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Corrai came to the clan in the wake of a storm blown over from the Sea of a Thousand Currents, head raised proudly and pale pink eyes taking in every motion of the clan as Nameless led her straight to Cieahte and Cosaint. Though her white coat and purple wings, adorned with unnaturally straight lines and perfect circles, was weather-beaten and she was unable to hide her exhaustion, the former Arcane member spun a tale of banishment from her homeland due to “being too advanced for their tastes” and that she sought a “quaint” Shadow clan to settle in. Cosaint, made uncertain by the Skydancer’s holier than thou attitude, allowed her to stay on their lands temporarily while the clan discussed adding her to their numbers. Calvariam, stationed at Cosaint’s side, asked the more pertinent question: “What do you mean by being too advanced?”
“Why, summoning and the like. Research on documents is one thing, but having another source who lived those times to talk to and learn from – now, that is the proper way to learn.” She finished, shooting them a challenge to mock her with her gaze. Instead, a lingering silence bloomed between the three dragons, broken only when Calv sighed.
“Mmhmm. Summon something and show us.” He challenged her, certain that Corrai would merely vanish once she realized that they were on to her.
“Very well.” Corrai nodded a goodbye and slipped away to find a quiet place to rest. The Skydancer was absent from the lair for weeks, though the newly formed border patrol reported her busily wandering their territory and the outskirts of others, digging up goodness knows what and dragging it back to a nest she had made by the Wispwillow Grove.
The day came when Corrai returned, her pride on display once more, and summoned all the clan members. Cosaint, Bele, Calv, Nameless, Creosote, Atlas, Idris, and Cieahte sat in a ring around the female, some nervously watching the twitching blue furred object she held close to her chest. “Here you are.” Corrai said proudly, and placed the blue bundle upon the earth. A small fox-like creature straightened out its bone limbs and rose to tremble uneasily upon the rounded points, deep blue eyes blinking at the assembly from beneath what appeared to be the small skull of a Wildclaw.
Predictably, pandemonium erupted. Waves of fire burst from Creosote, who was intent to “destroy this abomination” and was only just stopped by Atlas’ intervention. Calv could only stare, aware and very annoyed that his jaw was hanging yet he was unable to make himself close it. Bele merely started laughing, rocking back against Nameless’ chest as the Wildclaw allowed him to perch upon one arm. Idris stepped closer in fascination, only to be roughly dragged back by Cosaint.
“Are those remains of dragons?” Cosaint asked coolly.
“I didn’t have all that many options here to create something permanent, you realize. Besides, none of them are from your clan – I made sure of that.” Corrai replied in kind.
A decision was swiftly reached that they could not allow this clearly crazed dragon to bother other Shadow clans, especially the ones she might have raided the graves of. Though her antics worried multiple members of the clan, in time Corrai grew to be somewhat trusted. A few dragons never accepted her for the actions of her past, but others grew to look beyond such shady practices when she promised to avoid such experiments in the future and held to her word. The day that Creosote was able to pointedly ignore the fox creature – then named Savage – and hold a civil conversation with Corrai the clan knew that she had earned her place. The Skydancer also managed what many dragons considered impossible; she wormed her way into Idris’ interest and lair to live by his side. Idris remained forever nervous around the female and half of the time seemed to want to be nowhere near her, yet in the end he kept going back just as often as Corrai sought him out as he hid away engrossed by his research. Corrai insisted that she had spells which would stop their offspring from bearing the curse of Gembond, something Idris used as a defense against her expectations. Finally, they came to an agreement. While the spells were not quite as effective as Corrai had thought them to be, the two dragons produced multiple nests which led to two new permanent members of the clan, Adrastea and Pan.
Such a nervous peace between Corrai and Clan Cosaint existed for years, until Corrai set herself upon an extreme goal. The Skydancer wished to study Plague magic and its corrosive effects, yet felt that she had exhausted the resources she had available and needed to go further into the past to find information she would actually want. Why not try to summon an old Plague spirit, one who had served the Plaguebringer for time unremembered? She would be safe, said Corrai to the protests that her idea received, because what could a mere spirit truly do to her beneath the safety spells and runes she would lay? All she asked was that members of the clan avoid the area she had selected for her summoning ground. It would be fine, she continued to reassure them, and slipped away with a laugh to her task. The clan members waited nervously as time passed, and after a full day without Corrai returning, Nameless and Brannan sought her out.
