Day Thirty Six:
Blithe frowned at the cliff faces that were currently blocking their path. They had arrived at them earlier that day and attempted to find some sort of passageway through or on top of them, but without success. Sure, Blithe and the other adult dragons could just fly over the cliffs with Baines’s storm seeker, but the rest of the party couldn’t. Xihuitl was still struggling to learn in the odd, inconsistent wind patterns of the Expanse. Iuitl had confessed to them that her wings were too damaged in the storm to ever allow her to fly again. Indeed, the feathers were clearly not growing back in the way they should, and often would simply fall out again when they got too large and heavy. She was merely grateful for the fact that Aviar weren’t known as strong fliers to begin with and thus didn’t find it too disruptive to now be confined to the ground. And then there was Daimhín and Bree, neither of which had wings and so had no chance of flying. Unfortunately by this point, Xihuitl was too large to be carried by anyone for long, even Baines, so that wasn’t an option either.
Eventually, the group came to a halt once the sun had reached its peak in the sky, all of them frustrated and hungry. As they ate, Daimhín pulled out his maps, thoroughly scrutinizing them.
“We should turn back and head southwest along the wall,” he said, using a notched stick to measure distances. Baines frowned.
“Why? That would be a waste of another three hours that we already spent walking this way,” he groused.
“Perhaps, but we could also be walking further away from a way up of through the other direction,” the fawn answered. “I am still trying to create a viable route here with as direct a route as possible; we can’t rule out of the possibility that there might be a better way a little further south than where we began. It’s also very possible these cliffs loop all the way back around to lead us back toward the Tempest Spire.”
“The Tempest Spire? That’s in the exact opposite direction of where we want to go,” Capricious sighed.
“Exactly.”
“So we head back southwest,” Baines huffed. “The way we came from.”
“To check further down for a better way.”
“And if we don’t find one?” Daimhín shrugged.
“Then hope there’s an opening to the coast of the Sea of a Thousand Currents. That’ll get you to the Tangled Wood sure as anything.”
“Sounds reasonable to me,” Blithe said with a shrug. According to Daimhín’s maps, the group had apparently been meandering west anyway. It didn’t seem like such a bad idea to follow the coast.
The others agreed to the plan and the group soon picked up their camp to continue. The track actually went by a little quicker since they weren’t looking for ways up the cliffs, already knowing there wasn’t any. Then they were once again travelling new ground, eyes fixed on the wall to their right, hoping for any sign of a path.
“There!” Iuitl finally called out. They had been travelling for only another hour and half and she had spotted a crooked, narrow walkway zig-zagging its way up. Despite their elation at the discovery, it looked quite treacherous on further inspection. Xihuitl could barely walk the path with his wings pinned close to his sides, while Baines was too big to try at all.
“We could fly,” Blithe suggested. “We’ll keep pace with you on the path, so if someone starts to fall, we can help catch them.” It was the best option they had, really. They were tired of being stuck there in the valley.
Bree took a little convincing to go up the path, apparently not very keen on heights. Iuitl had gone first, leading Xihuitl behind her, then Bree with Daimhín bringing up the rear. Baines’s storm seeker glided along with the dragons, occasionally cawing at the group of the cliffs as if mocking them for their inability to do the same.
“Easy now, don’t look at your feet- just look at the path ahead of you,” Iuitl was telling Xihuitl, who was indeed looking down, his eyes wide. He wasn’t panicking yet, but he was definitely not his usual rambunctious self. He did as instructed, looking up at the Aviar instead, but his crest remained tall and quivering the whole way.
Things were going fairly smoothly. They had made it three quarters of the way up the cliff with only a few starts. Bits of rock would occasionally crumble underfoot, much to the alarm of the one whose foot was currently resting there.
Then the rock cracked. Xihuitl let out an unearthly shriek as the rock began to give way underneath him. Iuitl echoed the shriek in a panic, reaching out and grabbing him by the horns. They would have both gone over together if Baines hadn’t smashed himself into the wall beneath the Wildclaw, digging his claws into the crevices that existed and becoming the foothold they needed. He let out a grunt as a hooked claw dug into his back as Xihuitl scrambled to get back on the ledge with Iuitl, Capricious and Blithe rushing over to help. The commotion was dislodging more of the path, however, causing the rock behind to fall away. Bree screamed and quickly backed away from the disappearing trail. Daimhín tried to back up as well, but too late, and when the zeeba met resistance, she kicked back.
Daimhín let out a shout as he was struck away from the ledge, left with nothing but air to grab on to. The sound alerted Blithe, who whipped around and desperately reached out toward the fawn. The only thing he managed to grab was his pack, and he watched in horror as Daimhín slipped right out of it and fell. He tried to move, but he was frozen, watching the fawn as if in slow motion. He didn’t have control of his faculties until a shrill sound from Capricious and he immediately dived after the falling creature.
