Creative Corner

[center][b]Day 21[/b] [item=Chimera Fangs] [i]writing[/i][/center] It had been three days since Rosebud had died, and Liana still hadn't spoken. Despite her best efforts to stop the bleeding, he'd been gone before Bambi made it back with any herbs that might have helped him. Liana had dug him a grave, working all night to bury him beneath the roots of an enormous fir tree. Then they'd moved on. Firebrand had tried to talk to her, but his few words in draconic and many hums hadn't earned him a response. No matter how much Bambi rubbed up against her leg, she still wouldn't say anything. She walked, hunted, and ate, and did very little else. Xanthos hadn't tried as hard to speak to her, but he had made a few attempts. Her icy silences had finally convinced him that it wasn't worth it, and he'd given up. When they reached the water separating the Tangled Wood from the cliffs of the Viridian Labyrinth, she flew away, leaving the other two on the banks, towards those cliffs. Xanthos glanced nervously at Firebrand. "Should we follow her?" he asked. Firebrand just stared at him. He sighed. It was incredibly frustrating, when his only companions were a silent, grieving dragon and a coatl, who couldn't understand a thing he said. He missed Athos, and Rosebud. The little party just wasn't the same anymore. But if Firebrand wasn't concerned about abandonment, then Xanthos would stay with him. So he went about his business, catching a few crickets and waiting. He watched Bambi, who was just staring at the cliffs, and Firebrand, who was playing some kind of game with that terrifying spider of his. And they waited. Liana didn't return that night. They camped just inside the treeline, although Bambi didn't join them. He stayed watching the cliffs. The next morning Liana was still nowhere to be found, but, to Xanthos' surprise, neither was Bambi. He looked around, wondering if the phytocat had finally given up and abandoned them, or swum for the other side. Then he heard movement in the forest and turned. There was Bambi, and Liana was with him. She looked like she might have been crying, but she also looked more peaceful than she had in a while. Firebrand leapt up, pressing his little face against her large forehead and then zipping to her shoulders, where he nestled down in the wiry fur along her spine. He trilled happily. "I wouldn't have left you," she said to him. "Don't worry. I just needed to go back to the Labyrinth for a little bit." Xanthos was nervous about speaking to her. Rosebud had died protecting him, and sometimes he thought that Liana blamed him for it. So he had to search for a while for some courage before he finally said, "I'm glad you're back too." She turned to look at him, and for a moment he thought that he had been right, she blamed him, and she was angry. But then she just nodded. "Well, I couldn't exactly leave two tiny dragons all alone. Come on, we'll never make it to the Sunbeam Ruins at this rate." So they started up their journey again, this time with Liana chatting to Firebrand, teaching him words as they went. Xanthos was glad that she was speaking again. Maybe it was a sign that things were going to be okay. ----- @Skyeset @Justdevon I keep telling myself I'm going to get to these drawing prompts and then I don't. If anyone would like Rosebud, let me know. I might not have internet for a few days so he'll be around for at least 24 hours, if not more. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=33275136] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/332752/33275136_350.png[/img] [/url]

