Zephyr The Researcher - The Lighted Scholar

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Sunbeam Rotala Plant These hearty plants may regrow from a stray clipping. 42 4 White Gold Cerdae Pendant Trinkets The tooling on this pendant is lovely. 27 Curious Paintbrush Dragonmade The pinion in this brush seems to release paint and ink intermittently, resulting in a line that shrinks and grows without intent; the curious part is that artists continue to use them at all! 53

Zephyr has come a long way to get here, traveling throughout Sornieth in pursuit of knowledge and further understanding. Endlessly curious and unrelenting in his inquiries, sometimes to a concerning extent, Zephyr's personality tends to be polarizing to others. He has a tendency to ramble, and is not an expert at social courtesy, for all his efforts to be polite. This has led him into trouble at numerous points, including with Blueberry, a rival since his school days. Zephyr can mostly be found outside in whatever locales the clan has traveled to, researching and interviewing. When Stormwing gets involved, whatever tavern is nearest is usually a safe bet.

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An Ill-Timed Crawl

Zephyr, he was pretty sure, wasn't sitting on the stool anymore. At least, he thought so. It had been... a few hours, maybe, since he and Stormwing had started their tavern crawl, and that was about where he lost his train of thought. The floor was nice, anyhow, varnished and sanded wood that he assumed must have come from the massive oaks native to the region. His head lifted, just slightly, enough to down another large swig of whatever was in his cup.

"Oh, that's... strong," he mumbled to himself, the words slurred. He'd said it before at this very bar, only a few minutes ago- coinciding with the last time he took a sip, actually. This mead, or ale, or whatever it was had a spicy kick to it, along with being potent in its contents. Zephyr thought, in the back of his head, that he'd gone along with Stormwing mainly because of the unique, local drinks. He wouldn't call himself a connoisseur, but trying regional varieties was all part of being a good researcher.

Getting absolutely smashed in a random Gladeboughs bar was probably not part of his job, but he'd do it anyway. He'd reached the corner of the room, now, and had managed to slide up the wall with one hand, still gripping his mug with the other. Slowly, on tottering legs, he returned to the bar, where Stormwing leaned, half-snoring, high-sighing. As Zephyr settled, his friend awoke, sparks jolting around like scattered firecrackers as his eyes startled open.

"Eh, what's it?" Stormwing said, blinking warily, though slowly, at his surroundings. Upon seeing Zephyr, he calmed, before suddenly leering over his should in a completely subtle manner. Almost inexplicably, Stormwing began to chuckle, before silencing himself with another swig of beer. Zephyr looked at him inquisitively.

"Hey, hey, what's so... what's so funny?" he asked, the words coming out in halves before he assembled them correctly. Stormwing was still laughing, casting frequent glances over his shoulder at whatever lied at the opposite end of the room. As subtle as he could, Zephyr turned his neck, and immediately flung it back to down the rest of his pint.

Lunar was there. Lunar was sitting... right there, at a table, nursing a book in one hand and a polite, small shot of alcohol in the other. Zephyr felt his head swim with the few tankards he'd probably already put down and his own nerves. He swallowed rapidly, folding his wings awkwardly, as if that could hide him at all.

"Lunar is here! You're wasted, and I'm wasted, and the lady you've been mooning over for half a year is right in the bar!" Stormwing exclaimed, his last bit of decency keeping his volume low enough not to be overheard. The blood was rushing to Zephyr's head, and the queasiness he could usually suppress until it was 'him-in-the-morning's' problem was running rampant.

"Oh god. Oh by the Lightweaver's fins," he muttered, not even noticing as his tankard was once again filled by the barkeep. "She's here. She's drinking something. Something small and polite and tasteful, and she's so beautiful, and smart, and nice, and I think she hates me," he began to ramble, all his words unrestrained. Stormwing leaned over, patting him on the shoulders with more aggression than he'd probably have used sober.

"Hey buddy, it's alright. She likes ya fine, I think," he comforted, helping not at all, "Besides, she ain't all that. Have you seen my wife? Kyiala, now, she's a beauty! The greatest in all of Sornieth, I'm telling you. Her eyes... her face... her wings..." Stormwing continued, but Zephyr knew well enough to tune him out once he'd gotten onto the topic of his beloved, beloved wife. He hoped dearly that Kyiala knew how much she had Stormwing twisted around her little finger.

"You don't think she hates me? She's so... quiet, around me, though!" Zephyr muttered, twirling a claw on the surface of the bar. His companion twitched out of his ramble, suddenly tapping his cup thoughtfully.

