“And here's where we'll be working,” Kar said to the Fae beside her, the two landing on the golden sand. Waves crashed rhythmically against the shore, receding as quickly back to the sparkling ocean as they came. Birdsong could be heard from the nearby forest, the singers’ fluttering between trees of bold leaves both vibrant green and hot pink.
“It's awful,” Arachne stated in distaste. The sand burned her toes as the sun beat down on her, its light glinting painfully bright off the ocean. The sound of endlessly crashing waves roared in her ears, the lackluster breath’s rotted-fish-like small adding to her irratence. The tree leaves were unnatural in color, the cause most definitely mutation by Arcane magic. The birdsong would of been decent, but there was a bird off-key, ruining the whole thing.
“The campground’s off that way,” Kar pointed towards the forest, choosing to ignore Arachne's negative comment, “The green tent’s yours. Don't touch anything until I can tell you what you can use, and do
not go in my tent, understand?”
“Wait, we're sleeping in tents? In. The. Forest.” To those who knew what to look for, the Fae was clearly upset: her crest partly folded back and cheek-frills flared.
Ever long-suffering, the Pearlcatcher succinctly replied “Yes” in a tone both flat and without room for argument.
An effort to was given anyway. “But, but there's...there's things in the forest! With too many legs and eyes and silk - and, and tapestries!” She shuddered. It only took a glance to see Kar was unsympathetic to her plight. With a long and exaggerated sigh, Arachne reluctantly gave in, resigning herself to sleeping in a flimsy triangular-shaped cloth that did nothing to stop
them from getting to her while she slept.
Kar turned her head back towards the ocean as she began walking, rolling her eyes at the apprentice following her. Frankly, out of all the choices on the list, Arachne hadn't been anywhere near the top. Her personality could be grating and counter-productive, yet she had a certain...qualification, that Kar
needed, never mind who possessed it.
Coming to a stop, she looked at her gawking apprentice before pointing to what said apprentice was gawking at “First thing’s first, don't
ever go anywhere
near this, let alone enter it, got it? You need the proper training first.”
A portal. That's what the Fae was struggling to comprehend was actually
here, mere meters from her face. Vaguely shaped like a vertical coin, the edges twisted and turned and faded into the sky. Large enough to accommodate an Imperial with little difficulty, the sight of it was daunting to the little dragon. The surface was like glass and rippled like water. Kar watched as the Fae scurried from side to side, comparing the ocean behind it to the white, blue, gold, and smattering of silver within.
Arachne had seen portals before, but nothing compared to this one. Kar sounded like she wanted her to eventually step through it, and that sent a chill down her spine of both excitement and dread. What was on the other side? For all she knew it might take her to the Arcanist himself - or into the hungry maw of the Shade.
Kar could see the Fae’s indecision. It was almost palpable to her, the sense that this moment would sway whether she'd gain the apprentice she needed or lose her.
“That's where your boots and gloves came from,” Kar stated plainly, revealing the information she knew Arachne had wanted ever since she gave her the apparel. She watched as the little Fae lifted her hands and gazed adoringly at her - now sandy - gloves, eyes brightening.
“Oh,” was Arachne's distracted reply. Her gaze traveled back to the portal, curious now what other apparel might be on the other side.
“Come on, there’s more to see before the tide rises,” Kar had to turn to hide her self-satisfied smile as she began walking. What did Water say? Hook, line, and sinker, she'd caught the Fae’s attention. More importantly, her mind. Naturally curious, the Fae dragon would just have to
know what was on the other side - and whether there were any more “cute” boots over there.
“Rises?” Arachne echoed questioningly, looking over at the water mere feet away as she followed her mentor, hopping along in the way Faes do. “I thought it was already at apex.”
Kar shook her head, taking a moment to climb the cement stairs before answering. “No. The portal's almost on the halfway point between high and low tide, actually.” She waited as the smaller dragon fluttered up the staircase, climbing onto the cube-shaped platform alongside her. Despite her apprentice's small size, there was little room to move once she joined the Pearlcatcher.