Even before he reached the ground, he knew it was too late. He almost wretched at the sight of the broken form, somehow too numb to even follow through with the action. He wasn’t sure how long he was there, only coming to when Baines spoke from beside him.
“We’ll ask Iuitl how the fawn bury their dead,” he was saying. “We’ll give him the respect he deserves.”
Blithe didn’t really feel himself nod, but he must have, because the Mirror reached forward to gather Daimhín carefully up in his claws. Flying up to the top of the cliff felt not unlike a dream. Once the others saw what Baines carried, Xihuitl whimpered and Capricious’s fins lay flat. Iuitl had put on a brave face, but her voice was flat and hollow as she answered the question when Baines posed it to her.
There was no green earth to bury him in, so they did what they could in the barren ground. Iuitl and Baines both helped in digging the grave, and Capricious and Blithe picked out some grasses with roots still attached from their feed bags to plant in the churned soil. Lastly, Blithe placed the fawn’s flute among the grasses.
Everyone was solemn and quiet still when they stopped for supper that night. Xihuitl had been quietly questioning Iuitl about the fawn’s death on the way there and was much subdued by the answers he received. Needless to say, none of them were very talkative when they settled down to sleep that night.
Blithe had kept Daimhín’s pack, and stared at it guiltily until he finally drifted off to sleep.
Coin Toss: Heads (true)
Rolled: Baines, Capricious, Blithe
Loot:
WELL FRICK.
First actual death streak of the nuzlocke. I actually completed a whole death streak without deaths and was so proud of myself until I realized; I had done it in the wrong freakin' venue. So I had to go back and do it again and on round 9, Blithe is KO'ed.
Now technically, Blithe is immune to 'real death', but since he has a familiar, saving rules still apply. Rolled a 5 for Daimhín's saving through, thus saving Blithe a 15 day time out from the locke, but also dying in the process.
Welp. Goodbye Daimhín. Wish we could've gotten to know you, but Pinkerton is a jerk.
On the bright side, they got a Tigerblood Foo and kept it. So Daimhín will be replaced with the Foo, I just need to figure out how to write it in.
Also, guess who forgot Baines had a storm seeker. That's right. This dummy right here. Whoops.
Inventory: Scatter Scroll x1, Breed Change x1
@Weredogalism @Riff @Skulljester @AstralDragons
Blithe frowned at the cliff faces that were currently blocking their path. They had arrived at them earlier that day and attempted to find some sort of passageway through or on top of them, but without success. Sure, Blithe and the other adult dragons could just fly over the cliffs with Baines’s storm seeker, but the rest of the party couldn’t. Xihuitl was still struggling to learn in the odd, inconsistent wind patterns of the Expanse. Iuitl had confessed to them that her wings were too damaged in the storm to ever allow her to fly again. Indeed, the feathers were clearly not growing back in the way they should, and often would simply fall out again when they got too large and heavy. She was merely grateful for the fact that Aviar weren’t known as strong fliers to begin with and thus didn’t find it too disruptive to now be confined to the ground. And then there was Daimhín and Bree, neither of which had wings and so had no chance of flying. Unfortunately by this point, Xihuitl was too large to be carried by anyone for long, even Baines, so that wasn’t an option either.
Eventually, the group came to a halt once the sun had reached its peak in the sky, all of them frustrated and hungry. As they ate, Daimhín pulled out his maps, thoroughly scrutinizing them.
“We should turn back and head southwest along the wall,” he said, using a notched stick to measure distances. Baines frowned.
“Why? That would be a waste of another three hours that we already spent walking this way,” he groused.
“Perhaps, but we could also be walking further away from a way up of through the other direction,” the fawn answered. “I am still trying to create a viable route here with as direct a route as possible; we can’t rule out of the possibility that there might be a better way a little further south than where we began. It’s also very possible these cliffs loop all the way back around to lead us back toward the Tempest Spire.”
“The Tempest Spire? That’s in the exact opposite direction of where we want to go,” Capricious sighed.
“Exactly.”
“So we head back southwest,” Baines huffed. “The way we came from.”
“To check further down for a better way.”
“And if we don’t find one?” Daimhín shrugged.
“Then hope there’s an opening to the coast of the Sea of a Thousand Currents. That’ll get you to the Tangled Wood sure as anything.”
“Sounds reasonable to me,” Blithe said with a shrug. According to Daimhín’s maps, the group had apparently been meandering west anyway. It didn’t seem like such a bad idea to follow the coast.
The others agreed to the plan and the group soon picked up their camp to continue. The track actually went by a little quicker since they weren’t looking for ways up the cliffs, already knowing there wasn’t any. Then they were once again travelling new ground, eyes fixed on the wall to their right, hoping for any sign of a path.
