Creative Corner

@Dreamnorn

Im loving this so far! can you add me to the pinglist?

@Untailed @ArtisticDragonn Of course! I'll add you both to the pinglist after I post this. ^^ Thank you very much!

@ArouraBorialice Ooh, I really like that idea. :D I think that would definitely add to the drama, too, and could ensure that I don't make too many saving throws on one dragon if I roll a natural one. Thank you so much for the suggestion!

@Talismarr I know this reply is belated, but I'm sorry you had a long emotional day. *internet hug* I hope that these past few days have been better. c: I'll try to make the rules more clear when I edit the OP, so hopefully things will make more sense there.

And I'm glad you liked the intro chapter to book two. I happen to be a huge connoisseur of fluff, so I had a blast painting the scene of Octavia's birth! The idea with the elder Skydancer finding the new heartbeat actually came to me in the moment and wasn't pre-planned, so I'm extra glad you liked that. :D

@Ivythorn @Anukite @GoldenSootball @lilastar @FallowFreckles @Leopardmask @KitsumiMahon @Maddiebird @smeen @FlufferLover @Birdsofwax @Skyeset @Lyme @Pteranodon @CassieRose @Delmaria @Ellapinky @Helgi

To everyone: sorry I haven't been posting much. Real life stuff is an unfortunate thing and in the background I've been trying to make the new luck rules work. However, I think I have a handle on them now and will be able to fix things up! I hope to find time to update the original post and the Whisperers section of the cast list today and then post the next chapter tomorrow. c: Hold onto your dragons' hats, because the mambo can be a much wilder dance than the waltz...

@Crazydoll86 I'll gladly put you on the pinglist. ^^ Ahhh, I'm so happy you've been enjoying reading it over the past few days! Thank you so much!

Oh my god, I did? *checks immediately* I did! Ekim the male Skydancer, right? :D That's awesome! Honestly, now I'm tempted to keep him for a while, give him some apparel and try to make his colors work, perhaps breed him with a dragon before he meets the Gladekeeper (if he does). How would Breeze and Taku feel about becoming grandparents? ^^

Also ahhh that comment about being like a famous person made my morning holy crap. ;w;

@Crazydoll86 I mean, I love trying to work with dragons with weird colors and genes. The Breed Out the Ugly Challenge was the first challenge I made/converted for Flight Rising mechanics and it gave me a whole new appreciation for dragons that were born fodder. ^^ I think if I breed him with the right mate (judging by where his colors currently are), I could give Breeze a lovely Naturey grandchild, perhaps with lovely yellow flower-like wings. :D If you find you like any hatchies that Ekim has (and I will 100% inform you when that happens), let me know and I'll totally send you one!

As for Taku, I'm sorry that most of her babies end up as fodder! Perhaps dragons like these would make wonderful Windy children with her? The widest range seems to be on the wings, but it still goes through greens so it's arguably not too bad. c: Sorry if my looking seem a bit presumptive; I have a problem searching for dragons with workable ranges. RIP my wallet and my dreams.

...Ahh, it makes me so happy you'd want to get a cute Mirror. :D If you end up doing so, I'd love to see them! In the meantime, I'm legitimately enthralled that this has changed your perspective -- at least somewhat -- on Mirrors!

@Crazydoll86 Makes sense to me. :'D Glad to see someone else here has taken the Alphabet Legacy Challenge, though! I just got wegged by my L-pair, which is... somewhat salt-inducing, but considering I've went the whole challenge without that happening to me so far, I'll accept it.

Aww, you wouldn't have to buy one from me. I would send one over for free if they struck your fancy. ^^ I just checked out those Pearlcatchers and... oh. Well. XD I mean, I got my usual avatar dragon out of a Pearlie with a Basic primary, Peregrine, and Contour. You never know who'll take a look at one of those hatchlings, get inspired by the possibilities, and whisk them away to be re-gened into something incredible. :D

I'm surprised that none of them were exalted the first day, either. I don't exalt hatchlings either unless lair space is a desperate need since... well, it's just not profitable. But, then again, I'm always surprised by the people who exalt dragons as hatchlings anyway, so....

