Amaranthine

The vendors in the market were setting up their tents and stalls, laying out carpets, spreading their loads of produce or goods into position. There was a constant stream of dragons passing by, but with the dawn it would become a flood as travelers and locals attended to their daily shopping. A young dragon slipped through the masses as if he had somewhere to be. Stopping at one corner, he pulled his package out from its hiding space behind some barrels and sat down. After an attentive look around the square he relaxed, made himself comfortable, settled back and started waiting.

Nothing about that youngster reminded of the Arcane beauty fleeing its clan back in the day. Maybe, only the eyes beared witness to his heritage. But they were kept hidden in the shadow of a soft, hempen headband. His former pink colored scales and feathers were concealed behind a masterful disguise of blacks and blues. It was flawlessly fit to his body, made by someone trying for perfection--a real master of the art. The young dragon now merged with those around him rather than standing out because of his beauty. Just as it was intended.

"Aram!! Come on, stop daydreaming! We still got some way to go; and I hate to keep Cyphus waiting!"
-- A spiral called out to the young Skydancer. While impatiently waving his young friend over, Flynn completely ignored the fact that he himself was the one being late. They both just had delivered a few letters to the market and as they had some free time at hand they decided to split up to have a look around the place; gathering some rumours in circulation. Their mentor and teacher Cyphus loved to watch the gossip factory working overtime and was always overjoyed by those pieces of valuable information he could get out of it.
"Get cracking, Aram! We don't have all day!"

Amaranthine was already used to Flynn's friendly, brotherly bickering. He quite enjoyed it actually. They'd been together since the day the two couriers of Clan Àidhear stumbled over the little runaway. The beautiful hatchling had looked quite dishevelled, ruffled and covered in mud to the point not even its own parents would have recognise it any longer. Since the day Amaranthine run off he'd been on his own, trying his best to survive and learning how to fly longer distances without burning himself out.

There was also the matter about his name. The young dragon believed that it was no longer accurate for the life he desired. "A new start requires a new name," he thought and started playing around with his name, until finally deciding upon 'Aram' *. { *Amaranthine --> mara --> Aram} His traveling companions only got to know the young dragon under his new alias as they were picking him up along the road. Even while there was no way they would not be interested in finding out more about the young runaway, Cyphus actually never tried to invade Aram's past. That way he gave the little one all the space it needed to start building up trust. And today, the young Skydancer quite enjoyed looking back at that first encounter....

Aram sat near the trunk of an old oak tree, fiddling nervously with the bandage on his right talon as he watched Cyphus and Flynn talking down at the riverside. The two dragons had made him wash up, tended to his wounds and filled his empty stomach. Even if he didn’t trust them, Aram still had his pride that forbade him to just bolt into the woods after having accepted their help.Where would he run to anyways? The only people he knew were already left behind; and until now the young dragon had kept away from any living soul. Not to forget, he was still so young! Amaranthine hadn’t thought about his future; he figured he just had to gain his freedom of choice first and then go from there. There never existed a plan in the first place, only a few uncertain, vague dreams that went crushing on him after the first night out in the cold, hungry and utterly alone. So, in a certain way, the two unknown dragons were like a lifeline to Aram.

They took him along their travels all over Sornieth. After some time that Aram spent with the two couriers he started to get interested in their line of work. He was able to visit clans and places he never imagined existing out there while learning more about dragons and their habits he’d ever dreamed possible; and there was still so much more to learn.

One day they offered Aram to teach him even more about the life on the road and the secrets of their trade, if he’d be willing to join their family—Clan Àidhear of the Twisting Crescendo. And the young dragon happily agreed. For Aram, it was like winning a contest he hadn’t even known he was competing in. The toughest dragons he knew in the world, the ones he looked up to and that never judged him by his looks, were those two: Flynn and Cyphus. In a way, the young Skydancer had gotten himself not only a brother—one that, even while teasing Aram about the little ones beauty and ignorance about the world, would always stand by its side and have Arams back—but also a mentor to guide him.