[center][font=Lora][size=6]Chapter Nine[/size]
[size=5]Silver[/size][/center]
[center][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/hzvonpzcngbad5x/shadowtop2.png[/center][/img]
[font=lora][size=4] “Oo, look who made a new friend,” Corey randomly chimed into Silver and Raven’s blooming conversation. “New friends! New friends!’ Misty chirped, constantly hyper. Silver wondered if the little creature was ever calm. She found Misty very entertaining, with her silly antics and playful behaviour. Silver was also glad that she’d found her first dragon friend in this world. Glancing at Corey with a smile that reached to her eyes, she replied, “Yeah. I guess no more fishing lessons today either, right?” He grinned, nodding. Raven laughed at the side, petting his mischievous River Flight. He gently pulled off some moss from the side of the river, before filling his mouth with pawfuls of it. “You like moss, huh,” eyeing him as he munched on the moss. Raven nodded while chewing, earning a snort from her. Raven just rolled his eyes.
Not long later, Silver and Corey decided to head back to their den, so they parted ways, leaving Raven and Misty to soak into the atmosphere of the river. The blue glow of the mushrooms bathed Silver and Corey in a calming blue light as they trailed back, helping them navigate back home. “You should talk to Raven more,” Corey suggested as they were heading back. Silver shrugged, unsure of what to think that she had made a new friend. [i]But how will I get to see him again?[/i]
The pair walked in silence, with Silver’s bladed wings being the only sound filling up the uneasy silence of the woods. In the Tangled Wood, it was hard to tell if it was night or day. When away from the open-air river, the perpetual web of interlocking dead leaves and hovering fog surrounding forced them to rely solely on the glowing shrooms. Once they’d found the familiar clump of an estimated amount of fifteen glowing mushrooms, they both turned to the left. Silver wondered to herself if she’d ever be able to find her way back to their den without the landmarks. Or Corey’s fine sense of direction. Without them, she’d be lost.
Soon, they’d found their shabby makeshift log den. It had stayed in the same state when they had left it. Or at least that was the state they could make out in the encroaching darkness. “Finally,” Silver muttered, eager to get some sleep. They both had had dinner, feasting with their new friends. Corey bobbed his head in agreement, as both headed for their den. But that was when they both saw a moving figure inside the den. A large silhouette was moving inside, and it seemed like it was sleeping. Silver turned to face Corey, pointing to it with her chin. He nodded once again in reply. Both made a silent agreement in whispers, then let the plan unfold.
“Hello?” Silver hooted, raising her voice high and low in pitch. She glanced up at Corey for reassurance, who was swinging from a tree from his prehensile tail above their den. The figure shifted, seeming to look out. Silver got ready her ability to hurl her bladed feathers, preparing to hurl them at the strange, foreign creature. Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed through the forestry. “Silver?” It was coming from the den. [i]Raven. Could it be Raven?[/i] She mouthed a quick “wait” to the hanging Corey before walking closer to the den. Suddenly, she heard, “Silver! Silver! Silver!” in another familiar voice, instantly confirming Silver’s speculations, allowing her to heave a sigh of relief. A River Flight recognised by both Silver and Corey dashed out of the den, its fur matted and damp.
Corey instantly leapt down from the tree above, landing gracefully on his feet before turning his attention to their River Flight friend, Misty. “Corey! Silver! Raven is sad,” Misty continued exclaiming. Silver gave a surprised face. Why would Raven be sad? “Misty is sad.” she went on, eagerly grasping Silver’s front arm, pulling her toward the den like a baby dragon. What could have happened? Corey followed her into their scruffy den. Inside was a sniffling Raven, facing the wall of logs. “Raven! Raven! Silver and Corey are here,” Misty declared, her voice a little more gentle instead of her usual playful voice. Raven turned around slowly, looking very glum. “Raven, are you okay?” Silver asked, genuinely worried. “Wait. No. Of course you’re not okay. What happened?” she corrected.
“Our burrow got destroyed. The soil ate it. Gone,” Raven replied in a low voice.
“What?” Silver said in disbelief. [i]The soil ate Raven’s burrow?[/i]
“The soil closed off the entrance to the burrow,” he answered, now looking even more glum in the darkness.
