Creative Corner

[center][font=cochin][size=7]O c e a n ' s [color=transparent].[/color] H e a r t[/size] [img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img] [size=5]C L A N [color=transparent].[/color] L O R E[/size][/font][/center]

[center][font=cochin][size=6]I N D E X[/size] [img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img] [size=4]P A R T [color=transparent]..[/color] O N E [color=transparent]..[/color]:[color=transparent]..[/color] S K Y C R E S T[/size] [size=4]i. [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2749783#post_40740362]beginnings[/url] ii. [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2749783#post_40740363]growth[/url] iii. [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2749783#post_40740364]heartbreak[/url] iv. [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2749783#post_40740365]peace[/url][/size] [size=4]P A R T [color=transparent]..[/color] T W O [color=transparent]..[/color]:[color=transparent]..[/color] E X O D U S [/size] [size=4]i. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2749783#post_40740367]adoption[/url] ii. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2749783#post_40740589]adjustment[/url] iii. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2749783#post_40740591]annihilation[/url] iv. [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2749783#post_40740595]aftermath[/url] [/size] [img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img]

[center][font=cochin][size=6]P A R T [color=transparent]..[/color] O N E [color=transparent]..[/color]:[color=transparent]..[/color] S K Y C R E S T[/size] [img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img] [size=5]i. [color=transparent]..[/color] b e g i n n i n g s[/size][/font][/center] [size=5]F[/size][size=3]rom its earliest days, in the quiet of the Zephyr Steppes, the Skycrest Clan was troubled. Its very first members, Sabori and Karamat, while generally affectionate and hopeful, lacked the fortitude and worldly understanding that any good clan leader must naturally possess. Sabori, rather wilder than her mate, was often rash and undisciplined. She had no patience, nor any inclination to learning, and her fledgling clan often found itself wanting for food and supplies due to her wayward nature. She would disappear for days at a time, ostensibly to hunt or forage, and invariably return with empty claws. When Karamat, the more reasonable of the two, asked to what had taken place, her only response was to growl and snarl that he do the job himself if he were so much an expert. Karamat was more patient and hardworking than his flighty mate, but he was untalented and rather too empathetic to make an effective hunter; he felt too deeply, and often allowed his prey to escape rather than bloody his claws on their carcasses. He would make the attempt only when he had no choice, when Sabori’s long absences left the clan’s food stocks dangerously, and often with only meagre success, if any. Their first and only clutch of hatchlings did not last beyond a day, called to the Windsinger’s side long before their time, and for a time it seemed that Sabori and Karamat were doomed to the same fate, their fledgling clan a hopeless dream, with nothing to sustain it but their affection and the shared lack of basic survival skills. However, this was not to be. The pair’s fate changed dramatically — and with it, the clan’s future — when Karamat, in one of his characteristic moments of empathy, brought home not a much-needed meal but a young dragon, a spiral hatchling who had wandered too far from his home clan and grown lost. He was a sad, shy little thing, but Karamat took to him immediately; having such a small, helpless creature dependent on him made a better dragon out of him, and a better hunter as well. He learned to do what was necessary, to bring home food and other supplies for his mate and their new adopted son, and slowly, ever so slowly, they began to thrive. The young hatchling grew quickly, learning from and swiftly surpassing his new father, whom he loved dearly; by the time he was fully grown, he’d become a very talented hunter and catcher of insects. They named him Reedcleft, in celebration of the clan’s migration to the Ascent — a move that would bring with it a new time of prosperity and peace. As the clan started to flourish, in no small part thanks to Reedcleft’s talents, it drew new members, and with it new skillsets. For the first time, Sabori and Karamat did not need to try and be what they were not. Karamat gave up his attempts at hunting and settled into a comfortable role as caretaker, guarding and protecting the clan’s new hatchlings, keeping them safe and ensuring they were taught well. He thrived here, growing content and calm in a way he could not have imagined in the early, difficult days of his clan’s inception. Sabori, too, grew more settled and comfortable. She did not disappear so often, and though her primal nature still sometimes called her into wandering alone, she was not nearly so confrontational when she returned. With the clan’s growing prosperity, she had the freedom to do as she liked, answerable to none except her mate — and, most of the time, not even really answerable to him; Karamat loved her dearly, and would not question her unless he was truly worried. And so the Skycrest Clan began to flourish, moving ever upwards through the Windswept Plateau, finally coming to rest in the heart of the Windsinger’s territory: the Cloudsong itself. [center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img][/center]

