Wisp

Flame and Flicker's first daughter, Wisp is the "problem child" of the family. Bold and defiant, she fights for what she wants, argues with others often, and has a habit of leaving the den for extended periods of time before finally returning home hungry, tired, and sore.

Flicker and Flame tried their best to keep her disruptions to a minimum as not to disturb Ember, but their daughter wouldn't be silenced... by anyone.

Strangely enough, Ember didn't seem terribly upset about the "problem". Quite the opposite, actually; Ember took a silent interest in the wild child.

One night, Wisp was making her way home after another one of her "running aways" when she stumbled past Ember, who was still slaving over her forge.

"You're out late." The Skydancer's tone was unemotional, simply an observation.

"You are too," grumbled Wisp. "Should you like, be in bed or something?"

"That's a bit funny coming from you right now," responded Ember as she turned away from the forge and lifted the monocle from her eye, gazing gently at the younger dragon. "I'm not the one looking like I just crawled out of a wet thorn bush."

Wisp stopped, her aggravated expression fading faintly for just a moment.

"So what's got you out here, kid?" Ember sat down, the orange glow from the forge casting a soft glow behind her silhouette. "You seem to do this quite a bit."

Wisp sighed heavily. She shuffled around for a moment, scraping her claws at the stone before finally settling in a small coil.

"I don't know," she said at last. "This place is just... so small and boring. Like no offence, but all you guys do is tinker and play with metal and make weird machines or shiny baubles and I just... it's not interesting to me. My dad says it'll be different as I get older and I should just... try it... but I don't want to!"

The young Spiral uncoiled her body quickly, digging her claws into the ground as she lowered her neck and coiled her tail behind herself aggressively.

"I want to fight! To survive! I want to see the world, experience excitement and fear, feel the wind under my wings and feet as I chase a bird through the trees! To be free! I can't have any of that here in this little clan! My mother doesn't understand that it's not about anyone here, I just want different things for my life, and I can't have it here."

Ember just smiled slowly.
"You're very young," she said softly. "But I can tell you a secret if you'd like."

Wisp rolled her eyes, settling back down slowly.
"Sure, whatever."

"There are plenty of experiences to be had right here. Places to go where you can feel the wind below your wings, chasing birds and hunting prey. And I know it's hard to see now, but there are plenty of fights to be fought right here, perhaps not at this very moment, but things are changing, and change never comes without battle."

Wisp looked up slowly, the grumpy expression fading from her eyes.
"What do you mean... changing...?"

"Something strange is happening here," said Ember. "We aren't quite sure of what yet, but we've spoken to some locals lately and it seems to confirm what I've been sensing lately, which I believe is also affecting Ruby in a more severe way."

"You mean his headaches?"
Although she was often not around, Wisp still knew all of her denmates, and at least a bit of what was going on in their lives. Again, it wasn't that she had anything against them, in fact the young dragon liked Ruby and Cinder quite a bit. She'd never really spoken to Ember... until now.

"Yes," said Ember. "In fact, our neighbors from the Tangled Wood recently found a strange obsidian obelisk up on one of the cliffs. Nobody's sure where it came from, or why. But it was definitely made by dragons."

"That's... weird." She sounded a bit nervous. "Do you think it's dangerous?"

"On it's own, no," Ember said. "But we don't know who it's affiliated with, and that could be dangerous."

Wisp nodded slowly as Ember grew quiet again.
After a moment, she stood slowly.
"I should be getting home," she said softly. "I'm.. well, you said it best, I look like I crawled out of a wet thorn bush, and feel like it too." She turned away, taking a few steps before turning her head back and saying, "It was nice speaking with you."

"You as well," Ember replied as she turned back to her forge for a moment. "Here... take this."
She reached out and handed Wisp a small silvery locket. Wisp recognized it as the ones the other dragons in her clan wore; Ember made them when she only had a small amount of metal left over from other projects, reserving the intricate, unique little crafts as gifts for friends.

"... Thank you..." Wisp took the gift slowly, noticing the violet undertones of the metal. "It's beautiful..."

"Take care of yourself, kid," Ember said softly. "It's a big world and times are changing." The Skydancer turned away, returning to her late-night work as Wisp turned away and headed for home, slowly placing the locket around her neck.