Chesh

Written by CRIMSONMASH, go support them their writing is amazing and not that spendy, this is a mix of Chesh and Nikolai's backstory.

A young Imperial Hatchling made his way through one of the many winding, gloomy forests of the Shadow Flight, lavender wings pressed firmly against his sides with his head held low. No, he wasn't exploring or really doing anything fun. His parents, an Imperial lady and a Ridgeback male both of high ranks within his Clan, had sent him into the forest for "time out" knowing that the darkness of the area and the slight rustle of the leaves as a gentle breeze would roll through would scare some sense into him. See, Nikolai had always been a bit different from those of his Flight. He didn't like the darkness and he always seemed to be questioning some sort of authority. The reason he was out here, was just because of that. His mother had told him to go help his father with Gathering, which he responded to with "why should I have to help him gather if I'm not allowed to do the fun things like train in the coliseum. It just seems stupid that adults get to do all the cool stuff. 'Little Nikolai shivered as night came. He hadn't strayed too far from where his father had left him, just in case his punishment would come to an early end and the much older dragon would come looking for him, but as night fell, he knew he would be here for a while, seeing as his Clan was made of dragons who had a very strict sunset to sunrise sleep schedule, unlike most other Shadow Flight Clans. Just as he was about to curl up into his protective sleep ball under a bush to hide from any monsters, a faint sob caught his attention. Lifting his head, he glanced around the area, seeing not a single soul to explain where the crying was sounding from. "I'm sorry..." He heard the meek voice of a female Hatchling whisper between whimpering cries. Picking his way out of the bush to get a better view, Nikolai caught a strong 'Plague Dragon' scent and his ears immediately flickered back against his head. It was an act. He knew it immediately. It was all just an act to lure him deeper into the forest where a Plague dragon would be waiting to kill him. Turning his cheek to the sound, he huffed and shuffled back into his bush, curling up for sleep, though he couldn't. Not with those haunting sobs so close by. They were so soft... So genuine. Sighing, he began to think too much. What if someone was hurt? Or scared? What if it was someone younger than he? Mind racing, he dragged himself to weary feet and began to search, following the scent and sound he arrived at a collapsed dark mound of scales and wings, crying her eyes out over the root of a large oak tree. "Hey... Are you okay?" Nikolai prodded her gently with a dull clawed paw. Her head snapped up, tear streaks staining her shiny violet scales. The ice colored gem-like designs of her pelt caught the moonlight just perfectly. She was certainly stunning. "I-I...." She stuttered, unable to form words through her sorrow. Nikolai was patient, allowing her to gather up the courage and strength to speak through the river of tears she had cast herself in. "My daddy..." She shivered, trailing off. "He left me here a few days ago." Her voice was hardly a whisper as she rose to shaky feet. "He promised he would be back in an hour, but he never came back. I don't remember doing anything wrong... I... I...." She broke down once again, hiding her face beneath her clawed fingers. "Don't be scared..." It was the only thing Nikolai could manage to say. He had never consoled anyone before. He was an only child. Due to birth complications, hi other siblings never hatched. He never had witnessed another dragon's tears. Heck, he himself hardly cried. "I can stay with you if you want." He offered, shuffling from foot to foot awkwardly. "Really?" She shifted her gaze to stare up at him with shimmering ruby eyes, making his heart feel... Funny inside. "Yeah... Of course. I'm alone out here too... Well, because I was kinda bad, but maybe when my parents come get me in the morning we can take you in." He suggested hopefully. "That would be great..." She offered him a weak smile before scooting over to make room for him to curl up on the tall grass underfoot. They were awoken in the morning by the loud roar of a dragon. "NIKOLAI!" A deep, male voice boomed through the forest. "Where are you!?" Nikolai jumped to his feet, knowing just who it was. His father. "Over here dad!" He called back in a softer voice. No dragon was as loud as his father. In hardly seconds, the royal purple colored Ridgeback male was standing rather condescendingly over him. Alexavier. "I told you to stay near the front of the forest." Nikolai ducked his head apologetically. "I'm sorry father, I just-" "Silence." The hissing voice cut him off before he could explain himself. "Who is that beside you." It was more of a demand than a question. "This is my friend.... Uhh..." Nikolai turned his head to the female Pearlcatcher questioningly. He had never even asked her name! "Chesh." She said softly, saving her new found companion. "My name is Chesh." Alexavier turned his gaze back to his son, peering at him through narrowed, cold eyes. "What are you doing here Chesh?" He spoke her name as if he were speaking of death its self. "I... I got lost." She seemed to