Bayou

Frog and Toad (collectively Bayou) were found in the mire and now live with Atuan, who has basically adopted them. Frog is timid and serves as most of their impulse control. Toad is outgoing and likes to talk; he enjoys company. Bayou is good friends with Fen.

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It was raining as Izza slogged through the mire that night. Kiarrynth was in his element, of course, and he splashed ahead with little concern for his shawl. Jimu trailed behind, careful not to shower his smaller teammates in mud.
Their own sloshing footsteps were punctuated by those of the mire's denizens. Sometimes they darted away, sometimes they fought. Most of them weren't too hard to take down, but it annoyed Izza when they dodged. She missed a psywurm and cursed to herself, pulling her claws out of the muck with a loud squelch. She heard Jimu take care of it as she moved to more solid ground. It was about time for a break anyway.

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The little dragon didn't like the mire. They didn't like how the mud soaked through their patched-up hide and weighed them down. They didn't like how hungry the creatures around them always seemed to look, slinking through the murk. They didn't like the dragons that came to fight them either; they always splashed too much and got the little dragon soaked.

They wished that maybe, someday, someone would care. But so far, no one did. Everyone always passed them by, far too preoccupied with the mire's dangers to even spare them a glance. On occasion, someone might spot them, but there would simply be a comment about some poor hatchling losing their toy and the little dragon would be left alone again. Maybe, one day, if someone bothered to take a closer look, they would try to get out of there...

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Izza liked to look at moss when she and her teammates stopped for a break in the mire. She'd always thought moss and mushrooms were neat, and the mire was full of both. Sometimes, if she saw a particularly interesting one, she'd describe it to her girlfriend when she got home. Nori liked to hear about that kind of stuff.

As she leaned forward to examine an interesting mushroom, something else caught her attention. It was a little dragon doll, and it looked like it had been there for quite a while. It was worn and soaked through, with yellow shelf fungi growing on it. The most interesting thing about it, though, was the anatomy. It resembled a skydancer, but it had two heads and two tails twined around each other. Its eyes were a dull purple with a spiral pattern. They blinked.

Izza shrieked, recoiling. Whatever this thing was, if it was alive, then it clearly wasn't a doll. Dolls didn't blink, and they certainly didn't get up and back away.

"Kiarrynth?" She looked at him with wide eyes, still looking rather shocked. "You like creepy things, right?"

"Yeah, why? What'd you find?"

Izza pointed at the little dragon. "That."

He slinked past her and peered at the spot she was pointing at. "Oh, that!" It just looked like an old rotten doll, which, sure, might make some dragons uneasy, but it didn't seem too special. "I don't get why you were so startled though, it's just an old doll—"

Then its head looked up at him. No. One of its heads. It had two heads. He jerked back slightly. "Woah! I see! That's some kind of creature! It almost looks like a dragon, but not one I've ever seen. Unless... Two heads. Ya think that's an aberration?"

Jimu came up behind them, peering over Kiarrynth's shoulder. "Looks like one. Aren't they supposed to be bigger, though?"

"Obviously it's just a baby. Wait." Kiarrynth paused, thinking. "It's just a baby. We can't just leave a baby alone in the mire! We have to take it home with us!"

He held his claws out for the little dragon to hold onto. It climbed up slowly, hesitating every few moments as its two heads figured out what to do. He tucked it gently into his shawl to carry it. He gave it a pat, and they flew off, heading home.



Merroi regarded the little dragon with cautious interest. With the rising tensions across Sornieth, especially with Plague, he was hesitant to bring any new dragons into the clan. But this one was just a child! After Kiarrynth explained how they'd found it, he thought it especially cruel to turn the poor thing away. Of course he'd let the child stay. He just needed to get introductions out of the way first.

"What's your name, little guy?" he asked the new dragon.

One of the heads tilted, thinking, then chittered softly to the other, who nodded.

"Frog," said the one with two eyes.

"Toad," said the one with three. "But you can call us Bayou. That's what they used to call us. Before." Toad gave his best smile, which by other dragons' standards wasn't very good, but still managed to be endearing.

"Alright, Bayou," Merroi chuckled, "Welcome to the clan."