“So you’re going to stay here?” Corey suddenly chimed in. [i]Yes, you may.[/i]
“If..if you don’t mind.” Raven stared at the ground so intensely till it seemed like his eyes were boring holes in the ground.
Silver forced out a smile in the sad situation. She pitied him. Raven had been displaced twice: from his clan and now from whatever weather that wracked his den. But he had come to the right place. She was willing to help. Silver thought that perhaps it was fate - it was meant for them to cross paths yet again and become permanent friends. If that was the case, then she would live by it. “How did you know where to find me?” Silver asked. She didn’t know where to begin asking, and felt that she should not bring up the loss of his home. “We were wandering around, and we found this little hut. Who knew it was yours?” Misty replied for the sullen Raven. Corey glanced around their surroundings in the wooden den. It could fit three dragons at most. “You both can stay here. We can always expand this camp,” Corey said in a calm voice, hoping to bring some comfort to their two sad, new friends.
“Thank you.” Raven said, finally smiling. Misty repeated Raven’s words too. Then, the four of them settled down amongst the soft leaves into their now slightly smaller den, closing their eyes and drifted off to sleep. [/font][/size]
[center][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ven9gmk4qi14dr5/shadowbottom2.png[/center][/img]
Chapter Nine
Silver
“Oo, look who made a new friend,” Corey randomly chimed into Silver and Raven’s blooming conversation. “New friends! New friends!’ Misty chirped, constantly hyper. Silver wondered if the little creature was ever calm. She found Misty very entertaining, with her silly antics and playful behaviour. Silver was also glad that she’d found her first dragon friend in this world. Glancing at Corey with a smile that reached to her eyes, she replied, “Yeah. I guess no more fishing lessons today either, right?” He grinned, nodding. Raven laughed at the side, petting his mischievous River Flight. He gently pulled off some moss from the side of the river, before filling his mouth with pawfuls of it. “You like moss, huh,” eyeing him as he munched on the moss. Raven nodded while chewing, earning a snort from her. Raven just rolled his eyes.
Not long later, Silver and Corey decided to head back to their den, so they parted ways, leaving Raven and Misty to soak into the atmosphere of the river. The blue glow of the mushrooms bathed Silver and Corey in a calming blue light as they trailed back, helping them navigate back home. “You should talk to Raven more,” Corey suggested as they were heading back. Silver shrugged, unsure of what to think that she had made a new friend. But how will I get to see him again?
The pair walked in silence, with Silver’s bladed wings being the only sound filling up the uneasy silence of the woods. In the Tangled Wood, it was hard to tell if it was night or day. When away from the open-air river, the perpetual web of interlocking dead leaves and hovering fog surrounding forced them to rely solely on the glowing shrooms. Once they’d found the familiar clump of an estimated amount of fifteen glowing mushrooms, they both turned to the left. Silver wondered to herself if she’d ever be able to find her way back to their den without the landmarks. Or Corey’s fine sense of direction. Without them, she’d be lost.
Soon, they’d found their shabby makeshift log den. It had stayed in the same state when they had left it. Or at least that was the state they could make out in the encroaching darkness. “Finally,” Silver muttered, eager to get some sleep. They both had had dinner, feasting with their new friends. Corey bobbed his head in agreement, as both headed for their den. But that was when they both saw a moving figure inside the den. A large silhouette was moving inside, and it seemed like it was sleeping. Silver turned to face Corey, pointing to it with her chin. He nodded once again in reply. Both made a silent agreement in whispers, then let the plan unfold.
“Hello?” Silver hooted, raising her voice high and low in pitch. She glanced up at Corey for reassurance, who was swinging from a tree from his prehensile tail above their den. The figure shifted, seeming to look out. Silver got ready her ability to hurl her bladed feathers, preparing to hurl them at the strange, foreign creature. Suddenly, a familiar voice echoed through the forestry. “Silver?” It was coming from the den. Raven. Could it be Raven? She mouthed a quick “wait” to the hanging Corey before walking closer to the den. Suddenly, she heard, “Silver! Silver! Silver!” in another familiar voice, instantly confirming Silver’s speculations, allowing her to heave a sigh of relief. A River Flight recognised by both Silver and Corey dashed out of the den, its fur matted and damp.