[center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img] [font=cochin][size=5]ii. [color=transparent]..[/color] g r o w t h[/size][/font][/center] [size=5]A[/size][size=3]s he grew older, Reedcleft began to feel the pull of loneliness. He loved his parents dearly, and was deeply dedicated to his beloved clan, but his position made him quite isolated from most of its members. Indeed, many of the newer dragons looked to him, not his parents, as their leader. Karamat, who had never taken to authority, was more than happy to let his son take over, and though he was often deeply uncomfortable with the responsibilities, still Reedcleft wanted to do right by his home and his family, and so he did what was asked of him. He had only one true friend among his clanmates, a pearlcatcher by the name of Lartessa. She was around his age, and had joined the clan in its early days, mostly to distance herself from her parents and their already-overcrowded family. There were no airs between them, and Reedcleft valued Lartessa both for her skill as a negotiator and tradesdragon, and as a cherished friend. It was she, before even his parents, who saw the first stirrings of melancholy within him, and who set her mind to do something about it. Over the course of a few weeks, Lartessa began gently nudging Reedcleft to join her on diplomatic or trading ventures, wandering far and wide to barter and negotiate with clans of other flights. Reedcleft’s natural shyness made him a poor diplomatic companion, but the necessity of the task gradually brought him out of his shell. He would never be entirely comfortable in social circles, but he saw much of Sornieth on these journeys and became quite worldly, learning much about the ways of other clans and other breeds — talents that he would put to good use in the coming years. More significantly, however, was his chance meeting with a young coatl during a visit with an allied clan in the Shrieking Wilds. Named Cloudsong by chance and perhaps by fate, Lartessa was already well acquainted with the family, and had engaged with the young dragon a few times before; the thought had occurred to her that she and Reedcleft might find themselves of like mind, and by carefully-orchestrated circumstances they found themselves keeping each other’s company often as Lartessa bartered and brawled with the clan’s leaders. Reedcleft and Cloudsong made a good match, and in short order she joined the clan permanently, as a valued member skilled in negotiation, and as his cherished mate. Their bond would prove to be a lifelong one, surviving through good times and bad… and none more trying than the disaster looming on the horizon, unseen and unanticipated. [center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img][/center]

[center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img] [font=cochin][size=5]iii. [color=transparent]..[/color] h e a r t b r e a k[/size][/font][/center] [size=5]W[/size][size=3]ithin a few weeks of Cloudsong’s arrival, the clan was to face its biggest and most devastating challenge yet: the loss of its leaders, Sabori and Karamat. There were no bodies to bury, no spirits to send to the Windsinger’s side. Perhaps if there had been, their loss would not have been so devastating. But without the closure of seeing, of knowing what had truly happened, the clan and its remaining dragons were left for a long, painful time in a state of limbo, ever waiting for its missing leaders to return home. Reedcleft would never know what had happened to his beloved parents. He knew only that they had left the clan as normal, with plans to spend the morning foraging in the Ascent that had given him his name, and did not return for the afternoon or evening meal. The following morning, after a sleepless and miserable night, he awoke to find the lair still empty of its leaders and the clan’s frantic younger dragons all looking to him for guidance. Loathe to take up the mantle of leader too quickly, Reedcleft led countless scouting parties in search of his missing parents, all to no avail. Neither Sabori nor Karamat were found, and no sightings were reported anywhere in the Windswept Plateau or the neighbouring territories. It was as though they had simply disappeared without a trace. Necessity forced Reedcleft to take up the official role of clan leader, but he did not take it happily. As the only living offspring — adopted or otherwise — of the clan’s progenitors, the title fell to him by default, and in any case many of the clan’s younger dragons had seen him as its true leader for some time now. His level-headedness had served him well while his parents were still around, but driven by grief and desperation his confidence began to waver; he doubted his talents, he doubted his right to claim the title for his own, and he doubted his ability to serve the clan he loved so dearly. It was only through the support and encouragement of his mate, Cloudsong, that Reedcleft was able to survive those early terrible days. He tried to keep his grief to himself, to keep it hidden from the rest of the clan, but Cloudsong assured him — gently, as she did everything — that he did not need to hide his feelings, that he should share his grief and his pain, and even his doubts, with those who would follow him. The clan was not merely a group of dragons: they were his family, and they were grieving with him; showing that he cared would only make them love him. And indeed it did. The clan mourned their lost leaders together, as a family, and their shared grief brought them all closer than Reedcleft could have imagined. He might have become their leader in name, the one they would turn to for decision-making and judgement calls, but theirs was a united family, and any dragon who made a home with the Skycrest Clan had the same voice as anyone else. [center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img][/center]

