Thistle

Two young dragons were wandering through the Southern Icefields, staring at the large glaciers and ice pillars in awe. Malum, a sickly looking Pearlcatcher took off running without a word, leaving her confused Skydancer mate behind. He was trying to catch up to her, but eventually lost sight of the faster dragoness. He sighed, calling out to his mate.

Suddenly a loud crash echoed through the icy labyrinth. Cinis hurried towards the noise and couldn't believe his eyes when he saw his mate standing in front of a large, bone-like structure, covered in bright blue flames. "Malum! What in the name of the Gladekeeper did you do?!" he yelled at the Pearlcatcher in front of him.

"Technically, it was already on fire when I got here..." she said, laughing slightly. Cinis simply stared at the strange structure, his jaw hung open in shock. As the flames died down the two lovers could make out a small figure curled into itself. "Is it dead?" Malum asked as she caught a glimpse of the small creature. "Don't say that! They might still be alive..." Cinis told her as he made his way closer to the small figure.

"Who knows how long it's been there... Probably been dead for centuries and-" the Pearlcatcher started, but stopped as she saw the small blue figure move. "Where am I?" a young voice asked. The small Tundra looked up at the dark Skydancer in front of him. "Uh... The Southern Icefields? Pretty close to the Fortress of Ends! You were in a block of ice for some reason..." Cinis spoke slowly. The young light blue Tundra looked around him confused for a few seconds, before his eyes widened in realization.

"Oh, Shadowbinder how long have I been in there..." he murmured. "Which era are we in?" the Tundra asked with a more confident voice, making his voice sound foreign, coming from a Tundra hatchling. "The Era of Ambassadors... Why?" Malum answered the smaller dragon. "Ok, different question I guess... How long ago was the Era of Sprites?" the Tundra asked, confusion mixing into his voice. "Umm... I think that was six hundred years ago, right Malum?" Cinis said looking at Malum, who nodded.

The young Tundra looked at his small paws in shock. "I've been in that ice for six hundred years..." he whispered. "Whoa, what did you do to get locked in there for so long?!" Malum asked loudly, only to be shushed by the blue dragon. Cinis looked at his mate in confusion, unsure of what she meant by this. "Well, dragons are usually locked in those ice prisons if they did something really bad, right... Uh I didn't catch your name?" she said, turning back towards the Tundra.

"My name is Thistle... I didn't exactly do anything, it's just that I'm not normal. I don't physically age and know what dragons are thinking, since my mother was a Gaoler, which makes me a half-blood. So the other dragons were scared of me and my ability to read minds and locked me in that ice..." Thistle explained quietly.

"You can read minds? That sounds amazing!" Malum exclaimed, smiling brightly. Thistle shook his head. "Trust me it's more a curse than a blessing most of the time... But for some reason I can't read your minds." Thistle frowned. Malum looked confused, but Cinis had a suspicion. He walked forward and put a paw onto the small Tundra's shoulder.

Thistle looked up at the Skydancer in confusion. "Maybe this is the reason we're the way we are! What if we have Gaoler blood as well?" Cinis asked his mate, who looked at him with a concerned look. "But then why is nobody in either of our families like us? Plus we aren't Tundras, Cinis!" she said.

"I know, I know... But it would make sense, no? He can't read our minds and he doesn't die when I touch him! Maybe the bloodline vanished for a few generations and resurfaced in us!" the Skydancer rambled. Thistle chuckled, which made the other two dragons look at him. "Can you two bicker about your bloodlines later? I would really like to get some distance between myself and the Fortress... The further away I am from it and the creatures inside, the safer I'll feel." he told the dragons and began walking away from the tall ice towers. Cinis and Malum followed him while continuing to talk about their curses and the new companion they had found.