S h i v e r

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Uh-oh, looks like this sweet scaly boi wandered a little too far from his home lair (345145, RoiKartal), and now he's off to see the world! If ever you feel the need to exalt, he'd really appreciate it if you could just return him to the home lair, or to the 'Dragons Off To See The World' thread, here. This is not necessary, but he would be very grateful!

Owners I've Had:

RoiKartal, 345145 (home lair)
breathe2, 483208
amibe, 624977
RoiKartal, 345145
QueenRed, 310371 (rest-hub)
RoiKartal (home lair) for good
RETIRED 11/27/23

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Shiver had never felt at home in his home-lair. His brother however seemed to know his place. It made Shiver... jealous, a feeling that didn't sit well with him. He thought that having children might help, but it didn't. His children were beautiful, and they would go far... which made him think maybe he could go far too. That maybe what he needed was a change of scene. On the first day of the Wavecrest Saturnalia (April 24th, 2022), Shiver set out on his life-affirming journey to see the world. He's always been pretty nervous, or maybe just cold.

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For his first big adventure, Shiver joined up with a traveling caravan that was crossing the Shifting Expanse. Unfortunately, he came at a bad time - Wind and Lightning were gearing up for a big battle! The caravan spent a lot of time underneath the sands of the Expanse, waiting out the storms of war. The few times that he did peek out back into the desert, all he could see was violent sandstorms... and never ending piles of sand. The whole thing made him nervous, but the caravan seemed used to the desert storms and taking refuge from them. He quietly made friends with Poet, whose friend Siren seemed to be as shy and unsure as he was. Poet was very good at breaking the ice in conversations and luring answers out of Shiver. Turning the two into fast friends, the new friendship helped calm him during those stormy days. Eventually, the storms cleared up. As the caravan was now on the edge of the desert, he decided it would be a good time to try a new clan. He left just after the Greenskeeper Gathering (on May 29th 2022).

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Shiver then found himself in a much different environment than the harsh sands--the crisp, cool blue of the water realm. He gazed about himself in awe at the new scenery, not noticing a purple spiral slither silently up behind him. She sized him up then nodded to herself, seeming to have just made a decision. She stealthily crept closer and closer, leaning close to his ear, before whispering 'Boo!' Shiver jumped and whirled around, letting out an alarmed yell. The spiral began to laugh, and Shiver blushed a little to have been frightened by a dragon that was so much smaller than he was. "What was that for?" he questioned. "You are much too skittish," the spiral replied. "I can help you with that... if you wanted" Shiver took a closer look at the dragon and realized it may have not been so silly to be frightened of her after all--her teeth and claws were insanely sharp, and she had her fair share of battle scars. She seemed battle hardened, but the sparkle in her eyes showed a warm heart underneath. For some reason, he found that he trusted her. When she asked him to come rest his wings in her lair, he agreed instantly. On the way there, she explained that she had trained many dragons before him, and as soon as she saw him, she knew that he needed her expertise. She listened patiently to his fearful tale of hiding beneath the sandstorms, and assured him that it was okay to be afraid--and that she would help him learn to defend himself, so that maybe next time he could feel a little safer as he traveled through the lands. Imaginary trained Shiver over the next few days, focusing more on quickness and defense, as he had no taste for attacking. Roche taught him about healing. Shiver found himself growing a little more confident with each learning experience. He was still a little nervous, as was his nature, but he felt more ready to take on the world and whatever he might encounter along his journey. After a few more days, he already felt much better and prepared to depart. Imaginary bid him farewell and sent him off once more, wishing him the best on his travels.

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Nearly three months later, Shiver made it back to his home lair. Everyone was surprised to see him, as those who left the den didn't normally come back. His parents, Angel and Knightshade, were the first to welcome him home. They embraced him in a hug that seemed to go on for hours. Calla looked at Shiver closely before asking, "Is everything alright Shiver?" Surprise overtook Shiver at her question. He wasn't sure how he felt about coming home. Everything seemed... different. "Of course!" He quickly answered, before pausing a minute and asking, "Is... is it okay... that I came back?" "Of course it's okay!" Calla and Angel both answered, tripping over each other to reassure him. "Meadow felt that way too," Knightshade recalled with a smile, "She left for a time. We didn't mean to make her feel unwelcome either. I don't want any of our children to feel that way. Stay as long as you want to Shiver." - -- - Some time passed, and finally one morning, Shiver looked at his friends and family. "It's time for me to start traveling again," his words were soft. His oldest siblings Meadow and Shade looked at each other before embracing their little brother. "I understand," Meadow replied, "I'm sorry, I'm just... a little disappointed. I was hoping that you'd be more like me and stay here." Shade patted Meadow's shoulder, and looked back at Shiver. "You are always welcome to come back home, you know," he stated. Shiver could see a certain sadness in their eyes-- no one expected to see him again. "It's not like I'm dying," he protested, "I just have to head out and see more of the world. I don't want to live with the 'what-ifs' of life." He could tell that they still didn't believe him. But he'd show them... he'd show all of them. He'd come back one day and tell them all about his grand adventures.