[center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img] [font=cochin][size=5]iv. [color=transparent]..[/color] p e a c e[/size][/font][/center] [size=5]F[/size][size=3]rom the ashes of tragedy, the clan grew stronger. Nurtured by its shared emotion, trust and love grew strong in the dragons who had already made a home for themselves there, and newcomers to the clan immediately felt the sense of belonging extended to themselves as well. Skycrest grew in size and reputation, and for the remainder of his time as leader Reedcleft was able to relax and grow into the dragon his clan needed, and the dragon his parents would have been proud of. He never stopped thinking of them. He wondered frequently what had happened to them, if they were somehow still alive, if they had found a place for themselves at the Windsinger’s side, if they had met an untimely end at the claws of some wandering Beastclans gang. He would never know, and the wondering would do no-one any good, but in this Cloudsong did not chide him; she let him take these moments for himself, and when he needed comfort, she was there to offer it. In the end, though he still grieved them daily, he made a peace with their loss, drawing comfort and love from the beautiful family they had left behind. The clan had begun to prosper under their guidance, true, but it was their loss that had brought them together and strengthened the bonds of family and friendship that had made the clan what it was. They would be proud of him. More importantly, they would be proud of them, all the dragons that had chosen to make their clan a home, all the dragons who had worked to build a monument to their leadership, who had laboured and loved to make the Skycrest clan a shining beacon of family and shared heart. Their names were on the tongues of all dragons, new and old, and their legacy lived on in the beauty that succeeded them. Reedcleft would miss his parents to his final day, but he understood too that without their loss the clan could not have become what it did. He — they — had built on their biers a home and a family whose bonds of love were unmatched by any others in the Plateau; for Reedcleft especially, it was the greatest peace he had ever known. [center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img][/center]

[center][font=cochin][size=6]P A R T [color=transparent]..[/color] T W O [color=transparent]..[/color]:[color=transparent]..[/color] E X O D U S[/size] [img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img] [size=5]i. [color=transparent]..[/color] a d o p t i o n[/size][/font][/center] [size=5]F[/size][size=3]or all their flaws, Reedcleft’s parents had taught him well. The practical skills they had lacked came naturally to him, and under their guidance he had made good use of them. He credited them often as the source of everything he was, aware that without them he would have likely died long before reaching adulthood. From his mother he learned self-sustainment, diligence, and the importance of time to himself; meanwhile his father, far more talented at teaching than doing, helped him learn all the survival skills needed to ensure his clan would thrive. Though neither of them realised it at the time, those were not the only skills Reedcleft learned from his beloved father. It was nearly two years after Sabori and Karamat’s disappearance when history began to repeat itself. Reedcleft, hunting alone along the Zephyr Steppes, came across a shimmering grey speck: a tiny spiral hatchling, younger even than he had been when Karamat had taken him under his great wing, crying inconsolably in the grass. He tried to approach her, to find out who she was and where she came from, but she was too young and too traumatised to speak. She said nothing, but struggled like a wild thing when he tried to coax her into coming back to Skycrest with him, lashing out with her tiny teeth and tiny claws, refusing to let him touch her. It took an intervention from Lartessa — ever the most patient and diplomatic dragon in the clan — to convince the broken little thing that they meant her no harm, and to convince her to return to the clan’s homestead for a meal and some rest. Once there, it became quite clear that Reedcleft’s intentions truly were good, and the nameless little creature grew, if not calm, at least a little less resistant. In time, they discovered that the hatchling’s clan had simply abandoned her, leaving her on the Steppes in the hope that she’d wander into some neighbouring territory and be lost for good. When asked why her own family would do such a thing, she refused to give any answer, clamming up and not speaking again until they changed the subject entirely. Cloudsong, showing a rare lack of empathy, suggested that they seek out a clan better suited to the troubled hatchling’s needs. Reecleft, recalling his own childhood, flatly refused. She had already been abandoned by one clan, he pointed out; he would not allow his own to do the same. Skycrest would be her home, their family hers, and he would raise her as his own. And so it was. A strange, wild little thing, she had a deep affinity for water and a boundless love of the sea. Even before she was fully grown had proven herself superior to even the clan’s best fishers, and she would spend hours, even days, following the streams of Singer's Brook down to the shores bordering the Sea of a Thousand Currents... in search of what, no-one could say. Were it not for the clear green of her eyes, Reedcleft would never have guessed that she, like him, had been born in the Plateau; the neighboring sea seemed to sing in her blood, as surely as he himself could hear the whispers of the Cloudsong’s winds. Neither one of them could possibly have known how important that would prove to be. [center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img][/center]

