Dearest

Sister: Luggage: Gold Steampunk Wing Armor Apparel Multi-jointed, steam powered armor for protecting wings and clockwork during flight. 1000 Nebula Starsilk Earrings Apparel A dangling star-shaped earring of polished metal. The surface catches the light and reflects back a galactic spectrum of colors. 1300 Marigold Lei Apparel Dozens of marigolds in full bloom have been meticulously strung together to craft this beautiful lei. 1450 White Wooly Antennae Apparel A pair of sensitive white antennae. Wearing them may or may not increase a dragon's sense of smell. 700

Uh-oh, looks like this unfortunate fellow wandered a little too far from his home lair (@TipsyKipsy, 23453) 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. If you don't want another traveler in return, you can also drop him off at the Traveling Dragon's Rest Hub! This is not necessary, but he would be very grateful! Lairs Visited: TipsyKipsy (23453) EmeraldJubilee (288849) elysfish (546974) nephritee (425181) Volrin (261879) Dusty (548249)

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Dearest and Darling were the son and daughter of an Ugly dragon, and from the very start, Dearest chafed against the idea. What was it to be ugly? What was it to be beautiful? He knew he had potential. He'd seen other dragons with his colours(or close enough) be fawned over, so why not him?

His mother Blues was an Ugly dragon herself, but hid it behind a beautiful skin that made her look royal and resplendent. When he asked her what it meant to be Ugly, she offered him nothing but platitudes, intent on comforting his hurt without offering any real answers. She meant well. His father, beautiful and striking, would not speak of the matter at all.

So when Dearest left his home clan, he did it determined to find answers. What was it to be beautiful? Could it change with clothes and apparel? Would he need to find a skin or accent, like his mother? Or would he need to change his genetics to be beautiful like his father? Or was beauty, as his mother so claimed, in the eye of the beholder?

---

Dearest handed the scroll and pen back to the bespectacled Pearlcatcher, glancing down to avoid eye contact. The Pearlcatcher made a quiet contemplative noise as he read over the paper. Had Dearest filled something out wrong? Somehow, he wasn't really expecting to have to fill out any forms to stay in a clan, but here he was doing just that. It made sense, though, but he found the process a bit awkward. What was he supposed to say?

"Dearest, hm? Son of Blues and Murat, grandchild of... PowderedDonut." The Pearlcatcher gave Dearest a quizzical look from over his glasses. "You wouldn't happen to be related to a Bogsneak named Gengyar, would you?"

Dearest shrank away. Was it that obvious he was an Ugly? "Y-yes sir." He stammered. "Why?"

"We've had a few of your family members stay in the clan, is all." The Pearlcatcher replied, turning away to pull something out of a filing cabinet.

"Y-you have?" Dearest was shocked. He knew his family was big, but what were the chances that the first clan he'd go to would have seen them before?

"Mhm." The Pearlcatcher opened another drawer and flicked through the files, eventually pulling up three. "Psychosomatic the Nocturne, Lethe the Guardian, and-" The Pearlcatcher stopped, squinting at the name on the last file. "-Beesechurger the Mirror." Dearest winced at the tone of the Pearlcatcher's voice. His family did have pretty weird names, he supposed... The Pearlcatcher put the files back in their place and promptly shut the drawer. "And all their children too, of course." He grabbed an empty folder out of the first drawer he opened and turned back to Dearest.

"Are they still here?" Dearest asked. Maybe they could give him better answers than his mother.

"No, they all left quite some time ago. We have where on file somewhere, but I can't tell you off the top of my head." The Pearlcatcher slid a rectangular piece of hard paper over to Dearest. "Sign here, please."

Dearest did so silently, trying to process everything. "Why do you keep track of where they went?" Would he need to tell them where he left to as well?

"Standard procedure." The Pearlcatcher replied, swiping the card away and slipping it into the empty folder. "Just to make sure that if anyone is looking for them, they can be found." He pulled a stamp out of a drawer on his desk, stamped Dearest's form twice, then slid it into the empty folder as well. In a quick motion, the Pearlcatcher returned the stamp to its drawer and pulled out a small card, which he handed to Dearest.

