Avtur

Avtur=Jet fuel ;)
Foreign Exchange Student Log:

Day 1:

The arcane clan was much more fortified than Avtur had expected. Sure, all clans need their protection, but this was a bit . . . overkill. Did the walls really have to be that tall? And the gate? Dragons have wings . . .

Everyone seemed to be nice--as far as he could tell, anyway. He'd only been greeted by a few dragons, who had nodded to him before hurrying off to repair lairs or part of the monstrous wall. Apparently, the fortifications weren't enough, and something had attacked the clan.

His thoughts were interrupted by a thud against his back, like a stone or bird had hit him. He heard another soft thud as whatever it was hit the ground. Avtur turned and saw a dark fae with red wings spring up and take flight. He spun in a circle, trying to track where it was, only to come face-to-face with them when he stopped. The fae grabbed Avtur's head and looked into his eyes.

"Wowees! We've got another dragon!" She placed two of her claws uncomfortably close to one of Avtur's eyes, stretching the skin above and below it. He flinched, but remained still. If the fae meant him harm, she would have plunged her claws into his eyes already.

"Moldy beetles. You're just a Lightning dragon." The Fae retracted her claws from Avtur's face and fluttered off. A second later, she came back into view in front of Avtur, fluttering right above his head. She looked disappointed.

"I was born in a Lightning nest, but I'm a Plague dragon at heart." Avtur puffed out his chest. The fae narrowed her eyes and scratched her chin with her claws, deep in thought.

"So you're the foreign exchange student from the Plague clan?" Her claws dropped to her side, and he felt more than saw her fly in a circle around him.

"Huh," the Fae said after her quick inspection. She stopped in front of him again, wings beating wildly.

He looked down at the ground in front of him. "I'm Avtur."

"I know." He heard the fae flutter off again, then jumped as he felt her land on his upper back, her claws digging into his shoulders.

Her head popped into view in his peripheral vision."So, tell me what it's like. Do you fight other clans? Or spar with each other for fun?" The Fae jumped and did a front flip over his head, landing in midair and hovering there expectantly.

"Well, we don't really--"

"What's that?" She'd landed in front of the cage beside him, wrapping her claws around the bars and pulling. When it didn't open, she pressed her face against the bars. "What's inside?"

"That's my Octoflyer. She's--" but the Fae had lost interest and was fluttering by his head again.

"How boring." She flicked her tail in irritation. "I expected something a bit more menacing. Like a black wolf. Raquel's got one of those. She keeps it in her lair and curls up with it to sleep."

Avtur didn't know what to say to that. He shifted from one foreleg to the other, wondering if the Fae could direct him to his lair.

"Mephistopheles, if you're going to talk our guest's ears off, you might as well show him where he's staying."

Avtur looked up. Another Fae had joined the first, this one tightly wrapped in a shawl. She fixed him with a piercing gaze. He looked away.

"But mom . . . "

"Do it or leave him alone."

The Fae--Mephistopheles--fluttered close to him. "Fine." She flew over to the cage and wrapped both hands around the handle, trying in vain to lift it. "Arcanist hexes, how much does this thing weigh?"

"Here, let me . . . " Avtur reached out a forearm and grabbed the handle, easily lifting the cage from the ground.

"You're rooming with Beowulf. We would've just have you stay in Korinth's bed, but he's a Fae, and you're a Pearlcatcher, so that wouldn't work."

Avtur merely nodded, too tired from the trip and busy taking in the clan to say anything.

"It's kind of a bummer. I was looking forward to rooming with you. I have so many questions."

Indeed, the Fae had already asked about fifty questions about his clan. She seemed surprised to learn that they didn't fight to the death as a coming of age ritual. Or bathe in the blood of their enemies. Or raid the beast clans on a weekly basis. In fact, he was beginning to wonder what the Arcane dragons had been taught about his flight.

Finally, they reached the Beowulf's lair. "Need help unpacking?" The fae seemed hopeful.

"It's ok." He was beginning to see spots and wanted nothing more than to curl up in his nest.