Anyhow, my apologies in advance if you reply to this and I'm delayed for a while; I'm going to be offline for most of the morning as I compose the next chapter of The Waltz of Whispers. ^^ I've been having a blast chatting with you, though! If you have anything to say about the upcoming chapter, please feel free to let me know -- I'd be delighted to hear your thoughts. :D

[center][size=6]What Would Come Tomorrow[/size] [b]Book II | Chapter 2[/b] [size=1]PINGLIST @ArouraBorialice @Ivythorn @Anukite @GoldenSootball @lilastar @FallowFreckles @Leopardmask @KitsumiMahon @Maddiebird @smeen @FlufferLover @Birdsofwax @Talismarr @Skyeset @Lyme @Pteranodon @CassieRose @Delmaria @Ellapinky @Helgi @Untailed @ArtisticDragonn @Crazydoll86[/size] [item="Barkback Root"][item="Oasis Songbird"][item="Flute"][/center] Octavia flung herself at life with an open heart and open arms. Everything was so pretty and new! Running here, running there, running pretty much everywhere: glorious surprises lay hidden around all the corners, and she was determined to see them all. So what if she was small? Reaching high places was a challenge, sure, but the thrill of success was more than worth the scrapes and scratches she earned along the way. "Holy Lightweaver," came the voice of Uncle Xan below. Octavia giggled, looking over her shoulder. Her uncles were gaping up at her like fishes taken out of the water. From where she dangled by the crystals on the ceiling, she waved at them, clinging with her other three paws. "Uncle Xan! Uncle Oro!" she called, her tail wagging and her eyes sparkling. "You look so tiny!" The two of them exchanged a look before they immediately took off. Ooh! Octavia had feeling that they wanted to catch her. An excited wiggle coursed through her body and she laughed, hopping to the next crystal and then the one after that. "I'm faster than you!" she squealed, her whole body light with joy. "Please, Octavia," came Uncle Oro's trembly voice. "Your-- uh-- your mama wants you home!" "Then she has to come get me," Octavia giggled. Her uncles were silly. Mama wasn't even there, so there was no way they were telling the truth. Maybe they just wanted the game to end because they were losing. Not that she blamed them; Octavia was great at tag! Uncle Xan grunted as he just barely missed the little Mirror's tail. "Come on, Octavia," he panted. "This isn't safe. Please, stop hopping and let your uncles catch you." Octavia wasn't even listening at this point -- not because she was disregarding the words of her uncles, but because there was one particularly pretty crystal in the center of the ceiling. Even from that distance, she saw little images of herself looking back at her. Octavia gasped in wonder. She just [i]had[/i] to get closer. It was so pretty that it must have been magic! Then she lost her footing. Fear gripped her without warning. Octavia screamed and tumbled towards the ground, her tiny wings flapping uselessly. She was still too young to fly, and even though she saw her uncles dive after her, she wondered if she was going to die. "Gotcha!" All of a sudden, Octavia was hugged in a warm coil as her papa landed with her on the ground. He was breathing hard and his heart pounded loudly, but Octavia didn't see the look on his face quite yet. Frightened tears welled in her eyes and before she could stop it, she cried, clinging to her papa and his warmth and letting his soft voice calm her down, even if the words themselves washed past her. His paws gently petting her back and crests made her curl in closer, her tears dribbling less and less as her breathing became even again. "Are you okay?" he asked. Octavia looked up and saw his big worried eyes. She sniffled a little and bumped her nose lightly against his, nuzzling him before burying her face against the crook of his neck, right where she felt the safest. "Uh-huh. Thank you, Papa." Her uncles came over to pet her, too. And as she felt the energy wane and soothe so much that sleep was just upon her, Uncle Oro's voice lulled her to dream: "Things will be good tomorrow." [center]{*}[/center] As time went on, Octavia felt music fill her veins. The dance which brought her parents together still played to the tune of her heart. In a world that remained exciting and beautiful -- even if she was quite a bit bigger now -- it was an outlet of her energy. All the bumps and bruises won from clumsy dancing might have slowed her physical flow, but the rhythm of her soul began to emerge in ways her mom and dad could only dream of: Octavia loved to sing. It was as much a part of her as breathing