Quests & Challenges

@ZippoFeuer @nienna33 @Meowruff [center][b]Baby Blues[/b] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=44846958] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/448470/44846958.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=43966115][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/439662/43966115.png[/img][/url] "They're hatching, Vri!" Called Littleleaf from their shared nest, catching the attention of the larger Pearlcather that was busy pacing along the wall of the small cave that housed the nesting grounds. Vritra had never heard his little Fae partner so excited, and he found his heart swelling with joy as he padded over and sat down beside her to watch the events unfold. The first egg to show signs of stirring was one of the two smaller eggs in the nest (making it very easy to guess which would be Fae and which would end up being a Pearlcatcher). And not long after the first cracks started to appear, a small blue claw peeled back the shell to make room for two blue frills, and two glittering green frills around the hatchling's face. As her brown eyes scanned around for her parents, her Algae-coloured runes glowed and pulsed, as though reacting to her thoughts. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=45996589][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/459966/45996589.png[/img][/url] Or were they, perhaps, reacting to the commotion from the much larger egg beside her? In their fascination, Vritra and Littleleaf had nearly missed the larger egg starting to crumble, leaving behind a brilliant blue Pearlcatcher with subtle runes peppered across his body. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=45996590][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/459966/45996590.png[/img][/url] Something in Vritra's stomach sank in that moment. Had his mother's influence reached this far? So far that his offspring were to suffer his lack of magical ability too? Or was it just the colour that they turned out to be, rather than the magic that flowed through them? Thoughts such as these swam around in Vritra's head, along with a voice whispering that his children were as cursed as he was. "Vritra?" Littleleaf asked, glancing at the larger dragon with confusion set on her features. He was trembling, in a daze... Though this wasn't uncommon, apparently. And it was this voice, partnered with a loud cracking sound that pulled Vritra from his nightmares, just in time to glance his son chewing on his eggshell to make his pearl, and his second daughter emerging from her egg with scales, like her mother's, adorning her body rather than the runes that were set into her siblings'. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=45996591][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/459966/45996591.png[/img][/url] "Are you okay?" Littleleaf asked again, and Vritra gave a solemn nod in confirmation. "Your mother again?" She continued, only to be met with another nod. "Well," The Fae started as she trotted into her nest to curl up with her children, "I'll keep them safe from all the monsters that would dare to hurt them. Don't you worry." And Vritra exhaled, and moved to curl protectively around the nest and it's current inhabitants. He wouldn't let anyone hurt them, and neither would Littleleaf. He'd make sure they all lived happy, peaceful lives, the kind that his siblings never got to experience. Or else, he'd die trying.

@ZippoFeuer @nienna33 @Meowruff [center] [b]Taking the Lead[/b] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=44941118][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/449412/44941118.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=44086260][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/440863/44086260.png[/img][/url] A whirlwind romance wasn't [i]exactly[/i] what Honeycrisp was planning when he'd first set out to find a mate outside of the clan, but that's precisely what he'd ended up in. One moment he was wandering around the plains, wondering where Aven had gotten himself to, the next he was sitting on a nest of four eggs with a lovely blue Wildclaw, by the name of Lapis, who didn't even stay to watch their young hatch. [img]http://flightrising.com/images/nests/1/4healthy_0dead.png[/img] The days dragged by as Honeycrisp was forced to watch Aven flirt with his new girl while they waited out their cooldowns and got to know eachother, leaving Honey feeling rather empty inside. All he could do was sit and watch those little eggs that'd been left by that beautiful Wildclaw who refused to get out of his head. Still, he hoped that none of their young would be like her. The less he had to think about her, the better. The fluffy Tundra lay in his nest with his head next to one of the eggs, and let out a mighty huff through his nostrils. A huff that gently caused a piece of the eggshell to flutter open briefly. "Wait..." Honeycrisp said, mostly to himself, and sat up just in time to watch that little piece of eggshell peel away from the rest of the egg. A brief flash of panic shot through him, thinking that he might've damaged the egg before it was ready to hatch, but that fear was quickly set aside as a little purple nose poked out of the hole and huffed back at him. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=46096631][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/460967/46096631.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=46096632][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/460967/46096632.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=46096633][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/460967/46096633.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=46096634][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/460967/46096634.png[/img][/url] One by one, the little ones rolled out of their shells and cuddled up to their father's big fluffy legs. Two girls, two boys, and each so unique that it wouldn't be very hard at all to tell who was who. And none of them had inherited anything from their mother! Score! "Aren't you all just the cutest little things?" Honeycrisp exclaimed, a huge dopey smile on his face as the little black and blue Tundra joined his siblings, napping under their father's legs after a hard battle out of their eggs. "Y'know... You guys are going to get the best upbringing I can possibly give you. Single father or not, you aren't going to suffer because your mother left. You've got a huge family here, after all!" [/center]

