Arka

Arka grew up in the dark comfort of the Tangled Woods. Although it was a friendly clan, where the adults would be friends with almost anyone, she was all alone. She blamed her parents for it. Although her father was welcomed in the clan, his mate, Abbadon, was not. Arka often dreamed of a life where she was not half demon, where she could be welcomed in the clan with her mother and father. By the time she grew up, she had decided that she would travel and start anew, where no one knew who she was.
She was ready to create a new life.

Anxiety caused her limbs to tremor when she had first prepared to leave; dusk had long since threaded pale tendrils of colours through the sky, and now stars glimmered in the obsidian canvas of night above. Arka had seldom ventured beyond the sight of her clan, ill-fitting as she might feel there, and now she planned to trek to undisclosed destinations with little but the alabaster glow of the moon to guide her. She had eaten her fill of the clan's stores and was prepared to move on now, and with a last uncertain glance, she maneuvered away from the campsite she had long called home and ambled into the umbrage provided by the trees. Her dark flanks soon dissipated into the inky night, though the soft luminescence of her runes and crimson wings cut through the thick blanket. Despite this, she was not detected by another dragon, and traversed the murky province with haste. She knew not where she was going, but only that she was, indeed, going.

She knew she had left the Tangled Woods when she felt the embrace of the shadows fall away. She had prepared for this. But it still brought a sense of finality to her decision. Arka had considered heading to the Sunbeam Ruins, the mirror of the forest where she was born and bred, but in her uncertain flight she had drifted from her course. Perhaps the Shadowbinder had not been so keen to let one of her children go; but whatever the reason, the Skydancer now found herself soaring over the Scarred Wastelands. The crimson of her wings, gifts of her parents, matched perfectly with the land where infection flourished. Arka held no fondness for the colour. She knew the rumours that flew; of how her mother's crimson was blood stained too deep to remove, of countless kills and senseless slaughter. Nevermind that her father might've had more of the red on him- when Arka was hatched, they all regarded her with fear anyways. And now this was the only way to escape those merciless stares.

She took shelter in one of the bone pines, granting her a quick reprieve from flight- but the Shadow native was unused to the humidity, and longed for the coolness of shadows. Her eyes focused on a shadow moving towards her in the distance. Another Skydancer, this one the colour of the pale moon, but splattered with red. Nervously, Arka gathered herself and waited for the stranger. ”Hello! We saw you reach our territory, so I was sent to give you a welcome and bring you back if needed! I’m Thana.” The Skydancer- Thana- had a curious voice, silvery smooth that went up oddly high every other word. Her presence itself chilled Arka, but the offer of food and a place to stay the night was too good an offer. She followed her back to what was called The Sanctuary. Upon reaching, the two blended in neatly into the crowd, no one seeming disturbed at the stranger amongst their midst. Perhaps it was a regular occurrence?

Thana took her to the skeleton of some large animal, now covered with furs and leathers, to be used as a living space. "She was there, as you said! I brought her back like you told me to!" The head of a Coatl slithered out from the space in the skeleton's ribcage, evidently the one Thana had been speaking to. The monochrome Coatl wore a mask, from which drifted a whispy voice, faint and harsh. "Ah, the young half demon. Relax, you're welcome to stay the night. I just didn't want you potentially making trouble within our borders." Arka had instantly stiffened at the Coatl's first words, and the second part didn't do much to ease her fear either. For it made clear that while she could stay, there was a limit to her welcome. Arka glanced at Thana for guidance, but the female had already disappeared back into her clanmates. Arka took a breath. "Thank you for your generosity, but if you might just spare some food, I'll be on my way." The Coatl chuckled- "Then food you will have. Join us for dinner."- and with that, disappeared back into her skeleton. Dinner was a feast for all, but Arka never shook her uneasiness. Most of her brief stay was spent observing the interactions of the clan, and Arka ultimately found that it probably wasn't the best suited for her.