Arachne eyed the machinery that she could now see in front of them, noting its faded and salt-crusted look. “Must be hard to get any work done, if you can't get to the portal half the time.”
Kar nodded in confirmation. “Tide’s unpredictable too: sometimes it's more, sometimes less. It's that second moon up there doing it.” While there were a few, genius, exaltee astrologists that could predict it, they were too valuable and kept too close to the Arcanist for a journalist to be able to jot down when tides would be. Most dragons didn't care anyway.
“This here was flown all the way in from The Shifting Expense,” Kar nodded towards a large, blocky, metallic
thing. A monitor was on top; endless buttons, knobs, and levers on the counter before it. It looked to have either been stripped for parts or cobbled from scrap, it was such a mess. From what Archene could see, cables stuck out all over the back, several running to a dish-like object that was bolted beside it, it's incurvated side pointed towards the portal. “Don't know what they call it - we had to completely disassemble and reassemble it before we could get it working, darn ‘tech’ - but I call it The Sentry. We monitor the readings that come from the portal - actually a tear, really - from here.”
As Kar launched into the more technical side of The Sentry, a sound of wings beating caught the Fae’s attention. Her eyes shifted to a dark figure in the sky, a crate dangling beneath the dragon by a rope. Her eyes flitted back to her mentor, then back to the flier, before back to her mentor again. Attentions divided, she both watched the flier draw closer and listened to Kar’s lecture.
The crate landed with a small “woomf” of sand, the flier landing besides it a moment later. A male Skydancer, she could now see. He started untying the complicated knot that had kept the crate secure in its flight.
Studying him, she noted his muscular build, short mane, and shiny fur. It looked as if he'd oiled said fur, what with the way the light was glinting off it; a few areas were different - they didn't have that sheen to them - a moment’s inspection revealing it to be scars running along his body. Stark against his dark fur, a white armlet rested against his left bicep, its ruby a shade too dark to match his glowering eyes. He wore no other apparel, and Arachne had to criticize that choice. It was like he wanted to show off his too dark colors and marred hide. Finally, the last thing she noted was his tail. It appeared to be docked, reminding her strongly of a bobcat.
The Skydancer looked her way, eyes meeting hers briefly before they'd flickered to the Pearlcatcher beside her. He thrust his head towards some equipment lying neatly atop the sand, a question in his eyes. Arachne turned to catch Kar's reply: a shake of her head and a jerk of her chin towards the woods, all the while continuing to talk to Arachne. An exasperated sigh met her ears and Arachne twisted in time to see his arms return down to his sides. He slung the crate over his shoulders, braced it with his wings, and was off in the direction Kar had gestured a moment later.
Arachne interrupted the still-talking Kar. “Who's Edgy McStubbins over there?” she asked, crest flared up in curiosity.
“I can hear you!” the Skydancer replied instead, voice an angry shout. Yet his steps never faltered and his head never turned from his path. Nevertheless, Arachne knew he was glaring.
Kar, berating her with her eyes, stayed silent until the Fae was shifting uncomfortably. “Caliclyn is his name; he's my assistant,” she explained.
“Now,” the Pearlcatcher said as she turned abruptly, “that equipment Caliclyn gestured towards does need to be put away before high tide. Since I'm so obviously boring you, you can help me put it away and we’ll finish this discussion tomorrow.”
Arachne’s cheek-frills flared out in surprise. It wasn't like she'd tried to hide her inattentiveness, but Kar hadn't appeared to notice. Apparently she had, though she hadn't sounded upset - or anything, really. Kar’s facial expression vaguely resembled her own, the Fae noted.
Hopping along after Kar, she eyed the various scientific instruments without enthusiasm. All clearly made with a larger breed in mind, Arachne doubted so could carry, let alone use, half the stuff. Grabbing the nearest thing she deemed to be on the lighter side, she groaned to herself when it proved a struggle to lift.
