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Azurenight Here's my challenge entry! I tried to
clip prune it, but it became a bit long, at 2,247 words. XDD
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awaicu Hullo again! I thought you might want to see what Indra's been up to in my lair. ^^
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Petall Lore update. :D This one will also be posted on my own lore thread in the future, but it's here for now.
Thank you for reading, everyone!
Orion was a worse fairy than most, which by normal dragons’ standards meant she was very well-behaved. Early on she had decided that she wanted to live in the mortal world. Her parents watched as, like all self-respecting fairies, she flitted away and found a warm and happy family. They had recently hatched their first clutch of eggs, and Orion insinuated herself among the squeaking hatchlings.
She chose to take the place of the clutch’s only Fae, as any well-bred changeling would do. But to her parents’ horror, she had the audacity not to send him to the Unseelie Court, where he could be properly used, but to an Ice clan that would
care for him until he was grown! Orion’s parents, a King and Queen of the Unseelie Court, were utterly embarrassed that their daughter would do something so
ethical, and they promptly disowned her. Orion had never been happier.
She gave her name to the Fae child before sending him away. Then she conjured another name for herself:
Aurelie, bright as gold. Her foster parents soon accepted her as their own flesh and blood, and she grew up with the rest of their brood, Tundra hatchlings much like herself. She did grow faster than they did and was soon a lot bigger than they were, which was weird....But whenever her parents tried to think about it, it slipped away from their minds like soap.
So Aurelie became one of the mortal drakes, learning their customs and ways. She donned their clothes, ate their food, absorbed their lessons and played their games. She experienced these delights and more, though there was one in particular she was really looking forward to: She wanted to bond with a familiar.
~ ~ ~
The Bogsneak held up a card. Aurelie blinked at it, and then he flipped it over, showing some slightly worn text:
I am under a curse. I speak only the truth, but my curse will make it so that you will think everything I say is a lie. I have to write instead. I am sorry for any inconvenience this causes.
Pleased to meet you! What can I help you with today?
And Aurelie took a deep breath. “I want”, she began, “to start bonding with a familiar.” Her adoptive siblings, who’d tagged along with her, circled her furry feet, baying like injured hounds. As far as they knew, she was the same age as them; why did
she get to choose a familiar first?
Indra clucked his tongue. He waved his index cards at the younger Tundras and shooed them away, leaving Aurelie waiting expectantly. Aurelie had
many expectations for how things would go. She even had a familiar she’d already set her sights on.
Years before Aurelie had been born, another Tundra, Shantung, had lived in the lair. Raised to be an armorer, she had instead harbored a dream to become a dressmaker. She had come to the clan to study dressmaking under the Chief Clothier, and during her stay, she had tamed a Crowned Roc.
Aurelie had sucked in an awed breath when she’d heard this. As a fairy (
“former
fairy!” she reminded herself) of the Windswept lands, she knew what terrors Rocs could be. Even the fairies gave them a wide berth, for their eyes could pierce most glamours — and their talons and beaks pierce more besides.
Shantung had unfortunately been better with hammers and tongs than with needles and scissors, and she had gone on to another clan to hopefully fulfill her dream. But the Roc had stayed. Indra had taken charge of it, but it was largely a bird of its own mind and tended to perch atop the lair, far from the other familiars. It was civil towards Indra at best, coming in for meals and checkups but keeping to itself most of the time.
Now Indra asked the young Tundra,
Do you have a familiar you want to try bonding with first?
Aurelie nodded eagerly. She ignored the inquisitive beasts crowding gently around her and pointed up to the roof of the lair, where the Roc basked in emerald splendor. Indra’s jaw dropped, and the various familiars rolled around, keening like banshees.
No.
It was Aurelie’s turn to look shocked. “Why not?”
Indra shook his head sternly. He waved the card repeatedly in her face:
No, no, no! A brief scribble on the slate he carried, and he held up another message:
Too dangerous!
“But I can try, can’t I?” Aurelie continued in a rush (really, it was lucky Indra couldn’t write as fast as she blabbed), “I’ve heard of Shantung; she was a Tundra like me, right? Maybe the Crowned Roc likes Tundras better than other dragons. Come on, Master Indra, gimme a chance!”
Indra sighed. As the familiars could attest, he was a huge sucker for googly eyes and heartfelt pleading, and darned if Aurelie wasn’t doing her best to googlize her eyes and heartfeel her pleading. Not to mention throw leftover fairy magic at him.
“I will convince you, Master Indra. You will
be convinced! Convinced, convinced, convinced...”
The Bogsneak swayed, shook his head groggily. He squinted at her.
Practice with other familiars first. One step at a time.
Aurelie could get behind that. “One step at a time!”
~ ~ ~
Indra’s strategy soon became obvious: He was trying to get Aurelie to bond with some other safer familiar so that she’d forget about the Roc. Aurelie puffed up her chest as she realized this.
She did the persuading, not him! She wasn’t going to be distracted by this glamour of other familiars’ soft fur and doleful eyes and innocent affection.
Oh, she very nearly caved a few times. There were the Hainus that bounced after her, the Sparrowmice grooming her fur with gentle claws, Millifaes (and, more worryingly, Corpse Cleaners) twining around her legs, and the Pansies that smelled good enough to eat...Each time she was about to say to Indra, “Yes, I like this one!” she saw the Roc’s shadow on the ground, and she steeled her fickle little heart.
Indra was no fool, either. He knew the Tundra wasn’t going to give up. Indeed, there’d been dragons like her — they’d chosen a familiar at the very beginning and hadn’t given up until they’d bonded with it.
“But so many dragons forget that the familiar has to choose them
, too.”