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Shiver came to the Rest Hub on July 29th 2022, from his home lair Shiver had snuck out of the lair under the cover of darkness, wanting to avoid all of the sappy goodbyes he was sure would have followed. It was clear that his family and friends didn't believe that he'd be lucky enough to come home again. A feeling gripped at his insides and ate away at him... frustration. He'd learned so much on the road already, he'd grown and become a more capable dragon, and still they just saw him as the meek boy he was when he left. He was a seasoned traveler now... why couldn't they act like it? Unfortunately, the darkness of the Tangled Forest was something Shiver had never learned to navigate, and he found himself woefully lost. It was unusually warm for a mid-summer night, and Shiver's head felt clouded. He paused near a small stream and leaned against a tree, hoping the sensation would pass quickly. There was a quiet rustling noise from some nearby bushes, and he opened his eyes to reveal an elegant angel. "Are you okay, boy?" her voice carried waves of worry. There was a lot of commotion around Shiver, and he couldn't tell what was going on. His eyes flew open and he looked around frantically, "Where am I? What's going on?" his voice cracked, causing a bout of laughter to fill the space. "You gave Chancellor quite the fright young man!" A fierce Wildclaw boomed, looking down at Shiver with a stern look on his face. "Aleppo! It's not like the boy did it on purpose!" A smaller Wildclaw scolded. She turned her attention back to Shiver, "Please don't fret. My mate means no harm. He's just over protective of our family. My name is Dagarkin. That's Aleppo, and over there is Chancellor. Behind you is Antja, a retired traveler, and her mate Pionus," she introduced everyone, "What do they call you?" He hesitated briefly, "I'm known as Shiver. What... what happened to me?" "I found you barely conscious near the river. A sickness caught near the Boarder Lands. You've been in and out of it for quite some time. Dagarkin and Pionus have been tending to you," Chancellor answered. She could see the worry in his eyes, "It's been three months. Don't fret. We've been making sure you are well taken care of. Dagar is the clan healer, and the very best one at that. It's been no trouble. We host a wide variety of travelers." "How did you know that I was a traveler?" He gawked at the pile of information that had just been dropped on him. "You have that air about you," Antja replied with a wild laugh, "I had it when I was your age. With experience, I realized that all I wanted was to settle down at home. And here I am, with this new family who has taken good care of me. Once you find that, don't let it go." She warned. - -- - Shiver spent several more months with their small, ever-changing clan, and the entire time he was there, Antja's words haunted him. He'd bonded with a lot of the dragons there, and even had a nest of his own, but deep down, he wanted to go home. He bid his new friends goodbye, and quickly headed back home.

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((11/27/23))
It was on a cold autumn day that Shiver at last returned to the one place in the world he could never get lost. The sun was shining, but it didn't shine through the shadowy woods where he'd grown up. His formative years had been brief and much further away than he remembered, but there are some things one can never forget. He wondered if he was fully well again as he wandered through the dreary jungle in a daze. His cousin, the exorcist, had guided him through the jungle the first time to keep away the ghosts. On his own, every lost soul in the place was free to pick at his every flaw. Voices seemed to whisper to him in and out of his head, reminding him of his shortcomings.

"You're so wishy-washy. Isn't this the second time you've come back?"

"Did you or did you not want to leave us?"

"Don't keep making us worry."

"Stay with us forever or never come back," Shiver said with one of the ghosts. "That was the unspoken agreement. What am I doing here?"

"Shiver?" A voice he vaguely recognized called among the other voices. "Is that you, or another spirit? I'll banish you this time. I swear I will. Once you start playing mind games, I'll shove you back to the spirit realm. You don't need to be the part of a violent crime for me to decide your time in limbo is up!" A long-bodied red and white dragon emerged from the haze, his powerful aura as warm as a raging inferno and as toxic as poison gas. The two stared at each other in wonder, analyzing the other as it slowly dawned on the other that they knew each other.

"Bloodmoon?" Shiver's voice sounded foreign, as if he hadn't used it lately.

"Shiver?" replied his elder cousin, swirling pensively in the air. "Mother Goddess, I never thought I'd see you again. Are you alive or dead? You're surrounded by ghosts."

"I...I think I'm alive," Shiver asserted, second-guessing himself. He felt so cold.

Bloodmoon looked from side to side and narrowed his eyes. Shifting his focus briefly, he held the surrounding ghosts at bay to allow Shiver some breathing room. The traveler hadn't known he'd needed to breathe until that moment.

