Quests & Challenges

[img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/food/21408.png[/img] [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/food/157.png[/img] @fenshae @TheAwesoMew @Farsidejr Annnnd I'm back in the gauntlet. Since I really don't feel like writing more fight scenes, here's some art! [img]https://i.imgur.com/BkqfLW9.png[/img] In other news . . . THEY'VE GOT EGGS!!! Sapphira and Theron's children will be born in about 5 days. [img]http://flightrising.com/images/nests/10/3healthy_0dead.png[/img]

Ahhh! I love that art!

[img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/battle_items/674.png[/img] @fenshae @TheAwesoMew @Farsidejr BLEEEEP!! I flipped heads! BLEEP BLEEP!!! My coli team consists of Sakurako (6), Mercuria (6), and Sapphira (3)! I knew the last few days of my life were cursed, but I didn't think it would leak in here! BLEEEEEEE– *incoherent sounds of pure rage* Thank god I'd bought a bunch of potions for my main coli team (they're struggling to get through the level 7-8 venue). Still almost lost Sapphira. I'll write the story if I have time after finishing homework.

[img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/8830.png[/img] @fenshae @TheAwesoMew @Farsidejr Got a material today. I know I promised you guys a story for the Death Streak, I'm sorry, yesterday got ahead of me. Might as well write it now, eh? -------------- The lair was almost cavernous without the presence of other dragons, Sapphira thought. Yes, Auria was there, but that was beside the point. The dragoness had started up the oddly protective behavior she'd had with Fang once more now that Sapphira was nesting. She hated it, hated the pearlcatcher's intense blue stare. It made her scales crawl. If there was some sort of explanation for the behavior, she could probably bear it – but when the dragon in question doesn't actually talk, explanations were impossible. It was far more bearable when other dragons were here. Normally, she had Theron or Amara or Lunus to talk to, or even one of the older dragons. But Theron was out in his new capacity as postdragon, Amara was off talking to who knew what kind of shady dragon in her efforts to learn magic, and Lunus was off learning how to be a druid from a more respectable dragon than his sister would ever venture to approach. Fang was out trying to find Amara again, Sakurako was off with another wanted poster, and with Mercuria guarding the lair as usual, that left her with a blue-striped statue for company. She sighed, sinking her chin to the cool rock beneath. Sunbeams dived tantalizingly close by the entrance. She wanted to go outside – desperately, actually. But since Amara and Lunus' hatching, nobody trusted Auria alone with another set of eggs, least of all Sapphira. The sunbeams dimmed, and Sakurako appeared inside. Sapphira raised her head. "Back so soon?" she asked. "The poster was a fraud," the older Imperial growled. He was in a rare bad mood today. Sapphira decided against pressing the matter. Sakurako glanced at Auria. The pearlcatcher had seemed to gather that she wasn't wanted, and so remained a safe distance from Sapphira and her nest. "Has she moved from that spot?" Sapphira shook her head wordlessly. Sakurako nodded in reply, moving towards the dragoness. "Auria, come on. Lets leave Sapphira alone for a while." He tried to pull the blue dragon away from her spot, but she budged as much as Sapphira had the last couple days. "Sakurako! Get out here!" Mercuria's roar interrupted the black dragon's attention. He cast an apologetic glance towards Sapphira before diving out of the lair, pink tail tuft vanishing quickly out of sight. Sapphira sighed again, but didn't slump down this time. How much worse could her day get? • • • • • Outside, Sakurako was confronted with what had to be the largest, strangest strangler he'd ever seen. It looked almost diseased, with far more tentacle-like vines than he'd seen on a strangler before. The animated plant had caught itself against the log-and-stake wall that guarded the outside of the camp, thorny vines lashing this way and that. It seemed unable to tell what to do with itself. "It just emerged from the woods and ended up . . . well, like that," Mercuria said by way of explanation, sounding as surprised as he was. "Well, we can't just leave it there, can we?" Sakurako remarked, steeling himself. No matter how many times he did this, he still hated combat with all his heart. The two dragons launched themselves at the strangler, gouging out chunks and snapping vines. The creature seemed to be made of multiple kinds of stranglers, varying colors of flowers scattered across it's surface. Thorns dug into his sides, and the pads of his feet. Where one vine snapped, two took it's place. Where a chunk of plant matter was torn off, the vine simply