Creative Corner

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Journey Chronicles - Scene 20[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 67 (June 9, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: July 11, 2017 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=silken feathers] [/center] [i]Meanwhile, back at Clan Adeptica's lair:[/i] Vader stiffened and closed his eyes. In his mind, powerful images and feelings were taking shape. Sand - [i]ugh.[/i] An ocean shoreline. Two comrades-in-arms, alone, knowing they were about to die, but knowing that they had made a tremendous difference to their cause, and that it had all been worth it. A shift in perspective. Darkness. Violence. Death. Inexorable movement toward a goal, only to have it taken away at the last moment because his enemies were just that little bit faster. Rage. Resolve to continue the pursuit. The vision went away as suddenly as it had arrived. He blinked - he was back in his own lair. "What the [i]Shade[/i] are those crazy kids [i]doing?[/i]" he exclaimed. "What crazy kids?" asked his mate, Amidala. "The ones who went off together to start their own clan a while back. Felicity and her friends. She made it as far as the Sea of a Thousand Currents, and when she got to the beach, it gave her a flashback to her... her kindred spirit." "Oh, she has one of those." Both Amidala and Vader had them, as did a number of others in their clan. They all occasionally got mental impressions of other lives in other times and places, lived by people with whom they could identify in some mysterious way. "Yes. She and her new mate both have them. And they're... connected to mine. Not very closely, but closely enough that when they had kindred-spirit flashbacks just now, I sensed theirs and had one of my own." "Do you want to talk about it?" "Apparently, our kindred spirits were on opposing sides in some conflict. Both of theirs died. Mine lived to continue the fight, but suffered a humiliating defeat." "Oh." She stroked his forehead and neck with one of her whiskers. "It's all right. I'm here, my love. We have each other. And Felicity and her new mate are alive and still have each other, too, right?" "Yes, they do. I'm happy for them." He smiled and relaxed. "I wish them well."

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Journey Chronicles - Scene 21[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 68 (June 10, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: July 15, 2017 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=blooming vine] [/center] Felicity hastily grabbed a few more mussels and crabs for Diego and kelp for herself. She had had enough of gathering for the day. All she wanted to do now was go home, eat, and celebrate life. When she suggested this to Diego, he said that sounded wonderful to him. The cave where Rythorn had been resting and recovering was now the entire clan's de facto home, but fortunately for Felicity and Diego, there was no one around when they got there. The two of them ate, shared stories, laughed, and ended up having to create a makeshift nest. When Rythorn returned, Felicity jumped into the entrance and explained, with some embarrassment, that they had taken over part of the space he had been lying in. He laughed and said that that was fine; there was a crevice in the back of the cave that he'd had his eye on ever since he'd been brought to the cave. Now that his leg was healed, he was feeling strong enough to start widening it into a real burrow. He did so that afternoon, jabbering on about how excited he was to meet the new baby Pearlcatchers - or would they be Ridgebacks? - while he worked. Soon, the Spiral had his own preferred sleeping space, and the rest of the clan had theirs. The new couple fell asleep together in their new nest that night, the three eggs nestled snugly between them.

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Event Post #5[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 46 (May 19, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: May 19, 2017 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=Solidscale Chest Guard] [/center] I was very excited to be able to start my first nest of the challenge. As mentioned above, Felicity and Diego had 3 eggs. I even remembered to take a screenshot. (I bred them in one of my own nests for convenience. I'm writing the lore for this challenge way after the fact; if I had known at the time where the story was going to take me, I would have rented a Water nest. Please pardon the mismatch between the screenshot and the lore.) [img]https://68.media.tumblr.com/da874f677bc86e4a4cdc41e0f64d3e16/tumblr_otp8q6XrLd1sp47bko1_540.png[/img]