and eating and sleeping. While the other dragons hoping to become agents of the Whisperers would play-fight until their paws were sore and their hatchling teeth came out, Octavia would go into the more quiet rooms and sing. Hopeful songs, happy songs, sad songs: all of them brought her closer to her dream. One day, she was going to be a bard, and use her songs to make the world around her to grow and flourish in the way only Nature dragons could. Before she could try it with real magic, though, she had to strengthen her vocal cords and diaphragm through practice, practice, practice. Not that she minded; the practice itself was an outlet for the excess positive energy she felt day by day. Unfortunately, not everyone was a fan. "Would you keep it down?" came a gruff, familiar voice. "You're ruining my concentration." Octavia paused her rendition of [i]Song of the Hills[/i] to send a look at this offending being who dared interrupt her tune. As she expected, it was Anthelme: a young Ridgeback that was about her age, twice her size, and had all the positive traits one would expect from a Beastclan. At the moment, he was holding onto some hatchling-friendly darts and aiming them at a dartboard with a look of pure annoyance. But this wasn't anything new. [center][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=35338602] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/350/353387/35338602_350.png[/img] [/url][/center] Regardless, Octavia's crests flattened and she sent him a pout. "And you're ruining mine." "Then sing somewhere else," he hissed. "This is the only place I can go to practice throwing darts anymore." A coarse chuckle wormed through Octavia's throat. She liked to think of herself as a nice person -- she had a handful of friends and was taught to be kind to others -- but something about the way Anthelme always waltzed in and interrupted her really ticked her off. "Oh, is it?" she asked. "Because I thought you only got kicked out of one of the junior rooms. Didn't you accidentally dart the elder Skydancer in the butt?" An angry blush spread on Anthelme's face. "Shut up," he scowled, not letting up his glare. "No." Octavia stood firm and strode up to him, rising on her hind paws and butting her nose on top of his. A sound like a small gasp trailed up from Anthelme, but Octavia paid it no mind. "I won't shut up, because I got here first, so I should be able to sing in here." Anthelme swallowed before replying. "Yeah, well, I'm not moving!" he growled, glaring into her. Octavia bristled. "Then I guess we'll just have to share and [i]both[/i] be unhappy." "Fine." "Fine!" The nerve of that guy! Octavia padded towards the other side of the cavern -- as far away from Anthelme as possible -- before she resumed singing. Every time she hit a high note, his darts would clatter to the ground; and every time he struck the dartboard, Octavia's note would go sour with a surprised hitch of her breath. It was every bit as agitating as she thought it would be. [i]Hopefully he won't be here tomorrow.[/i] [center]{*}[/center] To Octavia's dismay, he was. It's not that she had expected anything different, but the fact that she allowed herself to hope for something else had irritated her. The results of their exchange that day were virtually identical to that of all the days prior, with neither getting what they wanted. Both would leave the room equally agitated. But honestly, after returning to her nest that night, she was more confused than anything. "I don't get it, Mom," she sighed, pacing around their den, her crests flat and her tail dragging. "I mean, I told you it was annoying, but why does he do this over and over? Even with him being kicked out of junior room two, there are three other rooms he could've gone to so he could play with his stupid darts without having to listen to me sing. And he didn't! I just don't get it. I really, really don't." Her mom hummed for a second, her expression firm and thoughtful. Then, after another moment, a mischievous twinkle glimmered in her eye. "How about you practice your singing in the room he was kicked out of? That way he won't be allowed to enter and interrupt you." Octavia paused for a moment, thinking about the suggestion. Her mom was smart -- she knew this both from experience and from her mom's position as a captain -- and the idea definitely made sense. It was a solid plan. However.... "Yeah, I'll try that," Octavia murmured. "But I'm still confused." At that, her mom's brow furrowed and she placed a paw on Octavia's shoulder. The effect was immediate; Octavia sat down