mewl, shrinking back into the shadows of a tree. "Well... Stay that way. Come, Nikolai, your mother is waiting." With that, he turned and began lumbering away without a single glance over his shoulder at the two young Hatchlings. "Father! Wait! We can't just leave her here!" Nikolai insisted, remaining beside Chesh with stiffened shoulders and a hard stare. "She'll die on her own!" "THEN DIE WITH HER." The reply was chilling to the bone, loud, and felt to Nikolai as if he'd just been hit with a ton of bricks. The older dragon didn't stop walking he didn't even look once over his shoulders back to his awe struck son who stood, unmoving, breathing shallowly, with wide, hurt eyes. Soon, he was gone. Nothing left of him but his ever so faint scent. "Nikolai... I'm so sorry." Chesh whispered, voice barely audible over the sound of howling winds. "You shouldn't have done that for me-" She continued, but a flick of Nikolai's ears silenced her. "I did what I thought was right, and if theres one thing I've learned in my life, its never regret anything you do, because in the moment that you did it, its what you wanted to do." His words hung in the air for a long while before he turned to Chesh, the life seemed to fill his eyes once more as a devious grin spread over his features. "Lets go. Lets leave this stupid forest and run away to the Ice Tundra. I've always wanted to be an Ice mage and now I can. You can come with me and we can grow up together and look out for one another. We'll be best friends until the day we die." The request bewildered (to say the least) the other Hatchling, but she agreed none the less, setting them out on their journey. They crossed through the Scarred Wasteland, Chesh knowing the way well. She would have liked to just stay there, in her old home, but now that her father was gone, she just wanted to move on and forget the past. However, a few older dragons recognized her and supplied the two adventurers with food and materials to sustain them through their journey. They soon reached the Starfall Isles, land of the Arcaneists. It wasn't that bad... Or so they had thought on first impression. Taking shelter in a seemingly old and abandoned Dragon Lair, the two tuckered out young ones were out in seconds. Nikolai was stirred in the middle of the night by thirst, but when he tried to stand to retrieve water from his pouch that was set with all of their other supplies in one of the caves corners, he found his front lower arms coated with a thin, but un-thawable layer of ice accompanied by two shackles around his wrists. His startled gasp awakened his female counterpart who, when observing the strange situation, recognized this as a curse. "Its a popular curse among Arcaneists. Its usually used on trespassers and typically one would freeze your entire legs. You're lucky, you can still walk, but it will be hard." She explained gently. "How did you know that?" Nikolai quizzed. Chesh felt the skin beneath her scales flush with embarrassment. "I just really like learning about other Flights..." She shrugged it off and laied back down. "Just try to sleep." With that, their journey continued to the next day. It took a grand total of two weeks to get to The Southern Icefield, but they managed wonderfully, aside from Nikolai's curse that he adapted to rather quickly. They were both welcomed with open arms after explaining their story to the Icewarden. So there they lay, in their own shared Lair in the lesser Lair of the Frigid Floes. Nikolai one one side, Chesh on the other. Nikolai had been acting strange lately, shifting around a lot whenever he spoke to Chesh, stuttering and stumbling over his words, but Chesh didn't dare ask about it. Maybe he was just cold? Yeah, that seemed reasonable. However, that was quite the contrary. He was perfectly fine, thanks to the curse. The cold didn't irritate him one bit. Said young Hatchling rose to his feet, a small flower bracelet clamped tight in his jaws as he slowly made his way over to Chesh, who was counting the treasure that they had earned for the day, seeing as evening was approaching. "Ch-Chesh." Nikolai murmured over the bracelet between his teeth. "I have someth-thing for you." Chesh smiled and turned to face him. "And what might that be....." She gasped lightly at the sight of a beautiful pink-tinted purple flower attached to a green, leafy band. Nikolai placed it delicately on the ground in front of her, sucking in a deep breath. "Chesh. You're my best friend and have made yourself a special part of my life in the short time I've known you. I was wondering if... When we're old enough.... Will you be my mate?" The words danced about between them for a long while before Chesh opened her mouth to say something, then closed it. What do you say to that? She didn't know. In a matter of seconds, she had launched herself on him, nuzzling against his shoulder blade wordlessly. "Does that mean yes?" Nikolai asked hopefully, praying that he hadn't misunderstood the action. "Of course!" The smaller female squeaked. From that day forward, Chesh never removed her flower bracelet and as soon as the time permitted, our beloved dragons created five beautiful Hatchlings who all grew up to be strong, healthy, and the kindest dragons that the Ice Flight, and possibly any other flight, as been met with before.