He looked away from Mephistopheles' downcast expression. "I'll be by tomorrow, ok?" Before he could answer, she'd fluttered off again.

Once inside, Avtur opened the cage to let his octoflyer out. She crawled out and stretched her tentacles, glad for the open space. He flopped down on the nest without any mementos or objects in it in the corner--his nest, he presumed--and fell into a dreamless sleep.

Avtur awoke to the sound of a dragon wailing. Must be someone in the doctor's lair, he thought, rolling onto his side and falling back asleep. He remained in a state of half-sleep as the wailing went on and on. Finally, it subsided. Avtur sighed and drifted deeper into unconsciousness . . .

"Wake up!"

This, accompanied with a jab to his flank, caused Avtur to open his eyes. A dragon's face was mere inches away, covered in a metal helmet. He started and stood up, tense as the guardian, clad in full armor, continued to stare him down. Behind him stood an armored spiral and several other armor-clad guardians.

"Well?" The guardian in front cocked his helmeted head to the side. "Out of the nest, rot-brained greenie."

The retort was one he'd heard often from his clanmates. He looked at the guardian again, noticing the gleam of his red eyes from inside of the helmet. A Plague dragon, one born in a Plague clan, unlike him.

"S-sorry." He stumbled out of the nest.

The dragons looked at Avtur expectantly. The Plague guardian stepped forward.

"What in the name of the Arcanist are you doing here?"

"Don't you mean the Plaguebringer?" Avtur said, instantly regretting his words.

The guardian stepped forward and placed his guarded face against Avtur's. The pearlcatcher almost shrank back from his fiery gaze.

"Don't get smart with me. Now, what in the name of the Eleven are you doing here?"

Much better. Avtur gulped back the retort. "I-I'm the foreign exchange student, sir."

"And why are you in here?"

"I--this is my bed, sir. I was shown to this lair the first day."

"I see." The guardian turned toward the entryway. "PUCK!" He bellowed.

In a few moments, a small green and blue fae entered the lair and landed on the Plague guardian's shoulder.

"Yes, Beowulf?"

"Did you give that one this bed?" He indicated Avtur and the bed he'd slept in.

Puck fluttered in front of the guardian--Beowulf. "Uh, yes. I assumed that since Hrethric was with her mo--I mean, never mind. We'll find another lair for him." The fae flew out of reach of the guardian, who looked angrier than ever.

"Come along." Puck nudged Avtur in the shoulder, casting a nervous glance over his shoulder at Beowulf. "Let's find a place--oh, I know!"

The fae flew through the entryway to the lair. Avtur followed with a sigh. He was tired of running after the fae dragons of this clan. Puck led him by numerous lairs back towards the center of the colony.

The log shall get written, I promise. I have some stuff to take care of first.

Well, papers have been written. It is now time for me to finish this log in crappy shorthand.

Day 2 (cont.):

Avtur arrives at a lair with one huge bed, which he assumes must be some imperial's. Puck leaves to find his roommate; while he is away, the pearlcatcher realizes he has left his octoflyer back at the other lair. He returns, entering to Beowulf's crimson glare, and asks if anyone has seen it. At that moment, Sekmet, the spiral dragon, flew up into the air, the octoflyer wrapped around him. He writhes, trying to get it off, but the familiar grips him tightly. Hrothmund pounces on the spiral, aiming for the octoflyer, who leaps away at the last second. The guardian ends up tackling the spiral to the floor while it crawls away. Beowulf picks it up with two claws and flings it at Avtur, who catches it and puts it in the cage.

Avtur tries to locate his new lair, but finds himself lost. A rain starts to pour down, drenching the pearlcatcher. He peers into lairs, but none look like his new one. He thinks he hears music at one point and pauses, but there is only silence. Sighing, he walks on, then remembers that it was near the Maple tree at the center of the clan. He ducks into one of the lairs and sees a pearlcatcher. Thinking that it is the wrong lair, Avtur turns to leave, only to hear the other dragon call out his name. He introduces himself as Faustus, his roommate. Telling him to place the cage with his familiar anywhere, the pearlcatcher rolls onto his side, gesturing to Avtur that they can share the bed.

