Creative Corner

[b]Ruins[/b] "I still can't believe you picked her," Ciron scowled, staring down at the ground as he stalked away from camp. His eyes narrowed as he glanced up at his companion. "Or... maybe I shouldn't be. But I'm disgusted." Veldr rolled his eyes, lingering slightly behind the younger pearlcatcher as they moved along the shoreline. He glanced over his shoulder, judging their distance before replying. "You realize saying 'no' wasn't an option, right?" "[i]Of course it was optional - [/i]" "[i]No. It wasn't.[/i]" Veldr hissed back, shaking his head. "[i]Not[/i] if we're going along with your idiotic plan. Not if we're trying to seem fine with all this. Altiel decided that was my reward, and you think he would have been fine if I said no?" "But then why did you pick [i]her[/i]?" Ciron spun on his heels to face him, eyes flaring as he snapped back. "He gave you a choice! You could have picked anyone! Hell, you and Pox get on alright, even Vera, Blair... but no. You go for some random... [i]child[/i] that got dragged in!" "That's [i]exactly why I picked her,[/i]" Veldr stamped his talon as he shouted. "Altiel [i]offered her to me,[/i] which means he'd offer her to the [i]next [/i]guy who he decides to 'reward' with a godsdamn person. Now she's claimed, and no one will mess with her." "So, you're - " "I'm [i]adopting [/i]her - for now, at least," Veldr's ears flicked backward. "I'll take her with me when I get out of here, find her a nice clan and leave her there. Let her have a life, you know." "You're not going to try to take her back to her [i]actual [/i]clan?" "Oh for gods' sake, Ciron," Veldr just sounded tired as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "She doesn't have one anymore - none of those girls do. They'd all just fly back otherwise. Are you forgetting where you are?" "No - " Ciron replied quickly, shaking his head. "I - I'm just... having trouble..." "You really never had any plan, did you?" It was more of a statement than a question. Ciron opened and shut his mouth silently. Veldr paced idly, digging his talons into the earth. "So it really comes down to this: I gave you to Altiel, and I got a reward. I did exactly what... he wanted. Lightweaver's gaze, I..." He turned back to face Ciron, his expression grim. "Look, you need to figure your own crap out. And fast. I'm not going to help you. I'm - I'm [i]not [/i]helping you. I'm not going to wait around for you to figure out what you want to do anymore." "You can't just [i]leave[/i] - " Ciron snapped, taking a step toward Veldr - who immediately hopped backward. "I can absolutely leave!" he snarled, once more stamping his foot into the ground. "I don't owe you [i]anything, Ciron![/i] I'm [i]not [/i]your friend, I [i]never[/i] wanted to be one of Altiel's men, and I'm sick of being a [i]godsdamned prisoner[/i]!" "Where are you going to go?" Ciron asked, barely recognizing his own voice for how weak it sounded. "I don't know," Veldr replied flatly. "I don't have anywhere to back to either. Someplace new. Someplace far." From behind him, Ciron noticed two figures approaching from the distant camp. "People are coming." Veldr glanced over his shoulder, judged the distance, and let out a quick sigh before leaning toward the younger pearlcatcher and speaking quickly and quietly. "Listen, Ciron, Altiel doesn't care about you. He doesn't care about anyone here. He cares about what you represent. Don't forget that." And then Veldr turned and walked off, nodding politely to the guards as he passed them on the way to the camp. It was the last Ciron saw of him. ------------------- [i]Today on Runaway Pearlcatchers Yell At Each Other...[/i] P.S. meet Silverbell, who is the subject of discussion here. [url=https://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=52691325] [img]https://flightrising.com/rendern/350/526914/52691325_350.png[/img] [/url] [sub] @Dovalore, @Valishtu, @Gloomyvibes, @AnimeLover9631, @Akash, @tigressRising, @ArgenteaMoon, @mintSMASH, @StormWendjule, @IronPen, @Solaristigres, @Acuarela, @Rivix, @Keet, @catmeow1, @fuurin, @owlstar7, @Fallacies, @Cngx, @Arinemera, @Weredogalism, @Kosaa, @astrallis, @ShadewingRising, @Kyaritty, @Chalkolate, @Luteia, @Drachenschwinge, @Kaskade, @InfiniteIrony, @Darunia, @OrderedChaos, @Kaskade, @Viperfishy, @SallyJane, @huskies709, @mmuted, @Pastie, @cybo, @Synchros, @Damindra, @Velvetpaws, @Macrocosm, @Sabariel, @demitri, @PipDragon40, @Dreamcoyote, @casdeth, @Khazraj, @DreamSlayer, @SoftDemon, @Petall, @Borkbean, @dragonstars12q, @Erithuet, @nwn

Hhh GOSH the emotions in argument scenes like these are great. Poor boys-

@mmuted


It's always a relief when people seem to like the scenes I'm the most nervous about writing ahaha, thank you

Oooo what a great chapter!!! I loved every part of it, the rising tensions, the points Veldr was making, the whole debate between the two of them in general... I hope Ciron can find a way to work through this and figure out what he wants...

No problem!