Written by me though:
It had been many years, chesh and Nikolai had watched children and grandchildren grow up in the icey plains they had come to love and grow up in, even grand children. But one day a letter arrived, specifically addressed to Nikolai, a small white wind spiral had brought it round
Nikolai frowned, seeing the shadow clan symbol on their messenger bag was never his favorite thing. He took the letter, Chesh hovered nearby and the spiral carefully sat on a icy rock. While he read the letter

"Dear Nikolai,

Your father has chosen to work with Lord Shadowbinder, I had not heard your side of the story until much later from one of your children. If you would so kindly with your mate return home we will treat you gratefully. Your mother would love to teach you how to use two flights powers even. She also wants to apologize in dragon and I wish to apologize to your face as well. I failed in my duties of a leader and you deserve more then we can give but if you don't want to I would kindly ask that you send a letter with dear Snowflake.
Signed. Hunter."

Nikolai hissed.
"Hun what is it?" Chesh asked softly, she carefully put down her pearl to wrap her arms around Nikolai's chest and tried to peer up at the letter he held so close to his face.
"My clan...wants me back." A snarl escaped his teeth at the end bit and he ripped the page up. The spiral-"Snowflake",did they really send a dragon with an ice like name to appease him?! Let out a small sigh, Nikolai had to hold back from freezing her to the rock.
"Oh? Why?"
"Supposedly they want to apologize." Nikolai continued, grabbing some of the torn up pieces to stuff into the snow.
At that moment the spiral coughed and spoke up
"What my Leader said is true though, he does feel bad about how you were treated. Its not written but the rumors are that Alexavier was banished for the actions he took against you two. The clan is a welcoming one..." Snowflake nervously watched Nikolai's reaction as it went from already kind of angry to what appeared to be large crystals forming around him.
Snowflake dove out of the way as a sudden blizzard like wind would have torn them off that rock if he hadn't moved.
"Snowlove!" Chesh shouted, quickly moving around him to jump up and grab hold of his face between her claws, "She's just a messenger please don't hurt her!."
Nikolai stared into her ruby eyes and slowly sighed. The winds died down and Snowflake poked her head out of the snow
"Really we have changed..." she repeated, carefully removing herself from the snow and sprung into the air, to be out of range of that blasted cold.
"...I wouldn't mind visiting the wasteland to see my folks...please Nikolai?" Chesh spoke softly, keeping her eyes on her beloved mate. He sighed. He could never say no to her. Maybe her kind instincts had kicked in and he should trust them.
"Alright. Let us gather our things..." He gestured to her pearl. It was common for Chesh to drop it to make sure Nikolai was ok but it always made him nervous. If she lost it in the blinding snow he'd have no one to blame but himself.

So once more they journeyed across the land, flying high above the arcanist isles as Nikolai didn't want to be cursed once more. They stopped in the Wasteland where Chesh proudly showed off Nikolai to her old clan. Nikolai couldn't help but be overwhelmed by how excited she was to talk about him. He made sure his hat covered his face as he wanted no one to see his embarrassment.

Finally they were back in the tangled woods. Chesh even found the bushes they had hid in as kids, now more looking like shubbery.
"I still can't beileve you chose me over your father.."
"He was what you'd call a pile of mucus. I never did care for him..." Nikolai sighed, frost covering some of the plants. The childhood resentment was starting to bubble up again.
Snowflake landed on a branch nearby and chirped at the two. The spiral had been keeping tabs on the two.
"We moved a little further south, just follow me." She jumped off the branh and walked along the ground with them.
Her white and green coloration made the spiral pop out from the dark and murky ground. No wonder Hunter had her as a messenger. She had to be terrible at everything else. Chesh walked very close, Nikolai carefully entwined their tails as they moved along. He wasn't sure why she squeezed his back, maybe she was nervous? Chesh honestly thought Nikolai was the nervous one.
They finally came upon a clearing, Snowflake had to speak to a very angry looking Skydancer that they were meant to be here.
Hunter came pratically galloping across clearing, Nikolai moved himself in front as the mirror actually pounced onto him.
"I am glad you have returned ice-boy." Nikolai was surprised by how warm his tone was, he scrambled up his neck and rested behind his horns.
"...you really do like climbing the tall dragons huh?" Nikolai adjusted his hat but actually smiled.
There was a shout and there was his mom. She came running too, letting out a bellow of welcome and had to stop not to crash into him. The letter was true, he could literally feel the new light magic pulsating off his mom with the strange tattoos she had on her body. They carefully hugged with their necks, Hunter swapped to Sunsetwings as they did.
"My darling boy, my son, my little Nikolai...I'm so sorry I never ever knew I never knew.." tears of light fell down her face as she pressed her head ontop of Nikolai's hat, trying to hold him as she did when he was a child.
Even Nikolai's frozen heart cracked a little and he started crying.
It was a real welcome home.

Chesh watched on with a soft smile. She was not excited for her turn to be pulled into all of this emotional stuff.


Drawn by the amazing Meph!