"Welcome to Kel Asari, Dearest." Dearest could see the Pearlcatcher's face wrinkle slightly after he spoke, but didn't mind much. He had gotten used to being called 'dearest' by total strangers; the word meant nothing to him other than his name, though the Pearlcatcher's reaction did remind him of how strange his family's names tended to be. Maybe it wasn't a good thing that his family had been here before...


After getting settled in the modest housing allocated for him, Dearest set out exploring the Citadel. He saw many stands and stores selling all sorts of trinkets, food, and dyes, and dragons as vibrant as the flora of the Labyrinth. He saw Skydancers dressed in shimmering silk, an Imperial dressed in gleaming armor, and quite a few dragons in striking skins that made them look hardly like a dragon at all. In short, he found beautiful dragons everywhere, but there was no common trait between any of them.

Eventually, Dearest found himself at the door of a quaint wooden building. A sign fashioned after an elegant mirror hung from the front, the words "Spark's Spectacular Scrying Shop" in script. Before his eyes, the painted 'glass' section of the sign shifted, showing a rather drab looking Bogsneak, and then the same Bogsneak with patterns that made them quite striking. A second later, a Bogsneak identical to the first image walked from the shop, a giddy smile on their face.

With nothing better to do, Dearest went inside. There, he found a Skydancer with goggles on her head standing behind a desk just next to the entrance. She beamed at him when he walked in.

"Welcome! I am Spark." She gestured to herself with her paw. "What can I help you with today?"

"Is this a scrying shop?" Dearest asked, glancing around. It wasn't a poorly decorated place, but decidedly less... mystical than Dearest was expecting. The same could be said for Spark, too.

"It is indeed!" Spark replied, her electric blue eyes glinting in the light. "I provide walk-in appointments, so if you'd like a whirl with our one-of-a-kind scrying mirror, you're free to do so now." She gestured to the opposite side of the room, though continued talking before Dearest could look. "There's a twenty five treasure consultation fee, but it is refunded in full if I can't help you find your perfect you. Are you interested?"

Dearest thought for a moment. He supposed this wouldn't be a bad place to look for beauty. If it would be as simple as changing his genes, this would be the place to find out. "Yes."


Spark helped Dearest cycle through different genes and patterns, but he couldn't find one that felt 'right' to him. Some looked nice, but not quite beautiful. Disappointed, Dearest left the strange shop and went back to his cottage in the traveler's district. He only stayed in the clan for a few more days, leaving once he wouldn't find the answers he wanted here.

---

Dearest looked down at his map. He squinted, tilted his head, then looked back up again. It may have been because it was dark, but he couldn't see a thing. The map said there was a clan here... Nonetheless, he put his map away and continued to wander the snowy plains. He was about to give up when he spotted the entrance of the clan. Relieved, he smiled and walked through the arches. It wasn't long until he was approached by an undeniably frightening mirror dragon.

"Halt, what brings you here?" Dearest gave her a nervous smile and explained that he was simply a traveler and had planned to stay the night in the clan. Of course, if that wasn't okay-

He was cut off with a kind smile from the guard, "Nonsense, you may stay here if you wish! What is your purpose of travel, if it's okay to ask?"

Dearest shifted nervously. Should he tell her and risk revealing his lineage? He looked to her and sighed. No, he had been shown before that there existed clans who had no problem with his lineage. Surely this clan was the same?

"I-I'm on a search. For... gah, well, it sort of sounds dumb."

Amara egged him on gently with a nod.

"Well, I'm looking for beauty. I want... I want to know what makes a dragon beautiful."

Amara smiled, "Oh! Well, I know a dragon who might be good to ask."

Dearest was surprised. This dragon hadn't thought a single thing about his reasoning strange. In fact, she didn't even ask about his lineage. He breathed a sigh of relief.

"Wonderful. Who are they?"

After being given directions, Dearest was sent off to a separate area of the clan. Approaching, he realized he was on the shore. Ice and snow turned to sand and icy water. It wasn't long before Dearest spotted who he was looking for.

Standing beside the water was one of the most beautiful dragons he had ever seen. Her head raised upon hearing his arrival and she turned to him. Fireflies buzzed around her, illuminating the soft silks that draped around her body. Dearest was quick to explain his business here.

"Beauty, huh? I'm flattered you came to me." She smiled, then appeared to be in thought for a few seconds. Then, her eyes lit up and she turned to face Dearest.

