Messenger bag
World Map
50g

Twinkle, twinkle, go the fairies
Round 'rett's head, they circle merry
Welcome, welcome committe
Presents Ecru a tasty treat

Green Jelly

Meat

Difficult to classify.

33

3

Nom nom time, crumbs on the trail
Then wiggle, wiggle, goes her tail
When he tells her she has mail

Barnacle-Encrusted Bottle

Chests

This small treasure cache is also home to a variety of tiny guardians.

0

Webwings are red, Ragepuffs are blue
But Sweetpuffs are, well, sweet
And so are you

Ecru's third day of travel was less scary in that it didn't involve her running away from any wild claws, but the guardian that ended up being her first view of clan starlight still managed to be plenty scary, even if mostly by accident.

Karyu wasn't wearing the full ensemble of bone armor, weapon, and warpaint of course; but a dragon with flowers growing from his hide, and holes in his wings still looks plenty scary. Nor was he intending to be the first point of call. But as a dragon with an outdoors garden, when the nocturne guest decided to stray from the main roads to explore the small hills near the clan lands, Karyu was outside and brightly visible in the morning light.

Ecru, on encountering this 'zombie dragon' did the sensible thing and proceeded to run away looking for adults she could warn about the 'zombie dragon' she had seen.

Thankfully, Karyu had seen the nocturne for a few moments before she spooked, and got his niece, Hasufel, to track down the young hatching and calm down the poor visitor.

Compared to this entertaining introduction, the afternoon spent having fun playing with the clan's young hatchlings was uneventful, if fun.

When you entered the forum of the obscured crecent youre in so deep the woods have no color. No light. Nothing but simi-hard dirt tangled vines and brambles and darkness. Luckily Ecru is of the shadowbringers nocturns and she knew how to travel with no light. About the time she reached the first of the Mirrors the hatchlings pounced on her. Mochi managed to bring the Nocturn down with a squeel and a hiss.

"Welcomes! Welcomes!"

Jasper helped her out from under the little yellow mirror. And tried to help get the Shadow muck off.

"She's been waiting for you." The other hatchling explained.

"Plays! Lets plays!"

The land of the Icewarden was indeed a cold one, and young Ecru was having none of it. She had expected cold, sure, but not icicles-dangling-from-her-wings cold! She'd found a hollow beneath a massive tree, at least in her mind, and was trying to wait out the storm when she heard voices.

"Are you sure this is the spot?"

"I'm sure! It was right over here! It was this huge tree, you could see it for miles!"

"Oh yeah, I bet I could see it from the Crags."

Two balls of fuzz seemed to appear out of nowhere, one a silvery grey, the other an icy blue. She couldn't believe her eyes. They were like giant Tundras, but with branch horns instead of short stubs! Their noses looked kinda funny, too, and she couldn't believe how long their fur was! The grey one had really big horns and claws, and her fur was so fluffy around her neck! The blue one was really blue, and he had really cool spikes on his shoulders!

"See, there it is! Isn't it huge?!" The grey one squeaked out, her voice rumbling like a very small bumble bee. The other one sat down, curling his fluffy tail over his legs as he tilted his head. He was notably looking the wrong way as he did so.

"Oh yeah, it's big alright. Bigger than the Father of Ice, I'd say. Pretty impressive find, Axelia." Even Ecru could hear the sarcasm dripping from his voice like thick honey. It only reminded her of how sweet honey was, and how it made tasty meat treats sometimes with jello. That sounded nice, not like this storm and how it felt.

"Yeah, I bet it's as big as one of his legs! And there's even a little hollow- Oh wow! Look what I found!" The silver hatchling bounded over to Ecru, her fur fluffing out as she stared with wide eyes. She reached out, prodding the hatchling curiously. "I wonder if it's dead?" The blue one followed, sighing.

"Oh, it looks alive to me." There was the sarcasm again. The silver hatchling opened her mouth to argue, only to freeze, then narrow her eyes at the blue one. The look on her face said more than enough about how she felt in that very moment.

"Amara, why do you do this." The blue one smirked, his glazed eyes narrowing in contempt as he did so. He looked so proud of himself.

"Because, Axelia, it's funny when you keep forgetting I'm blind. It's one of the only things that puts a smile on my face." Axelia batted him with a wing before poking the small hatchling again. She let out a squeak of surprise when Ecru moved, lifting her head.

"It's alive! And it's small. And... scaly? Are you a Nocturne? You're so small! And cold! You need to warm up!" Axelia, the silver hatchling, didn't hesitate to curl up around the small Nocturne. Amara frowned, tilting his head.

"Can I help?" the small blue hatchling asked, moving a bit closer to the two. Axelia glared at him, practically scooping up the small Nocturne with her wings as she scooted away from the other hatchling.

"No way! You've got ice spikes! You'll poke her eye out with one of those! Go on and find Aliya. She'll be able to get her something to eat without getting her killed a la spike butt." Amara huffed, turning around as he flicked his tail over the two. He turned his head back, and it seemed that blind stare was locked on the two.

"You owe me dessert for a week." He stated simply, though it looked like he wanted to say more about the whole spike thing. Instead, he turned away again, stalking off into the blizzard. He disappeared almost immediately. Axelia let out a rumbling sigh before she turned her gaze back to the Nocturne. She smiled.