twisted to unbroken stem. After a particularly vicious attack, Sakurako saw something an instant before he was tossed off the creature's flank. The impact on the ground stunned him for a brief moment. He scrambled to his feet before he could get caught, taking a mental inventory. Nothing mangled, somehow. He then noticed the blue glow suffusing his body. Mercuria's new talent for creating barriers had done it's work. Now that he had time to think, he thought he could hear the universe whispering to him once more. "I think it's a construct," Sakurako panted as the two regrouped. "I saw something glowing in there." "I can believe that," Mercuria responded. "It certainly isn't natural. I'll distract it, you try to get the glowing thing out." Sakurako nodded. As his sister darted forwards, he flew up, divebombing it's back. He tore through the creature's body as quickly as he could, grabbing the glowing heart with his teeth even as he was torn off it's flanks. Sakurako tumbled through the air, righting himself just before he hit the ground. The glowing object landed nearby, luminescence fading as the massive strangler fell apart. The two advanced warily on the object. It was a stone, glowing black runes carved into the surface. Black smoke oozed up from the fallen heart of the strangler and the fallen plants around them – smoke Sakurako had seen once before. A thought wormed it's way into Sakurako's head. This was too quick. "I agree," Mercuria murmured. Sakurako hadn't even realized he'd spoken aloud. "What are we missing?" The sound of a dragon in pain cut off all conversation, and sent the two Imperials barrelling into the lair. • • • • • Inside the cave, Sapphira hadn't moved a muscle since Mercuria's call. She'd been watching Auria more closely as well, deep green eyes meeting flat blue ones. Snarls and roars seeped in from outside, dying suddenly. As such, she didn't think much of the sunlight dimming in the corner of her eye. "What's going on?" Sapphira called, not moving her gaze from Auria. After no reply came, she turned her head. A strangler scrabbled into the cave, rootlike vines questing in her direction. A glowing shard of something stuck out from it's back. Sapphira's instincts took over – this creature would not reach her nest. As if sensing her movement, the strangler made an abrupt change of direction, roots sliding into one of the phosphorescent pools nearby. Suddenly green waving vines was all she could see. They wrapped around her legs, her body, her neck, sending prickles of pain across her body like needles. Pain stabbed into her back, her cry of pain strangled by the choking vines. Quickly, her vision went black. • • • • • When Sakurako and Mercuria entered the cave, they were confronted by a massive column of vines erupting from a corner of the cave. In the semi-darkness, the glowing shard of stone was easily visible. "I've got it," Mercuria hissed, pouncing like a cat onto it's surface. As with the earlier strangler, the vine construct collapsed into nothingness when the magical stone was removed, releasing the two pearlcatchers from a green death grip. While Auria looked relatively unscathed beyond a patchwork of scratches, neither dragon liked the look of Sapphira's left wing. The thin brown membrane was bleeding profusely, and looked more like a snapped twig than a wing. Even the nest had not escaped intact. The moss and twigs and cloth lay scattered as if by a tornado. "Find a healer," Mercuria said urgently. "And Theron. I'll take care of the nest." Wordlessly, Sakurako darted out of the cave, and leaped into the air. • • • • • When Sapphira awoke, she lay slightly on her side, left wing heavier than the other. Pillows, sourced from where she knew not, propped her up. Another body lay on her other side. She opened one eye. A glimpse of the cave around her filtered into view, partially blocked by a silver face and pale blue eyes. "Welcome back to the living," Theron joked, the humor belying obvious worry. "The eggs," Sapphira managed. "Are they alright?" In that moment she'd never wanted to know something more, and yet longed to remain ignorant. "The strangler smashed them." The black-speckled mirror's voice cracked. "Mercuria found one that wasn't broken." Tears blurred Sapphira's vision until she fell into the dark embrace of sleep once more.

[img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/food/4675.png[/img] @fenshae @TheAwesoMew @Farsidejr Pinkerton likes giving away food, huh? Still waiting for a trinket or familiar, you vindictive tundra! On another note, I'd like to make a little forum signature that links here for advertising purposes. How did you guys make yours?

@TheAwesoMew

Thanks for the complement! It means a lot. Also thanks for telling me how to link pictures, what do you think of the advert?