and curled against her mom's warmth, allowing herself to be held in the comforting embrace. There was a pause before her mom spoke once more. "I... can't say that I want to say this, since it's a hard fact to swallow, but Octavia... some dragons are just jerks." There was a bitterness to her mom's tone that Octavia didn't miss, even as her mom tried to cover it with a nuzzle. "Some may even go out of their way to bully you," her mother continued. "They may belittle you or make you feel unwanted. But know that none of their words are true. You are valued, you are loved, and you are wonderful the way you are." Octavia's stomach settled a little at her mom's words. She leaned up and gave her a nuzzle, thinking it over quietly as she scooted a little closer. Maybe her mom had a point. Bullying wasn't the most common thing in the Labyrinth, but that wasn't to say it didn't happen. And it made sense that Anthelme would be a bully with the way he acted, even if his torments were more of an annoyance than anything. "So..." Octavia murmured, pulling back a little to look her mom in the eye. "What do we do?" "I'll tell your father, your uncles, and the elders to keep a lookout. In the meantime, practice in room two and try to avoid talking to him. If he comes near you, remain calm and aloof. Apathy is your best weapon." "Apathy?" Octavia asked, running the word over her tongue. Her mom smiled. "The state of not caring," she clarified. "Even if it's fake -- even if his words hurt -- don't ever let him see that he gets to you. And, if things get any worse, if things devolve into threats or violence, tell me, your father, your uncles, or any of the elders nearest to you at the time. Believe me when I say that the Whisperers will never tolerate such behavior." A smirk crossed her mother's face. "I've seen what happens to rulebreakers." Octavia's eyes glittered. "What? What happens to them?" Sticking out her tongue a little, her mom gave her nose a playful boop. "If you're good, your father and I will tell you tomorrow." [center]{*}[/center] At first, it seemed like the advice her mother had given her was perfect. For a few long hours the following day, Octavia practiced in room two. In that time, Octavia went through countless cantos, hymns, and short ballads with various tones and meters that tested her ability to pronounce larger words and hit notes accurately all at the same time. Her heart warmed as she left the room. [i]If I keep that up, I'll start casting incantations in no time![/i] However, her happy internal monologue was silenced by the small, familiar, agitating [i]thump[/i] of a dart against a dartboard. Octavia froze. Her head swiveled in the direction of the sound, to find that Anthelme had moved one of the dartboards from the other rooms right outside the one she was practicing in, nestling it against a hole in the hall that he must have carved with his own claws. "What the heck?" Octavia asked before she could stop herself. Anthelme gasped and looked up in her direction. The Mirror's heart stopped for a moment. [i]No, no, no, he's going to be rude again! Apathy, Octavia. Remember what Mom said.[/i] After another instant, she forced her expression into a calm one, the way she imagined a cool dragon would act. "Hey." Anthelme looked taken aback. "...Hey?" Octavia started to walk past him, taking slow, deep breaths to keep her cool. Just as she got relatively close, Anthelme spoke again. "Don't you want to know why I moved here?" She did -- honestly -- but her mom's advice kept ringing in her ears. All she did was shrug. It felt strange and uncomfortable to act so cold instead of asserting herself more boldly before the young Ridgeback, but it wasn't like she was hurting his feelings. The claws on Anthelme's toes scraped against the stone floor and he averted his eyes, huffing through his elongating nose. "Well, I'll tell you anyway. This spot was nicer. Wanna know why? It's 'cause I almost can't hear you through the walls, which is so much better than being stuck with your wailing." Well, that definitely didn't make sense. It was almost funny, now that Octavia thought about it. If he really wanted to avoid listening to her, he should have been perfectly content to stay in junior room four. If anything, it was farther away from room two than this little hole in the wall he clearly carved while she was in there. She was dying to point this out, to watch him fumble as he came up with some dumb excuse, but the most she did was shrug again and say, "Whatever makes you happy." As Octavia was just about to leave the hall and Anthelme behind, he shouted after her. "Yeah!" he yelled. "I [i]am[/i] happy, Octavia. I'm so happy, I could [i]scream.