For prologue, see Wildflower.

The story is split into three parts.
Prologue, where various dragons from my clan interact.
Sailing, where there be pirates
And epilogue, where certain things must come to an end.

All parts can be read separately.

WIP: Reaalllyyyy needs proofreading

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“Do you... Ever miss mum, Chara?”

“...No.” Chara watched her father carefully, noticing him tense. But it was true, she was too young to remember and wasn’t around much for her return. She walked up to him with an embrace. “I don’t need all the spoils of a deep blue sea, when I got everything I need and more right here.”

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Prologue

Midnight has never been this excited before. Asher struggled to keep up with his mate, who led him down to the lake that the river flowed through. On its shore, Midnight danced around some wood while Asher stared on confused.

“Well? Isn’t it wonderful?”
“...Wood?”
A ship! And not just any ship, a pirate ship!”
“Ohhh.”

As he got closer, yes it did vaguely look like one. There was a mast, the round body... The sails were beyond recognition though, aside from a small rag from the flag with the familiar skull. Asher shuddered a little.

“What if the pirates are here somewhere?”
“I’ve waited three days, no one has claimed her, she’s abandoned. Must have flown down the river from some far away land.”

Midnight picked up a part of the sail, and after inspecting it threw it jokingly onto Asher. She laughed as he squeaked in shock and got himself more tangled in it than free.

“Cheer up, if they were pirates we’d be goners by now. I say we fix her up and look out for some treasure. What do you say?”
Asher was going to comment how reassuring that was, but finally breaking through the sail, he looked up at midnight with eyes shining in delight.

“Shiny?”

***

And so the whole clan got to work, with Midnight helping out (a lot). Chara took her dogs to find wood, Kouki helped Telephone with fixing the sails, and Bingo brought supplies.
Midnight walked round frequently checking on everyone.

“How’s the flag, Telephone?”
“Oh it’s- Kouki, where is it?”
“It’s here... Oh.”
They looked round frantically, until they heard little Marble’s footsteps running towards them.

“I finished the flag!”
She presented her contribution, where she had painted on Midnight’s head, with bones on the back... A little too dark so it wasn’t very visible and wonky.

“Just like in the storybooks!”
Telephone and Kouki shot Midnight a fearful glance, knowing she had wanted everything to be perfect. Midnight took the flag, and inspecting it she cracked a smile and ruffled Marble’s hair.

“What a wonderful flag, you put your heart into this, I can respect that. It’s perfect.”
Marble beamed and ran off to find some more trouble.

***

“The ship’s almost done, why the long face Dakota?”
Dakota lowered his face to Midnight, voice ushered.
“That’s the problem. I’ve lost Asher.”

At that point Liliana ran up towards them, panting, out of breath.
“Th-the nails!-“
The other two gave each other a knowing look and began the search.

“I swear I looked away for three seconds...”
“I know, let’s just find him before it’s time to pack up.”

Asher himself had sat further downstream as the nails glinted in the glow of the mushrooms.
“So beautiful. The ship is nearly ready. They won’t miss a few.”

He froze as he heard voices, deciding it would be a good idea to change hiding spots. He ran some way forward... And tripped on wood in his hurry. Upon closer inspection, it seemed to be the wheel from the ship.
“Hey, we don’t need a new one now! But it’s much too large for me to carry...”

It was too early to return, they’d take his shinies away.

“No, I don’t have ship nails in my collection yet."
And with a huff he walked off a few steps, holding the nails close. Soon enough though he suddenly stopped, angrily stared into space and kicked a poor mushroom that grew in the wrong place at the wrong time.

“Urgh, fine! The things I do for you Midnight...”
Flying towards the voices he found Midnight and Liliana, and everything was returned to its rightful place.

***

Toril walked down with his mother to see the work coming to a close. He looked around, proud that the whole clan had put so much teamwork into this.

“Isn’t it wonderful mother?”
Itself sighed. “Yes, it’s been quiet lately. Quite nice to see everyone pitching in.”

Midnight finished placing the wheel to its place, waving to Toril as she saw him coming over.

“Asher found the wheel!” She cried excitingly, flying over. “It’s done a few hours early, we can set sail tomorrow!”

Toril laughed at her joy. He looked over curiously, noticing the empty side of the boat.
“No name yet?”
Midnight flinched. “Oh no, I forgot!”

Marble overheard and abandoned her post of watching Asher.
“The Crushing Skull! Arrrr!”

“Hah, cute” Midnight laughed in reply. “That’s-“
Asher joined them. “The Buoyant Button.”
“That’s not piratey!”
“That’s not a word Marble.”

Shushing them, Midnight listened fondly.
“You’re both right, maybe something not so dark and something more piratey”
“The Pearl Maiden?” Dakota chipped in.
“That’s more like it, I was thinking more on the Shadowed Mist.”

More and more dragons joined in, until Toril raised a hand.
“How about the Friendship Ferry?”
Marble chuckled. “It’s a pirate ship, not s passenger ship!”
“Well, no” Toril looked over at her calmly. “But we can’t decide on a name, and we worked so hard on it together, so I thought it could work. I didn’t want to name it Friend-ship.”

Most dragons groaned in agreement. Toril stepped towards Midnight. “Ultimately it’s your ship, your choice, captain, we can use it as a temporary name until you have a better one. And it will serve as a memory of the work we did today.”

Midnight wasn’t entirely happy with the name. It sounded a little pathetic for a pirate. But no one seemed to disagree. What else would she expect from her clan other than this, though?

She breathed out half a laugh. “Okay. Kouki, fetch the paint, Bingo, bring Toril the champagne.”