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Coliseum Battle Post #10[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 28 (May 1, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Battles Completed: 11 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=red delicious apple] [/center] [b]Loot[/b] [item=strangler seeds] x4 [item=strangling vine] x3 [item=blooming vine] x3 [item=maple leaf] x1 [item=bamboo leaves] x1 [item=phytocat toy] x1 [item=vampire eel] x1 [item=river wiggler] x1 [item=wildwood owlet] x1 [item=sakura owlet] x1 [item=wildwood moss] x1 [item=harvestman] x1

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Coliseum Battle Post #11[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 37 (May 10, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Battles Completed: 30 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=fissure crawdad] [/center] [b]Loot[/b] [item=harvestman] x6 [item=bamboo leaves] x5 [item=coral grouse] x4 [item=maple leaf] x3 [item=strangling vine] x3 [item=grouse] x3 [item=leafy pack] x3 [item=strangler seeds] x3 [item=false leaf] x2 [item=wildwood owlet] x2 [item=immaculate tablet] x2 [item=red maple leaf] x2 [item=phytocat toy] x2 [item=coral basilisk field notes] x1 [item=daddy longlegs] x1 [item=river wiggler] x1 [item=bluefin charger fin] x1 [item=fragile antler] x1 [item=vampire eel] x1 [item=dwarf fawn] x1 [item=sticky pollen] x1 [item=sakura moss] x1 [item=sakura owlet] x1

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Art Post #6[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 76 (June 18, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: January 21, 2018 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=mender's healing staff] [/center] This is an illustration for [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2173091/6#post_28342005]Scene 21.[/url] Since I didn't rent a Water nest at the time I started my first nest of this challenge (as noted in [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2173091/6#post_28342100]Event Post #5[/url]), I decided to draw the one that Felicity and Diego created on the fly. (Yes, that is a Stone Fertility Statue. :-) ) [img]https://78.media.tumblr.com/5681e8749793b220b87104e134700fe0/tumblr_p2xn8u4eRs1sp47bko1_1280.jpg[/img]

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Journey Chronicles - Scene 22[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 71 (June 13, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: July 22, 2017 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=shalebuck horn] [/center] Several days later, Felicity felt something moving between her ribcage and the sandy floor of the cave. She jumped up, making sure to watch where her paws landed, and cried out in an excited half-whisper, half-squeal, "It's time, everybody! It's time!" Diego stood up, too, and the rest of the clan gathered around, staying respectfully outside the ring of kelp that marked the edge of the nest. The three barnacle-encrusted eggs were shaking and rocking back and forth in the sand. Felicity wasn’t surprised to learn that Ridgeback nose horns also served as egg-teeth. A dark-gray and white striped horn emerged from one of the three eggs. Shortly thereafter, the second egg cracked and revealed a pair of curved, solid gray horns - those of a little Pearlcatcher boy. Felicity’s heart leapt. Once, when she had been younger, she'd had another mate and another Pearlcatcher son, both of whom had become part of a long legacy of service to the Arcanist and a handful of the other deities. She had chosen to stay with her clan rather than follow them, not being interested in joining the exalted services, but she had missed them, especially Gladeknight, her son. She was proud of him, but she was delighted to have another chance to be a mom. The third egg wasn't as active as the first two. Several long minutes passed before a horn emerged - striped, sharp, and straight. Another Ridgeback. His older brother waddled over and used his nose to help him pry the pieces of shell apart. When he was done, the third hatchling lay in a heap. The only difference between the two newborn Ridgebacks was that the elder had more red-orange spines, while the younger had lighter, sunshine-orange ones. Meanwhile, the baby Pearlcatcher had found and begun eating the broken pieces of his eggshell. "Ewwww," said Kamien. Felicity crouched protectively in front of the dark-green-striped hatchling. "If you don’t like it, don't watch," she said. "Maybe you could go and get us some jellyfish or some anemones, if you wanted to help out instead of watching." "Sure," said Kamien. "I'll be back later." He left the gathering. Felicity and Diego set about getting their new hatchlings cleaned up and on their feet, but all the love and attention they had to give couldn't do anything for the third hatchling. He was smaller and weaker than either of his brothers, and wheezed with every breath. By the time Kamien returned with the jellyfish and sea anemones, those breaths had stopped coming. The loss hurt, but not in the same way as Ember’s had. This time, Felicity was grieving for potential that would never be fulfilled, not for the absence of a beloved friend. It was strange - she hadn't known it was possible to feel such great happiness and such great sadness at the same time. Felicity cried over the lost hatchling even as she fed her new Ridgeback son bits of jellyfish. When he had eaten, she showed her other son how to memorialize a lost loved one in the iridescent swirls of his pearl. ... [b][color=orange]In Memoriam[/color][/b] [columns][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/332394/33239383.png[/img] [nextcol] [b][color=orange]"Little Sunshine"[/color][/b] Hatched: May 24, 2017 Exalted: May 24, 2017 Means of Death: Failure to thrive "Little Sunshine," the third hatchling from the same nest as Kessel and Mindor, lived only an hour or so after hatching. He was buried at sea in the manner of the Water Flight, thanks to the generosity of Captain Summerstone, who lent Clan Ashfeather his ship for the purpose. [/columns]

