Interlude 5: Robin - The Soother
The hatchling knew she was different; she had known for a long time. For one, her flock walked on two legs, using their other two limbs solely to hold and carry other objects. Secondly, none of them seemed to possess the pearl she had instinctively produced upon her hatching.
She didn't have a name, at least, not one she could speak. While she could somewhat understand what her flock was saying, they spoke in garbled words her mouth had troubles forming. Sometimes, they spoke to her with words she understood much more easily, but they seemed far less fluent.
Her flock didn't treat her particularly poorly, but they didn't welcome her as one of their own either. She often caught them eying her with suspicion, as though worried she would turn on them. She didn't know what they were afraid of, or what they were hoping for. She wished she could help them, but whatever they were looking for, she couldn't give them. Life with the flock was all she had ever known and all she possessed, they had given to her.
Still, they seemed to be waiting for something, watching her as if they expected her to explode. It made her nervous. What weren't they telling her? What were they so scared of?
Her morning started out ordinarily enough, training following a breakfast of insects. Her training sessions had been growing increasingly more difficult, pushing on the edge of dangerous. She was beginning to grow worried that her trainer would kill her if he wasn't careful. He didn't seem to be holding back anymore. The hatchling was shaking from the effort, while the trainer leered over her, preparing for another attack. That was when a shadow fell over the clearing, and an attack descended.
She had never quite seen creatures like this before, and yet they seemed more familiar to her than anything she had ever known. She knew that she should be afraid, but all she felt was awe. These draconic bodies matched her own. They were like her.
Her awe only lasted a moment, as the moment as broken by the talons of her trainer pierced her head, knocking her over. He pinned her neck to the ground and she struggled to breathe, squirming to break free. Yet, her captors hold remained secure.
"Move closer and I'll kill her," she heard her captor say, but the newcomers couldn't seem to understand him. Still, seeing the child in such a dangerous position, they halted.
One of the new creatures stepped forward. Her scales were deep violet and lilac banners trailed behind her, fluttering in the wind. She did not appear afraid, there was a sharpness to her icy gaze that sent a thrill of emotion through the hatchling. The creature was not going to back down, and that realization made her heart pound louder in her chest. She didn't doubt that her trainer would kill her if it came down to it.
The talons pressed deeper as one of the creatures behind the violet one notched a bow. The leader raised a hand to stop, and the soldier obeyed. Her trainer's grip loosened and she felt air flood her lungs again, along with something new.
The apparent leader of the newcomers began to speak, but the child wasn't listening. She sensed something new inside of her stomach, begging her to reach out. Instinctively, she obeyed, feeling a warmth fill her belly as she grasped hold of something within her trainer and suppressed it. His anger faded rapidly, and he stared wide-eyed at the hatchling. She used this opportunity to quell his courage, leaving his fear intact.
Her trainer began to shake, and nervously stepped away from the newcomers, kicking the child's body towards the gathered creatures.
"Take her!" Her trainer squawked. "Just don't hurt me!"
Once again, the leader showed no sign of understanding, but instead rushed to check the child for wounds. In the relief of the release, she felt the adreanaline drain from her, and she began to grow dizzy. She could hear the creature speaking to her, but she could only pick out a few words of the language. As she was scooped into the air, she lost consciousness, slipping into the comforting darkness.
It took about two week of airship travel to make the journey to the Windswept Plateau, and in that time the young child learned a lot. She learned that she was a dragon. A pearlcatcher, more specifically. She learned that she had been stolen as an egg and raised by talonok, and that Nymph had led a party tp rescue her. She picked up the draconic language quickly, finding the sounds come to her mouth far easier than the chirping talonok diolect, but there was still much she didn't understand about her rescue and the outside world.
She only once asked a question, to determine the fate of her siblings, but Nymph explained that the other rescue parties had been assigned to the other two hatchlings. In order to get her to safety, she had not been able to search for the other two.
After hearing her bird-like accent, Nymph had given her the name Robin.
Compared to the flock of talonok, Windkeep Tower was overwhelmingly bust. Robin had never been in a group this large before, let alone been around this many dragons. Instinctively, she moved to soothe the dragons around her and slow their bustle, but there were far too many for her to reach them all. Instead, she pressed into Nymph, already coming to trust the nocturne. Some of the dragons were far larger than anything she had ever seen, and they scared her.
Perhaps picking up on her anxiety, Nymph pulled into the air, away from the crowds, and carried Robin to the top of the tower. A fire blazed brightly, warming her shivering body. She longed to ask where they were going, but she couldn't seem to find her voice.