"Beauty is incredibly subjective, and there's not much that can be done if you don't first know what you want from yourself. That being said, a little bit of sparkly jewelry never hurt anyone."

Dearest returned her smile with a bit of a nervous undertone. Before long, he was the owner of two orange earrings, now dangling from his ears.

---

After leaving the previous clan, Dearest spent quite a while wandering before he saw lights in the distance. He followed the light and was greeted at the entrance to another city by a rather bored-looking Coatl, who introduced himself as Diorite, the 'travel officer of Oxbow.'

"Oxbow? So that's the name of this place?" Dearest asked, relieved to at least have a word to describe where he was on the map.

"Yeah. If you could just sign your name here, here, and here-" Dearest quickly obliged, eager to make his way into town and find a place to settle down for the evening. It was just after nightfall, so there wasn't much buzz in the streets - but Dearest didn't mind. He'd go out looking for that tomorrow.

Before long, he came across a building with a sign outside that read "The Ploughshare Inn." An inn! Thank the Windsinger. Dearest, not noticing the buzz of conversation from inside, pushed open the door and was met with the overwhelming sound of a roomful of dragons guffawing at someone's tall tale. Dearest felt something inside him die a little bit. All he wanted was sleep! He tried to stick to the edge of the room, but as an Imperial, it would be difficult for others not to notice him.

"You there!" The voice of a strawberry-colored Mirror rang out, and all the heads in the room turned towards Dearest. This is it. I'm done for, he thought. The Mirror continued, unaware of Dearest's desperate pleas to disintegrate. "You're new in town, ain'tcha? Come on, traveler, tell us a story!"

This demand was met with cheers of agreement by the rest of the room, and Dearest was surprised he hadn't melted into the floorboards yet. Then, he was saved - a brown Wildclaw came out from behind the bar and made a shooing motion to the crowd. "Stop harassing the newcomers, Vincent! Can't you see he's tired? Let a poor dragon rest for once before barraging them with questions!" Dearest almost audibly sighed as his savior led him to a back room, much to the chagrin of the Mirror.

Conversation started up quickly enough after Dearest and the Wildclaw left the room - he could hear the murmur of voices through the walls. "Sorry about that," the other said. "Some dragons don't know how to be polite. So, what can I help you with? What brings you here?"

Dearest took a breath before replying. "To answer the first question, I just want a room for a while. And a meal, please. As for the second... it sounds a bit silly, but I'm hunting for... beauty. You know, like... what makes something beautiful."

The Wildclaw hesitated for a second. "Well, I don't know that I'll be much help with the second thing, but I can definitely fix you up with a place to sleep and something to fill your belly. I'm Hickory, the owner of this establishment. Pleased to meet you...?"

"Dearest."

"Pleased to meet you, Dearest."

Hickory fixed up a dish of meat and greens for him, then gave him a room key and directions before leaving to tend the main room. Dearest, now full and relaxed, headed off towards where Hickory had gestured and found himself in a modest (but comfortable) room. He practically collapsed into sleep, exhausted from his long day of travel and ready to get the reset a sunrise would bring.

Oxbow was much livelier in the daytime, though that's pretty much what Dearest had expected. He spent the next couple days familiarizing himself with the town, introducing himself to new dragons, and even making amends with Vincent - who he found out was one of the inn's entertainers and had simply been looking to drum up an interesting show. Dearest still wasn't all that interested in being Vincent's friend - he didn't think their personalities would mesh well - but he appreciated the apology.

One thing this town had going for it was that here, no one seemed to be aware of his lineage. He decided not to bring it up - even so, the search for beauty didn't make much progress. He saw plenty of beautiful dragons: an Imperial dressed in blue and gazing at the night sky, a Snapper with a skin that made her wings look like the sunrise (who he later found out was the town leader's partner), and a Pearlcatcher draped in blue and gold silks all particularly caught his attention. Even though they were beautiful, there was nothing in conversation with them that really struck Dearest. The Imperial remarked on the beauty of the stars (true, but he didn't think he could ever match the beauty of the sky). The Snapper said that beauty was in her partner (sweet, but not what Dearest was looking for). And the Pearlcatcher said that Dearest was already beautiful (which admittedly gave him a boost of self-esteem, but still wasn't quite right).