[/i]" It was at that point that her dad swooped in, intent on flying her home as usual, and then paused to see that. Octavia couldn't smother a delighted smile. [i]Anthelme is so busted.[/i] Her father grinned, curling around her and nuzzling her sweetly. "My little angel," he cooed, much to Octavia's joy as she wiggled enthusiastically in his arms. Her happiness skyrocketed when his voice became low and dangerous. "Is this boy bothering you?" Anthelme made a strange squeaking sound from across the hall, as if he had caught the message. He stammered for a second before shouting, "Uh, Octavia, I think I hear my mom calling me. Bye." He fled with a red face and his tail between his legs. Octavia looked to her dad, who looked back at her with an amused smile. "We win," he whispered, noseying her and nudging her onto his back. "Yeah, we do!" Octavia snickered, crawling up and holding on tight. It was times like this that she really appreciated her parents. Even if it was supposed to be uncool, they each did something very special for her. Her mother gave the best, most reasonable advice for her problems, while her father was someone she could be her goofy and excitable self around without eventually tiring him out. And -- of course -- she could just [i]feel[/i] their love when she talked to them, even if they sometimes had different ways of showing it. Right now, her father was laughing, taking off and whisking away, making loop-de-loops in the air while Octavia let out squeals of joy. "Now who wants some [i]awesome lunch?[/i]" he called, twirling them towards the commons. "I do! I do!" she cried, her heart light and her world happy. If the same thing happened tomorrow and the days after, Octavia would be set! [center]{*}[/center] A few weeks later, Octavia was getting ready for bed. "Remember to gnaw the marrow bone for at least a minute per side of your mouth," her mother reminded as she passed through, adjusting their familial nest with fresh bedding. "We may live underground, but that doesn't make hygiene any less important." Octavia resumed the exceedingly boring task with a small sigh. Her father was across from her, nibbling a bone as well, and paused when Octavia met his gaze. All of a sudden, he got a big, goofy smile, pulled the bone from his mouth, and held it over his nose like a false mustache, waggling his brows like mad. This abrupt and ridiculous display made her giggle, which she tried to hide by putting both of her paws over her mouth. "Hey!" her mom said, smacking a bone across the ground. It snapped in half, the sound of which made both Octavia and her dad falter. [i]Uh oh,[/i] was Octavia's immediate thought. Then her mom smirked, grabbing the pieces of her own bone and holding them above her dad's eyes. "Who gave you permission to have a bone mustache without bone eyebrows to go with it, dear?" she purred with a wink. Octavia laughed at the newly-enhanced silliness of the display, but she didn't miss how her dad's eyes sparkled when her mother spoke to him. "Oh, honey," he said, wiggling upright and giving her a quick lick to the cheek. "You may have to punish me for getting out of line." "Not in front of our daughter, I'm not." Octavia's eyes glimmered. "No, no, punish him!" she called. "I wanna see!" Her father's brows waggled at her mother. "Rhea--." "Don't even." Octavia was confused by the context, but that didn't deplete the happiness of watching her parents banter back and forth. [i]Adults are so weird.[/i] She would have gladly been a part of this all night if the elder Skydancer hadn't rushed in. "Rhea, Poi," he breathed, panting heavily. "It's an emergency. Rogues -- they've found one of our entryways. We need all our agents to stop them -- now -- before they escape with this knowledge." Octavia's breath hitched. She looked to her parents, who were eyeing each other, both wearing an expression of pure determination. "We'll be there at once," her mom declared. "Will you be okay?" Octavia blurted, putting a paw on both of their wrists. The elder Skydancer grimaced in the background, his eyes flitting towards one of the walls. Her parents looked down to her and her father immediately smiled, giving her a tight -- if brief -- hug. "Of course we will," he hummed. "We'll be back soon. I promise." Her mother's eyes flickered. They always did before missions, but somehow they were even worse now. She shivered as if the Spiral's words had revived a terrible memory. "Just...." Her mom