"So, how about we play some hide and seek when the storm dies down? Would you like that, or does tag sound more fun? Ooh, how about we mix them up? When the storm stops, you can go hide, and if I find you, you gotta run away. If I tag you, you'll be it. How's that sound?" Ecru nodded her head, beaming. Yeah, this place was cold, and she didn't like the storms, but it seemed there were some pretty fun dragons out here to play with, too. Besides, she liked the sound of this new game!

When the storm died down, Aliya and Amaru had arrived, and the older Gaoler watched the three hatchlings like a hawk as they played, Amara with his sarcastic quips about his sight, Axelia with her clumsy, bubbly personality, and Ecru, the brightest of them all, fluttering about like a flower in the snow.

That day was one she'd always remember.

Dance and prance, the little nocturne went. Whilst dancing, a shiny cyan skydancer found her, flying above her in dark armor.

"Who are you?" He calls to her, curious. His face was shaded by the ebony helmet on his head.

"I am Ecru! Who are you?" She giggled, hearing herself rhyme. The world around her was dusty and yet she liked it, the sand the slipped under her feet brought her joy until it was interrupted by the Skydancer plucking her up.

"Hey!" She cried in fright and anger.

"I am Bynd, a guard of Cosmotoral. I'm taking you to Skyla, she'll make sure you're okay." He said calmly, before the little nocturne chomped on his leg. He yowled, dropping her. She spread her wings, gliding away from him at such a height took her very far. The world seemed so small from up here, but she was getting tired, slowly swirling down and resting down in the middle of her next destination.

Ecru was thrilled beyond belief. Here she stood before a lively marketplace, full of bright colors, sounds and smells of all sorts just waiting to be explored. Taking off full speed ahead, it wasn’t long before she found herself face to face, well, face to leg, with a black and yellow Ridgeback. As unconventional of a role model as he was, he still had to ask the young one where her parents were, and be a little surprised when the answer was several miles away while their young one explored the world. Lucky for her, Swindle, head of the market, dealer of illegal goods, and one misstep away from being a convicted criminal had quite the soft spot for children.

“No parents around, eh? Well, look at you! You’re about as insane as I was at your age! I’ll tell you what. Why don’t I show you around, and while we’re lookin’, you go ahead and pick out whatever you want for yourself. How’s that sound?”

The little Nocturne gave a cheer and set of on her mission, unwilling to be carried because adults were just too slow. Swindle followed behind the hatchling at a steady pace, letting her have her adventure, but making sure she stayed safe all the same. On occasion, when he fell too far behind for her liking, Ecru would turn around and grab one of his claws, pulling him forward with all her might, but alas, to no avail. She even resorted to pushing him from behind one of his hind legs, anything to get the Ridgeback to just pick up the pace! She didn’t have all day!

They passed merchants of all stripes selling an equally diverse spread of goods. One of the first stalls that grabbed the young one’s interest was manned by a old Skydancer who specialized in lumber and wooden carvings. Swindle gave the merchant a hard stare as she let out a curse at a slip of the knife on her latest work, but was soon distracted by Ecru marveling at an already completed carving of a horse. It was a creepy little thing to say the least, but the merchant, Sequoia, seemed more than thrilled that the little one had taken such an interest in it, and happily gave it to her.

That continued on as the general theme of the escapade. Not a single merchant in the entire market had the will to say no to the little Nocturne. Swindle mused more than once that she could make a killing in a job like his. As they moved from stall to stall, the Ridgeback began to make an interesting observation. She’d wanted a horse doll from Sequoia, and some sweets from Eleanora, both of which were understandable things for a hatchling to want. It was when she started asking for jewelry, silks, and traveling tools that Swindle realized she was shopping for other dragons, not herself. He may be a con artist by name, but even he knew that a little charity could go a long way. She’d leave with more gifts than she could give, he’d make sure of that.

It was a fun conversation she’d had with Torrent, the market’s silk specialist. There wasn’t a type of fabric mentioned that the young one didn’t want to feel for herself, and the Skydancer was more than happy to oblige, getting out samples buried and forgotten about long ago to satisfy the Nocturne’s curiosity. It wasn’t the old, but rather the new that she settled on bringing home. Starsilks, they were called.
They said hello to Diamond next. He was a jeweler, and despite the high price of his wares, he was thrilled to pass them over to the little Nocturne to hold, look at, and put in her mouth on more than one occasion. She got to keep those ones. There was no rhyme nor reason to what she deemed worthy of bringing along with her as gifts; Swindle could appreciate a little spontaneity. He had adopted a little Nocturne for the day after all.
Lorand was the next on their list, and though he didn’t have a physical gift to give, Ecru listened with rapt attention to all of the old adventurer’s teachings. It put Swindle at ease to see her arsenal of tricks growing ever larger by the minute. It was when the old Tundra started telling stories that he had to cut him off. He’d gone through a strong thirty years of his youth and just about all of the youngling’s attention by the time Swindle dragged her away, shouting back that she’d be all grown up by the time the old one finished on his own.
Lantana would be their last stop for the day. Having already caught wind of the hatchling in their midst, she was ready to present Ecru with a large selection of flowers. Some made her sneeze, some made her giggle, but all of them were as bright and cheerful as the little one they’d been selected for.

Making certain she had all the supplies she could ever need, Swindle sent the little one off homeward bound. Amidst her gifts, there was a letter to her guardians from a black and yellow Ridgeback with a soft spot for children. In big, bold letters at the top was a simple and straightforward ‘What were you thinking!’.