[center][b]Day 22[/b] [item=Green Algae] [item=Crimson Rogue Tail Binding] [item=Blackworm] [i]30-50 matches, breed two dragons[/i][/center] Liana was dreaming. She was following Rosebud through the trees, the red of his tail just a few moments ahead of her. As she sped up to try and catch up with him, he seemed to speed up too. He wouldn't listen to her calling for him, and soon she was running through the trees, tripping and stumbling over branches and her own feet as she tried to keep even a small glimpse of red scales in view. She felt that if she could only catch up with him, she could keep him, but if she let him escape he would really be gone forever. She suddenly broke into a clearing and there was the spiral they had killed, dark and shadowy and difficult to see, its body twined about Rosebud. It was choking him, but its luminous eyes were fixed on her, and she could still hear the eerie voice in her head. "Just as you have destroyed my loved one, so too shall you destroy your own..." And then it dropped Rosebud and was strangling her, and Liana was thrashing about. She felt a sharp bite on her shoulder, and part of her realized that something must be happening, this dream couldn't be hurting her like this... She opened her eyes. It was too dark and she couldn't see, but there was something wrapped around her. It was smaller than a spiral, though, and she tore at it with her claws, scratching her own skin as she tried to do as much damage to it as possible. Suddenly there was an electric buzz to the air, and then a painfully bright flash. Some of the coils fell limp from her, but others were still latched on, unwilling to release their quarry. There were more blasts of magic, most of them dazzling, but she could see Firebrand in those blinding flashes, the lightning bolts he cast glinting off his fiery orange wings. Just as she felt like she might pass out from lack of oxygen, she felt small claws pressed to her forehead and then she was suddenly rejuvenated. As she scratched and growled, trying not to thrash too much lest Firebrand's deadly bolts hit her, she felt something else too. Something new. Finally all the coils fell away and Liana could stand. "Are you alright?" came Xanthos' monotone voice. Liana hunched over, not sure what was wrong with her. "I don't know," she gasped. This didn't feel like an attack, but it felt like something inside her trying to force its way out, some kind of magic... She curled up into a ball, as tight as she could, and heard Firebrand's nervous humming. "Liana?" he asked. "Liana, what's wrong?" Liana just shook her head. She was tired, and she felt strange, and she just wanted them both to leave her alone. She squeezed her eyes shut, and, to her relief, felt herself drifting off once more, despite their nervous inquiries. When she woke again, it was light - well, light enough to see, anyway. Around her lay the bodies of several stranglers, who must have been her attackers. She lifted her head and instantly felt a smaller dragon run into her, scrabbling at her neck and chest. "Liana?" It was Firebrand. He looked concerned, checking her for injuries. "I'm fine," she said, brushing him aside. "Maybe a few bruises, but they didn't hurt me substantially." That was when she realized what she was curled around. It was a single egg, rather plain except for a slight purplish tinge. She stared at it for a moment, confused. It must have come from her, she realized, which meant she knew what the strange feeling had been as it pushed itself into existence from nothing. But what she also knew was that it took two to make an egg, a mixing of magic, and she couldn't think of who the father might be. Part of her recalled the dream, chasing Rosebud through the woods, but that was impossible. He was dead. Was it possible? Firebrand was inspecting the egg carefully. "It's yours?" he asked, looking up at her. "Yes." She lifted the egg in her claws, cradling it gently. "Who is the father, then?" came another voice, a monotone one, and she turned to see Xanthos watching her, his head frills perked up curiously. "I don't...I don't know." Liana looked at the egg, and then felt a strong urge to go home. This wasn't a place to let a hatchling emerge into the world. "But we have to keep it safe. Come on. It hasn't absorbed the Shadow magic here yet, and I..." She felt a pang of sadness as she traced her claws over its smooth outer surface. "I'd like to take it home to hatch." They nestled the egg carefully in the bags that Rosebud had been using to carry an extra supply of dried fish for Firebrand, and took off, Bambi running along the ground below them. Liana had to carry him over the strait back into the Veridian Labyrinth, but they were able to make it back to the tops of the cliffs before the sunset. In the last of the light, while the other two looked for food, Liana made a nest. She scooped out the dirt in between the roots of a large oak and reinforced the sides of it, making sure that there was a sturdy base so that it wouldn't break and roll away. Then she brought in grass and leaves, weaving a soft padding for the egg - and the dragons to watch over it - to rest on. Her work complete, she settled back to watch it. It had been looking a little purple, but now it was starting to look a little more brown, and she thought she could see the tiniest sprout of a leaf poking its way out of the top. With a sigh, she settled down next to it. "Lady Gladekeeper," she said softly. "I don't know where this egg came from, but if you are watching over us, even as we leave your lands, please protect it." "Liana speaking to someone?" Firebrand crawled into the nest, looking up at her with curious eyes. She smiled at him and shook her head. "No. Can you watch the egg while I go and find something to eat myself?" Firebrand puffed up with importance and nodded. Liana stood, stretched, and padded into the twilight woods. This would be good for them. They needed a rest, and having a new hatchling would hopefully help her move past the death of her friend. ----- @Skyeset @Justdevon I went camping for a while, but kept track of some of my most interesting drops so I'd have something to work with when I got back. So after 50 matches in the coliseum, I have concluded that I really, really hate the Scorched Forest and I need these dragons to level up asap so I can get out of there. Liana only has one egg, so we'll see if it survives.

