Creative Corner

@haikwoshevo @arouraborialice @analiamber

[inhales deeply] ah yes, the smell of sorrow. my lifeblood. the force that fuels me.

hehe.

Glad you enjoyed the chapter, though!

ouch wow not again!
Also you've got your maths wrong, I'm afraid to say! 7540/1.66 is closer to 7.5 thousand than 75 thousand! Actually, it's more like 4.5 thousand also. I thought you might want to know. Because you're out by a power of ten, and while Neveah is still immensely more massive than Sydonia, it's not quite that big!

(I looked at it and went waiiiit. Guardians don't ever weigh 75 000 kilos! They're confused, and may want to know.)

@ArgenteaMoon

Math is not my strong suit. Neither is writing at 2 in the morning and not proofreading the next day, haha! Thanks for the check, I'll fix it!

@Vellain @AnaliAmber @Pyromania @FlyingNorth @FiddleRiddle @SylphofPens @Gwineira @kingofeli @ArouraBorialice @Arsi @Solaristigres @Liatai @haikwoshevo @magichats @argenteamoon @survivors [b]007: Ashore[/b] [b]Neveah[/b] ----- Becoming aware of her surroundings was a struggle. Water, flowing gently around her. She heard it bubble over some obstruction, the nature of which she could not discern. Why was everything so dark? She opened her eyes. Well that didn't help much. It was very nearly as dark now as when her eyes were shut, save for the few glowing... well, she supposed they were mushrooms. Neveah lifted her head slowly, acutely aware of the soreness of her muscles. She was... on shore. Further inspection yeilded few results. She seemed to have become tangled in a dam, made from old and rotting logs. Leaves had already begun to collect around her, swept downstream by the current. How long had she been out? Neveah exhaled slowly, the sound rumbling in her chest. With care she extracted herself from the logs and leaf litter. This most certainly was [i]not[/i] the Reedcleft Ascent. She was not sure where she was. Probably should have paid more attention when Sydonia spoke with her about geograph-[i]Sydonia[/i]! She twisted and turned, checking her neck, back, shoulders, even her legs. She could not find the Fae. Not even in the joking manner to which she had become accustomed since she'd grown so large. Sydonia was just... gone. The only thing still attached to Neveah were the bundles tied the very tightest to her belly. There were provisions here, luckily, but... A worried groan echoed from her neck, and she slowly moved ashore. Scouring the area for any signs of the Fae unearthed nothing. The moth and the mouse were gone too. This was her fault. She should have flown better. Neveah closed her eyes tightly, remaining where she was for several moments. Moments that felt like days. Guilt festered in her stomach, combining with the dull ache of hunger and making her feel ill. Although... just because she could not find Sydonia [i]here[/i] did not necessarily mean that Sydonia had died. Perhaps she washed up further down. The Guardian set her jaw, straightening up. Yes. Farther down. That's where she would go. First, however, she did need to eat. She would be of no help to anyone if she was weak from hunger. Carefully she unwrapped the sodden bundles of food and supplies from her torso, eating her fill and repackaging the rest. Sydonia was sure to be hungry when Neveah found her. The Guardian saved all of the packed insects for that purpose. Neveah pushed herself to her feet, moving along the silty shoreline slowly and with purpose. She [i]would[/i] find what she was looking for. Hours passed. The forest around her grew darker still as night fell. Initially she had been surprised that it hadn't already [i]been[/i] night. Now, she felt a hollow indifference. There was no reason for Sydonia to have washed this far inland. She would have been found by now. The Guardian did not want to stop. That would be admitting defeat, after all. But she was beginning to lose hope. Her mindless patrol was interrupted by a scratching noise that sounded... out of place. She paused, looking around. She could make out nothing but glowing mushrooms, growing atop long-rotted logs. The same visage she'd been treated to for hours. Except some of the mushrooms... were moving? She moved closer to investigate, lowering her head to the ground in an attempt to see better. Wait a second. Those weren't mushrooms. It was an egg! An egg, covered with glowing pods. Her brief joy was dampened with a thought. The egg appeared to be full of fluids. Perhaps it had been discarded and rotted. The egg shook vigorously, as if to oppose her. She stepped back, watching it curiously. It popped and splashed in its place, caught in a mass of leaf litter. Why had it been in the water to begin with? Its placement didn't appear intentional. On further inspection, the egg was balanced quite precariously among the leaf litter. A small snout poked its way out of the shell, fluid draining from within. Squeaks of effort could be heard from inside. Neveah gently wrapped her tail around the egg, to prevent it from dislodging itself and going further downriver. Several minutes of struggle later, the brightest dragon she had ever laid eyes on sat in the loop of her tail, blinking egg membrane from its eyes. It opened its mouth and squeaked, baring its tiny teeth. Fearsome. [img]https://40.media.tumblr.com/97841d62c404777fd2a68c22e907b925/tumblr_nk2xl8HhgZ1r5sinxo1_400.png[/img] Neveah was suddenly struck with the realization that this tiny, baby dragon was already nearly Sydonia's size. Truly the Fae were a miniscule breed. The newborn Mirror's claws scrabbled at Neveah's tail as it wrestled with the tip. The Guardian chuckled, lifting the hatchling up and placing it upon her back. There was no one around to care for this young one. She wouldn't leave it alone, to die and in turn feed the fungi lighting the path. It leapt onto her neck, gnawing on one of her spines. "You are a vicious one. I suppose I should give you a name, if we are to travel together," Neveah mused. "Ansgar," she decided on after some thought. "That will be your name." A heavy sigh echoed from her. She would need to hunt to feed this hatchling. Could she adequately protect and care for it while fixated on this fruitless search? No. As painful as it was, she would have to accept that Sydonia was gone from this world, to allow herself to care for this new life. Fixation would do nothing for her. "...Come little one," she rumbled, turning away from the shore. She did not want to make a life in this forest. But she would make camp. They could find their way back to the land of Wind in the morning, when there was some light to be had.