Dearest was making his way home after a disheartening day of searching when he noticed a lone silhouette in the fields, backlit by the sunset. They appeared to be hard at work, and Dearest didn't want to disturb them - in fact, he was about to move on before he realized he hadn't seen the dragon around before. They appeared to be a Tundra, and there weren't many Tundras around here, and this one was much smaller than the two he'd already met. So Dearest approached.

The Tundra noticed him coming from afar and set down his tools. "You're... Dearest, right?"

"Yeah, I am," he responded, surprised the dragon knew who he was.

The Tundra must have noticed his expression, because he responded with: "New dragons... tend to make a stir around here. We... don't get... many visitors to Oxbow, especially... ones of your size." He smiled good-naturedly. "I'm Simon."

The way Simon spoke was slow, but sure. Like he knew what he wanted to say, he just needed an extra few moments to get it out. Dearest much preferred that to the hustle and bustle he'd been met with his first night in Oxbow, at least. He moved his head close to the ground so he could be more eye-to-eye with Simon, and continued. "I've been here for a couple days now. I generally remember faces pretty well, but I don't seem to remember meeting you?"

"I tend to... fly under the radar, so to speak. I've been here for a very long time... but I like to be out of the spotlight. That's why I work here... partially. It's quiet. Behind the scenes. But... important."

Dearest nodded. He didn't know why, but something about this dragon instilled a sort of respect in him. "Hey --" he began, only for his voice to crack a little. Simon chuckled softly while Dearest cleared his throat and continued. "Do you mind if I ask a weird question?" Simon shrugged, and Dearest took it as a go-ahead. "I've been on a hunt, sort of, ever since I left my home clan. I'm trying to find... beauty, if that makes sense. What I wanted to ask was - what's beautiful to you?"

Simon took a long moment to think before replying.

"Beauty, to me... is the dirt under my claws at the end of a long day. The warmth of my partner... sleeping next to me. The fact that I wake up... early enough... to see the sunrise. The way water tastes after you've... been in the sun all day. Laughter... gifts from a friend... dew. Beauty, to me, is... in the small things. It's the small things... in life."

Dearest felt a sort of peace at Simon's answer. Beauty in the small things - a wonderful sentiment. If beauty was all around, in things like dirt and water and warmth, surely there was beauty in himself.

"That's... a really good answer, actually. Thank you, Simon." The Tundra smiled and nodded, then stopped Dearest when he turned to leave.

"Take this," he said, unwinding a string of marigolds from his wings. Dearest, flattered, took it gently and draped it around his neck (it was too small to go anywhere else). He grinned at the Tundra as the sun slipped below the horizon, and they both left the field with that certain sense of warmth you only get from a kind stranger's actions or the idea of new friendship.

Later that night, Dearest stared at himself in a mirror. The string of sunset-colored flowers Simon had given him hung against his chest - against a backdrop of scales the beautiful color of the moon.

---

Dearest remembered his mother's old platitudes, years ago, when he first approached her to ask about his Ugly heritage. He remembered thinking how they were empty words from a caring mother meant to placate him, ebb his worries and maybe quell his developing self-esteem issues. He never believed her, never understood her point of view.

But this changed after his stay in Oxbow. Dearest had found himself still comfortable in the Light domain, and so he came to stay with another clan there. This time he came to The Purified Temple, a clan of dragons living in an uncharacteristically bright and sunny part of the Hewn City that they had fought to reclaim from the land's permeating murk. He met a Coatl there, Aqua, who worked as both a plague doctor and an exterminator, fighting an uphill battle against the many small but dangerous Shade fragments lingering in the area. She was antisocial, and aloof, but Dearest found himself fascinated with her and attempted to win her friendship regardless.

Eventually, Aqua decided that she didn't really dislike the Imperial's presence, and he started to grow on her. Days spent patrolling the Hewn City together, and visiting in comfortable silence in the Coatl's room of the lair, grew into something more. Their relationship became a loving one. A year into Dearest's visit, he and Aqua nested together -- and what was supposed to be a brief rest stop had now turned into a significant part of the Imperial's life.

And the children of this unlikely couple, the Ugly Imperial and the pallid, sickly Coatl, were beautiful.