[center][b]Art Post[/b][/center] Okay I've been lazy about a lot of art prompts so I'm gonna make an art post so I have something to show for these days. I might edit it and have a bunch of sketches here or I might make more art posts for different days. At the time of making this post I do plan on sketching more and just editing this post with those sketches so I don't ping you guys too much lol. [img]https://68.media.tumblr.com/251aee67c0e6bc7a0568091a1be489c4/tumblr_ou2vfiThQE1qfs0wmo1_540.jpg[/img] Athos and Xanthos. Before he died I was coming up with plans for Athos to act as Xanthos' emotional interpreter, since his frill positions are so hard to read for the other dragons and Athos could feel everyone's emotions. They were going to be so tight. The best of bros. *wipes away a tear for what could have been* (also toxin and okapi are both death to draw so don't expect many Xanthos sketches lmao) @Skyeset @Justdevon

They had stayed there for a long time. It was a good spot. They could fish from the cliff tops, forage and hunt in the woods, and, for the first time in a long time, Liana felt safe. She couldn't believe how thrilling it had been to watch the folds of the egg peel back to reveal a tiny little fae in the middle of the shell, although she didn't allow anyone to breach the topic of the logical explanation as to why her son was a fae. Instead they raised him together, all three of them, with Bambi as strong of a protector as any of the dragons.

Her son's name was Kilgal, and he was the laughter of Liana's life.

His favorite activity was riding on top of Bambi, who was perfectly happy to parade the little fae about, following his monotone instructions with the same energy and excitement that Liana had learned to read on her son's face. Apart from that he would regularly play pranks on the others, such as weaving leaves and grasses into Firebrand's feathers while he slept so that, upon rising, he had a poofy, grassy mane that stuck out in all directions. Firebrand would whistle angrily and chase Kilgal all around their little den, the leaves coming out as he did so, and once he'd either caught Kilgal and tickled a lesson into him, or given up on the chase, he'd recruit Liana into getting every bit of grass and twig out.

As for Firebrand, he did quite well, considering the fact that he couldn't understand anything that Kilgal and Xanthos said. Although his draconic had improved to the point where he could stay up late talking with Liana, the monotone fae voices were impossible for him. That didn't mean he couldn't communicate, however, and Liana had interrupted his writing lessons with Kilgal on multiple occasions. It was a bit of an odd family, all things considered, but Liana was happy with them.

Of course, not everything was perfect. There were far too many centaurs in the area for them to feel completely safe, and Liana, Firebrand, and Xanthos regularly ran into trouble as they hunted. As her hide got more scarred and Xanthos got better at healing, though, Liana grew more confident in their outings.

It was on one such outing that Firebrand surprised her with something new.

They had been exploring a cave that they'd found nearby, with glowing fungi reminiscent of those in the Tangled Wood to light the way. Unfortunately, it also seemed to be the hideout of several centaurs, and soon they were fighting their way back out. They'd managed to get to a narrow selection of passage, where Liana could claw at any centaurs who dared approach and Firebrand could perch on her back or fly up over her, shooting off bolts of lightning from between her wings. As usual, Xanthos stayed behind them a little, making sure to regularly apply his healing magic wherever it was needed.