@ZippoFeuer @nienna33 @Meowruff [center][b]Not Slowing Down[/b] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=18097650][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/180977/18097650.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=43279692][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/432797/43279692.png[/img][/url] There was something about The Terminal Burrow that, apparently, attracted travellers like moths to a flame. There were always dragons coming and going, mingling with the clan's permanent residents for a moment before setting off again. Rosacea's next mate was found in one of these travellers, a large Snapper called Phoenix who'd arrived at the clan with his own clanmate, Cromantus. Now, imagine the little Tundra's surprise when, upon his arrival into The Terminal Burrow, Phoenix had specifically, and excitedly, sought her out to offer himself as her next mate. It seemed that word of their little competition had spread throughout Sornieth already. And while that idea kind of unnerved her, she also found herself quite flattered by the concept. [img]http://flightrising.com/images/nests/1/3healthy_0dead.png[/img] Three eggs later and Rosacea was revelling in the fact that she was still far, far ahead of her sisters. They'd have to really get lucky in order to catch up with her, or she'd have to suffer a stroke of bad luck. But either way, for now, she was in the lead and it didn't seem like she was going to be slowing down any time soon. But a part of her hoped that her sisters would catch up sooner rather than later. Partly because she felt the need to encourage them, as their older sister, and partially because she'd just feel bad if there was no real competition. [/center]

@ZippoFeuer @nienna33 @Meowruff [center][b]One Step Behind[/b] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=41194411][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/411945/41194411.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=43279693][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/432797/43279693.png[/img][/url] Harlequin had watched with barely-veiled disinterest as another batch of travellers sauntered into the lair and immediately started to ask where Rosacea was. Of course - Rosacea was in the lead, and now she had handsome strangers coming from all over to offer themselves to her. Typical. Even Melanoma had a gorgeous Pearlcatcher waiting for her to be ready to breed. After Poa left with his brother's to pursue the next step in their adventure and her children were grown, that nagging feeling of always being second to her sister settled back into her stomach and started digging into her brain. It was in her festering that she didn't notice the Snapper's companion wandering over to her. "Excuse me?" He asked quietly, moving to take a seat beside her. He stayed silent until her gaze flickered over to him for a brief moment. "I'm Cromantus... My friend over there and I had recently heard of your competition with your sisters and thought we could offer our services?" And Harlequin would never admit it, but her heart jumped into her throat when she head him state his intentions so brazenly. It was no surprise that she crumbled instantly before him. [img]http://flightrising.com/images/nests/1/2healthy_0dead.png[/img] "Only two..." Sighed the Tundra as she inspected her new eggs. She was clearly not feeling great about her second 2-egg nest, considering neither of her sisters had had less than three eggs in one nest. Before she could spiral into melancholy, Cromantus had wrapped his larger wing around her shoulders and pulled her closer to his body as he sat on the edge of their shared nest. "Hey, don't worry. Sure, you may be having less eggs than your sisters, but does that mean you love your young any less? Does the competition really matter as much as the dragons you'll meet and the hatchlings you'll bring into this world? If you've already resigned yourself to losing, why not just enjoy the ride and see it to the end anyway?" "You're... Right." Harlequin responded after a beat of silence, her voice strained as she choked back guilty tears. It'd been years since she'd shown such weakness to another dragon but here she was, her head buried into Cromantus' side as he comforted her with kind words and his presence. [/center]

