Aria

Arrived 27/08/2017

Nihmedu sobbed. Ugly. That's what she was.

No one wanted her; she wasn't welcome anywhere. As she collected her things, she stared at her empty quarters nostalgically. It wasn't like she owned much in the first place. Her pearl was the only thing of value that she really had.

But even that is ugly, she thought to herself, looking at the misshapen pearl in her arms.

She breathed in shakily, trying to steady herself and her thoughts. Nihmedu knew that her old clan had only kept her around because she had nowhere else to go. But Nihmedu knew they'd constantly been trying to get rid of her, trying to get any visiting dragons to take her with them. She was of no use to them here.

At last, they'd gotten a clan to agree to their terms, and without any say in the matter, Nihmedu was told to pack her belongings and quarantined from the rest of her clan. When she asked where she'd be going, she'd received no answer. At least it was somewhere else. Perhaps she would be appreciated in her new clan. Perhaps, she dared to think, they would even like her.

So long as it wasn't another Plague clan. Nihmedu shuddered at the thought. She prayed silently to the Eleven that she would be able to finally leave after so long in the desolate wasteland that she held no love for.

The grey pearlcatcher lay down upon the brittle earth, looking bleakly at the bone and tanned hide making up the walls surrounding her before closing her eyes. Maybe, if she was lucky, she would never wake up from the oncoming sleep.

---

It was high noon already, as Nihmedu sat uncomfortably in the open. The hot midday sun was beating down upon her dull hide. Her escort was supposed to be here a while ago. She was beginning to wonder if this was all just an elaborate hoax by her clan when a large shadow flew overhead. The pearlcatcher looked up to see a black and white guardian descending nearby. With slight unease, she noted the white skeletal markings painted upon his spotted hide and feathered skulls draped around his wings.

The guardian turned from where he'd landed and looked at Nihmedu. Her heart sunk as she saw his blood-red eyes.

Another Plague dragon.

She'd hoped to get out of this deathly cesspool, but it looked like she was only moving somewhere else in it. The pearlcatcher tried to suppress a shudder as the guardian moved closer, looking her over as a warcat might a cornered ember mouse.

"You are Nihmedu?" he asked gruffly.

She swallowed and nodded silently, clasping her pearl tightly to her chest as she tried to appear fearless in the face of such an intimidating dragon.

"Wait here," he grunted, walking over to the clan's leader and talking to them.

Nihmedu strained her ears to no avail in an attempt to overhear the conversation. As she glanced around uncomfortably, she saw other dragons in the clan stopping what they were doing and looking over at her and the guardian who spoke to the clan leader. Time seemed to slow down as she waited for the two to finish conversing. The guardian handed a small pouch over before stalking back to Nihmedu.

"Come," he said to her as he approached, "Let us be off."

---

The flight itself was grueling and longer than Nihmedu had anticipated. Hot winds blew in her face and the searing sun burned her grey hide. She had to work twice as hard to keep up with the powerful wings of her guardian escort. To her wonder, they'd flown over the entire wastes and into what appeared to be the Tidelord's domain, descending over a forest on a large island not far off the coast.

"How much further?" She panted as they landed on a sandy beach, far more in the open than Nihmedu was comfortable with. From what she'd seen, the island itself was quite large and she had no idea if they were to traverse even more by foot.

"It is a wonder you managed to survive so long in the Wastes if you are winded from such a short flight," the black-spotted guardian snorted.

Nihmedu bit her tongue in response. She didn't want to give her escort any more reason to dislike her than he already seemed to have. A silence overtook the two dragons as the guardian seemed to be waiting for something. Nihmedu shifted uncomfortably, peering around the clearing and straining her ears to hear anything approaching. It was oddly quiet, just the quiet whistling of a soft sea breeze and the crashing of waves on the shore. If she strained her ears, she could barely hear the distant chirping of birds from the nearby forest. It was all so unlike the Scarred Wasteland where she had grown up. The sun here did not beat down on her, but instead warmed the pearlcatcher gently. The ground was not dry and cracked, but soft and sandy. It would almost be serene, if not for the intimidating guardian standing just beside her causing Nihmedu to be at unease as they waited. And waited.

And waited.

"How muc-" Nihmedu began to speak, before stopping short, a rustling from the forest caught her attention. She instinctively cowered down, uunconsciously hiding behind her far-larger companion for protection.

A sleek, shadowy mirror emerged, gracefully slinking towards Nihmedu and the guardian like a cat. The mirror was lightly armored, its limbs wrapped in red linen and hide marked with eerie, swirling black markings that looked like beasts emerging from the shadows, come to destroy and devour. Wicked-looking scars adorned his hide, most notably a long gash across the mirror's top-right eye. Red eyes. Yet another Plague dragon. Nihmedu's hopes were crushed once more as she noted that. Was she ever to escape the clutches of the Plague Flight?

"Moonghoul," the guardian nodded his head in the mirror's direction respectfully.

"Scourge," Moonghoul greeted, voice raspy. He peered around the guardian in Nihmedu's direction, "This is whom is to join our clan?"

"Yes, although if you ask me, you are better off without her."

Nihmedu said nothing, intently staring down at the sand and trying to remember to breathe. She should have been used to such treatment by now. Alas, each word stung as much as they had the first time she'd been insulted by another.

"I think Lady Laraquae will be the judge of that," Moonghoul said sharply, the hint of a growl in his throat. "Was she already quarantined?"

"Of course," Scourge replied. "Now, if that is all, I will be getting back to the camp."

"Yes, that's all. Go on."


Arcane/Plague Pearlcatcher/Wildclaw, Born in the Month of the Blacksmith

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Meta Data wrote: Primary Gene: Basic → Ripple Secondary Gene: Basic → Shimmer Tertiary Gene: Basic → Glimmer

Arrived 27/08/2017
*Delkerono