Cepheus

It was finally time. After waiting for months, watching from the glittering branches of the Starwood Strand as the world around her changed, Cepheus was startled out of her daydreams by a curious spiral and promptly fell from the tree she was in. Landing on her back, she scrambled to her feet and looked up at the spiral who was laughing at them. "What are you looking at?!" She snaps crossly, feeling embarrassed by their laughter.

"I've never seen a dragon daydream so hard! Especially a Nocturne! Curious about the world?"

"How did you know..?"

"Simple, I'm curious too! Come on, we can explore the world together!"

Getting to her feet, Cepheus stretches her wings and flies up to the spiral, and they set off on an adventure to the world of Sorienth!

As it would turn out, the world of Sornieth was a very easy place to get lost in. Nifty had the foresight to pack a map, but unfortunately, they were so lost that it was all but useless. The forest floor was too overgrown for them to try walking in a straight line, and every turn they took was faced by deep purple brambles and glowing blue mushrooms.
Cepheus looked up at Nifty, who was winding her way through a thick mess of branches. She sighed. Nifty grumbled for a moment, but Cepheus made a good point. Flattery can really get you anywhere. Cepheus nodded, gesturing for her spiral companion to fly up and scope things out already. And away she went, half flying, half scrambling through the thick canopy. Just the arrowhead tip of her tail dangled below, and Cepheus watched it twitch as Nifty looked around. Suddenly, it jerked up in excitement. The young nocturne's tail began to swish back and forth as well. Nifty poked her head back below the canopy, grinning at finally finding some way to orient themselves. With Nifty poking her head above the canopy every now and again to guide them, it wasn't long before they began to hear the cheerful, enticing notes of a distant calliope. The little dragons gave each other an excited glance, and quickly followed the tune until they came across the lights. As it turned out, they were lanterns, set up to illuminate a sprawling array of circus tents.
Cepheus mumbled, looking around at the many glittering displays. Nifty absentmindedly nodded, her attention focused on a game booth with stuffed foxes hanging from the overflowing prize shelf. The two young dragons turned around to see another spiral, much older and larger than Nifty, balancing various trays of goodies on his tail. They glanced at each other, and Nifty piped up This response seemed to confuse the spiral, and he frowned. He looped his neck around itself as if to illustrate his point, chuckling to himself. Mildly unsettled, Cepheus and Nifty nodded and took a few steps back to head further into the Circus. He nodded and grinned, before holding out a tray. The two looked surprised, but Nifty cautiously took one and inspected it. The spiral turned to Cepheus. Cepheus's eyes widened. She took a stick, and gave him a small smile. He returned the gesture, with a little bow. And with that, he flew off to offer his delicious-smelling wares to some other guests that had emerged from a nearby booth. Cepheus inspected the cotton candy. It looked delicious, but she found it odd that the spiral had requested no payment. As she turned, she saw Nifty with half of her treat already stuffed in her mouth. She decided to just roll with it, and eat her cotton candy as well. It tasted absolutely incredible, and she couldn't help but grin. Once they had finished, the two began their exploration of the Circus, hopefully to get some directions.

The other members of this Trickmurk Troupe that they met were very friendly, and soon, the little dragons found themselves having a great time. The game booths were a blast; Nifty managed to win one of those stuffed foxes from a game of darts, and Cepheus found she had quite a talent for the claw machine. Most of those prizes were edible, and she was gumming up her fangs with chocolate-covered caramel and laughing with Nifty when a purple and red blur bumped into them both in its rush. Cepheus squeaked as her caramel chocolates spilled. Nifty indignantly called after the small figure as it vanished into the thickening crowd. As Cepheus crouched down to save as many chocolates as she could, she noticed that the figure had dropped a piece of paper. Turning it over, she saw it was a flyer advertising a show at one of the larger tents. It featured a flamboyant purple fae with lustrous red feathers performing some kind of magic. Her spiral companion leaned over to take a look at the flyer, head tilted. Cepheus got the feeling that attending this show would be well worth it, but Nifty sighed, seemingly disappointed. The spiral thought for a moment, then finally, reluctantly nodded. Cepheus just nodded, and quickly headed off towards the giant tent.