[img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/3671.png[/img] @fenshae @TheAwesoMew @Farsidejr Been making some more art in preparation for this sort of drop. At first I thought it was a trinket again and was so happy, I needed something good to happen today. But nope, its just a mat. Mercuria as an elf: [img]https://i.imgur.com/84Gz6XP.png[/img] Took me ages to figure out how to make Sakurako's hair actually pink. [img]https://i.imgur.com/trEf6e9.png[/img] Can I just say that Fang is a classy, classy lady? [img]https://i.imgur.com/23shXbi.png[/img]

Gahhhh I love your art so much! Mercuria is especially stunning

[img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/15586.png[/img] @fenshae @TheAwesoMew @Farsidejr Finally, something other than materials! Also, thanks for the complement, @fenshae, I use the dollmaking programs over on DollDivine and AzaeliasDolls. :) [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/574.png[/img] (x4) [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/trinket/575.png[/img] (x4) Lets see what we get! [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/familiar/23885.png[/img] [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/equipment/5694.png[/img] [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/equipment/13797.png[/img] [img]http://flightrising.com/images/cms/equipment/17282.png[/img] ------------------ On the third day of rest and recovery, Sapphira found herself shaken awake by Amara. "Wake up, sleepyface!" the black-marked Imperial said commandingly. "Go away," Sapphira muttered. "Sapphira." Fang's fluid voice was more gentle than her daughter's. "Amara has a point." Sapphira raised her head, glaring at the two dragons. "I said go away." "Not unless you're coming with us," Amara replied stoutly, colorful feathers and dried birdskulls clinking against each other as she sat back stubbornly, purplish poison in her capsule swirling with the motion. "Amara, let me do this," Fang suggested. Amara walked out of the cave without much fuss, surprisingly. Once the younger dragon was gone, Fang turned to her. "You need to get out of this cave, Sapphira. You're trapped inside your own head here. It's not good for you, your wing, or your hatchling." Fang glanced pointedly towards the egg. The nest had been restored somewhat with bits of cloth and moss and mud, the egg itself swathed in blankets to keep it warm. Auria was watching it, as usual. "I'm fine here," Sapphira said flatly, lowering her head back down to stare at blank rock walls. Fang sighed. "No, you aren't." The grayscaled dragoness reached an arm beneath Sapphira, shoving her uncomfortably. "Alright, alright!" Sapphira snapped, reluctantly standing upright and following Fang out of the cave. Outside, the only beings were Mercuria, Amara, Theron, and Sakurako. As the two walked out, Theron and Lunus ducked in. The mirror flashed her a smile as he passed. The metallic dragon and her niece looked almost expectant. "I'm here. What's going on?" Sapphira asked suspiciously. "We're going out for a girls' night," Amara announced. "Father's on guard duty, so Auntie Mercuria can go too!" Sapphira glanced anxiously over her shoulder. "But what about the egg?" "We're making Lunus pull his weight for once," Amara responded dismissively. "Don't talk about your brother like that, you know he's taking time out of training for this," Fang scolded. To Sapphira she said, "It's not a far walk to the Sunbeam Ruins. We're going there to a Drakeharvest celebration. And most importantly, we are going to have [i]fun[/i]." "If you even remember what the word means," Amara added with a mischievous snicker. "Make another remark like that, whelp, and you're on guard duty next!" Sakurako called down. • • • • •  The Drakeharvest celebration was filled to the brim with colorful tents and even more colorful dragons. Fang watched Sapphira carefully. It had been she who suggested the venture the night before to an impromptu council. "We need to get her out of the lair. She's drowning in her own head," Fang had said. "Even I can't get her to do anything more than eat," Theron had responded, the misery the poor dragon had been doing his best to hide around his mate showing through. He bowed his head. "I don't know what to do. She's turning into another Auria." Sakurako had placed a reassuring claw on the Mirror's shoulder. "It's not your fault," he said gently. Which dragoness he was referring to, and whom he was reassuring, she honestly hadn't been sure of. Theron's words had hit home more than he realized, for certain. "We didn't do enough for Auria," Mercuria murmured. "But we can still do something for her daughter. We owe it to Auria to figure something out." And so, here they were, eating and drinking on the last day of Drakeharvest. And honestly? It seemed to be working. Though Sapphira was still subdued, the cerulean dragon was smiling a little for the first time in days. By the time they returned to the lair, she was giggling right along with the rest of the group. Fang suspected that they'd all rest a little easier tonight.