Corey instantly leapt down from the tree above, landing gracefully on his feet before turning his attention to their River Flight friend, Misty. “Corey! Silver! Raven is sad,” Misty continued exclaiming. Silver gave a surprised face. Why would Raven be sad? “Misty is sad.” she went on, eagerly grasping Silver’s front arm, pulling her toward the den like a baby dragon. What could have happened? Corey followed her into their scruffy den. Inside was a sniffling Raven, facing the wall of logs. “Raven! Raven! Silver and Corey are here,” Misty declared, her voice a little more gentle instead of her usual playful voice. Raven turned around slowly, looking very glum. “Raven, are you okay?” Silver asked, genuinely worried. “Wait. No. Of course you’re not okay. What happened?” she corrected.
“Our burrow got destroyed. The soil ate it. Gone,” Raven replied in a low voice.
“What?” Silver said in disbelief. The soil ate Raven’s burrow?
“The soil closed off the entrance to the burrow,” he answered, now looking even more glum in the darkness.
“So you’re going to stay here?” Corey suddenly chimed in. Yes, you may.
“If..if you don’t mind.” Raven stared at the ground so intensely till it seemed like his eyes were boring holes in the ground.
Silver forced out a smile in the sad situation. She pitied him. Raven had been displaced twice: from his clan and now from whatever weather that wracked his den. But he had come to the right place. She was willing to help. Silver thought that perhaps it was fate - it was meant for them to cross paths yet again and become permanent friends. If that was the case, then she would live by it. “How did you know where to find me?” Silver asked. She didn’t know where to begin asking, and felt that she should not bring up the loss of his home. “We were wandering around, and we found this little hut. Who knew it was yours?” Misty replied for the sullen Raven. Corey glanced around their surroundings in the wooden den. It could fit three dragons at most. “You both can stay here. We can always expand this camp,” Corey said in a calm voice, hoping to bring some comfort to their two sad, new friends.
“Thank you.” Raven said, finally smiling. Misty repeated Raven’s words too. Then, the four of them settled down amongst the soft leaves into their now slightly smaller den, closing their eyes and drifted off to sleep.
[center][font=garamond][b][size=6]Chapter Ten[/size][/b]
[size=5]Crystal[/center]
[center][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/qnsvl4q1hbyggi5/arcanetop.png[/img][/center]
[font=garamond][size=4]They were in quite the predicament.
Callan struggled valiantly against the tendrils of darkness that crept from the earth, Sagar burning the hungry tongues and mouths with sparking pink flame. Ingrid’s horn shone with a dazzling white gleam as light rained down upon the Shade. Cameron was enveloped with a swirling veil of water, lashing out at any shadows that dared approach. Blizzard was clawing at the dark tongues and teeth that snapped and strained at him, freezing mist leaking out from his crystals as cold fire raged below his paws.
There wasn’t much Crystal could do to help, seeing as how she herself was battling a writhing wave of Shade tentacles and teeth, doing all she could to survive. Whenever she burned a hole in the darkness, more Shade swelled up, rising tides that advanced and advanced and swallowed everything in her path. She was the lone flame against the tsunami of darkness, and while the Shade battered at her defenses and tried to absorb her overflowing magic all she could do was dig in her claws and continue holding it back with arcing blades of magic and her own jets of magenta fire.
Every single dragon and familiar embroiled in battle was highly skilled in combat, and each possessed powerful magic that was capable of decimating a normal opponent in battle. But the Shade was not a normal opponent. They were losing, very badly. Crystal looked around, desperately searching for anything that she could use to her advantage. Then her eyes locked onto something.
The Enfeeble that she had cast on Sagar a while back was still there, faintly glowing with the slightest hint of Water and Arcane magic. Grimacing, she realised the massive discharge of power was probably what had attracted the Shade. But there was no time for regrets. As fast as she could, she bolted to the mana circle, the Shade oozing behind her like a glob of toxic sludge.
Paw encased in pink magic, she slammed it down on the Enfeeble and all hell broke loose. All around the camp, the ground shook with waves after waves of energy, pink and blue and purple erupting from the earth like a massive display of fireworks. There was no time to check for her friends but from the corner of her eye there was a flicker of dragon scale and mammal fur. They were safe, and it was time for her to attack.