[center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img] [font=cochin][size=5]ii. [color=transparent]..[/color] a d j u s t m e n t[/size][/font][/center] [size=5]L[/size][size=3]ike his father before him, Reedcleft doted on his adoptive daughter, ensuring that she was treated with the same respect and warmth that was shown to him. It proved rather more challenging than he expected. Sandy, named for her love of the sea and the fine-sand beaches bordering the Wind and Water territories, was a strange and maladjusted little spiral, desperately shy in one moment and unpredictably violent in the next. Even after she was fully grown, she never quite lost the part of her that had been abandoned, the trembling, troubled hatchling left alone on the Zephyr Steppes. Being a foundling himself, it didn’t bother Reedcleft at all, but it was rather more difficult for the rest of the clan to accept their newest member. Their distance was just fine with Sandy, who trusted no-one — not even Reedcleft, except on her very rare good days — and wanted nothing to do with her new ‘family’. Frightened, perhaps, of being abandoned again, or perhaps being discarded at such a young age had left her unable to develop the social skills necessary for integration. Either way, the task of raising her was a hard one, and Cloudsong often voiced her doubts to Reedcleft in the privacy of their den. It was only when another young dragon made Skycrest his home that Sandy finally began to accept that perhaps it was hers as well. A happy-go-lucky mirror, cheerful and bouncy as an overgrown puppy, Blade made himself at home from the moment he stumbled upon the clan’s lair. Reedcleft, who had made it a part of his reign to never turn away a dragon who would join them of their own choice, allowed the pup to stay despite his lack of talent in any area at all. It proved a sensible choice: within a day of his arrival, Blade had planted himself irremovably at Sandy’s side, growling and yipping at anyone who dared to come close. Much to Reedcleft’s surprise, Blade’s presence — though confusing and discomfiting at first — seemed to give the young spiral a sense of comfort, knowing that he would not let anyone near without her permission. The two swiftly became inseparable, and little by little Sandy began to venture out of her shell. She would never be truly comfortable in the company of others. Reedcleft understood that particular shyness better than most, and ensured she was given all the space she wanted. But day by day, with her faithful, affectionate Blade by her side, she adjusted to being around other dragons, and slowly but surely began to accept that this family, unlike her first, had no intention of abandoning her. It was a hard lesson for the traumatised young spiral, but one she learned well. And when the clan found itself in desperate, dire straights, it was Sandy who would rise up and guide them out of the impenetrable dark. [center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img][/center]

[center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img] [font=cochin][size=5]iii. [color=transparent]..[/color] a n n i h i l a t i o n[/size][/font][/center] [size=5]T[/size][size=3]he loss of Skycrest came at the claws of two separate Beastclan factions: the harpies of the Reedcleft Ascent, seeking with ever-increasing boldness to expand their territory, and the talonok of the Twisting Crescendo, seeking just as fiercely to protect theirs. The Skycrest clan, though it had no quarrel with either side, found itself suddenly caught in the middle of a bloody conflict. It began with the disappearance of a few hatchlings. Then, later, eggs being plucked from their nests in the blink of an eye, gone before their parents could tell which side had done the deed. As the warring Beastclans drew ever closer to each other, Skycrest and its hard-earned lair became just one more piece of territory to squabble over, the prize jewel for the victors to stick in their crown. Reedcleft, who had raised the clan from its early struggles to its present flourishing state, had endured a great many hardships, but he knew nothing of how to deal with such things as war. Even Cloudsong and Lartessa, the clan’s best diplomats, had no talent in negotiating with Beastclans, and their lone attempt at trying to communicate ended with Lartessa dead and Cloudsong badly wounded. Lartessa’s death hit Reedcleft harder than any loss since his parents’. His first true friend, in many ways a mentor and a trusted confidante, her loss drove him into a state of despair, bordering on madness. He had never been a confrontational dragon, even when violence was warranted, but driven by loss and foreseeing the destruction of the home he had worked so hard to build, he became reckless. The Beastclans would not listen to reason: he had bloody, painful proof of this. And so he took matters into his own claws. Rallying the clan’s strongest fighters and his most loyal followers, Reedcleft staged an attack on the harpies, the group whose progress had brought them closest to Skycrest. Cloudsong, who had experienced their brutality first-hand, begged him to reconsider, but this time Reedcleft would not be reasoned with: he would avenge his friend and he would protect his clan, ensuring its future. What happened to him in the process, he claimed, did not matter. He was very, very wrong. The attack went as badly as Cloudsong had predicted: many of the fighters were killed, many more wounded, and Reedcleft himself was carried back to the lair unconscious and on the brink of death. The clan’s healers did what they could for him, but he did not wake: with his spirit faltering, the clan’s hopes did too. Cloudsong, wracked with grief over the loss of her friend and her fallen mate, was in no condition to make any decisions. As the Beastclans closed in from both sides, their intentions as vicious towards the dragons as each other, the clan’s remaining members found themselves with no-one left to lead or guide them. No-one expected Sandy to be the one to step up and state the truth they’d all been waiting for, hoping and dreading in equal measure: that their beloved home was lost. The only options available now were retreat or death, and the latter was no option at all. She’d lost one family already, the pain of it still burning in every part of her; she would not lose another. And so, with a heavy heart, she gave the order: to gather up everything they could carry, the strongest bearing the wounded on their backs, and leave Skycrest for good. [center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img][/center]

