@
Purpleater13 (My first post is always my longest. ^^;)
Having broken his fast and checked over his usual gear, Shunic felt ready to face the day. In his view, it was a good morning to wake to after being assigned a quest. Failure didn’t occur to the Mirror at that point.
All that remained was pick up extra supplies and bid the clan farewell. It wouldn’t take long, he assumed. The Wind dragon was always heading off on his travels.
Finding Orssiel in the midst of his own packing was a pleasant surprise.
“Hey Orssiel? Been a while, huh?”
The Water Mirror paused to look over and give a crooked, half-ironic, smile. Orssiel was not one inclined to long trips away from the clan. The only known exceptions being when his ambiguously ominous prophetic dreams compelled him to act.
It has been quite some time since that had last occurred. However, Orssiel didn’t seem to be taking thing too poorly.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to deal with these things. Better not to fuss about something you can’t avoid.”
Orssiel considered Shunic quite easy to read. The wanderer had been watching him pack with a smile. Maybe dragons happily packing together was one of those norms of a good day in a Wind clan.
Shunic blinked and smiled at the other Mirror’s perception. A figure outside the chamber caught his attention.
“Someone’s got in her zone I’ll bet.” Orssiel commented, and he continued with his task.
Putting off his preparations for the moment, Shunic exited to the hall and saw Ruha lurking by another doorway.
The Pearlcatcher seemed tense, not unlike Fligrinny did when her morning meal was delayed, and she held her pearl, outside of its satchel, close to her.
“Hey, what’s the matter, Ruha?” The Pearlcatcher’s ears turned as she was addressed. One of them twitched.
“Someone…entered my atrium…without knocking…” Shunic was no gossip merchant. Ruha so no reason not to answer his innocent question.
“Really? A friend of yours?” The Pearlcatcher shook her head.
“No. No one from my old clan. And it wasn’t exactly another researcher either.” Her face creased in anger.
“How do you know?”
Ruha made a gesture of helplessness with one arm for a few moments before batting it against the near-wall. “Would a researcher giggle and call you a hero?”
Shunic thought for a couple of seconds. “…if they were wanting to see how folks reacted?” Experiments were all about ‘reactions’ and ‘outcomes’ weren’t they?
Ruha almost growled in annoyance at it all and left.
The fact that she swore she could sense Orssiel smiling at her retreating back didn’t help matters any.
Shunic didn’t notice Orssiel coming out of the storage cavern. The Wind Mirror blinked, uncertain what he’d done wrong, but managed to call a “see you later!” before she departed from sight.
~~~
Shunic checked the sky. There was still plenty of daylight for travelling, it didn’t seem like anything would go wrong before nightfall. Orssiel arrived at the main entrance to the lair. It had already been established that it wouldn’t be the same quartet as last time. As important figures in the assembly, Melreyna and Inkfell were both occupied with putting measures into place as a result of receiving word of the concern a number of allies had. To ‘be on their guard’ it has been decided to set out measures and preparations for all probable catastrophes that might befall the clan or their allies.
Even if these ‘uneasy feelings’ came to naught, even the sceptics, couldn’t deny the utility of such preparations.
“Soooo…Where are we heading? Deepest, darkest Tangled Wood? The Heart of the Shrieking Wilds? A fortress of the Expanse?” Their last quest had involved crossing the Abiding Boneyard. So Shunic was expecting places of danger and extremes.
Orssiel didn’t answer. Until, “just come on out.”
A sniffy-looking Pearlcatcher came out from within the entryway.
“If everything as under your control as you’re used to, then sure. Put your feet up and find some cushions. But if it’s not. Well, you’ll have to hit the road regardless.” The Mirror nodded knowingly.
Ruha joined the two but gave no reply. She resented Orssiel for getting satisfaction from this.
Shunic looked between Orssiel and Ruha, and gave an overly-dramatic gasp as realisation dawned.
“You saw the gold and blue Fae too?!”
“Yes,” Ruha didn’t look at him as she replied.
“Then you should come and join us!” Shunic was thrilled to have a new companion.
Ruha frowned and dug her claws into the dirt. “Why?”
“Why?” An odd question to Shunic. “Because...we’d love to have you!” Orssiel smiled in the shadows of his cowl and Ruha blinked. Unconvinced apparently. “It’s…always better to travel in groups, right?”
Orssiel stepped in to help. “Someone else to carry supplies, watch your back. And to be honest it’ll be harder for you to get lost than if you’re on your own. Unless you think Sarquinn can find exactly who you’re looking for.”
Ruha hesitated.
“We’ll be fine.” Shunic added, “we’ll keep each other safe and sort everything out together. Please?”
The Pearlcatcher regarded the two Mirrors and sighed. They made it clear to her there was little choice in the matter, that staying was likely to do more harm than good.
“Fine.”
Shunic gave a cheer, and then remembered. “Oh. Orssiel, you didn’t answer my question.” The Water Mirror turned to face the rough direction of the Shifting Expanse relative to the Ruins.
“We need to head south, and hire a boat.”
Shunic practically skipped with delight. The Southern Icefield was still a realm of wonder and mystery to his mind.
“I’ll grab us some extra layers, then we’re off!” The Wind Mirror darted back into the lair as Ruha contemplated the journey ahead. Orssiel continued to silently stare in the direction they were called.
~~~
“So what’s out ‘ere that ye folks wanna see?” The Spiral chatted as she looped between various boatside tasks. Seeing that Orssiel was not going to respond, Shunic replied.
“We’re here to solve a mystery!”
Ruha was tired of their purpose being veiled, both to them and any who asked. Well, ‘save Sornieth and become heroes’ wasn’t the clearest of tasks, and it wasn’t something they could just tell dragons. It was preferable if they could achieve it without the world thinking them barmy or delusionally egocentric.
“Our research has brought us out here.” The Pearlcatcher added. “We believe that a location of interest to our endeavours is out here.” It wasn’t exactly a lie. Just an interpretation of their purpose that left out the details on dreams.
“Ohh, wha’cha think ye’ll find?”
Orssiel smiled without turning his gaze away from the sea. “That’s the mystery.”
A dark shape came into view amid the waves. Orssiel tensed and set his gaze upon it. After some dissent, the group had decided that Orssiel’s dreams with their visual aspect made for their preferred guide for finding the precise location. “There. That’s it.”
The Spiral shrugged, “alright y’all. Won’t be long till we arrive.”
Ruha blinked. Their destination didn’t seem all that far from shore to her. She looked to Orssiel, thinking that perhaps a Mirror’s reluctance to fly had caused them this extra complication. The Water Mirror looked back with a poker-face, as if daring her to question. Due to his hatchlinghood entirely (bar the occasions when he’d snuck away) under the waves, Orssiel’s wings had not developed for true flight. He could do no more than glide.
~~~
The Spiral brought the vessel to a halt a little way from what the group took to be an island. She’d decided not to risk her boat against the rocks right by the destination. “I s’ppose ye’ll need me to stay right here?”
“Yes.” Shunic smiled gratefully, “We’d really like that. I hope you don’t mind.” The Spiral shook her head.
“Ah, it’s nay bother to me. I love the sea air.” She sighed contentedly. There were plenty of ways she could occupy herself on the boat…after she woke up from her immediate nap.
Orssiel disembarked first, and after gliding a short way he swam across the surface until he reached the shallows. Shunic decided to keep him company. After watching the two for a few moments, Ruha decided to flutter alongside them. She didn’t see any reason to get her fur wet.
-