She departed soon after, thanking the dragons of The Sanctuary for their hospitality, but eager to be going. As she spread her wings in the morning light, the wind ruffled through her feathers, blowing to the south. Arka sighed and pushed off, not quite willing to fight the wind today. So she travelled south. Out of the Scarred Wasteland and into the Windswept Plateau. The skydancer couldn't resist a sigh of relief as the heat and humidity subsided in the relentless breezes of the Plateau. She landed on the grass and breathed deeply, settling down to rest before continuing on. Arka hadn't even noticed she had dozed off until a soft voice jerked her awake.

"Poor creature, tethered to the darkness." The speaker, an icy white pearlcatcher peered down at her, a gray and red wildclaw peering over his shoulder. Arka scrambled to her feet, flaring her wings and hissing. "What would you know? I'm not tethered to anything at all." The two dragons exchanged a knowing look. "You can lie to others, but not to us," said the wildclaw. "I have visited the halls of the Windsinger and returned. Such ties are rarely the fault of those who possess them and carry no shame." The wildclaw rested a claw on the pearlcatcher's shoulder and her voice wavered. Arka felt a stab of pity for this other dragon. It seemed as if she might understand the sideways glances and silent suspicion that Arka had faced all her life. "You would be welcome to rest at our home," the pearlcatcher told her. And Arka gratefully accepted. It would only be a rest, though. Even in the Windswept Plateau dragons had guessed what was whispered about her. She would keep looking and hoping.

The winds guided Arka towards the smoky sky of the Ashfall Waste. She was forced to land the moment she encountered her first plume of dark grey debris. A large cloud of volcanic ash and black dust exploded around her feet as she plummeted down, eyes stinging and chest heaving. The taste of smoke and charcoal hung everywhere, coating Arka’s tongue and the inner lining of her lungs. Just a few seconds in this territory, and she already wanted to leave!

Arka sighed and squinted around, looking for any landmarks to get her out of the unbearable smog and heat. Gravel crunched under her claws as she gave up and started trudging to her left, reasoning that she would eventually find something or someone. Unfortunately, it took her several hours before she saw anything. It was a black shape in the roiling smoke, barely distinguishable but still there.

Excited, the Skydancer surged forwards, spraying grit as she did her best to quickly reach the figure, only to pause in disappointment as she realized that it was a large rock. Her disappointment turned to curiosity, as she noticed strange whorls and streamlined designs carved into its face. Warily, she approached the carving, gently reaching out a finger and tracing a wavy star with a claw.

“Oi! Be careful,” a voice said. Arka jerked away from the stone and whirled around. A dark blue coatl, streaked with grey and black stared at her, its fire-orange eyes unreadable. “That took a long time to make, you know. Who are you, anyways?”



Arka found herself once again in the Windswept Plateau, resting for the night at a port tower overlooking the Sea of a Thousand Currents. Unable to sleep, she decided to take a walk through the corridors. Eventually, she found herself on a balcony, facing the Zephyr Steppes.

Who was she? Would she ever find a place in the world? Nothing ever seemed right...

"Child of Shadow." A voice sounded behind her. Arka jumped and spun around to see a dark, majestic looking wildclaw with deep violet eyes.

"Don't call me that." She shot back defensively.

"Oh, but you can't run from it, no matter how far you go. I should know." The wildclaw purred. "Why not embrace the shadows that cling to your soul? I can show you how."

"Who are you?" Arka demanded, getting a bit creeped out. "Tell me who you are!"

"I too ran from the shadows." The wildclaw continued, not giving her name. "But you can never forget where you come from, the burdens you were born with. All you can do is use them to your advantage."

"You're wrong!" Arka spat.

"Deny it all you want, but you'll see, in the end. You'll see I was right." The wildclaw extended her wings and took off dramatically.

Arka shivered and returned to her room. What did that wildclaw know? She tried to brush off what she had be told, but the words just stuck in her mind. What if she was right? What if she couldn't run from her birth flight?

She got very little sleep that night, and in the morning she decided the only way to figure it out was to see the Tangled Wood again herself. She took off, to find out the truth.

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