Some of the Skydancer’s muscle would come in handy right now. Why didn't they just let him deal with it, anyway?
~~~
Arachne's first day started with being physically dragged out of her guacamole-green tent by a certain Skydancer. It was time to wake up, apparently
Her morning hadn't gotten any better in the half hour she'd been up: breakfast was whatever you could catch, she ached from carrying all that stupid equipment and the journey to this deity-forsaken place, and now she had to help carry the equipment back to the beach too. Why couldn't they of just left it out there in the first place?
She yawned as she hopped down the forest path, nearly tripping over a root when her yawn’s width caused her eyes to close. Tightening her grip on the scanner in her hand, Arachne watched the trail more closely for obstructions.
A growl came from behind when her vigilance caused her to slow. “Move it! You’re holding everyone up.”
Arachne twisted to look at the Skydancer behind her as she hopped on. “Last I knew, you weren't everyone.”
He didn’t respond immediately, acknowledging her statement with his silence. “Well, you
are holding Kar and me up,” he finally huffed.
She tilted her head inquisitively. “How am I holding Kar up? She's already there.” Arachne had noticed she was gone not long after waking up. When asked, Caliclyn told her Kar had been up since dawn. Too early, if you asked the Fae.
The Skydancer was almost stepping on her tail, he was so close: a not-so-subtle way of telling her to hurry. “She has something set up for you. Now gimme that, you're slower than a Reef Snail.” Caliclyn snatched the item from her hands, wings momentarily set in the ground to hold him up. Adding the scanner to the load cradled in his other arm, he brushed passed the Fae at a brisk, three-legged walk.
“I am not!” Arachne squawked - or as close to that as you could get monotonously. She hopped after the other, watching him as he quickly outpaced her, her single item nestled among his dozen.
“Thanks, I guess?” she muttered long after he was gone. She pondered to herself whether that would be considered gentlemanly or rude in the etiquette book. He carried her scanner for her, but insulted her too - rude, then, she decided.
A low squawk, close and loud, broke the Fae from her musings. Her wings flared in alarm as she jumped in surprise. She scanned the forest around her, finding nothing. When it came again, she slowly looked up, following the sound.
“Oh, hello there!” she exclaimed as she spotted the squawker, clothed in black feathers with bright pink accents. A Fallout Streak stared down at her, head tilted in a manner that made her feel as if it were studying her.
“Did you have a nice breakfast today?” The bird shifted, wings unfolding momentarily and revealing just how thin its frame really was. Her eyes softened, crest lowering sympathetically. “Yeah, me neither. I'd catch you something, but you're more of a seafood lover, aren't you?”
Wanting a better look at the bird, she started walking closer to the tree as she talked. The bird chortled low in its throat, growing more agitated as she failed to notice its warning. With a loud cry, it suddenly swooped from the branch, coming straight at the Fae. She ducked, alarm flashing through her at the thought that the bird was attacking her, then twisted to watch as the bird flew away, headed towards the beach.
She laughed, giddy and relieved. That bird was about her size, a fight would not of gone well. “Yeah, I gotta hurry down that way too. See you there?” she shouted after it.
~~~
She did not see the Streak there. She did, however, see an impatient Skydancer and a busy Pearlcatcher.
“Am I late?” she asked as she fluttered over to the two. Caliclyn sat not far from the portal, sunlight glinting off his dark coat. Kar was on the platform, intent in her work as she twisted knobs and pushed various buttons.
Caliclyn glanced at the sky. “No,” he reluctantly replied, knowing what his response would entail.
Her crest perked up, cheek-frills flowing suit - the Fae equivalent of a smile. “Then what was the rush?” He huffed in response, turning his head away from her.
Arachne rolled her eyes but, nonetheless, dropped the subject. She was too tired to antagonize him and, honestly, would rather not get on Muscleman’s’ bad side.
Settling in his shadow, she studied the portal before them. There were several shades of blue and a dollop of green that she hadn't spotted before present, but nothing else of note. All in all, it was just as vast and amazing as yesterday.