Augh so... Was it veldr.....? Or someone else 8(

holy [SWEAR WORDS]

@Petall

Me too lmaooo


@AriNemera

Someone else. If a dragon faints in coli it will die in the nuzlocke, not get to run off like our boy here. uvu

@luteia

I also swore writing this lol

Gaaaaah I'm freaking out aaaaaaa

[b]Firelight[/b] "Cold out." "Hm?" Edan shifted, stretching his stiff shoulders and rubbing blearily at his eyes. The wildclaw across from him didn't respond, focused on placing a few more logs on the fire. His exhausted brain caught up, and he nodded. "Oh. Yeah. It is," he paused, trying to think of something to add to his flat sentence. "Good for all the meat, at least. We should be able to keep it frozen until we can haul it home." Reika offered a vague grunt in reply, prodding at the logs until the fire began to crackle. She rubbed her hands together and held them out. "...I hate the cold," she added simply, tugging on the ragged fabric draped over her shoulders and tucking her neck in. "Would've thought you'd be more used to it by now," he remarked, eyeing her over. "Though... I guess you came here last thaw." "I hated it then, too," Reika replied bluntly, shifting and drawing her cleaver to inspect in the firelight. "I expected the desert would be [i]hot[/i]." Edan laughed, provoking a sideways glare from her. "It's uh... it's more that you go between the two extremes," he elaborated. "There's no... insulation out on the plateaus. That's why we built our house in the forest." "Still freaking cold in your forest, though," she deadpanned. "The Labyrinth wasn't like this. It was always warm and... damp." "Sounds awful." "I'm not... describing it well." She scraped a few stray pieces of sinew from between her cleaver's jagged teeth and flicked them into the fire. "It's hard to imagine," Edan shrugged. "How long did you live there?" "All my life," she responded flatly, still picking idly at her blade. "Well, that's not true, is it?" Edan asked, raising a brow. "You're Arcane." "All my life that I can [i]remember,[/i]" Reika clarified. "I hatched in The Isles, and my mom left for the Labyrinth right after. She'd been visiting family or something." "Huh!" Edan thumped his talon on the ground in vague amusement. "So you're like me, then." "Hm?" "My parents were off for a visit to the uh..." he paused, trying to remember the name. "The Grove. Wispwillow, in Shadow territory. It was for interclan relations - they were trying to set up a trade route with a group there. They were supposed to be gone for a week or two." To his surprise, Reika set her cleaver down and shifted slightly to listen better. "Well, those weeks turned into over a month," Edan continued. "Because [i]right after[/i] they made it to that clan they had their first nest - they'd been together for about a decade at that point, too, figured they couldn't for whatever reason - and they had [i]five[/i] of us." "All hatched?" she blinked. "Yep, all five," Edan nodded. "Too many to carry. And it turned out the word they sent back never actually reached home, so by the time they could get us all to toddle back with them everyone thought they'd died out on the road." Reika laughed. He did as well, ignoring the slight ache in his chest. "They were clan leaders, right?" she asked, picking up her cleaver once more and resuming cleaning it. "Yep. They were trying to elect new ones by the time we got back," Edan replied, shifting and resting his head in his arms. "Mind, I don't remember that too well either." "Mine was too. Kind of," Reika said, turning her blade over and working on the other side. "She was one of the council members, after our priest stepped down. But mainly, she was our blacksmith." "Did she make, uh, that?" Edan asked carefully, nodding toward the gnarled cleaver the wildclaw was holding. "[i]This[/i]? No," the wildclaw scoffed. "I pieced it together after they - after those monsters took everything. It [i]works[/i], but it's more for... fear tactics. It's nothing like she made. Hell, it's nothing like [i]I[/i] can make when there's a forge." She dropped her blade to the side and nudged it away, staring into the fire and focusing on warming herself once again. Quiet - more typical for their time together, but still a somewhat unpleasant change in this case - fell between them. "So you can smith too, huh?" Edan asked. The wildclaw, after a moment, nodded. "Mhm," she said, tossing a few more sticks on the fire. "I was her apprentice." More silence, and the mirror began to figure the conversation had reached its end. He shut his eyes and began to doze. "...Edan?" "Hm?" he opened his eyes, giving her a quizzical look. "Yeah?" "How are our food stores looking?" "Assuming we can haul all this back, pretty good." "Then..." the wildclaw paused, tugging her rags more tightly around herself. "I want to make a forge. If I can, anyway." They exchanged a look. Was this her version of asking permission? "If you know how, I sure as hell ain't gonna stop you," Edan replied, shrugging. "Assuming you know how to do it [i]safely[/i] that is, can't have you burning the place down." "I know how!" she snorted. "I just need Tarot to help me get it firing, and then..." she looked back down at the fire, a fierce grin etching over her face. "I could start with sharpening what we have now. Proper sharpening... then reforge what isn't worth keeping... make some proper blades." She rubbed her hands together, continuing in a barely audible growl. "Take those pieces of trash down with proper Vernalbough steel, mom would love that..." Edan raised his head to watch as the wildclaw shifted, mouthing silently and counting on her fingers before meeting his gaze. "When are we heading back, anyway?" she asked. "Whenever Prazien and her boy show up to help us haul it all back," Edan replied with a vague shrug. "I thought Eldin was off with that merchant again." "He is - she said she was bringing the little guy. Cedar." "The hatchling? Can't imagine him helping much," Reika rolled her eyes, crossing her arms and leaning against her bags. "Think it's more for the experience," Edan replied. "It doesn't matter. Either way she'll be here in the next day or so." "We should start packing up." "We'll pack up [i]tomorrow[/i]. It's damn late." ----------- It's an unusual thing when Reika feels chatty... she's not the best at it, though. Neither is Edan, for that matter. Sometimes I honestly want to make like... one of those heart charts? That show how close the clan members are to each other? I do scenes like this and I imagine the friendship gauge going up, haha. Also idk if I ever showed my messy sketch of Reika here before, but her cleaver is quite something. Made for intimidation, as she said. 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