Andron

The Windswept Plateau, a peaceful highland known for its field and steppes, alongside the soft dancing to the warm wind who fluttered throughout the land. Clouds always dotted the sky, it was no wonder many dragons chose to live here, with thriving prey scattered all about, the perfect places to create themselves a home, plentiful in water and the weather never ceased to fail, always warm upon their scaly skin as the sun shone brightly through the clouds onto the land below. Hidden one of the many islands of the Reedcleft Accent, a once whole land who had broken down into miniature stair like islands after centuries, was a small, thriving clan. It was a mix of dragons, once a traveling group of dragons, soon settling down on the little island, as age had finally caught up to them. They were always peaceful, never interacting with other clans, keeping mostly to themselves, and always lending a hand, or a place to stay, for travellers to settle in for a night or so. Food was always plentiful, and they each found joy in their tranquil lives, on the hidden island in the warm winds of the Windswept Plateau. It was a sunny afternoon, Oldraeth napped peacefully, close to her two egg who sat close to her, not far was her lover, Okyner, happily eating away at a rabbit who was caught not to long ago. She woke up to one of the eggs moving to her side, it cracked as slowly, as did the other one, and she was soon meet with the eyes of her two new hatchlings, one being an imperial, the other a skydancer. She found them both beautiful, quickly treating them with love and care, as their father admired the scene in front of him, adoring the two younglings with his whole heart. They named the Skydancer Andron and the imperial, Odana. They were a happy little family, and the two hatchlings were already energetic in their nest.

The pair grew up quickly, the clan always adored them and helped out the parents when necessary, as they were quite a handful, always going on off on all kinds of adventures and getting up to mischievous activities. They were taught all sorts of things, such as how to fly, how to fight, and how to hunt. Andron found himself to be the better flyer compared to his sister, whilst on the other hand, she was a talented fighter, always swiftly dodging any playful attacks Andron shot at her, but they both found themselves to be good at hunting, no matter how many times they challenged each other, it seemed they always had the same amount. He had an interesting character, always a show-off and a talkative dragon, always willing to lend a hand around the clan, even if it was dirty work. The two blended into the clan quite well, keeping their peaceful postures and such. His favourite activity was to fly amongst the clouds, softly gliding through the winds as the world looked so small under him, it made him feel like a god. He especially loved it at night, where he would fly up, just to admire the stars which dotted the surrounding darkness, simply admiring the view.

One pleasant evening, Andron brought Odana up with him to show her the night, it wasn’t often she flew, as she didn’t enjoy it much, especially with her snake-like body, but after some convincing, the Skydancer was able to make her agree, to come along. So that’s when they found themselves up above the clouds, as she ogled at the beautiful scene which stretched out in front of them, the sky danced in all kinds of colours as the sun set and as the stars came into view, lighting up the sky in their colourful twinkles. Neither knew how long they had been there, flying around, talking about many things and relaxing, all whilst feeling a part of the scene surrounding them. The night sky wasn’t seen often, as it was constantly covered by the clouds of the Windswept Plateau, but once penetrating the clouds and onto the view above, it was worth the flight. When they started getting tired, they both flew back down to their home, nestling themselves in their now separate nests, happy from the experience, before falling asleep soundly, not knowing this would be the last they see of each other, and Andron of his home.

Andron woke up to the smell of fire, smoked filled up his lungs as he coughed, backing up to the wall, he let out a scared screech when he was the scene in front of him, hungry flames blew harshly everywhere, smoke slowly filling up their room, panicked he looked around, seeing no one other than the fire tearing everything down in his path. Tears peaked up in his eyes, he was scared, he couldn’t look any more thought for an escape as it entered his lungs and he coughed, not knowing what to do or where to turn too. If he didn’t move, he’d die here, he knew, so he did the only thing he could, he opened up his wings, before jumping through the fire and flying off into the sky above, as his skin, alongside his feathers, charred his once delicate skin. He looked back one more time, to see how huge the flames were, destroying the camp, but what hit him most was seeing his sister drag herself out their home, before collapsing, looking dead already. Andron yelled, wanting so badly to help, but he couldn’t, he watched the flames take over her at a quick past, as the winds worsened the fire, before feeling the pain on his own skin. He looked to see himself slowly burning, he let out a screech of pain, and flew around sporadically, trying to use the wind to burn out the flame, but a seething pain shot throughout his body, before he shot down to the ground, looking like a shooting star, and his world soon turned dark, as he felt some last pain.