trailed off with a small huff, shaking her head as if trying to focus. Then she put a paw on her daughter's shoulder and gave her cheek a little lick, pulling back and giving her a resolute expression. "We love you, Octavia. Forever. Don't ever forget it." Octavia swallowed. "I love you, too." "We must hurry," came the voice of the elder Skydancer. "Goodbye, Octavia," her father whispered. And away her parents went. Octavia was quiet. It had all happened so fast. One moment, her family was having fun, and the next, her parents were gone on another mission. She was used to them going out to do those sometimes, but the elder Skydancer was so... panicked. That wasn't normal, not by any stretch of the imagination. She bit her lip and hummed a little tune as she finished getting ready for bed. It helped, if only a little, as she bundled up in the great big nest alone. Octavia tried to stay positive. As her eyelids began to grow heavy and exhaustion won against her nerves, she sent a small prayer that things would be better tomorrow. [center]{*}[/center] Octavia didn't wake up to find that it was morning. Instead, it was the middle of the night, and shouts emerged from outside of her dens. Dread welled in Octavia's stomach as she got up, rushing towards the halls to see what was happening. Nothing, however, could prepare her emotions for what she was about to witness. Dragons were being rushed towards the infirmary, some on leather stretchers and others on the backs of their injured companions. Amongst them were her uncles, neither of whom were conscious and both of whom had vicious magical injuries pulsing against their features. "Uncle Xan! Uncle Oro!" Octavia ran to their side with incredible speed, but was knocked back a little by the Imperial who carried them. Panicked tears pricked in her eyes and she yelped, tumbling to the floor. The Imperial looked over his shoulder, wincing at the sight of her. "These two will be okay," he murmured. "I suggest going to your mother." Her mother? Octavia's heart stopped. She paused in the middle of the chaos as dragons swarmed around her, carrying their comrades to the infirmary. Fear and panic made her breathing grow labored and her eyes well with tears as she looked around. "Mom!" she called, her voice cracking in desperation. "Mom, where are you?" "Octavia...." The voice was hoarse, but it was hers. Octavia ran towards it and saw her mother limping forward with a forepaw balled beneath her. Her mother's eyes were wide and her jaw was a bit slack. Though she was covered from head to toe in wounds that should have made her cry out in pain, her attention seemed to be locked on some point in the distance, away from Octavia, or away -- perhaps -- from reality. "Mom," Octavia breathed, clamoring under her wing to try and help her forward. "Mom, what happened? Are you okay? Where's Dad?" For a long moment, her mother said nothing, trembling beneath her daughter's touch. Then her face curled, crumpled in tears, and her paw unfurled to reveal a piece of her father's banner: the wing-covers that he loved to wear on missions. It was soaked with blood that smelled direly like him. A loud sob ripped through her mother's throat and she collapsed to the ground with a wail, curling in on herself. Octavia held her as best she could in spite of her wounds, hoping her presence, at least, would help with something -- anything. Nonetheless, the horrific implications sank in as the crowd gathered to whisk them away. An hour later, when she was told that her father would need a closed-casket funeral due to the damages he sustained -- that she would literally never see him again -- Octavia learned the hard way to never hope for what would come tomorrow. [center]{*}[/center] [b]A/N:[/b] Of freaking course one of them has to perish the first literal day I rolled the die... and then the saving throw failed as well. Well. Time to eat nondairy ice cream until I have a heart attack and join Poi in dragon heaven. I'm going to keep him in my lair for a while. Probably until Rhea dies as well. Once she's gone, I might search for a new home for them both, at which point I'll let you guys know in case either of you would want to have them as a pair. I think they deserve to stay together in the afterlife, even if they'll be spending some time apart in the waking world. But right now, I just can't imagine separating them. Also, let me know if you find any mistakes so I can fix them. I'm not in a good state to edit right now. In the meantime, you'll find me -- there -- in the corner, trying not to cry and crying a lot.