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Journey Chronicles - Scene 23[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 75 (June 17, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: July 25, 2017 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=dwarf truffle spores] [/center] "So..." Belladonna said quietly, breaking the silence. "How [i]do[/i] Water dragons bury their dead?" "By returning them to the sea," said Diego. "You make a shroud for them out of canvas, and then you put something heavy near their feet, like a boulder or some heavy metal ore. Then you sew the canvas shut around the body and the heavy weights. You load the whole thing onto a boat, say a few words of farewell, and then push the whole bundle off the boat into the deepest water you can find." "Would that not result in the body sinking onto the roof of an underwater lair?" Starbloom asked. "It might," said Diego. "but if so, whoever lives there will understand. They'll probably bury it in the sea bed." "Well, canvas and lead ore are no problem," Felicity said, "but how are we supposed to get a boat?" "We can try to flag one down when it passes by out in the water," Diego said. "Most boatdragons will be happy to let you ride on their boat for a while, for a small fee." "For that we'd need a flag, right?" said Kamien. "Yes. I suggest we use red fabric. That's most likely to get the kind of attention you're after." The clan spent most of the rest of the day attending to the various tasks at hand: making a canvas shroud for the unnamed Ridgeback hatchling, fashioning a red linen flag for the clan, finding lead ore, and making sure the two surviving hatchlings were fed, warm, and safe. It was late afternoon by the time Kamien had the flag ready and tied to a bamboo shoot. It was made of many scraps of red linen sewn together, and in the center was an emblem shaped like a feather. The emblem was made up of three feather-shaped pieces of fabric in different sizes, layered one on top of the other with the largest on the bottom. The smallest feather was pink, then red, then blue. "How's this, Mom?" Kamien asked, showing it to Starbloom. "It is very well-made," she said. "Is that our clan emblem?" "Yes. I made it up. Do you like it?" "Yes, I do. It is very appropriate. Would you agree, Felicity?" "Yes, definitely," Felicity said. "It's a good clan emblem. Now let's see if we can flag down one of those boats." There were only a few boats passing by their little stretch of shoreline, and at first, none of them seemed to notice the red flag being waved at them. Eventually, though, a sail appeared to be coming closer to them, and a dark shape came swimming toward Felicity and Kamien through the waves. The shape stuck its head out of the water and revealed itself to be a female Maren with shining white hair. "Greetings," she said, holding up her hands toward them to show that she was not a threat. Her voice was like music. "It seems you need a boat?" "We do," Kamien said. "Captain Summerstone will be along shortly. Wait here." She ducked into the waves and swam away. The large sailing ship that bore the approaching sail came as close in to the shore as it dared, so that Felicity and Captain Summerstone, who turned out to be a Guardian dressed for seafaring, could converse by simply raising their voices above the sound of the surf. When Felicity explained to him that they needed a boat to bury her son in the way the Water Flight did such things, he nodded and said, "Of course. Gather your clan together and come aboard. No charge; it's a vital service and I'm honored to provide it." "Oh, thank you!" Felicity and Kamien turned, hurried back to the cave, and got the rest of the clan. They all flew the short distance to the deck of the ship. Felicity carried the two surviving hatchlings in the same canvas sling that had been used to carry Kamien when he was little, while Diego carried the small, sewn-shut bundle of canvas. The ship sailed further out into the ocean. When his crew reported that they could no longer find a bottom with the lines they lowered into the water, Captain Summerstone told his passengers that they could proceed. "I wish I could have had the chance to be a good mother to you, Little Sunshine," Felicity said, giving the hatchling an impromptu nickname. "We barely got to say hello, and now we have to say goodbye." "So it goes," said Diego. "I agree. This is my first time being a father, and I will try to be a good one to these two, but I will never forget what could have been. Goodbye, little one." When no one else said anything, Captain Summerstone spoke up. "With these words, we commend the body of our departed hatchling to the deep. May Tidelord have mercy on his soul and grant him rest. He gestured to Felicity and Diego to indicate that it was time. The two of them pushed the little bundle off the edge of the deck and watched it sink beneath the waves. The captain stood aside silently while the little family took a few quiet moments to cry, reflect, comfort each other, and simply be together. Felicity turned her gaze from the ocean up into the stars, and found that it was as though they were calling to her. She reached into the satchel she had used to carry her pearl with her, and drew out the piece of crystal quartz she had found on the day she and Diego had had their eggs. When she touched it, she felt the connection to her kindred spirit return - not as powerfully as when she had first found the crystal, though. This time, she received only a flash of knowledge of some far-distant stars, and the names of some of the planets that surrounded them. "I know what we should name our sons," she said in a low voice to Diego. "You do?" he answered. "What?" "The Ridgeback should be named Kessel, and the Pearlcatcher should be named Mindor. Does that sound good to you?" "That sounds absolutely perfect," Diego said.

