Zalea

A light breeze blows across your face, sending strands of your mane whipping across your cheeks and getting in your line of sight. You squint, trying to make out a twisting object in the distance. It seems likely it's a spiral, with all of the unpredictable movement as it swirls in the air. And yet, very unlike a spiral (which you would expect to be noisy as all get out from previous experiences), it is completely silent.

That seems to rule out a tornado as well.

Cautiously, you approach, the grass of the Zephyr Steppes whispering beneath your claws as you glide gracefully onward. You admire how marvelously simple it is to fly everywhere in the Windswept Plateau as you feel the sweet caress of the April wind, a light mist from the morning dew spraying off of the grass blades. The closer you get, the more obvious it becomes that this smoothly undulating thing is without a doubt a dragon. A dark bodied dragon, with shimmering rose wings and a bright pink underbelly swivels and twines itself through the reeds, and as it spirals back towards you it notices your existence.

"WH--whoawhoawhoa-wha-whoooooaaaa!"

Having seen you, the dragon promptly crashes into a particularly sturdy reed cluster and tumbles to the ground, proving itself somewhat less graceful than you had expected. You obviously surprised it, and you feel a bit bad, so you offer your assistance.

"Do you need any help there?"

"Nonono, I'm fine! Just a minor mishap. Shake it off - BRRRRRRR"

At a closer glance, the dragon is quite obviously female. She shakes her head as she speaks, and her voice rings clear like the whistle of the wind with a high almost magical quality to it. It's almost as if it shifts tone every few words. You've never heard anything quite like it, so you comment.

"Forgive me if it's rude to ask, but I was wondering... where are you from?"

Her face snaps towards you excitedly, and for the first time you see its eyes, glowing pink crystals set into an otherwise dark face. A smile curls at the corners of her mouth, always somewhat unsettling on the face of a dragon. When she opens her mouth to speak however, you are instantly at ease. Her earlier clumsiness seems to have faded, and now she exhibits unbridled enthusiasm as she sings her words with her wind clear voice.

"I'll ask you a question first, and then I'll answer in more detail than you'd like. Who are you, and what are you doing here?"

You ponder that for a moment, and conclude that there's no harm in answering.

"I'm a judge for the April Breeder Contest. You may have heard of it, it stems from the Neon Wings Breeders Association. I'm traveling the world searching for dragons who qua-"

Her eyes glimmer, and she interrupts you.

"-who qualify? What are the requirements?"

"Well, the main requirement is that you must be a Neon Wings Member. You must also fit the criteria of a Neon Wings Dragon, that is you have a dark body and bright wings. Of course, you can also have a light body and bright wings, or-"

She interrupts once more, her voice bubbling over with interest.

"So I could qualify?"

You look her up and down, assessing her for the breed standards. Obsidian body, Rose wings, Shimmer gene... It all looks good. Only one question.

"Are you a member of the association?"

She makes a dismissive sound, and snorts the most musical snort you've ever heard.

"Of course! My clan is affiliated with the Neon Wings Association, and I'm part of an advanced pair."

Although left unspoken, her gaze makes it clear that there was meant to be a 'duh' at the end of that sentence.

"Alright then, I suppose you qualify! Our theme is spring dragons."

"Well I am about to WOW you. Now sit down, the story of my origins might be a bit long to stand for."

You curl up on the soft grass, feeling it graze your scales. She begins without any fanfare.

"My name is Zalea. I was born in the Crystalspine Reaches at the highest point of the tallest spire.

I knew I did not belong there. I left shortly after I was grown, saying my goodbyes and setting off. I wasn't about to travel through the territory of Plague, so I went by way of the Windswept Plateau."

She gestures around grandly, stretching her entire body to full length and reaching her arms and legs far apart. In a quick, unexpected movement, she curls up tightly and springs away, gliding in a large circle around you before coming to rest precisely where she had just been. She continues her story as if she had never paused.

