Insolitum

Breeding project final goal:

Male Spiral with Arcane Multi-Gaze

Primary Gene: Pinstripe
Primary Color: Untargeted

Secondary Gene: Butterfly
Secondary Color: Untargeted

Tertiary Gene: Filigree
Tertiary Color: Blackberry

The path less followed is, more often than not, a given easier trail than anything more wayward. For most dragons, life is breeding, gathering, training, or any other natural thing that might call to their innermost nature. And certainly, something borne with eyes as green as a spring's breeze, it would seem that this life would be no different. Special in its own right, as every being was, but at the same time, uninteresting and bland. The metal branded into dragons' scales and skin was no longer an anomaly, but rather, sought out and desired, much like those odd little insects that glowed and lived with a dragon as long as it may thrive.

So when a little Spiral was blessed onto the lands, like any other, in a clutch like any other, her parents celebrated and danced their joy away into the wind. The cogs of time continued about their turning, and big, innocent eyes that seemed to swallow the meadows she was born unto blinked open to the sounds of celebration and the sight of others just like her. Just like her.

But she wasn't, deep down, just like them.

***

A year can be rather eventful, and typically, it is, for most. The little things add up, and the big ones have a bit of a nasty tendency to mask the stacking changes. Insolitum left her homeland, like many a dragon, in search of a better life. A greater cause, some would call it. She considered it merely part of her birthright, to go forth and find her place in the world as so many dragons before her, and after her, had done and would do. It was the natural order, the way the clocks kept ticking and the moon kept phasing.

But there was just something off about it all, and she couldn't quite put a claw on it.

Arriving back home after taking off into the great unknown can be jarring for both the locals and the visitor. The more things changed for Insolitum, the more they stayed the same for her parents. To them, she was just one of many. In fact, before seeing the newfound swirl that donned her bright emerald gaze, they'd called out to her in greeting with no name, uncertain of just which clutch this Spiral had come from. She was theirs, certainly, it was just...unclear which one, exactly.

It was already strange, though, that she'd come back home. Most dragons never come home. In fact, it's almost unheard of for one to return to their birthing lair. It could be a territorial issue. It could have something to do with the population, or it could just be chalked up to nature. Whatever it was, Insolitum was an outlier. Perhaps she'd come home just to be called that, just to be different, for once. She could've just left it to her eyes and never breathed a word, and her mother would've still given her just the same husky glare whether she'd opened her maw and spoken or not.

"A witch?" The sharp-jawed Wildclaw growled, feathered tail lashing as she corralled her daughter's tumbling body into a manageable lump of ribs and limbs. Insolitum coiled into herself as the glassy, swirled vision of her mother's blurry petals spun around her over and over. "Is that why you marred your eyes, Amethyst? Do you know how lucky you were to be born when you were? Your father's filigree nearly got him killed when he first showed himself to the world! You made yourself an oddity, and for what?! To prize yourself, to be a token? Foolish drake!"

Insolitum bared her fangs, having perfected the kaleidoscope-like vision to hone in on the last dragon she wanted to be her target. The purple gemstones lining her body glowed, seeming to manifest a foreign, dangerous energy as she wound around herself, growing taller and longer. "I am no fool." She hissed darkly, feeling a sick sort of power rush through her veins as her very mother cowered. "I just want to live."

***

It was a comfort to call someplace as warm as the birthing meadows home. It was a prvilidge that Insolitum had taken for granted in her wasted youth, and as the windy sea of tall grass seemed to wave goodbye, she took in one final glance before turning her back on the land. It went without saying that she was banished. Turning on one's own mother defied the most basic principals of nature. But then, when did she conform?

Back to the barrens. Insolitum thought to herself as she spread her many wings, moving as naturally as the breeze that took her into the sky. Feeling as small as a dragonfly was humbling, especially after facing up to her own mother and defying her disappointment with rage. With no judgment attempting to contain her spilling self, she let herself relax, feeling the vertebrae along her spine nearly pop in relief. Omen was surely missing her by now. The little Veilspun nearly relied on her for survival. Insolitum found herself missing their pathetic den, and even longing for the familiar ache of hunger that came with their homeland. Homeland. The plentiful, lush territories that dotted the trail of her journey carried bountiful meals. Insolitum closed her eyes, feeling the vibrations run through her blood as she envisioned the strange sights she'd taken in along the way. Recalling memories so vividly had been one of the first things she'd learned under Nekra- one of the first spells she had mastered, too.

"I've never seen a Wind dragon be able to use Arcane magic." Nekra's soft voice tinkled like a bell in Insolitum's mind, and she lowered her head, allowing the memory to consume her. All at once, she was standing in the lively graveyard with the Obelisk, watching her twirl a flower delicately with a sharp claw.