Treasure had a crooked snout, a bit too bumpy and a bit too long, and pale, blanched eyes very unusual for a Light-born dragon. Cherish had scales coloured a bright, abrasive green, garish against the gentle pale blue of her wings and markings. Beloved had inherited the same electric markings his father's scales bore, not a gorgeous blue like Dearest's but a forest green that proved dark and overbearing. Precious had a slight kink in her tail and big, clumsy paws that were quite oversized for her young age. Maybe she would grow into them somewhat, but they would always stand out in comparison to other Imperials.

But Dearest didn't take note of any of these things. He was blind to them, in fact, little imperfections in his children that couldn't be any more insignificant to him. These were his children. By the Windsinger, these were his children! Dearest was a father!

And in that moment, there was not a thing more beautiful in Dearest's life than his children, and his mate next to him. And a realization clicked into place in his mind then, that when his mother told him he was the most beautiful dragon she had ever set her eyes upon, she wasn't lying.

There was beauty in family. True beauty.

...

Dearest left the clan some time later, when his children had grown up into adolescents and moved on to new places to call home. Beloved, his little Beloved, decided she wanted to move to the Windswept Plateau, to find the clan that Dearest had been born to and spend her days living with her grandmother Blues. Dearest couldn't have been happier for her.

He left Aqua with the promise that he would someday return, and should Dearest find himself near the Hewn City again, he would come back to their clan with the intention of retiring as a traveller permanently. The Coatl understood that the urge to travel still tugged on him, and had no intention of asking him to stay or trying to quell his adventurous spirit. She wished him well and sent him on his way, a little choked up to spite her usual stoic demeanor.

His beautiful hatchlings had been an eye-opening experience for Dearest, but he still yearned to understand more about beauty, and find a way to experience it himself. But he would carry this realization in his heart for the rest of his life.

---

The Tangled Woods had been a sharp change in environment as compared to the bright lighten world Dearest had just left, an eerie and sick feeling sunk deep into his scales as he looked over the practically pitch forest. As he flew over a small campfire burning caught his eye, leaning gently to the side and gracefully gliding into the twisted trees despite his tremendous size. His claws braced against the ground as he looked ahead, the faint glow of flames and chatter of voices catching his ears. He slowly approached the group, silence falling quickly as he broke a limb. A few agonizingly long seconds of silence passed, a sharp rustle alerting him to the Skydancer hiding in the brush, it was too late to move though, he was pounced and pinned down to the ground.
“Who are you? What is your reasoning being here? You better speak before I pop your-“ the SkyDancer was roughly cut off.
“Andin that is quite enough.” A voice rang out, a great Ridgeback who wore a birds skull roared, coming out from where the flames flickered faintly. “My apologies but..who are you exactly..?” She asked, using a great claw to pull the Skydancer off the poor Imperial.
Dearest took a deep breath and sat up, still shaken from the rough encounter. “I’m so..I’m so sorry I didn’t mean to stir up any trouble..” he said quietly, clearing his throat and standing up straighter. “My names uh..D..Dearest ma’am..” he said gently, to which he was responded with an outstretched claw.
“You look awful kid, c’mon, we have some food around the fire.” She said softly. “AuxCord by the way. Pleasure to meet you Dearest.”
’Awful? Did she mean my looks? Am I really awful? She brought up food..maybe I look starved-‘ Dearest was pulled from his thoughts as he was served the fresh platter of grilled fish. He looked up to see the dragons surrounding him. Andin, the dark bug like Skydancer that had pounced him earlier. AuxCord, the Ridgeback who came to his rescue, despite her stern actions she was welcoming. There seemed to be another Ridgeback, although he couldn’t hardly see them in the faint fire light.
“So what brings you here?” The strange figure asked, leaning down and gingerly blowing on the embers to get them started again.
Dearest shifted around. “Well..this is..this is gonna sound a bit ridiculous but..I’m on the search for beauty.” He said softly, growing nervous over the sudden silence.
“Dearest..why are you searching for something such as that?” The stranger asked curiously, standing up. “Walk with me, I’m heading back to the den.” She said lightly as she stood and gestures for the Imperial to follow, to which he trailed behind.
“Well..it’s kinda hard to explain..” He replied as they walked, still struggling to see the Ridgeback. “I feel like it’s something I need to know..”
The Ridgeback fell silent in thought, a gentle humming coming from her. “You remind me of someone..I think you two will get along well.” She said with a light smile, a flicker of light coming from blue lanterns hanging off twisted branches, vines clinging tightly to two trees bent in a way that looked similar to arches.
Despite the gloom of everywhere, the Imperials eyes widen at the small yet lively den, crawling with dragons from many flights talking over dinner, with friends, or sharing dark stories in the robin blue light of the lanterns.