The sheer power of the discharge had considerably weakened the Shade. Wreathing herself in a sparking fuchsia aura, she charged right into the heart of the darkness. Shadows immediately closed in on her and suddenly, she couldn’t breathe, a chill setting into her heart. Her legs buckled and she used all her strength to explode outwards in a huge burst of light and magic and her world went white as she collapsed, breathing heavily.
The Shade recoiled, but wasn’t defeated. Crystal’s heart dropped with dread as it raced for her, reared up to attack her friends. She struggled to get up but couldn’t move a muscle, and a Shade tendril pinned her neck to the ground. A strangled cry left her throat, and patches of black started to bloom at the edges of her vision as she gasped for air, thrashing violently in a futile attempt to escape the Shade in her weakened state.
It was then that she heard new, different battle cries.
[center][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=1&body=140&bodygene=24&breed=10&element=4&eyetype=3&gender=1&tert=29&tertgene=24&winggene=8&wings=20&auth=fd37574cdbd1584562596ec4a1ec83dd8d1c2936&dummyext=prev.png[/img]
[img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=1&body=131&bodygene=13&breed=4&element=7&eyetype=3&gender=0&tert=71&tertgene=54&winggene=8&wings=131&auth=dcb0a5862e16db8c1e798402a04133cf11539e0d&dummyext=prev.png[/img]
[img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=1&body=131&bodygene=7&breed=8&element=1&eyetype=2&gender=0&tert=71&tertgene=0&winggene=8&wings=131&auth=2c580487cccd5b3658a20684bd6b77e0f5478942&dummyext=prev.png[/img][/center]
[font=garamond][size=4]A blur of molten gold crashed into the Shade, shrieking Wildclaw fury as it slashed at the Shade with water-imbued claws, dark blue wings beating furiously. Purple shadows spread across the ground as a Pearlcatcher smashed into the mass of evil from below, sapphire tail emitting a glow so bright the Shade flinched in pain. And then from the heavens a large Imperial crashed down, psychedelic patterns distorting the very space around him, refracting light in so many directions that he seemed there and not there at the same time. With an earsplitting roar, the space around the massive dragon seemed to fracture, and the Shade shattered into pieces, different dimensional shards raining down upon the remaining mass of black with all the power of the devouring shadow itself.
A bloodcurdling scream echoed across the clearing, as the Shade’s powers backfired against itself. As the shards hit it, they shattered, and the Shade consumed and consumed and slowly condensed as it devoured itself with its twisted power. The shroud shook violently, angrily, and screeched one last time. Then it burst into obsidian shreds, and there was silence.[/size]
[center][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/nm0z9g1pkrloiln/arcanebottom.png[/img]
[size=2]@Petall[/center]
Chapter Ten
Crystal
They were in quite the predicament.
Callan struggled valiantly against the tendrils of darkness that crept from the earth, Sagar burning the hungry tongues and mouths with sparking pink flame. Ingrid’s horn shone with a dazzling white gleam as light rained down upon the Shade. Cameron was enveloped with a swirling veil of water, lashing out at any shadows that dared approach. Blizzard was clawing at the dark tongues and teeth that snapped and strained at him, freezing mist leaking out from his crystals as cold fire raged below his paws.
There wasn’t much Crystal could do to help, seeing as how she herself was battling a writhing wave of Shade tentacles and teeth, doing all she could to survive. Whenever she burned a hole in the darkness, more Shade swelled up, rising tides that advanced and advanced and swallowed everything in her path. She was the lone flame against the tsunami of darkness, and while the Shade battered at her defenses and tried to absorb her overflowing magic all she could do was dig in her claws and continue holding it back with arcing blades of magic and her own jets of magenta fire.
Every single dragon and familiar embroiled in battle was highly skilled in combat, and each possessed powerful magic that was capable of decimating a normal opponent in battle. But the Shade was not a normal opponent. They were losing, very badly. Crystal looked around, desperately searching for anything that she could use to her advantage. Then her eyes locked onto something.