Still, even with his help, Liana could feel her strength draining. They needed to get out, and soon, or she'd collapse herself. She felt the hair of her mane stand up like it did whenever Firebrand had gathered enough breath to let loose another lightning bolt, and she dropped her horns to make sure that she was out of the way. She heard the crackle of a hit, and smelled the faint sizzle of burnt hair and flesh, and roared up to join the attack.

Instead of lunging for a counter attack, however, the centaur remained frozen, snarling at her even as his eyes widened in fear with his inability to move. There were crackling bolts of lightning holding him in place and burning his skin, and Liana had to pause for a moment, taken aback.

"I think now is a good time to run!" Firebrand yelled, and Liana agreed. She turned and started sprinting back up the cave, the other two flying behind her.

They kept running once they were out, but as soon as the adrenaline of imminent danger faded, Liana let her pace slow to a walk. "When did you learn to do that?" she asked.

Firebrand shrugged. "Just tried something new," he said. "It felt a little different, and most of my bolts weren't doing much against those centaurs, so I decided to go with it."

"Good job. You got us out of there. Do you think you could do it again?"

Firebrand thought for a moment, and then he nodded. "Think so. I'd have to try it out a couple times first."

Xanthos flitted in front of her face, holding up his hands. "Will you stop?" he asked, the fins behind his ears in an annoyed position. "You're bleeding and I can't heal it while you walk."

Liana stopped, obligingly, and twisted around to inspect herself. "Where? I can't see it?"

The little fae flew to one of the smears of blood on her leg and poked at it, sending a sharp jab of pain through the whole limb. "How you got this far without making it much worse I don't know," he grumbled, as Liana winced and tried not to move while he was there.

He took a few deep breaths and then his hands started to glow a soft pink, and as he waved them slowly over the cut Liana could feel the tingling sensation that came with healing magic. "I guess I'm so use to taking the brunt of the blows that I hardly feel it anymore," she remarked.

"That's not a good thing," Xanthos replied, testy, but soon he gave her a nod and she resumed walking.

As they approached the nest that had turned into their makeshift lair, Liana could hear a sound that made her freeze. Then she bound forward, ignoring the calls of her companions.

The little lair had been destroyed. It wasn't that it had had a lot of structure to begin with - mostly it was a clearing with a central dug out tree stump, filled with grass and moss and leaves, as well as the pelts of some of the furry animals Liana had hunted and eaten. Over it was a roof of branches and leaves, woven together to be as weatherproof as possible. Next to that, in the roots of a nearby tree, there was a shallow cave dug out with any possessions that any of them had - which wasn't much. A few tools, mostly, as well as some shiny rocks that Firebrand would bring back from fishing for Kilgal to play with, and some dried food for when the weather was too bad to go fishing or foraging. Xanthos had made a sap roost higher up on the trunk, hidden in the branches.

What little structure there was had been completely smashed. The stump now resembled a few splinters sticking up, with bits of wood strewn all over the campsite. The roof was nowhere to be seen, although here and there a few leaves were scattered where they hadn't been - whether or not these leaves came from the roof itself or the surrounding foliage, it was impossible to tell. The branches around Xanthos' sap roost had been ripped away, leaving large gashes oozing sap in the bark, and the roost itself had been smashed. There were scraps of dried fish or moth wings scattered about as well, and, in the middle of the wreckage, Kilgal was crying.

Liana bound into the center of the clearing and scooped the sobbing fae up into her claws, where she held him protectively against her chest. "Hey, hey, I'm here, what happened? Talk to me Kilgal."

Between sobs, Kilgal managed, "There was a spiral...I don't know where it came from...I hid in the branches, it just...tore through everything..."

She patted and hushed her son, but inside Liana felt cold. A spiral? It couldn't be the same one who had been hunting her and Rosebud so long ago, could it? She didn't know. All she knew was that the safety of her home had been destroyed.

"Where's Bambi?" she asked suddenly.