Speaking of vast...how hadn't she spotted it the first time until she'd practically stepped into it? The Crystalspine Reaches would of blocked her view part of the trip, but surely she would of seen it once she crossed them.
“Cal?” She turned to look at him; he continued to stare off into the distance. “Cal?” she prodded.
He met her eye and raised an eyeridge, silent.
Oh. Arachne rolled her eyes. “Caliclyn?” she huffed.
“Yeah?” he responded, false innocence mixing with smug satisfaction.
She got straight to it. “Why didn't I see the portal flying in?”
“Isn't it obvious?” If he said it was because she was an idiot.... “Wards. They keep anyone from noticing it.” He gave her a knowing look, a sliver of an amused smile resting on his face. Arachne suddenly wondered if he could read minds.
“Oh...but why could I suddenly see it, then?”
“Really?” he seemed to say with a look, eyeridge raised once more. “Wards suggest, they don't force. And when it's that blatantly
there, your mind rejects those suggestions,” he explained dully, gaze wandering as if the topic was a bore.
“Oh,” she repeated like a broken soundtrack, having nothing else to say.
Arachne’s eyes instead shifted to the still-busy Pearlcatcher and the pearl resting snug in her tail’s grasp - the Fae hadn't even noticed the thing, so used to the sight she was. While she'd first thought Kar’s coat bland and unremarkable, she could see now why Kar wore it: in the vaguest sense, it resembled a lab coat. The book resting by her side was worn, title indiscernible but emblem still surprisingly bright.
It wasn't long before Kar finished. Choosing to hop over the side rather than take the stairs, the Pearlcatcher walked over to them. They both stood as she approached. “Done. And now, we wait.”
“For what?”
Kar’s lips twitched up, a small, strange smile on her face. “Your life-link.”
“Huh?” Arachne was utterly befuddled. What was she about? She looked over at Caliclyn. He gestured towards Kar, obviously enjoying Arachne's confusion.
Kar launched into her explanation, it sounding like a well-rehearsed script. “On the other side of that portal is a dimension, one that's a mirror to our own. Over there exists an exact copy of every dragon from all of the other flights, not a single dragon more, not a single dragon less.
“But us? Arcane is a little different - we don't even
exist there. Instead, there's a whole other flight - the Ice flight, they're called. And we're connected to them by what we've dubbed the life-link.
“Life-linkers can and have sensed each others’ emotions since birth, near all unaware of it until they meet their link. There is a deeper bond there than what we've been able to prove already, one we'll be studying together in the future.”
“And I'm meeting mine today?”
“Any minute now.”
Arachne looked at the portal, eyes wide and cheek-frills quivering with excitement. All her life she'd had to deal with other breeds being unable to interpret her emotions. The fact that there was someone out there who could feel her emotions meant that maybe, just maybe, she was about to meet a dragon she could actually grow close to.
Ooh! She couldn't wait. She hopped they liked fashion, it'd be amazing having someone to talk to about it. She only currently had the apparel that she was adorned with, so couldn't dress up with whomever stepped through, but the couriers were supposed to come in with the rest in a week or so.
A shape suddenly hurtled from the portal, crashing into the sand below before Arachne could see anymore. She squealed and rushed to the dragons side. Caliclyn snorted in amusement: a monotonous squeal was an...interesting sound, to say the least.
As Arachne approached, the dragon lifted her head, revealing bluish white eyes and a curious face. A nocturne, one in a lovely outfit too.
Oh, Arachne loved her already.
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Unfinished, but wanted to at least get the sketch out. Unfortunately, I currently am unable to do digital and only have phone camera.
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Been busy today and didn't have enough time to finish drawing
or writing. But at least I found a spot I could stop at for the story. I'll edit the rest in tomorrow.
Goodnight!
~~~
Finally got the rest of the story up. Probably won't finish the art, since I don't usually get much farther than this stage anyway.