"You're back for good this time? If you say no, so help me I will send you right back. Aunt Angel can't handle seeing you again unless she never has to say goodbye. Don't believe a word she says! She can't be honest with you!" Bloodmoon growled, maintaining his position just above eye level, forcing Shiver to look up at him.

"I'm done, Bloodmoon. I want to come home. Can I still come home?" Shiver drew his wings around himself, missing the warmth of the Cave and of his family.

"I don't believe you."

"Well then bring me someone else. You've never been a positive thinker."

"I want to believe you, but I've seen so much death lately." He disappeared behind his eyes and Shiver wanted to lean against him and try to comfort him, but when he twitched Bloodmoon's eyes flashed back to him like he was an enemy.

"Have I come at a bad time? What deaths are you talking about? What have I missed?"

"We don't know them, but there was so much death in the kingdom," Bloodmoon said, staring at something only he could see. "There was no one to mourn, because we did not know them personally, but their deaths haunt us. Who are these new lost souls?"

"You can literally talk to the dead. Why are you acting so weird about it? Just ask them," Shiver reasoned.

"Oh right, because I can just decide to open a dialogue. That's not how it works!" Bloodmoon waved away the current topic and seemed to focus again. "You've been to the Outside. Mother Calla has to know someone from the Outside is at our doorstep."

That was odd, to say the least. His cousin was suddenly treating him like a stranger. "I'm not from the outside! I hatched here! Bloodmoon, it's your cousin! Shiver, Angel's son! My older siblings, Meadow and Shade, they grew up with your little sister Nightblood! Come on, don't act like we're strangers!"

"Do you know how long you've been gone, child?"

Shiver was reminded in those dead eyes how much younger he was than his cousin. "It...it hasn't been too many decades...has it?" True, he'd lost track of time, but he always assumed it had only been a couple of years, perhaps five at the worst.

"Time moves differently on the Outside. The Cave may look very different to you." Bloodmoon stayed in the air, but he allowed Shiver to follow him to the Cave's entrance. Once he saw the familiar Cave through the trees he started running towards it, but an otherworldly chill halted him just before he left the treeline.

"Did you just put a ghost in front of me?" Shiver looked up at his cousin and hoped it was just a poorly-timed joke. Bloodmoon had a weird sense of humor. He talked to dead creatures he'd never known in life. That changed a dragon.

"I said Mother Calla needs to know about you first," Bloodmoon repeated in a dead voice. "Don't make me surround you in ghosts. I don't particularly want you to go mad, but we have to protect ourselves from outside threats."

"I'm not an outside threat! I'm your family, your blood!"

"Those two are not the same. Someone from this Cave should know that better than anyone! You're not really him, are you? Who are you?!"

Luckily for both of them, someone heard Bloodmoon's yelling and came to investigate.
He would recognize that hazy profile anywhere. "Mother Calla!" Shiver called gratefully. "I want to come home! May I please come home?"

The regal black dragon snaked her great head through the trees to look down on the two dragons before her. She still loomed just as large as she had when Shiver was smaller. Her presence calmed his troubled cousin, though Bloodmoon scrambled to her side and wouldn't look at Shiver again.

"Why it's Shiver," rumbled Calla, leaning down to sniff and nuzzle him like she would any other lost hatchling. Shiver didn't mind it coming from her. She saw everyone as one of her hatchlings, and if anyone had a problem with it they were in the wrong place. "You've got some new scars, darling. And you're thinner. Come inside. You feel clammy."

Bloodmoon didn't protest as Calla led the way back into the Cave. Shiver hurried to match her giant steps, gilding until they reached the mouth of the Cave. He wondered what had happened in his absence. No matter what, he would not regret coming home. He was done with his journey. He may not have found himself exactly, but he had learned enough to know where he belonged. The journey was over. Now a new adventure could begin.

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[quote=a past lover]My dearest Shiver,
It's been a while since we last spoke, and though we were lovers once I find it awkward to speak to you face to face after all this time. Please forgive me for writing you this letter instead to better organize my thoughts.
I'm overjoyed you returned home, love, and though I cannot be yours again, I want to assure you that you are indeed wanted here at the Cave. I know you were worried about that. You weren't welcomed home with the same pomp as before. I understand their reaction. The first time you came back was a miracle, and when you left the second time it was worse when you left the first time. While you were gone, I was sad and took comfort in someone else. I hope you would have done the same. I wish you every happiness, Shiver. I hope we can speak without it being awkward again soon. I hope you'll know my voice and it won't matter that I don't have the guts to sign this love letter. Forgive me.[/quote]

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Food 0/4
Material 0/20 Trinket 0/20
Apparel 1/4
Familiar 0/20
Battle Item 0/20

When Shiver first met Midrin, he was skeptical.


This image was created with Picrew’s “お隣男子メーカー“!! https://picrew.me/share?cd=jKYYlmfBLP #Picrew #お隣男子メーカー