Kilgal just shook his head. She passed him off to the others, who had caught up and were looking around their ruined home in shock, and went crashing into the underbrush. Bambi was her oldest and closest friend, she couldn't imagine going on without him, not when he'd been with her through so much...

She almost tripped over his body, lying prone where it had been thrown against a tree. He was still, but when she put a hesitant claw on his side, she could feel it moving. "Xanthos!" Liana boomed out, turning her face back to the clearing. "I need you!"

Soon the little fae was darting through the woods towards her, and he landed next to Bambi's prone body.

"Can you help him?" she asked, nervous.

Xanthos prodded Bambi gently, feeling out the organs and bones underneath the skin, but then he nodded. "I think so."

Liana almost snapped at him to get on with it, but she bit her tongue. No, yelling at him wouldn't make him heal Bambi faster. Once more he took a few deep breaths and his hands started to glow as he ran them over Bambi's body.

When he had finished, Liana moved the phytocat up onto her back and went back towards the clearing, the exhausted fae slumped on her head.

Firebrand had managed to get Kilgal to calm down, and was humming to him comfortingly in the remains of the stump. He'd managed to salvage a few of the furs, which were now torn and tattered, and piled in the middle of the spot where Kilgal had first crawled out of the egg.

"We need to go," Liana said. "It's not safe here anymore."

Firebrand looked like he was going to protest, but then he saw Liana's expression and nodded. "Come on, little one," he said, nudging Kilgal gently. Kilgal had been fully grown for a while now, but he followed Firebrand's directions willingly enough.

Without another word, Liana left the clearing behind and started along the clifftops. She should have known the curse would catch up with her eventually, and she had nearly lost her son by thinking it wouldn't. No, it was time to resume their journey, and who knew what lay ahead of them.

---

@Skyeset @Justdevon

Well...it's been a busy month. With my girlfriend leaving, the eclipse, and a job, I had a lot going on, and then when it all stopped going on I had a lot of battling to catch up on. The three fighters went from the scorched forest and made it up to bamboo falls, so there was a LOT of battling. I hope that I'll be able to update semi regularly again, now that I have a little more free time, and I'll get back into the habit of actually paying attention to the drops, instead of just the battle ones. (I also didn't get any familiars or clothing, otherwise I would definitely have bred/bought the required dragons. I hope I'll get some soon though, it's been almost a month with none!)

[center][b]Day 24[/b] [item=Charcoal Hopping Mouse] [i]40-50 matches[/i][/center] They were quiet as they moved away from their little home, Liana leading them south along the clifftops. It would be a good idea to stick to the Veridian Labyrinth's border, following the wide swath of water until the Tangled Wood, barely visible in the fog, melted away into the Sunbeam Ruins. Liana would feel better if they could make as much of the journey within the Veridian Labyrinth as possible, simply because it was her home. She could only hope that the dragons of Light would know more than their friends in Shadow did. They paused to eat, Firebrand fluttering down to the huge strait to fish while Xanthos took Kilgal insect hunting. Liana stayed with Bambi, who was still unconscious but at least he was still breathing. She munched on some young dandelions nearby, glad that she could eat anything. It had been so much more convenient when it was just her and Rosebud, as both of them could just forage for whatever was available. She felt a pang of sadness, a sense of loss for her old friend. Even though nobody was there, Liana bent her head to hide her tears in the fur of her second oldest friend. She hadn't been like that very long when Bambi stirred beneath her. She lifted her head to see his leafy green eyes boring into her own deeper green ones. "Oh Bambi," she sighed, wrapping an arm around him and pulling him into a hug. "I'm so glad you're awake." Bambi put up with her affections before wriggling weakly. She let him go, and he settled on the ground next to her. "Maybe Firebrand will bring back a couple fish for you," she said. "You probably need to eat to recover your strength." Bambi huffed out a sigh. She rubbed his head affectionately. They didn't stay there the night, as it was a little too exposed for Liana's comfort. However, they couldn't go very far with Bambi so injured, so it was getting dark when they finally found a place to settle. Liana heard the rushing of some little stream, and kept them going until they found a beautiful clearing with a little waterfall at one end. There were some overgrown statues at the bottom, moss covering stone eyes and hands. "What are those?" Kilgal asked, flitting over to land on one. "Frogs, I think," Liana replied. "Come on. This is perfect for the night." Bambi immediately disappeared into the surrounding stands of bamboo, swiftly becoming invisible except for the slight brush of movement. Liana let him go, settling down herself. "Come on," she said. "It's late, and we have a long way to go in the morning." Kilgal left the statue to curl up next to her. "Do we really need to go?" he asked. "We could just live here." Liana pat his head with one finger, as gentle as possible. Sometimes it was hard to believe that a dragon so tiny could be her son. "Yes," she replied simply, before settling her head down for the night. ----- @Skyeset @Justdevon I promise I did the fighting, but I'll include it in tomorrow's post!