It was Pumpkin who found him, whilst she was collecting herbs for herself, she found the charred body of the poor Skydancer, barely clinging onto life as he breathed heavily. She dropped what she had, quickly going up to help him, picking him up with the strength she had before bringing him back, and placing him onto a soft nest, as the clan gathered around, to look at the mess in front. She explained where she had found him, saying she couldn’t leave such a young soul to die such an awful death, as Pumpkin had always been that way, kind-hearted with a good spirit. With the herbs she had, she quickly got to work on making some kind of herbal potions to help him breath, but she couldn’t do much else. She asked around, wondering if anything could be done, when one of the older imperials walked by, and stared down at the pitiful excuse of a Skydancer. He was now breathing better, but the burns marking his body would stay permanent, and damage his life forever, leaving with without being able to hunt not fly nor anything else. PoliePoo was once a talented alchemist, he had stopped now, more so spending his days reading books and such, but he knew in this moment, he’d have to remember what he used to do. So silently, already with a plan in mind, with the skills which he had learnt years ago, made a potion of sort, which would recreate the broken skin, with alongside some twists. Soon he came back, gave it to the Skydancer, before telling everyone to head to bed, as it was getting late, and the Skydancer had to be left alone, only Pumpkin stayed, to keep an eye on him.

Andron woke up with a start, having reliving what had happened in back his clan, he panicked before calming down, noticing no flames were to be found. He was confused thought, as he had no clue where he was, only a small portion of food was laid beside him, alongside some water, which he both ate and drank up. He looked down to see no burn marks, it was his normal colors, yet, different. Lines and squares aligned his body, he was confused before he heard a cheerful hello, which made him jump. A Coatl came out of the corner, she introduced herself as Pumpkin, before apologizing for jumping him. She explained what happened, but she also noticed all the marks which aligned his body but guessing that was the only way to fix the burns, she didn’t ask say anything about that, only thinking she’d ask PoliePoo about it. He didn’t say much, other than a thank you. But she didn’t hesitate to ask what happened, and it all came crashing back down on him, she regretted it, repeating it was fine if he didn’t want to talk, but Andron did anyways, telling her about his home who had caught up in flames, and the death of his beloved sister. She gave him her condolences, before leaving him in peace, to grab him some more food, alongside talk to the clan about him.

When Andron was left in total silence, he was lost in thought before a purple imperial slipped in, looking wise and quiet. He introduced himself as PoliePoo, for a few seconds he went quiet before explaining in detail what he had done, explaining normally the lines disappeared after healing permanent wounds, but he must’ve messed up, as he hasn’t down alchemy in years. Andron told him its alright, he sincerely appreciated what he, and the clan in general as done for him, saving his life from near death when he could’ve easily been left there to die. PoliePoo introduced the clan as the Clan Oop, a small little clan who has inhabited the island for quite a while, he offered the Skydancer a home amongst them, as he had nowhere to turn back too, but only at his decision. Andron thought about it carefully, before agreeing, as he was right, all was burnt and all the scene would do is bring back terrible memories, and so from that day on, he became a part of the Clan Oop.

Andron was given his own room, he decorated it to his taste and settled inside of it quite happily, happy with his new little room. He became an important part of the clan, becoming more so of a fighter, and a talented hunter, like his sister, making sure the food was always plentiful, and always trying to cheer up others. He had learnt to love the markings on his body, showing them off with pride, even flexing them sometimes. He had made a small little memorial for his sister, parents and the clan in general, to remember those who lost their lives to the rampaging fire, and some nights he’d fly up and watch the night sky, it always brought back good memories of his beloved sister. He loved the clan who had saved him, helping just as much as he did in his old clan. The only thing that brought him down was fire, bringing back awful memories, so it tended to be avoided by all the individuals.

Andron had been saved from the burning fires of hell, from the Clan Oop, which he appreciated with all his kind heart.