Still, perhaps the Roc
did need a new dragon to bond with. No one else was willing to try it except Aurelie. And so, very, very carefully, Indra acquainted her and the Roc with each other. He recruited her to help prepare the animal’s food and clean its nest when it was away. Aurelie’s snout wrinkled so much during these chores, she looked like a particularly pruny Mamertee. Still, she had gumption, Indra had to give her that. Perhaps she
could handle the Roc after all.
When checkup time rolled around, he sent for Aurelie. The message he handed her was long and typewritten in the formal manner:
Basic checkups are regularly scheduled for all familiars, particularly ones that might have volatile magic. As the Familiar Caretaker, it is my job to examine them for any problems: parasites, diseases, magical imbalances, and the like.
During this period, I also groom them. Many familiars can groom themselves, but we can still help them: We can reach their backs, between their toes, et cetera. It helps head off problems that might be difficult to treat later on.
Aurelie was nodding like a flower in the breeze all the while. It all sounded so cool! Checkup! Magic! Parasites! OK, maybe not that last one. But grooming? “I can do that! I’m very good at that!”
Indra nodded solemnly. He turned, pointing with his snout, and Aurelie followed his gaze (and nose). She couldn’t be sure, but it looked like the Roc was squinting suspiciously down at them.
“Does it know we’re coming?” Aurelie asked. Indra grinned at her, and he held up a pair of talon-clippers.
~ ~ ~
Aurelie had clipped other familiars’ toenails before: hounds, basilisks, aardvarks...She was quite competent at it now, though she felt a bit dubious as she slowly opened and shut the clippers. They were as long as her forearm and made ominous creaks like a steel trap.
Indra stood up on his hind legs, wobbling sinuously. He steadied himself against a nearby tin saucepan and blew into a whistle.
Aurelie felt it before she looked up: the rush of air as the Roc spread its wings. Her hackles stood up as it spilled gracefully off the roof, and suddenly the entire field was drowned in shadow. It was
huge! Bigger even than a full-grown Guardian...The Tundra nearly quailed.
Indra whistled through his teeth. He motioned sharply to her:
Buck up! The Roc was coming in to land.
It touched down before Aurelie, flattening the grass. She tried to look into its eyes and had to wince; they were as bright and unforgiving as the sun. It looked down its beak at her, like a particularly exacting professor.
Aurelie felt her own ears going flat. “What now?” she whispered to Indra.
The Bogsneak made “go on” motions. He craned his neck, focusing intently on the scene.
Aurelie tried to relax.
“Clearly he knows what he’s doing; he wouldn’t let me do this otherwise.” She approached the Roc, trying not to cringe as she passed beneath its axe-like beak. She could almost feel the heat of its suspicious glare.
Indra had written on several placards. He held them up one at a time:
Go slowly. Steady.
It’s just like with the Hounds. Outer layers only.
Don’t cut to the quick (dark part).
You’re doing great! ^_^
Aurelie settled herself beside one of the Roc’s feet. It (the
foot) was nearly as big as she was. With the other familiars, she could lift their entire leg for easier cutting. Here, she was limited to just one toe.
She clenched her teeth and cranked the clippers — not cutting so much as shaving away the hard layers of keratin.
Krch...krch...krcchhh...The Roc didn’t seem to mind.
Aurelie sucked in a deep breath. She had a better grip on the clippers now; she could actually snap off larger pieces of talon.
Krch...Krck...Krikk... As her confidence returned, she began working faster and faster. She missed Indra’s fins quivering in alarm and didn’t see him stand up again, waving the placards like semaphores.
Krck...Krikk...KRACK.
“Uh-oh,” Aurelie thought, an instant before the Roc erupted. It tore its foot away, bowling her over, and then let out a pained “HREEEEEEEEEEEKKK!!!” loud enough to shatter glass.
Aurelie stared as it reared above her, its feathers bristling. It spread its wings....No! It would step on her!
And then with a terrific crash, Indra bounded in front of her. He was carrying the saucepan now, and as Aurelie watched, he beat it with a stick, whooping and roaring wordlessly all the while.
Clang, clang, CLANG! The sound must’ve been unbearable to the Roc’s ears. It flapped backwards, flattening the two dragons with the gusts from its wings, and then it lifted off again. Aurelie managed to get to her feet...too late. “No! Wait, come back! It wasn’t
that painful, I’m
sure!
Chicken.”
~ ~ ~
Aurelie tried to coax the Roc back down, but it only looked warily at her and didn’t come near again. Perhaps it really
was just a huge chicken. Indra wasn’t about to try calling it over a second time, but he hated seeing Aurelie looking glum. So a few days later, he invited her,
I have some new familiars from the marketplace. Can you help me? It’s not so difficult.
The familiars in question were Buttersnakes of various colors. They were seething in a nervous mess, like yarn balls come to life, and Indra wanted to put them in temporary holding tanks.
Aurelie was rather morose at first, but as they continued working silently (because Indra sure as heck wasn’t going to talk), she mumbled, “These are nice.”
The Bogsneak bobbed his head enthusiastically.
“I mean, they’re just snakes...but the wings are pretty, y’know? And they’re not mean.” She giggled as a particularly buttery-looking Buttersnake wound around her paw.
Indra scribbled a message:
Buttersnakes are popular familiars for young dragons. They’re easy to care for, if you don’t mind feeding them the occasional mouse.
“Eww. I thought they ate, y’know...butter.”
No, they’re called that because of the butterfly wings.
“Oh.”
Still, another plus— Indra erased the slate, wrote a new message. Aurelie exploded into laughter when she read it.
No toenails to clip and clean!