[center][b]Day 25[/b] [item=Honeycrisp Apple] [i]10-20 matches[/i][/center] Liana woke up just before dawn, her head shooting up as she turned to look around. It was almost black in the shadows under the trees, except for the glitter of starlight reflected on the waterfall. She didn't know why she'd woken up, but she had an uneasy feeling about something, so she gently pushed away the sleeping form of Kilgal and stood up to stretch. She paced, slowly, placing each foot carefully so that she wouldn't make too much noise and wake the others. Then she stopped and sat down again, curling her tail around herself so she could be a silent watcher. Maybe she wasn't a guardian, but she could watch over her little family. Liana watched as the sky grew lighter and the gloom under the trees turned to gray. Everything seemed perfectly fine, and she started to relax. She stood up again, going to the little pool and the stream that continued below the waterfall. Stooping, she drank. There was little more than a rustle of leaves to alert her to the sudden attack, but it was enough for her to be upright and alert again as the first of the Talonok landed on her back with a spear, ready to attack. Liana whirled around, scratching in her own defense as she backed towards her family. "Firebrand! Xanthos! Wake up!" she called, looking out at the apparent hoard that they now faced. Xanthos was by her side immediately, already taking deep breaths to reach the calm center that allowed him to heal. Within a minute Firebrand had gotten up as well, electricity crackling between his claws. "This is a sacred place," one of the talonok hissed. "And you dare defile it!" "We didn't know," Liana replied, bristling. "I'm sorry we trespassed on your sacred site. We'll leave it and you alone from now on." He shook his fearsome head, the amber colored eyes glaring at her from above his wickedly sharp beak. "Defilers must pay," he said, and then screeched something. It was obviously a signal, because that was when the attack started. Liana stood in front, as usual, taking the brunt of the physical blows as she lashed out at the smaller attackers. Still, there were many of them, some of them even riding Foos, which contributed to the battle. Firebrand collapsed under the ferocity of the magical attacks, and Liana saw Xanthos flutter over to him, a pink glow enveloping both of them. Behind them was her son, Kilgal, cowering in fear as he watched his parents fight. He'd seen them hunting before, but never a real fight, not one like this. Liana roared and redoubled her ferocity, ripping into the talonok left and right. She was not going to let him see someone die. Not if there was anything she could do about it. She was starting to feel her energy drain when the touch of four little claws on her back sent soothing waves through her body. At another glance she saw that Firebrand was upright, although not at his best, and their attackers seemed to be thinning. At a brief pause in the battle, she bound back to where Kilgal was, grabbed him, and leaped into the sky, flapping her powerful wings to scatter the talonok below. Firebrand shot after her with a trill, and Xanthos flapped his hardest to keep up. In a few seconds the talonok pursued, but Liana kept flapping, her powerful wings taking her further and faster. Soon they gave up their pursuit, peeling off to go back to their trees. Kilgal wriggled his way out of her grasp to flap alongside her on his own. "Are you okay?" he asked, shouting to be heard over the wind. "I'll be fine," she replied. "Go check on Firebrand. I just want to make sure we're out of beastclan territory before we land again. Then we can take a proper rest." Kilgal obediently went back to check up on Firebrand, who understood the concern even if he couldn't get his ears to understand the words that Kilgal was saying. As they drifted closer to the cliffs again, Liana thought she saw something. "Keep going," she called back. "I need to check something." A few minutes later she found an updraft, one strong enough to push her up with minimal effort. She spiraled around and around, staying within the strong current of air as it pushed her higher. When she felt that the air could no longer fill her lungs or support her wings she turned and grinned at the confirmation of what she'd thought she saw. She glided down again, scanning the ground until she saw the sunlight sparkling off of Firebrand's bright orange wings. She landed heavily next to them, panting with exhaustion. "What is it?" Kilgal asked, hopping up onto her nose eagerly. "What did you see?" "The Sunbeam Ruins," she replied. "We're getting closer." ----- @Skyeset @Justdevon and @ShadowHawthorn just because I won't ping you if you don't want it Firebrand had a couple close calls there. I need Pinkerton to give me apparel or a familiar before anyone dies, my clan is too small for this! (Although I don't want anyone to die)