@ZippoFeuer @nienna33 @Meowruff ((Because there's literally no chance of me catching up with all the nests I've missed do far, I'll just start from my most recently hatched nest. I've been keeping my spreadsheet and first page of this forum updated, though. ^^)) [center][b]Good Omens[/b] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=49442761][img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/494428/49442761.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=43966115][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/439662/43966115.png[/img][/url] "They're hatching! Vritra, come see!" A stunningly beautiful yellow Ridgeback, triple the size of Vritra and wearing a grin twice as toothy, called out into the nesting cave. She had hoped her voice would carry and reach the green Pearlcatcher that had just popped off to go and check on his brew. Thankfully, he hadn't gotten to far when he'd heard her voice following him, and promptly turned tail to trot back to his mate and nest. The nest was fairly unremarkable, as nests went, and everyone in the nesting grounds knew that one of the three eggs was going to be a baby Ridgeback due to the humorous size difference between it and it's two siblings. But now, now something remarkable was happening. By the time that Vritra had arrived back on the scene, one of the smaller eggs had cracked open and was promptly being devoured by it's previous occupant. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=50152370] [img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/501524/50152370.png[/img] [/url] A little Pearlcatcher sat happily chomping away on her eggshell and, as her little brown eye turned up to meet her father's, her brilliant runes pulsed faintly with the swell of emotion she felt. Vritra's own runes mimicked this. The next to start to crack, amidst this display of affection, was the larger of the three eggs. First a pointy nose, then the rest of his head, then the entire little pink baby tumbled out of his shell. The Ridgeback baby scrambled to sit up, blinked his eyes a few times to adjust to the light, then focused on his sister. He seemed confused as to why she was eating (and regurgitating) parts of her shell and went to go to try it himself, taking a bit bite out of his egg shell, before spitting it right back out with a huff. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=50152371] [img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/501524/50152371.png[/img] [/url] Zarparan, their mother, laughed softly to herself and moved to curl around the nest, using her body as a barrier so that her babies didn't escape without her noticing. It took a few more minutes and some gentle words of encouragement from it's parents for the final egg to start to hatch, but hatch it did. In a flash, a horn and head popped out of the side of the egg, then a leg out of the side, then the other leg cracked through the shell on the other side of the egg. She grumbled, and turned her eyes up towards her father with a squeak for assistance. [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=50152372] [img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/501524/50152372.png[/img] [/url] Finally, once all three young were free, and each of the Pearlcatchers had disposed of their eggs, the family could relax. In this time, Zarparan and Vritra had named the three of them. The first little girl was to be called Svarn, the Ridgeback was dubbed Camakila, and the youngest was named Prasanna. And watching his young Vritra couldn't help but feel a swell of pride in his chest. They were beautiful, each blessed with runes that betrayed their magical potential. At least his mother's influence hadn't completely cursed his children too, it seemed, and that was a good sign! Or, could it be, that it was his dedication and hope that prevented his curse from spreading? Who knew? Only time would tell. And, for now, all he wanted to do was rest with his new young and appreciate the time he got to spend with them. [/center]