The place was packed with dragons of all sizes, and despite the size of the performer, the show was incredible. It started with the chandelier bursting into magenta flame, and completely disintegrating as a familiar purple and red figure flew down from the ceiling with a flourish of feathers before landing on an ornate perch to introduce themself. The crowd cheered as the fae gave a bow, and twirled her cane in a shower of magenta sparks. Jinx tipped his hat with a grin as his audience erupted in a display of wild enthusiasm. And so, the show began.
It really was a night worth remembering. The vivacious little fae summoned streamers from their hat that seemed to dance on their own, conjured magical whirlwinds that filled the tent with glittery mists, and performed magic the likes of which Cepheus and Nifty had never seen before. His interactions with the audience were engaging and often amusing, and he often asked members of the crowd to join in on the performance. The two young travelers cheered along with them, enraptured by the performance. About half the audience started loudly announcing their willingness to volunteer as Jinx emphatically scanned the room for the perfect dragon. After a moment, her eyes landed on Cepheus. With an excited nudge from Nifty, she took off and flapped over to the performer's ornate perch. This was her first time on a stage of any sort, and she mumbled it slightly. Jinx repeated it so that the audience could hear, and up close, she could tell that the volume of their voice appeared to be magically amplified. The crowd called out their encouragements, and she couldn't help but grin. The grin suddenly fell from her face as her eyes widened in concern, but she had little choice in the matter as she was ushered up onto a spinning circular platform. Once she was situated in the center, Jinx gave her a knowing nod before grabbing onto a handle and taking off. As he flew around and around, dragging the circle with him, everything else became a blur until he finally let go. The crowd was cheering, everything was spinning, and in an attempt to relieve the dizziness she felt, Cepheus tried looking directly upwards at the little fae hovering above her. They called out something she couldn't quite understand, before thrusting their cane down at her like a javelin. She cried out, and in a burst of purple light and even more dizziness, she blacked out.

When Cepheus finally came to, she appeared to be inside a walk-in closet. Fear slowly began to rise within her once again as she shook off the dizziness and scurried over to the door, only to find it locked. Looking through a small window in the door, the closet seemed to be attached to a dressing room. Likely Jinx's, judging by the fae-sized outfits hanging from a rack nearby. Her fear turned to confusion when she read the little note stuck on the door.


What in the name of the eleven did this little fae want?
Cepheus checked the shelf, and sure enough, there were crackers and a pitcher of water. Despite still feeling the aftereffects of their little magic trick, she didn't trust them enough to try any of it. There was no way that was teleportation, right? No dragon had actually managed that safely, that she knew of, anyway.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the unlocking of the closet door. The fae stood aside to let her leave, gesturing with his cane for her to come out. As she cautiously emerged, she saw the unconscious form of a very familiar spiral laid out on the small sofa. She quickly looked back at Jinx, preparing for the worst. Their voice came out in a dead flat monotone, a jarring contrast to their earlier dynamic energy. Cepheus looked visibly surprised, and they noticed. They unscrewed the cap to a bottle sitting on their table, and took a long drink. Cepheus screwed up her nose as the harsh aroma of chemicals hit her, but Jinx showed no disgust at the bright mystery liquid. Trying to ignore it, Cepheus asked, He finished his drink, and gave her a deadpan look. Cepheus shrunk slightly under their gaze, and they sighed. Cepheus shifted uncomfortably. She had unconsciously pushed away any feelings of wrongness about the place, but now that Jinx spoke aloud about it all, it was undeniable. Cepheus quickly nodded. Jinx scooped up Nifty and flopped her over Cepheus's shoulders. And with that, they flew off and out of the dressing room. Their magically amplified voice sounded out above, back to it's original exuberance, and Cepheus took that as her cue to fly her sleeping companion away from this circus. The dead pine loomed in the distance, and as Nifty began to stir, Cepheus hoped that their next adventure would be only half as dangerous, but twice as interesting.

Continue Cepheus's adventure here!