The clan replied with a hearty “Aye!” And the celebrations began as Toril smashed the bottle onto the ship. Once the sparklers fizzed, drinks were emptied, and Waffle’s cookies disappeared, the only thing left was to gather the crew.

“Asher, Dakota, you’re definitely going... Marble, fine, don’t make puppy eyes. No you can’t have a real cutlass I’ll make you a cardboard one. Anyone else?”

Chara stepped forward. “I wouldn’t mind smelling the sea air and listening to the waves. Would you mind if I tag along?”
“Of course, I remember my first time, it’s really wonderful. I wouldn’t dream of stopping anyone who would like to experience it too. One space left! Last call!”

Toril couldn’t hold it any longer. “Mother, I’m going”
Itself looked at him with a smile, raising an eyebrow.
“Please lead for a while. I really want a vacation, you said I could soon.”

Itself breathed in deeply.

“No.”

Toril was devastated. “Please?”

Dakota came up behind them. “He’s going”

Itself turned with a huff, teeth flashing. “No, he’s not.”

“Yes he is, he’s never going to get a chance like this again.”
“You know we’re having some economic problems lately.

Dakota lowered his head to be able to whisper to her.
“Oh? And he’s going to do them by himself?”
He lifted his head back again and stretched.
“The poor boy needs a break, leave him be.”

Itzel growled quietly but gave up, placing a paw gently onto her son. “Ahhh to be young. Fine, you can go, I’ll sort things for you. Make sure to help me when you’re back.”

Toril hugged his mother, thanking both parents, and flew over in a rush to report to Midnight.

“You’re overworking the boy. He hasn’t had a break since he was born.”

Itzel didn’t even turn.

“You have no right to say anything.” And she walked back to her den.

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The Sailing

The morning was beautiful. Dark and clear. Perfect for sailing.

“I’ve checked the area, no clouds anywhere.” Hauku reassured Midnight.
“Thank you, here, for the trouble.” She handed him a coin.
“But, I don’t need-“
“Take it and buy yourself and Scott some ice cream.”

Hauku nodded and disappeared into the trees. Midnight turned to her crew with a sigh. None of them knew how to sail. But this was the crew she had, and trusted.

“Well. Asher up in the nest. If you can spot a nail from the top of a tree, a lookout is perfect for you. Off we go!”

They all boarded the ship aside from Dakota, who had to make do with a raft towing behind. He was much too large unfortunately. And as midnight unfurled the sails, they left the blue, cosy glow of their home behind.

The sea was wonderful. Asher was dozing, Marble was playing pretend with her sword with Toril, Dakota was fishing with his tail, and Chara and Midnight rested on the edge of the boat towards the sea, enjoying the fresh air and the sun that they experience so little of at home.

“I wish you could see it Chara. It’s so vast and blue.”
“It’s still wonderful. I can imagine it perfectly anyways, you do really like to talk about it.”
“Heh, that I do.” They both turned as they heard Asher snore.

“Hey, he just started his shift!”
“I’ll wake him up” Chara chuckled. Flying up, she nudged Asher softly awake, and he jolted awake.
“Wakey wakey sleepy whale”
Asher rubbed his eyes.
“Morning still? I mean-“

He stopped short as he saw the spot on the horizon.
“B-boat!”

Everyone rushed to the north edge of the boat, and waiting a while they got to see it too. A pirate ship, and a bigger one at that.

To be continued
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Epilogue

The boat rocked gently home, and even Asher was allowed to snooze. The only dragon awake was Midnight, who ironically felt a little homesick. She tied the boat to a spruce tree as it knocked onto the shore, and softly stirred Asher awake.

“Shh. Come with me for a while.”

Asher, still a little groggy from sleep, curled up on Midnight’s back as she took a trek away from the boat. They stopped at a fallen pine on which they sat facing each other.

“Asher, I’m leaving again tomorrow.”
He cocked his head. “So early? We should get supplies, maybe rest a little, ask Bingo-“
“Asher.” Midnight’s voice cracked. “I’m going alone.”

Asher felt a panic in his chest, but didn’t want to jump to conclusions. “Okay? Peace is nice too, I’ll wait at home, no problem.”
“Forever Asher, I need to leave you.”

There it was. Asher’s frills snapped back, eyes wide and beginning to water. He couldn’t even say a word, as Midnight guessed he wouldn’t.

“We can’t even call each other proper mates. You leave for ages to steal, and I leave to travel or sail. You still even live with Dakota. After we found this ship and our adventure, I have to say I need to leave forever. Maybe come back for a visit, but-“

Asher lowered his head. Midnight wished he could say something at least.
“I can’t take you. This adventure was nothing compared to the danger I’ll see. You were scared, too.”

Another silence. But this time, Asher spoke up.
“Why didn’t you say it bothered you?”

Midnight had no answer to that aside from embracing Asher, who in turn broke into tears.

“I’ve made my choice. Im sorry.”

They stayed like that for a while, Midnight staring straight ahead until Asher’s sobs calmed.

“I’m sorry.” Asher hiccuped.
“Don’t be.” Midnight took out a nail from her pocket and placed it in his paws.

“To remember me by. I wish you well Asher. And I know you wish me well too. Farewell.”

And she left him sitting on the log, with only the nail for company. Have they always been this sharp? He held it up high in the air to throw it, but wasn’t able to. His arms shook from effort, so he lowered the nail and hugged it, crying again once more.

***

The lonely empty sea was lovely. Midnight breathed in the good, salty air.

It’s empty. Just like me. A blank slate.

With it’s gentle rocking, the Friendship Ferry sailed away onto new adventure.

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Take me to Zemira!