"I knew I belonged here. It was perfect for me. However, every clan I came across was full. Not one had room for a lone arcane dragon with no mate. My heart stayed in the windswept plateau, but my body had to carry forth.

I came to the edge of the Sea of a Thousand Currents. At first, I tried to fly across it, but it was just too wide, and the wind was turbulent above the waves. I was forced to swim. I met many clans under the sea, but I never ventured deeper than the Tsunami Flats. I begin to regret that as I tell you this, for I'm sure the depths of the sea are filled with strange creatures and strange dragons alike... perhaps I would have enjoyed their company. Ah well."

She pauses thoughtfully, then shakes her head.

"I came to the other side. The bubbles of the Tidelord led me directly to the shores of the Tangled Wood. I had barely set paw on land before a dragon came up to me.

He told me there was a toll for entering the country, and that he'd need to see some identification. I was fairly confused by this, and I stuttered and stumbled over my words a bit. He-"

She continues to speak, but you can only think of the image of her stumbling over her words. Although you heard it only minutes prior, it doesn't mesh in your head when you picture her voice having trouble with making sounds. You slowly drift out of your reverie and back into real life, focusing extra hard on what she's saying to make up for your mental absence.

"-and the whole thing was a joke! I was infuriated for about five seconds before I saw his teeth bared in a gigantic smile, and then I realized that he was quite handsome. He invited me back to his clan, and they took me in! He needed a mate anyway, and since we look almost exactly alike it was practically fate. The Windswept Plateau is just across the Sea from our home, so I visit here often."

She seems to be done with her story. You open your maw to speak, but she has more to say.

"My clan found me as an Unnamed. I hadn't yet found my place. They could see I liked it in the Driftwood Drag, but something was missing for me. I need the sunshine, and the rain, but nothing penetrates the darkness of the Tangled Woods. And so they took a vacation to the Viridian Labyrinth. They would have gone to the Windswept Plateau with me, but apparently they had had bad experiences before trying to keep track of all the hatchlings as they crossed the water, so that was out. In the Viridian Labyrinth, I found my name. Or rather, I found more to love and my clan named me for it.

Have you ever seen an Azalea bush? Beautiful plants. Round and full and very green. In the spring, they push out flowers like it's their last chance, even though they bloom every year. So many colors too -- bright pink, lavender purple, white, magenta, rose... some even have stripes of different colors on their flowers. They enchanted me the moment I saw them, and after I spent days lying curled around them to smell their perfume, my clan started calling me Zalea. It's perfect for me."

Her eyes sparkle in the green tinted light with an obvious love. She tilts her head a bit, and then hesitates a moment before speaking.

"Would you like to see some azalea flowers?"

It's very clear that she wants to show you. You nod your head.

"I'd love to."

She whirls away, and through the resulting rush of wind you make out her words.

"BE RIGHT BACK!"

You sit and wait for a minute, and then five, and then ten. The sun has reached its peak in the sky, and is beginning to sink back down. You start to sweat, and the sweat makes your scales itch. Uncomfortable, you wonder if she's actually coming back. You only wait a little bit longer though before you see her in the distance. She's approaching at full speed, judging by her rapid size increase, and as she gets close she nearly bowls you over as she tries to stop.

"Sorry, sorry, too excited!"

She exclaims these words and her voice turns to wind chimes. You glance at her, then look again to stare. She's surrounded by a cloud of petals, floating on the breeze but somehow gravitating towards her, stuck in their own miniature orbits around her body. Her head is crowned with a garland of flowers, her neck wears a long lei being tossed about in the wind, and on her wrist is a single large flower in a stunningly bright shade of purple. She holds a pink rose, and as you watch she puts it in her mouth and does the best approximation of a tango that a dragon could muster.

When the short tango is complete, she moves closer and offers you the flower.

"This way, I keep the azalea with me wherever I go."

You take the flower from her claws and sniff it. The scent of springtime fills your nostrils, and beyond the flower you currently have your nose buried in, you think that perhaps you also smell the sweet, waxy fresh scent of the azalea petals.