quest. I could abandon it since he's not here anymore, but I won't. I'm going to see to it that his oath was not in vain. I will continue his legacy, till my very last breath. That, I swear to."

"The slave market has been around for generations. You really believe you can stop that?" Onawa said doubtfully.

Tauriel smiled bitterly. "I have to. It's the last part of Jormundur that I can hold on to."

And it's the only thing keeping me from going mad with depression. Tauriel didn't say this, but Onawa knew that it was what she was secretly thinking.

Onawa hopped onto the windowsill. "You're not alone, Tauriel. You still have us; Ilaria, Bruinen, and I. And if the sleepers wake up anytime soon, I'm sure they'd love to help out as well. We're a family, as weird of one as we are. And being a family means that none of us is ever truly alone."

Tauriel smiled, her eyes brimming with tears, and Onawa smiled back. Tauriel's expression soon changed, though, her mouth turning downwards into a worried frown. "Onawa, I was just thinking about the Janustrap."

"What about it?"

Tauriel hesitated, before plowing on. "Well, it said that it was supposed to kill you, right? What if — "

"It's the Fallen trying to assassinate me?" Onawa cut her off. "Yeah, I thought of that, and I'm pretty sure of it too."

"Alright then, but maybe — "

"Malthinae ratted me out? Thought of that too." Onawa sighed. "I actually thought he'd keep his word. Kilandri and he have been trading for months, maybe even years, and I was hoping that their relationship was strong enough that with a little bribing he'd hold his tongue. I guess he didn't. We'll just have to take it as a lesson to be even more careful from now on.

"But that's enough gloom and doom for today! For once, I'd like to just be able to lay back and relax, instead of constantly worrying about life."

Tauriel chuckled. "I'd love that too."

A peaceful silence fell over them, as the sun shone down on them through the window, casting out the darkness in their minds.



Well, that was certainly an achievement; getting Tauriel out of her shell. Ilaria greeted Onawa the moment she stepped outside the storage room. Onawa had decided to leave Tauriel alone to her own thoughts, at least for a few hours.

She gave Ilaria an accusing glare. "Were you eavesdropping on us?"

Just a little.

They continued down the courtyard, both taking the time to enjoy the beautiful day. The sky was clear, a bright blue dome devoid of even the smallest wisp of white clouds. A few birds were pecking at the cobblestones in front of them, but as soon as Onawa came close, they took off squawking.

You've changed, you know. Onawa turned to Ilaria in surprise. You're not the same dragon you were two weeks ago when I met you, and I'm sure you're even more different from your former self before the battle.

Onawa thought about it, realising the truth behind Ilaria's words. She certainly didn't feel like old self anymore. Losing her entire clan was only the start of it all. Then there was having to raise a hatchling — two, in fact — and finding food for them. And after that came Jormundur's loss, which had shaken all of them, leaving an empty hole in their hearts. Despite this, she'd forced herself to stay strong, for Tauriel's sake. The stress, the burden of it all, had somewhat forced her to grow up. Onawa wondered if it was a good thing.

Her thoughts must've read on her face, because Ilaria added, Change isn't necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes it's for the best.

Onawa smiled sadly. "Perhaps change is needed for us to survive what's coming."

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Next: Part 6: The Marketplace

@Istoki @Tempestuous @Cerastes

Part 5: Shine a Little Light is up! I swear I didn't purposely name it after a song :P Bit of a filler chapter, just showing a bit more of the castle and everything.
I still have so much to catch up with ahhhhh

@Aravis There's a lot of responsibility on their shoulders now: the sleepers, trying to destroy the slave market, trying to stay alive...

They could use an ally.

@Istoki Who knows...heheh...
Btw, I know that in the Nuzlocke they're supposed to destroy the slave market and all, but please don't actually expect me to go to the AH and buy every single dragon fodder priced or something like that. *raises hands in surrender* I'm only human, people.

@Aravis Of course. It's more a political issue-buying up all the fodder isn't exactly the solution...

@Aravis
I am loving this Nuzlocke! Tauriel is just so kind, and the whole thing is just so moving... Add me to the pinglist?

@Istoki Hey, but I might open a exalt rescue once I'm done with my Nuzlocke... hmm... I'll definitely be thinking about that :)
@Crystalcave Sure! Glad you like it :)

@Aravis
THANKS!!! :)