Hawthorne

----Travelers Lore----

Hawthorne stumbled rather clumsily through yet another... Swamp? What in the... Suddenly a rather large and quite grumpy looking Guardian female appeared with a snort.
"Welcome to HauntedHeart lair, Hawthorne. We have been expecting you." She rumbled.
Hawthorne decided it was best not to ask questions of the lumbering female and followed her deep into the swampy land. Though it was dark, it was beautiful here. Glowing fungus lit the way amungst the purple and grey grass, the smell of moist foliage was everywhere. The Guardian led him now to a wall of stone, the entrance to the cave littered with glowing purple and blue fungus and clingy ivy. This was clearly home.
"I am ShadowDancer. The progen here. If you need anything, I am always here. You will sleep here, next to Dove." The Guardian growled, then whipped her tail around. Leaving him alone with one of the most beautiful females he had ever seen.
Dove was luminous in the darkness, she looked up at him with a smile upon her white beak.
"Hello." Hawthorne cooed.
He had many mates in his time, had many children all across the world. But this young beautiful female made him feel like this was the first time.
How wondrous this adventure is turning out to be...

Months later, Hawthorne lay upon the floor of his cave, Dove curled against his belly. Her own belly round with the eggs she was to lay. Hawthorne was yet again going to be a father.
He lay his long beak over Dove's neck and breathed deeply through his nose. Soon he would have to leave again. He knew it deep in his bones. This was not the place he was to end up. To end his days. He still had so much to see before he went home. He looked painfully at Dove's perfect round belly and felt a cold slab of guilt slide down his throat. He would at least stay to nest the babies. Maybe even see them grow a little before taking off again.
That night Dove laid their eggs. Three large glowing, growing, sweet eggs lay tucked safely under Dove's pink wings. Soon, Hawthorne would be a father once more.

Having left his children far behind Hawthorne ventured to the Starfall isles finding a warm welcome from a cheerful Wildclaw. He was welcomed in from the cold and no sooner than he'd entered the lair the wildclaw, Remy was more than happy to fetch him anything he needed.

Feeling this was a nice place to spend a little time Hawthorne chatted to the other dragons that weren't busy with the everyday running of the lair, he let himself relax. Watching the other happy couples however did make him think of his love left behind. To distract himself he offered to assist the clans gathering team as well as keeping an eye on some newborns.

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After a jaunt in the Southern Icefield with forsakencolors' clan, Hawthorne returned once again to the nearby Starfall Isles. Clan Inkstain was a bustling and chaotic place, and he was immediately advised that he beware of lingering near the training camp, lest he be conscripted into service of the Arcanist. New dragons were coming and going all the time. From the constant marching of the warriors with their trainees, the place felt a bit militant for an Arcane lair. However, the dragons of Inkstain are many, and he soon found a place among companions who took life at a more restful pace.

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Hawthorne soon left Inkstain, leaving behind some faithful companions, he decied to go solo for a while, flying around, visiting many diffrent places. That was until he was flying over the Shifting Expanse, as usual he had to take caution, flying over was rather dangerous, especially during a storm, a lightning storm that is. Flying over, he thought if he should take cover as a storm was brewing, Nah, I'll be fine, I'm almost over to the Sea of a Thousand Currents, I bet the weather is much more calm there he thought to himself while flying on, the storm begining to send out some strikes. Hawthorne neatly avoided many of them, getting out of the way then flying on, until an unexpected blast knocked him off course. I can still fly, and I'm still on course, I'll keep going he thought to himself, still thinking he was going north, towards the Sea of a Thousand Currents, but instead he was going east ward toward the Sunbeam Ruins.
Later on, he settled down thinking that he was nearby his destination, but he was wrong. Falling into a deep slumber, he was soon awoken by a black and white Nocturne Female, with large innocent eyes, "Hi!!" the female said to him when he woke up, "Welcome to Voxy's Lair, in the Sunbeam Ruins, I'm Ironfrill! You are?" She asked when Hawthrone looked at her, "I'm Hawthrone, and did you say I'm in the Sunbeam Ruins? I was trying to get to the Sea of a Thousand Currents!" he exclaimed, "Oh... well bad luck, while your here you can get to know the rest of us!" Ironfrill told him, "Just follow me!".
Following the Nocturne, Hawthrone weaved though passages and followed her around a small distance, until he entered a hole, which then opened up to a large network of caves, with dragons buzzing around, mainly Nocturnes and Pearlcatchers, but there were some Sprials, Imperials and the odd Tundra also roaming around. "Welcome to the Lair!!! Our leader isn't around right now, but when she's back, she'll totally greet you!" Ironfrill allowed him to take a tour of the camp on his own, something was thrilling about the young Nocturne, with her cheerfulness, and innocent looking eyes. The Skydancer pushed her out of his head, and then decied to rest, since the next day he would take his leave

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The gates of Valhall stood proud and tall in front of Hawthorne. The journey from the Sunbeam Ruins to the Icefields had been harsh and, despite him not wanting to admit it, perhaps a bit accidental. He'd simply flown away, content enough without a heading for once.

Eventually, he'd landed. And he had landed in the clearing in front of Valhall. It took no more than a few moments, however, before the Ice Sculptures had taken him. Three of them, there was, and they had immobilized him in a matter of moments. He hadn't had a chance.

And then he was brought to the gates. They were massive, indeed, and the mountain behind it was frighteningly large. It didn't look like a welcoming place and Hawthorne wondered if he'd picked a bad place to land.

Yet, the doors opened to reveal a lively, cheerful place. After being searched and judged - and cleared, of course - Hawthorne was released. And there he stayed, for a while, as he got to know the different dragons. He got to learn of their lives there, heard stories from so many corners of the world. He even met another traveler, a beautiful one - Akeno.

The two of them spent quite some time together, enjoying the oddly comforting chaos of Valhall. But Hawthorne felt the need to move once more, only staying long enough to watch the eggs they'd had together hatch. After that, the two parents decided to part ways - it was better that way. They were travelers, simple as that. It was in their bones.

They left the hatchlings behind, both apologizing for the inconvenience but knowing they couldn't bring children with them. Valhall didn't seem to worry much, promising to take care of the little ones.

And with all that sorted, Hawthorne left once more to see the rest of the world out there.