Day 3:

Avtur and Faustus take his familiar to the corral, where the rest of the familiars of the clan lodge. Upon Avtur's questioning, Faustus shows him his familiar, a spirit of water. They head back to the lair, only to be questioned by the fae that he met on his first day. She circles around him, asking questions, and, after a while, stops and perches on the window of the lair. She seems disappointed that his clan is so . . . usual and not bloodthirsty. Avtur wonders, again, what their clan has learned about the Plague Flight.

Iliana bursts in to remind Faustus of their sparring lesson, and pauses when she sees Avtur . . . no, it is the fae she is looking at so intently. She saddles over to Mephistopheles, who is still trying to get Avtur to tell her about the "gory" part of his clan's rituals, still not buying that they can live, for the most part, peaceably with one another. Iliana tries to assure her that Plague traditions are, indeed, bloodless, but the fae still looks dubious.

Faustus ushers them all out of the lair, urging them that they will miss their sparring session if they don't hurry. He invites Avtur, who agrees, because why not? The pearlcatcher easily bests Faustus and Beekeeper, who aren't that much of fighters, then joins them in watching Sorena and Iliana. The mirror and coatl face off, attacking a parrying blows expertly. Finally, after the long match, Iliana manages to get the upper hand on Sorena. More impressive still are Sekmet and Mephistopheles, who move in a flurry of movement, their attacks and defenses hard to follow. Finally, the fae slips around the spiral, jabbing him in the back of the neck with two claws. The warrior seems surprised but explains away his defeat as by saying that he can't move as fast as he usually does, due to unforeseen circumstances. His eyes pierce Avtur's, and the pearlcatcher turns away awkwardly.

Iliana challenges Avtur to a friendly Plague dragon duel, but is interrupted by Rhea and Adonis, calling out to her that it is time for her mage lessons. Avtur wonders why the coatl would want to become both a warrior and a mage, but shrugs and tells her that they can spar some other time. He waves at Rhea, who snubs his hello, saying that though he may look like a lightning dragon, he is from a Plague clan, and she refuses to associate with such a barbarian.

Faustus, Mephistopheles, and Avtur head back to the lair, where they talk well into the evening. When the fae has left, Avtur sighs in relieve, glad to have an end to the endless questioning.

Day 4:

Faustus wakes Avtur and asks him if he will teach him to fight better, as he wants to impress Feilong and Yinglong to earn their sister's hand in marriage. Avtur agrees, and they spar together. During a break (for Faustus' sake, not Avtur's), Faustus tells him about the lovely Imperial.

They continue to spar, but Avtur feels sick and asks to go back to the lair, where he passes out.
He dreams of the Stormcatcher, who is flying in front of him. He chases the regal dragon, only to have the form turn into that of Amatsu, his daughter. He flies faster, trying to catch up to her, but she always remains just out of reach . . .

Day 5:

Avtur awakes to the most beautiful singing he has ever heard. The strumming of a lyre accompanies it. After a while, the music subsides, and he feels a wetness on his forehead. The pearlcatcher's eyes open to see the face of a black and white skydancer about him, their eyes sparkling like blue tourmaline. They gaze down into his eyes, and he asks whether they are the Stormcatcher. She responds--in a clearly feminine voice--that her name is Eirian, that he was poisoned, and that she and Flintskag have been nursing him. He asks if the music was hers. It was. She shows him her lyre, but his gaze keeps wandering to her face. She catches him staring and turns away. Flintskag tells Eirian that she's had a rough night, and dismisses her to her lair. Avtur understands that she's probably exhausted after a night watching over him, but he's still sad to see the skydancer go.

He is visited by Iliana and the two trade tales from the Plague Realm. He tells her also of the dreams he has had since he was a hatchling of the Stormcatcher; his heritage seems to follow him to his Plague clan. Iliana confesses that she felt like an outsider in the Plague realm, though most thought that she was from there. The cloak and sword probably didn't help; while Plague dragons weren't bloodthirsty, as the rest of the Arcane clan seemed to think, they were wary of trusting strangers at once. Indeed, Avtur's friendliness had made his clanmates wary at first, until they realized it was genuine. Iliana leaves to go find Mephistopheles and Avtur slips back into a dreamless sleep.