[center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img] [font=cochin][size=5]iv. [color=transparent]..[/color] a f t e r m a t h[/size][/font][/center] [size=5]S[/size][size=3]he guided them to the one place in all of Sornieth she’d ever felt safe: the sea. It was an act of instinct, intuition. Sandy was no leader, and the clan’s remaining members would not have followed her if she had claimed to be one. She simply knew, as if driven by some divine light, that their survival depended on leaving the winds behind. The Sea of a Thousand Currents called to her, as it did to its own children, offering safe harbour beneath its waves, and with nowhere else for her floundering clan to go, what else could she do but heed it? Escaping the Cloudsong was the difficult part. Both the harpies and talonok, scenting the free-for-all the fleeing dragons left in their wake, picked off their weakest members one by one, and the stronger ones were already bearing too much to turn back: between their necessary supplies and their wounded leaders, there was nothing they could do but try to block out their friends'cries as they were carried off or slain on the spot. The few who did survive dove into the depths without thought. Where else could they go, with Beastclans closing in on all sides and nothing left behind them but the bodies of their former family? The sea stretched out before them was vast and terrifying, yes, but so too was the former paradise they’d just escaped. Few of Skycrest’s remaining dragons had any reason to trust in Sandy’s intuition — her reputation for being wild and strange had only grown as she did, and were it not for Reedcleft’s influence they would have likely cast her out from the clan long ago — but the uncertainty of what lay beneath the waves was surely less terrifying than the assured death that awaited if they remained above. And so they descended, plunging into the Sea of a Thousand Currents and leaving the shelter of the Windswept Plateau behind for good. The strongest swimmers went first, carving a path for the weaker and injured; suddenly, their enemy was not harpies or talonok but the elements themselves, the heavy pressure of the water disorienting all but the very strongest among them, the crushing darkness terrifying the hatchlings, the entire world transforming into something new and frightening. Their survival was certainly not guaranteed, but survive they did. Their numbers greatly reduced, even from the few who had survived the Beastclans’ onslaught, their strength and courage all but gone by the time they found a safe place to settle. Once again, what remained of the Skycrest clan would have to rebuild their lives and their home from nothing, find a new home for themselves in a strange and unknown world, and trust themselves to the leadership of a young dragon utterly unsuited to the role. History, it seemed, was doomed once more to repeat itself. The clan’s leaders, though not missing this time, were critically wounded, comatose and unwakeable, and its survivors had no-one to turn to but the wild, half-mad dragon who had brought them here in the first place. Sandy, who neither wanted nor felt able to be a leader, was nonetheless the one among them best suited to life in the seas: she had been made for this, a water-hearted dragon unlucky enough to be born to the winds, and she alone had adjusted instantly to their new environment. She did not want to lead, and they did not want her to, but when had life ever given any of them what they wanted? And so the devastated remains of the Skycrest clan set its wounds and dug out a corner of the sea, a new fledgling home where they could begin again. Half-drowned, three-quarters dead... and yet, just as it always had before, hope burned still in the hearts of them all, a flame unextinguishable even in the depths of the sea: the certainty that from the ashes of disaster their family would rise again, stronger. [center][img]https://66.media.tumblr.com/07e1c7ac89be50df692657358be3c657/tumblr_inline_o21bmjI1M91r3lvtf_400.png[/img][/center]