You're back!! \o/

@ZippoFeuer @nienna33 @Meowruff Okay, so, story updates incoming today but I thought I'd share the news that I now have some support achievements so you can show your support for the dragon you think will win! Or for the project in general. ^^ They're all currently displayed in the first post, but I'll pop them here too. [center][quote="Support Achievements!"] Fake achievements by [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=userpage&id=269923]OrcaTheUltimate[/url] over on [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/art/2207264/1]this thread[/url]! [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2531603#post_2531603][img]https://i.imgur.com/jv6hEDE.png[/img][/url] [code][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2531603#post_2531603][img]https://i.imgur.com/jv6hEDE.png[/img][/url][/code] [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2531603#post_2531603][img]https://i.imgur.com/uqSQ7uc.png[/img][/url] [code][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2531603#post_2531603][img]https://i.imgur.com/uqSQ7uc.png[/img][/url][/code] [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2531603#post_2531603][img]https://i.imgur.com/7WDovqv.png[/img][/url] [code][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2531603#post_2531603][img]https://i.imgur.com/7WDovqv.png[/img][/url][/code] [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2531603#post_2531603][img]https://i.imgur.com/A234FwB.png[/img][/url] [code][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2531603#post_2531603][img]https://i.imgur.com/A234FwB.png[/img][/url][/code] [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2531603#post_2531603][img]https://i.imgur.com/iZkQcO7.png[/img][/url] [code][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2531603#post_2531603][img]https://i.imgur.com/iZkQcO7.png[/img][/url][/code] [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2531603#post_2531603][img]https://i.imgur.com/9vF9pW0.png[/img][/url] [code][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2531603#post_2531603][img]https://i.imgur.com/9vF9pW0.png[/img][/url][/code] [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2531603#post_2531603][img]https://i.imgur.com/wTcfSeo.gif[/img][/url] [code][url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/2531603#post_2531603][img]https://i.imgur.com/wTcfSeo.gif[/img][/url][/code][/quote] [/center]

@ZippoFeuer @nienna33 @Meowruff [center][b]Too Close for Comfort[/b] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=49447408][img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/494475/49447408.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=44086260][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/440863/44086260.png[/img][/url] For the first time in a long time, it seemed, Honeycrisp was on a nest at the same time as Aven. The two, much to the disdain for their ever-patient mates, had not stopped glaring at each other since their eggs had been laid. Even if the two ladies had made their nests as far away from each other as possible to avoid Honey and Aven wrestling too close to the eggs and risking breaking them, the two boys wouldn't stop glaring, huffing, and throwing insults at each other. Five days of this, poor Kahrina was getting sick of it. With her crest lowered in the equivalent of a glare, she hopped up onto Honey's head and grabbed onto his crests. "Listen here," She said, her monotone immediately catching Honeycrisp's attention and pulling it away from Aven for once, "Our babies are about to hatch and if you're not going to stay and watch and help me name them then you should just leave, and take your 'brother' with you." "Oh... Okay, I'll behave." Honey said once he'd processed her demand, and turned his whole body away from Aven just in time for those little eggs of his to start to crack open. They were all small, though one was clearly slightly bigger than the other two. Two Fae's and a Tundra, then? The sounds of his eggs cracking drowned out the sarcastic remarks being hurled at his from Aven, who was teasing him about being 'whipped' or something of the sort. Almost all together, the three new babies tumbled from their shells and let their eyes adjust to the dimly lit cave. It didn't take long for the two little Fae's, cold and damp from their shells, had wiggled under their bigger brother's fur to keep warm. In turn, Honeycrisp curled around his son to keep the little Tundra warm, too. Kahrina, finally relaxed, hopped down from Honey's head to greet her new young. Though, it seemed like the two little Fae's didn't want to come out any time soon, with all that was visible of them being their little tails that squirmed like snakes under the cream coloured fluff. And that was that. They were named after snakes, much like their siblings before them, and soon Kahrina was one her way, leaving Honey to find a new mate and make sure these babies grew up to be good dragons. "17 down... Way too many to go." [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=50212238][img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/502123/50212238.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=50212239][img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/502123/50212239.png[/img][/url][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=50212240][img]http://www1.flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/502123/50212240.png[/img][/url] [/center]

Oh, hello - this is great! Please do add me to Vritra's pinglist, I'm so excited to see him doing something with his life! (And hey - if you ever need a mate, I'm sure I have one or two dragons who could suit!)