Day 6:

Avtur hopes to see the skydancer again, but only Flintskag tends to him today, and even then, it's few and far in between. He wonders she's doing. Nevertheless, he seems to have kicked the worst of the poison's effects and doesn't need the care, but he's lonely.

Faustus stops by to see how he's doing. He tells Avtur of the time he and his sister were very young and snuck out of the lair into the woods. He'd felt hungry, and his sister found a berry bush. She hadn't known the berries were poisonous when she gave them to her brother. She'd cried when she came to see him in the hospital, begging his forgiveness. He'd granted it, of course, and told her not to cry. Avtur has a hard time picturing the energetic fae so upset.

After Faustus leaves, Avtur rolls over and falls asleep. He dreams that his five children are around him in a circle, not twitching a single muscle or blinking. At once, they all raise swords and charge at the pearlcatcher. He awakes, screaming. Flintskag is on her feet to comfort him at once, but it is a long time before he is able to get back to sleep.

Day 7:

Avtur is discharged from Flintskag's lair/hospital. He asks his roomie to spar. Faustus is unsure of the idea, but Avtur insists, and he reluctantly agrees. They work on battle skills for the rest of the day. Faustus actually improves a little bit--there's hope for him yet! He asks Avtur to accompany him to visit Tianlong tomorrow. He mentions entering the Arcane Hunger Games to win her hand. Avtur shivers as he imagines the pearlcatcher with a spear through his skull. He asks why he would even think of going. Faustus admits that he got the idea from his sister, who is known for her hare-brained--but well-intentioned--ideas. Avtur assures him that his visit tomorrow will go well, and that there is no need to enter in the Games.

Day 8:

Faustus and Avtur visit Tianlong. Avtur admits that the two are exceptionally cute together, especially since Tianlong is so much . . . well, bigger than Faustus. The imperial acts coy, but Avtur can tell that she is interested in the pearlcatcher. Her two brothers appear, and she is quick to act like she is not associating with Faustus. The three male dragons then proceed to argue, and despite Avtur's multiple attempts at mediation. It is a miracle no fighting breaks out.

Back in the lair, Faustus is inconsolable. Avtur comforts him, telling him that whatever he does, he must not enter in the Games. He won't win Tianlong over if he's dead.

Day 9:

Feilong has entered in the Games: Tianlong arrives to give the news, and is inconsolable. Avtur leaves Faustus alone with the imperial, who will probably be able to comfort her better, anyway. Out by the Maple tree, he sees the beautiful skydancer, talking with a wildclaw. He wants to go over and talk, but doesn't know how to start the conversation. When he gets back to his lair, it seems the two have made up.

Day 10:

Faustus and Avtur attend a sparring lesson. Faustus is a bit better than before, but still easily defeated by his opponents. Avtur faces Hector, who seems like he would rather be anywhere but there. The fae is easily defeated. He also spars with Cerastes; the spiral dragon is much better than Hector, but Avtur bests him. He asks to spar with Iliana, but she wants to wait until he has fully recovered.

Day 11:

Avtur sees Eirian by a group of guardians and mirror dragons, who have gathered for a vigil. He wants to speak to her, but Faustus discourages him. You don't pick up girls at a funeral, dude. Avtur wonders how Eirian knew the fallen warrior, as they are an Arcane dragon from the clan. He shrugs it off and watches a sparring match between Faustus and Ingeld, his father. He is beaten, but learns to block more effectively. Mephistopheles asks to spar with her father, who obliges, only to be beaten by the quick fae. Faustus praises his sister's talent, but there is a gleam in her eyes when she is sparring that unnerves Avtur.

Day 12:

Faustus once again discourages Avtur from seeing Eirian, who is most likely attending the burial and funerary rites of Hrethric. Seriously, dude: you don't pick up girls at a funeral.