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Journey Chronicles - Scene 24[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 79 (June 21, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: July 26, 2017 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=chrysoberyl] [/center] As the ship sailed back toward the cave where Clan Ashfeather was staying, Kamien and Belladonna spoke with Captain Summerstone. They learned from him that the Water region's Coliseum was in an enclosed dome under the waves, with entrances both above and below the surface of the ocean so anyone could visit it, regardless of whether they could breathe underwater or not. When they expressed interest in visiting it, the captain offered to take them there the next time he passed by their cave in his travels, which he did every week. His was a fishing and cargo ship, and he was happy to take on passengers when the opportunity arose. They worked out an arrangement where Kamien's Murkbottom Gull and Captain Summerstone's Maren Wavesinger would come looking for each other the next time the ship passed that way. The gull would relay the message back to Kamien and Belladonna that the ship was ready to pick them up. When Starbloom heard of their arrangement, she once again insisted that she come with them. If her son was going back into the Coliseum, she wanted to be there to watch over and protect him. Kamien agreed to this, but reluctantly. He was an adult now, and should be able to take care of himself. The ship did, indeed, return in a week's time, as her captain had promised. Starbloom, Kamien, and Belladonna boarded it and traveled to the entrance to the Water Coliseum. The entrance was a platform that stood out from the waves, designed to allow ships and boats to dock with it. In the center was a transparent tube with a capsule that traveled the vertical distance between the surface and the Coliseum dome, a short distance below. Inside, the Coliseum looked the same as the one they had known in Plague, except that there was a vast, transparent dome high overhead, with nothing but ocean water beyond. Kamien, out for vengeance on the entire Greenroot Janustrap species, led the way into the artificially-grown Woodland Path. Their first few battles went well, and Kamien's confidence was so infectious that the whole party felt ready to take on two regular Janustraps at once. Unfortunately, their overconfidence proved to be their weakness. One of the Janustraps unleashed the concentrated energy of shadow and darkness right at Kamien. It struck hard and fast, much too fast to avoid, leaving behind only a lifeless mass of fur. And Starbloom [i]screamed.[/i] It would have seemed unimaginable that such an earsplitting, horrific cry could possibly come from such a small creature as a Fae, yet it most definitely was. She wasn't even aware of the volume of the noise she was making - all she knew was pain. Many dragons of other breeds understood the Faes' logical, rational ways and their characteristic monotone speech to indicate that they did not feel emotions. This was simply not true. In fact, Fae emotions were often even more intense and passionate than those of other breeds. The Fae expressed their emotions only through their subtle sign-language of crest motions, which rendered them inscrutable to most other breeds, but they were there, and real, and powerful. Starbloom's crests rippled so rapidly that the tiny muscles powering them began to burn. Her mind was a sharp-edged, white-hot knife, and she thrust it into the ambient magic field around her with the ferocity of a fully-grown and very angry Mirror. She ripped magic out of the void - so much of it that she thought her little body might explode - and beat her wings forward, over and over and over again, so furiously that she barely had time to look and see where the Janustraps were and aim for them. Her rational senses returned only when all the rustling of their movements had come to a stop. She began to comprehend what she was seeing - torn, mangled bits of black, orange, and purple foliage were scattered all over the woodland path. "I didn't think it was [i]possible[/i] for you to attack that quickly," Belladonna said in awe. "...Neither did I..." said Starbloom, in a voice barely above a whisper. ... [b][color=orange]In Memoriam[/color][/b] [columns][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/avatars/320436/32043568.png[/img] [nextcol] [b][color=orange]Kamien[/color][/b] Hatched: April 4, 2017 Exalted: April 30, 2017 Means of Death: In honorable combat with a Janustrap Kamien was a sweet, kind soul who was beloved by his adoptive mother, Starbloom, and by all his clanmates. It was he who thought of his new clan's name, Clan Ashfeather, when they first registered their clan. He entered the Coliseum intending to avenge the death of Ember, but after he was killed, Starbloom avenged both his death and hers in spectacular fashion. [/columns]