[center][b]Day 26[/b] [item=Dustrunner's Arctic Gloves] [i]breed 2 dragons[/i][/center] Liana didn't like walking. She was tired of it, of how slow it was for them to walk the distance compared to flying. Of course, Kilgal fluttered around excitedly, exploring the areas that they passed through and talking excitedly about their adventures, which he made up if they didn't have enough interesting things happen that day. Liana longed to get airborne, to glide for the hours that she knew she could, but...well, she couldn't take the others with her if she did that. So she walked. It wasn't all that bad, though. Firebrand would sing to them, performing poetry that he'd written in Coatl specifically to sound nice to their ears, even though he often complained to Liara before they went to sleep that it was hard to find the right words that would sound good both in meaning and to his companions' ears. That evening they had built a small fire to sit around while they waited for the other two. Firebrand had become an excellent fisherman, and was never short of food as long as they stayed close enough to the cliffs. Liana had surprised a deer in the area, which she and Bambi had finished off between the two of them. Unfortunately, the insects weren't nearly as plentiful, and so the two fae were out hunting for their dinner, leaving Liana and Firebrand to pass the time. "Tell me about your home," Firebrand said. Liana looked at him, surprised at the request. He hadn't asked much about it before. "Well," she said. "It's really...peaceful. We live far from the Shrieking Wilds, in between the Gladeveins and the Everbloom Gardens. It's not quite as much of a jungle there as in other places, so there's lots of open room for hatchlings to play. Down the hill from the main lair there's a wonderful slide, and that used to be my favorite. I would spend all day there, just going down over and over, getting covered in mud on my way up and then washing it off in the pool below." Firebrand rested his head on folded front paws, watching her silently. Liana continued. "We were a pretty mixed clan. There weren't that many hatchlings who decided to stay, you know? Some of them would go looking for other clans, some would go to the Gladekeeper...really, not many of us stayed. So Rosebud and I were kind of unique in that way. He was a little more...well, he stuck to the rules more than I did, you know? He practically worshiped one of our founders, so he was always very good and dependable. I knew he felt listless sometimes, but I think he was mostly just worried that his Search would take him away from home for good. He only came along with me because we knew it wouldn't be that long. And instead of a cozy little trip there and another one back, he...well..." Liana covered her eyes with her paws, rocking back on her tail a little. She felt a reassuring touch on her leg and looked down to see Firebrand, cuddling close to her. "It wasn't your fault," he said. "But it was," she insisted. "I made him leave in the first place, and then I made us go on that stupid detour that got us cursed...if we hadn't been, we could have just gone back home and learned not to get lost in the woods again." Firebrand shook his head. "You're still not to blame," he said. "You didn't lead him into a trap, you didn't plan for him to die, and you didn't kill him yourself. You made a few mistakes, maybe, but you can't blame yourself for his death. That was out of your control." Liana took a deep breath and closed her eyes. He was right. She let the breath go, and felt some of her sadness go with it. "When we get out of this," she said. "I'm going to take you back to my home, and you'll get to settle down and meet everyone. I promise." Firebrand nuzzled into her neck, and she thought she felt a little prickle across her scales of his lightning magic. "I look forward to it." When the two fae returned, they were both in amiable silence, looking up at the stars through a clearing in the trees, the fire crackling down to embers. And when they woke up in the morning, Liana was curled around a clutch of three eggs. ----- @Skyeset @Justdevon @ShadowHawthorn I'm super excited for some sparkly winged imps you guys B)