Iliana comes over to hang out with Avtur, and Tianlong comes over, only to pace the lair, worried for her brother. It is honestly a bit crowded in the lair, especially with the imperial's pacing, so Iliana and Avtur leave to get some fresh air. They walk around the lair, Avtur spilling his heart to Iliana about Eirian. She reciprocates by telling him about her love for Mephistopheles. Avtur acts like he's surprised--IT'S OBVIOUS YOU LIKE HER, ILIANA--and is somewhat successful. The fae in question comes into view, and Faustus encourages Iliana to go talk to her. She thanks him and they agree to spend the next day hunting.

Right outside the lair, Avtur and Yinglong, Tianlong's other brother, are talking. When they finish, both seem much cooler-headed than the last time they met. Yinglong leaves with his sister. Faustus excitedly whispers that Yinglong has come around, and will allow him to marry his sister. Avtur is happy for him, and accepts his--admittedly crushing--hug.

Day 13:

Avtur and Iliana go hunting. For all their battle skills, neither are that good at it, and they give up and pick berries together instead. They are about to leave when an avalanche of rocks rushes toward them. Neither are seriously hurt--thank the Arcanist!--but they are covered in abrasions and bruises. They head to Flintskag's to get patched up. Eirian is there as well and Iliana gives Avtur a few nudges. He soon becomes engrossed in conversation. The skydancer's cheery demeanor captivates the pearlcatcher. If it wasn't obvious before that he is smitten with her, it is now. The skydancer notices, but tries not to let it affect their conversation. Avtur and Iliana are dismissed and told to get some rest.

Day 14:

It is Eirian's last day at the clan, as she is also an exchange student, and she will be missed--and not just by Avtur. She eats a quick breakfast with Avtur and Iliana. The three engage in a pleasant conversation. Avtur asks the skydancer to write letters to him every once in a while, which she agrees to do. Although Avtur can tell that she likes him solely as a friend and is not looking for a relationship right now, he is glad that they will be able to keep in touch.

The pearlcatcher attends the wedding of Tianlong and Faustus, officiated by none other than Yinglong. The wedding reception is catered by Titania's parents, who shall remain unnamed, with sick beats provided by the clan's own, Malina--We love you, DJ Molina! Avtur is happy to see his roommate so--well, happy. It is a lovely day for all parties involved. Avtur asks Mephistopheles to dance, who proceeds to pound him with a million and one questions, as always, most having to do with battle and killing. The fae is starting to worry him. Iliana saves him from any other questions by cutting in . . . to dance with Mephistopheles. Avtur goes over to congratulate the lucky bride and groom before turning in for the night.

Day 15: The Journey Home

Avtur wakes early to pack, seeing as he was too busy partying the day before to do so. Titania and Puck present him with a battle stone specific to Plague dragons. He graciously accepts it. When they're gone, Faustus calls them cheap and gives him a bag with 2500 treasure--just a little gift for helping out Tianlong and him. Avtur promises to write his roomie when he gets back home.

Mephistopheles begs the dragon to write her and to come visit again sometime. Iliana embraces the young Plague dragon fondly. They also agree to write each other. He turns to leave, familiar cage (with familiar safely inside) and bag of gold strapped securely to his back, then remembers something . . .

He calls back to Iliana, asking her if she's still up for that sparring match. A smile lights up the coatl's face, and they face off. The two begin to fight, expertly blocking and striking out. Avtur dodges around her and tries to jab her in the back with two of his claws. Iliana dodges away at the last possible moment. They continue to fight, until Iliana aims right, then shifts her attack to the left when he moves to block her, jabbing her two claws into the side of Avtur's neck. The two back away from each other and bow. Iliana admits that he is indeed a great fighter worthy of being her opponent. Although he lost the match, Avtur grins, happy to finally spar with someone who's a challenge--no offense to the dragons of the clan, of course.

He turns and goes with the escort back to the train station to catch the Plaguebringer's Express. As much as he loves the new friends that he has made in the Arcane Realm, he can't wait to get home to his clanmates. His octoflyer is moving around more than usual in her cage; apparently, he's not the only one excited to be going back home.

The guardian escort nods to him as he boards the Express . . .