[center][size=5][color=orange][b]Journey Chronicles - Scene 25[/b][/size] [size=4][color=orange][b]Fulfills task for: Day 81 (June 23, 2017)[/b][/color][/size] [color=orange][b]Task completed on: July 26, 2017 Item of the Day:[/b][/color] [item=smooth pebbles] [/center] Belladonna and Starbloom marshaled the strength to drag Kamien's body out of the Coliseum. Somewhere in the trail of destruction they had left behind them, the now-masterless Murkbottom Gull found a single, perfect sand dollar. He picked it up in his beak and gave it to Starbloom. [item=giant sand dollar] "Thank you," she said. "I have come to appreciate the value of mementos more and more as this journey has proceeded. I will keep this as long as I live, in Kamien's memory." When they reached the door that led back to the lobby and the hydrolift, Belladonna realized that she could hear something following them through the underbrush. She turned and saw that there was a Bamboo Phytocat standing there. It approached and rubbed against Belladonna's flank, purring. "Hello there," Belladonna said. The Phytocat pawed at the Tundra's body, made a sad mewling sound, and went back to rubbing itself against the Bogsneak's leg. "I think he can tell that I'm sad," she said. "Yes, I'll keep you." [item=bamboo phytocat] They took the hydrolift back up to the surface. Captain Summerstone's ship was still waiting for them at the docks. He was sorry to hear the bad news, but his crew were extraordinarily kind, using some of their own sailcloth and lead ore to prepare the body for burial and bringing Belladonna and Starbloom healing potions, food, and tea. The captain said he was taking them back home immediately, so that the rest of their family could come aboard for the funeral. He was as good as his word, and oversaw his second burial at sea in as many weeks. [i](OOC: I did, in fact, get both of the items shown above from the Coli during the round where I lost Kamien, so I decided to write them into the story. They appear in my loot list [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2173091/3#post_27620116]here.[/url])[/i]