[center][b]Day 27[/b] [item=Intact Clay Pot] [i]writing[/i][/center] Kilgal had liked the break at first. He loved being able to explore a new area properly, instead of seeing so many potential hiding places in the forms of caves or large rock formations or fallen logs slip past him. Now he got to stop, explore, and hunt for insects at his leisure. His favorite new fantasy was what his siblings were going to be like. One, of course, was going to be an imperial. Maybe a big brother to carry him around on his head, and fight monsters with him! Kilgal pounced on a butterfly and bit it in half. Yes, just like that! He stared at the dead half of a butterfly between his claws and swallowed nervously. Maybe not like that. He gobbled down the rest of the butterfly guiltily and kept on with his imaginary adventures. Maybe he'd have a fae sibling, like himself. They could hide together and ambush people from the trees, and whisper secrets together. Then Kilgal paused. What if one of his siblings was a coatl? He could communicate with Firebrand alright, but it would put a bit of a damper on his relationship with his siblings if they couldn't understand what he was saying. But that would mean that they could spend their days devising a new type of communication, which had the potential of being great fun. He skipped through the sun spots dappling the ground cheerfully. A slight rustle made him whirl around, but it was only Xanthos, his bright colors making him stand out among the foliage. "Kilgal?" Kilgal could see the uncertain quiver of Xanthos' fins, even though he was making his best effort to hold them straight and steady. The sight made him nervous. "Yes?" "Your siblings are hatching," Xanthos said. "Come quickly." And then he turned and fluttered off through the trees. Kilgal followed, his heart suddenly racing. What was that emotion that Xanthos had been hiding? Had something bad happened? Were his siblings okay? Was Liana okay? He burst through the leaves into the clearing and saw Liana, cooing and feeding pieces of fish to three imperials. Compared to her, they were tiny, but when Kilgal flitted forward to take a closer look he realized that they were all twice his own size. Liana noticed him and smiled. "Kilgal," she said. "These are your siblings. You're going to have to help me take care of them, okay?" Kilgal sat up perfectly straight and nodded. "Yeah! I'll go hunting for them right away!" And he raced off, catching bugs in the leaves at the edge of the clearing. Everything was fine. They all looked okay. And suddenly he wasn't the youngest anymore. Kilgal surged ahead, completely forgetting about the hidden emotion he'd seen in Xanthos' fins as he trapped grasshoppers and scooped out larvae for his younger siblings to eat. ----- @Skyeset @Justdevon @ShadowHawthorn All the babies survived the toss! Say hello to the three newest members of the locke: [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=35933272] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/359333/35933272_350.png[/img] [/url] Farain [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=35933273] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/359333/35933273_350.png[/img] [/url] Huria [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=35933274] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/359333/35933274_350.png[/img] [/url] And Delfina! Sorry I haven't been posting much, school is pretty intense, but I had to update for these babies. I'll still be keeping track of some of the more interesting drops that I get, but I definitely don't have time to do all the fighting like I did after my last hiatus. I'm super happy to get a couple more females in the group!