“Gendra you’re back!” A voice called out, the great Ridgeback playfully tackled by a Bogsneak hugging the dragonette close. “Oh and you brought a visitor!”
“Great Shadowbinder SPUUNT you could’ve crushed me!” Gendra laughed playfully, nuzzling the dragon gently as she laughed and hugged him.
“SPUUNT?” Dearest asked. “That’s an odd name-“ his eyes grew with surprise as the light filled both the dragons features now.
SPUUNT grinned and tilted his head. Runs in the family! We all have some funny names, matches perfectly with our funny looks!” He said with pride, seemingly unbothered by his looks.
While he wasn’t the prettiest, it was Gendra that was truly an ugly sight to see, and yet similar to SPUUNT, neither were shamed. Both wore their ugly looks with pride, neither hid behind skins like that of Dearest mother, neither bore overwhelming apparel, it shocked Dearest.
“SPUUNT here is from a great family line, and I’ve got the pleasure of helping his adorable tail continue it!” Gendra said warmly, resting her head ontop of SPUUNTS. “We have three children on the way, they’ll be the fourth of SPUUNTS generation!” She said with pride.
“Uh, pardon but..what’s this generation?” Dearest asked.
“My great Grandfather Gengyar! He’s got to be one of the most well known dragons out there!” SPUNNT said, the excitement and pride in his voice overflowing.
Dearest looked at the dragon, his eyes going over SPUUNT over and over. “Y..You’re of Gengyar’s lineage..?” He asked with surprise, his excitement growing. “So, so can you tell me about beauty?” He asked, getting inquisitive looks from both the dragons.
Gendra was first to speak. “Dearest..why are you so obsessed with beauty? Don’t you realize you’re beautiful enough?” She asked with curiousity, something the Imperial had heard before.
“That doesn’t really help me-“ he started, cut off quickly.
“Beauty doesn’t have anything to do with looks.” The Ridgeback said, nuzzling her Bogsneak mates cheek. “It’s all about the dragon. I walked into this den expecting bad looks, so I wore a skin, to hide what I thought were hidious scales, but I met SPUUNT and he taught me, there’s no real such thing as external beauty. There’s flashy dragons and there’s pretty scales and manes, colors and genes, so much more..but true beauty lies within you Dearest.”
The imperial stared at the dragons, looking down to the ground as he rolled the words in his heads. “True beauty..is within me..?” He repeated in question.
“There’s beauty within all, and there is so much of it within you Dearest. It may take you time to realize that but I promise…you’re one of the most beautiful dragons I’ve ever seen.”

Those words rolled in dearests head through his restless night, thinking over what he was told as he moved around comfortably in his nest.
“Am I really beautiful..?” He asked himself, smiling ruefully. “Maybe I am..”

Morning came and the dragon wish those around him good luck and safety, looking around for Gendra, approaching her with a smile.
“Leaving so soon?” She asked.
“Afraid so..but maybe I’ll visit again soon..” Dearest said softly, giving the dragonette a tight hug. “Gendra..thank you..thank you for everything. I promise before I retire I’ll make sure to stop one last time, I’ll tell you about my travels and I’ll tell you what else I learned along with your lessons. You taught me so much last night, thank you..”
Gendra smiled warmly and hugged the imperial, giving him a friendly kiss on the head. “Anything for a dragon in need..you better get going kiddo. The winds won’t be this good much longer.” She said softly. “Before you go, have this. I found them on my travels, although I feel you would enjoy them more.” She said with a smile, handing him stark white moth like antenna. “Stay safe on your travels Dearest..and may Windsinger guide you to your answers..”

---

(Dearest is on a search for beauty! Write or draw, scry or dress, add more entries to his journey here!)

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Fern/edged or clouded/sparkle or points