“There!” Iuitl finally called out. They had been travelling for only another hour and half and she had spotted a crooked, narrow walkway zig-zagging its way up. Despite their elation at the discovery, it looked quite treacherous on further inspection. Xihuitl could barely walk the path with his wings pinned close to his sides, while Baines was too big to try at all.
“We could fly,” Blithe suggested. “We’ll keep pace with you on the path, so if someone starts to fall, we can help catch them.” It was the best option they had, really. They were tired of being stuck there in the valley.
Bree took a little convincing to go up the path, apparently not very keen on heights. Iuitl had gone first, leading Xihuitl behind her, then Bree with Daimhín bringing up the rear. Baines’s storm seeker glided along with the dragons, occasionally cawing at the group of the cliffs as if mocking them for their inability to do the same.
“Easy now, don’t look at your feet- just look at the path ahead of you,” Iuitl was telling Xihuitl, who was indeed looking down, his eyes wide. He wasn’t panicking yet, but he was definitely not his usual rambunctious self. He did as instructed, looking up at the Aviar instead, but his crest remained tall and quivering the whole way.
Things were going fairly smoothly. They had made it three quarters of the way up the cliff with only a few starts. Bits of rock would occasionally crumble underfoot, much to the alarm of the one whose foot was currently resting there.
Then the rock cracked. Xihuitl let out an unearthly shriek as the rock began to give way underneath him. Iuitl echoed the shriek in a panic, reaching out and grabbing him by the horns. They would have both gone over together if Baines hadn’t smashed himself into the wall beneath the Wildclaw, digging his claws into the crevices that existed and becoming the foothold they needed. He let out a grunt as a hooked claw dug into his back as Xihuitl scrambled to get back on the ledge with Iuitl, Capricious and Blithe rushing over to help. The commotion was dislodging more of the path, however, causing the rock behind to fall away. Bree screamed and quickly backed away from the disappearing trail. Daimhín tried to back up as well, but too late, and when the zeeba met resistance, she kicked back.
Daimhín let out a shout as he was struck away from the ledge, left with nothing but air to grab on to. The sound alerted Blithe, who whipped around and desperately reached out toward the fawn. The only thing he managed to grab was his pack, and he watched in horror as Daimhín slipped right out of it and fell. He tried to move, but he was frozen, watching the fawn as if in slow motion. He didn’t have control of his faculties until a shrill sound from Capricious and he immediately dived after the falling creature.
Even before he reached the ground, he knew it was too late. He almost wretched at the sight of the broken form, somehow too numb to even follow through with the action. He wasn’t sure how long he was there, only coming to when Baines spoke from beside him.
“We’ll ask Iuitl how the fawn bury their dead,” he was saying. “We’ll give him the respect he deserves.”
Blithe didn’t really feel himself nod, but he must have, because the Mirror reached forward to gather Daimhín carefully up in his claws. Flying up to the top of the cliff felt not unlike a dream. Once the others saw what Baines carried, Xihuitl whimpered and Capricious’s fins lay flat. Iuitl had put on a brave face, but her voice was flat and hollow as she answered the question when Baines posed it to her.
There was no green earth to bury him in, so they did what they could in the barren ground. Iuitl and Baines both helped in digging the grave, and Capricious and Blithe picked out some grasses with roots still attached from their feed bags to plant in the churned soil. Lastly, Blithe placed the fawn’s flute among the grasses.
Everyone was solemn and quiet still when they stopped for supper that night. Xihuitl had been quietly questioning Iuitl about the fawn’s death on the way there and was much subdued by the answers he received. Needless to say, none of them were very talkative when they settled down to sleep that night.
Blithe had kept Daimhín’s pack, and stared at it guiltily until he finally drifted off to sleep.
Coin Toss: Heads (true)
Rolled: Baines, Capricious, Blithe
Loot:
WELL FRICK.
First actual death streak of the nuzlocke. I actually completed a whole death streak without deaths and was so proud of myself until I realized; I had done it in the wrong freakin' venue. So I had to go back and do it again and on round 9, Blithe is KO'ed.
Now technically, Blithe is immune to 'real death', but since he has a familiar, saving rules still apply. Rolled a 5 for Daimhín's saving through, thus saving Blithe a 15 day time out from the locke, but also dying in the process.
Welp. Goodbye Daimhín. Wish we could've gotten to know you, but Pinkerton is a jerk.
On the bright side, they got a Tigerblood Foo and kept it. So Daimhín will be replaced with the Foo, I just need to figure out how to write it in.
Also, guess who forgot Baines had a storm seeker. That's right. This dummy right here. Whoops.
Inventory: Scatter Scroll x1, Breed Change x1
@Weredogalism @Riff @Skulljester @AstralDragons
) and I immediately was hooked! You are so good at bringing your characters to life, every update had me hanging onto every word, I love how you incorporate all of the onsite lore elements! I am in love with all of these dragons and I must admit I will be utterly heartbroken if any of the die... 