Nymph banked down in front of the largest of the houses atop the tower and knocked on the front door. A bright orange wildclaw opened it, flames dancing down her back, bright as the fire outside. Robin couldn't help but be afraid.
"Is this-" The wildclaw asked, her gaze growing warm. Robin moved toward her curiously, calming any anger or fear in the fiery dragon. To her surprise, there was no change.
"Fenn told me you'd be willing to take any hatchlings we were able to rescue," Nymph confirmed. "This is Robin." She turned to the hatchling. "Robin, this is Amberlyn, she'd going to look after you."
Robin nodded, not completely understanding. Suddenly, Nymph slipped her into Amberlyn's arms, wished her well, and disappeared, saying something about needing to report back to Fenn. The hatchling was very afraid. All of this was unfamiliar to her, and she expected this new dragon to be hostile toward her the way the talonok had been. She was even more afraid when another dragon thrust into the room, shouting at the top of her lungs.
"Are they here?!" The dragon exclaimed, grinning ear to ear. She was quite young, though fully grown, and she appeared to be limping. ONe of her wings and legs were twisted unnaturally, and were not as large as her other appendages. Robin had seen talonok and dragons wounded from fighting, but this seemed different. She did not see any scars.
"Mollie!" Amberlyn hushed. "Be careful, she's a bit nervous, and rightly so."
"Sorry, I'm just excited to be getting a sister!" Mollie said, a little more quietly this time, though excitement gleamed in her eyes.
"I know," Amberlyn replied, a similar excited look in her own eyes.
Sister. That was a new word for Robin. Somehow, it relaxed her. She would be safe here.
Amberlyn had a big family, and they all welcomed Robin as one of their own, despite their lack of blood connection. There were always dragons around as Robin grew up. Some, like Amberlyn and Mollie, were constants, while others popped in from time to time to visit. Occasionally, Amberlyn would host big family dinners, and the house would be packed full with dragons as they all dined together. In other words, Robin quickly got used to the company of other dragons.
At one such dinner, the conversation moved to Rubywing's recent attempts to form an alliance with a talonok flock that had moved into the area. The language barrier was proving to be an issue.
"They don't speak much draconic, even those that act as interpreters," Rubywing explained, shaking her head. "It's impossible to work out what they're saying, or even if they mean what I think they do, and dragon/beastclan relations are unstable as they are. I don't want to accidentally provoke a war, we had enough on our hands fighting off Daisy Mae's army."
"Maybe I could get Tess to interpret," Querida offered. Robin had tried to steer clear of her manticore friend, despite reassurances that she meant no harm.
"I already asked," Rubywing sighed, responding to her mother. "She doesn't know talonok. Different beastclans have different languages, and manticores aren't allied under Talona, so they aren't required to learn the general beastclans dialect."
"Robin knows talonok!" Mollie exclaimed, looking at the pearlcatcher. The table fell silent, which somehow made everything worse. Everyone knew Robin didn't like to talk about her time with the talonok, however brief it had been. Though, the pearlcatcher couldn't deny that there were aspects that lingered since the rescue.
"You don't have to do anything you don't want to do," Rubywing reminded her softly. Robin took a deep breath to settle herself, and send a wave of soothing to quell everyone's discomfort before she responded.
"Mollie's right. I'm not entirely fluent speaking it, but I understand it to hear it," Robin explained. "I would personally like to avoid a war with the talonok if I can help it, I know what they are capable of. I'd like to help, if I can."
Rubywing beamed. "Great! Why don't you come to work with me tomorrow then! We can sort everything out there."
With Robin's help, negotiations with the talonok went smoothly. It went so well, in fact, that Rubywing offered the pearlcatcher a position in the embassy as beastclans ambassador. Having seen that not all beastclans were like the talonok who had hatched her, Robin grew curious about the diversity in beastclan tradition, and so she agreed.
Once she focused on learning the various beastclan languages, the picked them up rather quickly. Her pronunciation wasn't perfect, but she spoke well enough to navigate the political ins and outs of ambassadorial work.
Still, between work and the busyness of Amberlyn's house, Robin was finding she had less and less time for herself. It was driving her up the wall. Eventaully, she came to the decision to move from the busy tower to the forested gardens a short ways away. While the majority of Windkeep Tower's population lived in the tower itself, the gardens held a handful of small houses for those who wanted to live somewhere quieter.
It wasn't that she disliked living among the Amberlyn family, she just needed her own space.