@Pvtpuns
oo this is rlly interesting :o
id like to be added to the pinglist if thats alright!

@Pvtpuns

Oh man, a chapter from Neveah's point of view and a new hatchling ahhhhh!! Great chapter, I can't wait to see what adventure awaits them. .v. I do hope that Sydonia is okay tho. :

@PvtPuns
omai
I would most certainly love to be on your pinglist yesyes that way I can scare your dragons with mine

@meowsee @sellenair

Sure, I'll add you!

@Vellain @AnaliAmber @Pyromania @FlyingNorth @FiddleRiddle
@SylphofPens @Gwineira @kingofeli @ArouraBorialice @Arsi
@Solaristigres @Liatai @haikwoshevo @magichats @argenteamoon
@survivors @meowsee @sellenair

((This is just a mini-chapter to detail which direction Neveah is travelling to get back home.))

008: Backtracking

Neveah had been able to see the Ascent across the ocean. Very faintly, in the distance, but she knew those bamboo shoots. It didn't seem to be more than a territory away. She and Ansgar could easily make the trip, even if they did have to stop for the little one to eat often.

It had been but a day, and the small dragon had already grown to nearly double its size. This was to be expected of course. Dragons are massive creatures, after all. That their birth forms are so small must mean that there is a massive growth spurt somewhere. Still, it was amazing to watch it with her own eyes. He had become much more dense as well. Not heavy enough to make carrying him upon her back a non-option, but she teased him about it as they walked.

She doubted he could understand her just yet, but talking with her tiny companion drove away the loneliness in her heart. Her failed search for Sydonia had left a hole in her. The Fae was all she had known, after all. But she would put these feelings aside to care for this youngling. Her own problems could wait until Ansgar was old enough to fight for himself.

Ansgar was eager to fight now, though, so Neveah indulged the little one with her tail tip, dangling it before him and allowing him to wrestle with it. She barely felt his developing claws and teeth, so thick was her hide. It distracted the both of them from the long walk and the unsettling darkness of the night. Of course it also served the double purpose of keeping the youngling entertained so he did not wander. Neveah felt rather clever for thinking of it.

She would be happy to leave this land and move on to the next, though. Anything would be better than this constant darkness. This land must be inhabited by dragons, and yet she had seen none. She constantly felt watched, though there was no one there.

But there could be. Neveah would never even know if someone had been following them. So prevalent was the absolute silence and the shadow that anyone, anything could be pursuing them. The thought made her uneasy.

Yes, the sooner they left, the better.

The first thing she saw was the tendrils, grasping and reaching towards the border of what she had come to recognize as the land of Shadow. Beyond them was a festering hellhole of disease and decay.

Neveah turned around immediately.

Noooope.

She supposed the forest wasn't that bad.