"I've never known Arcane to be the only flight to use it." Insolitum responded back, curiously watching the flower's petals seemingly dance off of the barely-there contact offered by the necromancer. All at once, she was within herself, and also a bystander. She couldn't change anything; remembering so vividly wasn't like lucid dreaming. It was more akin to a nightmare, but in time, control would come.

Nekra smiled kindly over to the small Spiral as she set a dried stalk of bamboo by the ancient headstone. "You Wind dragons are clever. I'm surprised you're the first stranger I've seen like this. I suppose I shouldn't be, though- I rarely get out." The green dragon chuckled to herself, as if kindly humoring an old inside joke. Insolitum peered briefly at her, the present-estranged singular vision a comforting old fit to her as she continued to remember.

"I'm cursed to live in this graveyard." Nekra tilted her head up, the cool breeze ruffling her tumbling mane. "I carry with me the ability to use magik, but only within the bounds of the bodies." A serious look overtook her unusual gaze as she refocused on Insolitum, curiosity flecked in there as well. "I could teach you. Being a witch would suit you, I think."

"A-a witch?" The Spiral repeated in disbelief, swirling around her destined mentor as if to maintain her attention.

"A witch, yes." Nekra confirmed with a nod. "It would take great sacrifices to get yourself there. It takes far more than skill- it takes heart, Amethyst. Are you willing to destroy who you are to find yourself?"

Insolitum- then Amethyst- felt her heart skip several beats. "I am."

The Nature Obelisk gave her a disbelieving once-over. "Can you, young one?"

A pause. The Spiral drew in a shaky breath, feeling her purple stone brands hum themselves alive with her own energy. "I can."

***

Little wings weary and spine aching, Insolitum closed the window in her mind of the memory and observed the landscape below her with a tilted head. Something deep in her blood hummed a warning. The sharp, pink crags that littered the horizon and sparked between one another dwarfed her own magik. It was enthralling, entirely, and yet dangerous nonetheless. Insolitum breathed out a curious huff and then began to descend below the spotty, foggy clouds.

Her eyes were squinted through the charged fog, but once she was below the heavy clouds, she stopped mid-air. There was a tall, skinny castle before her that made her ears flatten with caution. She hadn't quite seen something like this before, and a strong lull tugged at the stones embedded in her scales. It was as if she herself was charging in its mere presence. Youthful and ever-brave, Insolitum gave herself an excited wiggle in the air and dove forward recklessly. The night was setting over the land, and she could easily curl herself up in the spiked roof that seemed to nearly imprison the stone tower.

Spiraling around the skinny castle, a dim, soft light caught her eye, and she swung her head around to take it in as best she could in her swirled vision. It had all seemed vacant and quite dead, aside from the constant humming of the strange crags. Silent as a mouse, Insolitum hooked her front claws onto the barred window's ledge and peered inside. As telling as the tower itself, the depressing room seemed to be a prison of sorts. Within it slept a victim. His sides rose and fell in an erratic pattern, and she could count the ribs that decorated his long torso like a cage. She was struck by the pinkish-purple stones that were nearly identical to hers, and pressed her nose between the bars to breathe in. He smelled of the land, like energy and power. Even asleep and separated by a barrier, she felt small by him.

"Psst." The gentle, hushed call escaped her before her mind could stop it. Insolitum feverishly weaved between the bars, poking her nose impatiently as the other Spiral began to stir from his slumber. A pair of brilliant Arcanite eyes swung around to meet hers, startlingly vibrant like his filigree stones. The witch's breath caught as one by one, down his body, a chain of eyes began to open themselves accordingly down the line of his spine in a mirrored pattern. His pupils narrowed to anxious slits and he began to spill over himself in a defensive position, lip curling into a snarl as he rose.

"Wait!" The smaller Spiral dropped down so only her eyes peeked over the ledge, simultaneously just as afraid to see this other dragon as lose sight of him. His nose was crinkled with the force of his display, but he blinked, and like a ripple through a pond, the eyes down his body waved shut and back open. Insolitum couldn't help but stare at the oddity, completely mesmerized. "I-" She shook her head, rising up a bit. "I didn't mean to disturb your rest. You just seemed- I felt-"

The seemingly endless swirl of eyes were messing with Insolitum's already-blurry vision. They tucked all the way down the spiral of her pupil, and if she didn't know any better, the countless pupils constantly darted to watch her, too. The defensive Spiral slowly tumbled down from his tense striking pose, lip folding back over his dainty fangs as he thoughtfully lowered his head. "What's your name?" He cut to instead, seeming equally as cautiously curious. The initial fright had sent them both reeling, but as he crept closer to the window, there was another strange, unknown thing that compelled them closer.

"Insolitum." The witch murmured, bravely darting her nose between the bars once more. "And yours?"

"Eerium." He answered, ducking low but still coming close. There was a still moment of nervous tension, and then he rose, rising up to meet her eye level with his primary pair to gaze at her.