After the move, Robin took to regular walks through the gardens in the mornings and evenings. Being among nature reminded her of her birth element, and made her winder what life would have been like had the talonok not stolen her egg. What were her parents like? Did they know she was alive? She shook her head. It didn't do to dwell on suck things. She had a family, she had a clan. She had no want for anything, so why ask questions that couldn't be answered?
Trying to distract herself, she focused on the birdsong around her. It wasn't all too different from the harmonic tones of the talonok language. She sang in response, talking to the birds. To her surprise, they answered. It wasn't a language in the conventional way, but she found they were still able to communicate.
Robin got so lost in her conversation with the birds that she didn't notice the approach of another dragon. She jumped in surprise as he crossed her field of vision.
"Were you... talking to the birds?" The coatl asked. He was a brilliant green, and his wings were like glass. His golden eyes marked him a child of the light flight.
"Yes," Robin responded, feeling slightly embarrassed. She didn't like to appear odd.
"I thought it might be a new species of familiar," the coatl responded sheepishly. "I'm Porter, by the way."
"Robin," The pearlcatcher responded. "Do you normally assume dragons to be familiars?"
"I work with familiars," Porter explained. "Living out here, sometimes I get lost in my work and forget about other dragons."
"You live out here too?" Robin asked. She had yet to meet any of her neighbours.
"Yeah," Porter smiled weakly. "Did you just move here? I've been meaning to drop by and welcome you to the area, but I've been busy."
"I moved from Amberlyn's house. I love the family dearly, but they can be bit much sometimes," Robin admitted.
"Wait, are you the one that was raised by talonok?" Porter's eyes widened. "What was it like? What were they like?"
"Well..." Robin shifted uncomfortably.
"Oh, I'm so sorry! You don't want to talk about it, do you?" Porter asked, mortified. "I just got overly excited for a moment, I'm sorry. That was rude of me to ask."
"Actually, it probably would be good to talk about it with someone," Robin admitted.
"Please don't take this the wrong way, but if you want, you could drop by my house sometime. I could make some tea and you could talk to me about it," Porter offered. "When you're ready, of course. And only when you want to."
"Thank you, I appreciate it." Robin nodded, genuinely meaning it.
"Well, I don't want to keep you from the rest of your walk, and I have familiars to feed, so I should be on my way," Porter said, glancing at the sun's sinking position in the sky. "You have a beautiful voice by the way."
And then he was gone. Robin couldn't help but stare at the path he had disappeared down. Porter had been sweet. She was glad to have such a nice neighbour.
"We found it!" Robin exclaimed, fired up with unusual energy. Porter looked up from the book he had been reading. In the years since they had met that day in the gardens, the two had become quite close. They even had a couple nests together. Robin had never seen herself with a mate, so her relationship with Porter had been a pleasant surprise.
"Found what?" Porter asked, picking up on Robin's excitement.
"My birth clan!" Robin exclaimed, hardly believing what she was saying. With Rubywing's help, Robin had begun seeking out her birth family during the quiet hours of the day. It had taken a while, but with Rubywing's connections, they had managed to track down a possible match.
"Really?" Porter asked, growing excited as the news began to sink in.
"Yeah! There's a small clan in nature that's had trouble with a talonok flock, and they've had eggs go missing!" Robin explained. "There's a pearlcatcher named Cadmium, and apparently he lost a nest, and the timing fits!"
"So, what are you going to do?" Porter asked. Robin could tell he was nervous. He would follow her to the ends of Sornieth in a heartbeat, but she knew he also loved his life in Windkeep Tower. He had family here. Robin loved Windkeep Tower too, and she wasn't ready to go traipsing across the globe for the sake of a possibility of another dragon sharing her blood. Without thinking about it, she soothed his anxiety before responding.
"I'm going to write him a letter!" Robin said. She immediately rushed over to grab a fresh piece of parchment and she began to write...
Hello Dad,
I hope I've gotten this right. I hatched among tolonok so tracking you down has been a difficult task. If I have gotten the wrong address, please feel free to ignore this...
See, I told you I'd come back to Windkeep Tower. I don't think it will be often, but when the inspiration hits, there will probably be a chapter here and there. "Interludes" (i.e. backstories) will also be peppered in.
I have to thank @
Leopardmask for the inspiration for this chapter. I wrote it while camping last week after I finished reading the Mistborn Trilogy by Brandon Sanderson, which they recommended to me! Robin's origin story also comes from their pinkerlocke,
Nameless, as Robin was a spare hatchling I adopted from the story. I hope you don't mind the ping, I thought you'd appreciate to see what Ziv and Cadmium's daughter has been up to in more detail!