"She doesn't hate ya, no. No way at all. She's quiet cause that's just the way she is 'round everybody," Stormwing said, "I hadn't even heard her speak before I started seeing her with you. I'd even say she's talkative when you're 'round." Stormwing flared his wings out for emphasis, bright white drawn wide across the bar, nearly smacking the barkeep as he lumbered from customer to customer. Stormwing quickly drew back in, whispering an apology as he did.

"Lunar, though, she's just... beyond my level. I'm loud, and awkward, and I get drunk in bars-"

"So do I, and my wife loves me! She's fantastic that way, honestly, I couldn't have asked for anyone better- I doubt there's a single dragon alive who's nicer than her-"

"Kyiala is a saint, Stormwing, and she loves you very much. Lunar's so... different, though. They're polar opposites, I think." Zephyr swallowed, bowing his head towards the bar as he sighed. "You two got on amazing since you met, and you've always supported each other. I only met Lunar a while back- do we even count as friends?" At that comment, Stormwing glared at him, two brows raising skeptically.

"Last week, she pecked you on the cheek after you asked to borrow a book. Two darn days ago, you two spent half a day traveling through the gardens and comparing flowers to each other! I'm not one to judge, everyone's different- but that's 'friend' territory at the very least." he tapped Zephyr on the chest several times, coinciding with his words.

"I don't know, man! She called me a 'glowing daffodil.' Aren't those weeds? Was she calling me a pest?"

"That's a dandelion."

"My point stands! Besides, I only compared her to the tulips and bluebells because she kept smiling at them!" Zephyr exclaimed, careful to keep his increasingly-intense whispers quiet.

"You're a moron," Stormwing sighed slowly, using his wings as a tent to the rest of the bar. "I only worked up to comparing Kyiala to the sun in the sky and the hibiscus in bloom after we kissed! You two are going about everything in the wrong order!" Stormwing's claws stretched in exasperation, his voice as tired as anyone could be. When the wing-tent failed to unfurl, Zephyr sighed again. He was on his own.

Zephyr swallowed again, all his nerves flaring. He had explored every corner of Sornieth, gotten drunk enough to forget numerous parts of it, and was being absolutely shaken by the sight of his crush in the same bar. He took another swig, swallowed another wave of nausea, and listened again to the discordant sounds of the bar and the continual, fawning jabber of his companion.

Deep in focus, staring at the swirling bubbles in his pint, Zephyr failed to notice the dragon approaching him from behind. It was with a jump and a less-than-polite scream he turned to face whoever had tapped him on the shoulder.

"I... hadn't expected to see you here," Lunar said, soft as a butterfly, a gentle smile on her face. Zephyr felt his blood run cold from both fear and surprise. "I suppose Stormwing is probably to blame for this, again?" He was having a hard time parsing her words, especially in the din of the room, but he nodded again. Lunar, he had come to know, was very smart, and very rarely wrong when she made her observations.

"Hi. I mean- hello! How- how are you drinking? Doing?" he managed, his feathers curling with shame even as he stumbled through his words. Lunar giggled, just a little, her eyes bright and her entire being a little bit less refined than usual. Zephyr realized that she had also been drinking, not as much as him, but still enough that she was rocking slightly on her feet.

"I'm drinking pretty good," she said, wobbling a little and leaning on the stool next to his for support. Stormwing, it seemed, had already passed out on the opposite side, snores shuffling down the bar. "Although I think it might be about time we all get out of here," she said, pointing at the barkeep. The elderly snapper had been accommodating so far, but was beginning to glare as Stormwing's drool slipped onto the bar's surface. Zephyr, thinking quickly, shoved his friend off the stool entirely.

"What's it... where'm..." Stormwing roused, only for a moment, quickly passing out again onto the floor. Zephyr frowned, his strategy having failed, and glanced back at Lunar. Her red eyes were shining with mirth, a faint smile on her face, silvery hair falling in messy waves around her face. Zephyr wasn't sure he'd ever seen someone so ethereal.

"Oh my," she whispered, wide-eyed, before gripping his arm and falling into giggles once more. "In all my years... I don't think I've seen something quite like that," she managed, in between cackles. She sounded remarkably like a hyena, or dog, laughing uproariously and attracting more than a few glances from the bar's other patrons. Zephyr could feel himself heating with embarrassment and affection, laughing along lightly.

Maybe this all hadn't been such a bad idea entirely.