The scene they found was rife with furrows dug into the ground by flailing claws, destroyed runes still leaking fragments of Plague magics, and blood marring the formerly white corpse of Corrai. Unnerved that they heard nothing of her attack and death, the two hurriedly collected her body so that her soul could be passed on to the Shadowbinder and returned to the clan, constantly on the watch for what Corrai might have released. The clan sent her on and, as time passed and whatever caused her death did not make its way to the lair, they attempted to move on. Idris sank into a depression, hardly bothering with his studies or communicating with his clanmates. Adrastea, having never been on good terms with her mother due to a difference in ideals, wrote her off as a fool who went to the only end she could expect. A stronger representative of his mother's alleged insanity, Pan hardly seemed to realize that she was gone.
Long after Pan and Adrastea were fully grown, the border patrol marched back one day with a mixture of emotions in play and a pale coated Skydancer trotting primly between then. Nameless merely stared straight ahead, Linwood looked desperately around the lair trying to spot Idris before he became aware of the situation, and Brannan, only narrowly containing his rage, called for Cosaint immediately. When his leader arrived, Brannan gestured at the female Skydancer.
“Tell her your name.” He growled.
With a sniff, the pale coated Skydancer tossed back her head and spoke in a growl matching Brannan's irritation. “You're all acting like fools! I’ve already explained myself enough, to the Shade with this nonsense! I am Corrai!”
This barefaced lie – as it was seen by the gathering crowd of dragons – ignited outrage against the white Skydancer. How could such a thing be when the real Corrai had been sent on to the Shadowbinder? How could she ever come back? Who did this Skydancer think she was, making such claims, when save for her pale fur she looked so little like the true Corrai?
“The Shadowbinder tired of me and sent me on.” She huffed in reply to some of the louder dragons. “The Arcanist tried to use me afterward, but that was boring. What does it all matter? I’m back, and let’s be honest, this form is much prettier than before so quit your whining. Shouldn’t you be taking it as a point of honor that I even returned?”
The commotion summoned the one that more sympathetic dragons were hoping would not become aware of the situation. A hush fell upon the crowd – Creosote, Taika, and Brannan being the exceptions – as Idris exited the lair and began to make his way over. At his claws trailed Savage, all drooping ears and fur, much as he had been since he had been pulled away from Corrai's body. The mishmash creature froze as he caught sight of the Skydancer surrounded by many much larger and upset dragons, his ears finally perking and eyes wide beneath his mask. The female smiled at the creature and beckoned him over, a faint shimmer of pink magic playing across her claws. It took only a taste of the magic for Savage to howl with delight and fling himself across the distance separating the two, welcoming her back in utter ecstasy. She showered him with love as well, calling him by name – something many of the assembled dragons remembered well, as Savage had not been mentioned what so ever to that point in time. Finally, she looked up at the violet and obsidian male who stood where he had frozen as Savage responded to familiar magics.
“Hello, dearest.” She smiled as the pet name caused a slight cringe in Idris. “I apologize for leaving you alone. I was given an opportunity that I simply could not pass up, and I'm afraid it has delayed me greatly. You'll like this, though. I know how to avoid passing on Gembond now.”
At Idris' insistence, the clan temporarily allowed this new Corrai to enter their fold. Adrastea remained unhappy around this replacement of her mother, however few of her clan mates were shocked by this development. Pan, having heard Corrai’s claims, merely shrugged and accepted her once again. Most of the clan expected Idris to come to his senses and reject this newcomer, however his final decision came as a surprise for them. After having talked with her for quite some time as he tried to wrap his mind around what happened, he finally came to Cosaint, proclaimed that Corrai had truly returned to them, and requested that she have full clan membership restored. When questioned further by Calv and Creosote, he merely shook his head at their protests and would only say one more thing on the matter.
“Savage clearly trusts her. I think a creature she made would be able to identify the true Corrai.”
Some dragons still argue that she is an impostor come to slip into their ranks and sow discord, or that Idris was clearly driven out of his mind by loneliness to accept the strange and dishonest dragon. Couldn't any Arcane dragon control an amalgamation such as Savage, after all? Others question how Corrai could have possibly returned. Was she banished by the Gods or did she run away? The body she inhabited was much too old to have been a reincarnation; could it be that she stole the body of another Arcane Skydancer and fled home with it? By suffering Corrai to be near them, were they assisting in inflicting unknowable torment upon a captive mind?
Corrai treats these whispers much as she had in her past life: she entirely ignores them. She returned swiftly to her own studies as well, after fussing that someone had played with the scrolls she had left in Idris' lair and made her lose her place, this time with a notable exception. Any summoning circles she found herself in a position to require are now ringed multiple times by layers of protection, and Plague spirits stay where they belong in the afterlife.
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