The Enfeeble that she had cast on Sagar a while back was still there, faintly glowing with the slightest hint of Water and Arcane magic. Grimacing, she realised the massive discharge of power was probably what had attracted the Shade. But there was no time for regrets. As fast as she could, she bolted to the mana circle, the Shade oozing behind her like a glob of toxic sludge.
Paw encased in pink magic, she slammed it down on the Enfeeble and all hell broke loose. All around the camp, the ground shook with waves after waves of energy, pink and blue and purple erupting from the earth like a massive display of fireworks. There was no time to check for her friends but from the corner of her eye there was a flicker of dragon scale and mammal fur. They were safe, and it was time for her to attack.
The sheer power of the discharge had considerably weakened the Shade. Wreathing herself in a sparking fuchsia aura, she charged right into the heart of the darkness. Shadows immediately closed in on her and suddenly, she couldn’t breathe, a chill setting into her heart. Her legs buckled and she used all her strength to explode outwards in a huge burst of light and magic and her world went white as she collapsed, breathing heavily.
The Shade recoiled, but wasn’t defeated. Crystal’s heart dropped with dread as it raced for her, reared up to attack her friends. She struggled to get up but couldn’t move a muscle, and a Shade tendril pinned her neck to the ground. A strangled cry left her throat, and patches of black started to bloom at the edges of her vision as she gasped for air, thrashing violently in a futile attempt to escape the Shade in her weakened state.
It was then that she heard new, different battle cries.
A blur of molten gold crashed into the Shade, shrieking Wildclaw fury as it slashed at the Shade with water-imbued claws, dark blue wings beating furiously. Purple shadows spread across the ground as a Pearlcatcher smashed into the mass of evil from below, sapphire tail emitting a glow so bright the Shade flinched in pain. And then from the heavens a large Imperial crashed down, psychedelic patterns distorting the very space around him, refracting light in so many directions that he seemed there and not there at the same time. With an earsplitting roar, the space around the massive dragon seemed to fracture, and the Shade shattered into pieces, different dimensional shards raining down upon the remaining mass of black with all the power of the devouring shadow itself.
A bloodcurdling scream echoed across the clearing, as the Shade’s powers backfired against itself. As the shards hit it, they shattered, and the Shade consumed and consumed and slowly condensed as it devoured itself with its twisted power. The shroud shook violently, angrily, and screeched one last time. Then it burst into obsidian shreds, and there was silence.
Tirtouga | FR +16 | she/her
Oh wow! These are some great chapters!
Oh wow! These are some great chapters!
@
Petall
Aaaaaa thanks
I’m glad you’re enjoying the story!
@
Petall
Aaaaaa thanks
I’m glad you’re enjoying the story!
Tirtouga | FR +16 | she/her
@
Petall :DD hehe double ping
[center][font=Lora][size=6]Chapter Eleven[/size]
[size=5]Silver[/size][/center]
[center][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/hzvonpzcngbad5x/shadowtop2.png[/center][/img]
[font=lora][size=4] When Silver woke up, she found herself sprawled amongst the scattered leaves of their den. It was a brand new day. Then she remembered that she had her new friends with her, and she was excited to see how the day would turn out. Stifling a yawn, she stretched her limbs as far as she could until they began to tremble. “Good morning,” a deep voice called out, making her look up. Raven was standing by the den entrance, some logs at his paws. With a small smile, Silver returned the greeting. “Thank you so much for the shelter. It means a lot,” Raven said, before bending down to collect the logs and walking away, leaving her no time to reply. It seemed like he didn’t want her “you’re welcome”, strangely. Raven was [i]that[/i] grateful.
It turned out that she was the last to wake up, evident by the bare space around her. She sat up and began trotting her way to Raven. “Where did the rest go?” she asked. Raven told her that they had gone to catch food and that they were both tasked with expanding their den. With a vigorous nod, she began sourcing for the sturdy, wooden logs. It was relatively easy, reason being that the location they were in had many logs. She dragged them to her with her paws, then bent down to grab them with her jaws. Then she walked back to the meeting point.
However, when she returned, Silver wasn’t expecting to see a glowing ball of light. [i]What is that?[/i]As she neared their meeting point, she realised it was Raven, but he was glowing with light. Silver dropped the logs onto a pile. “Raven? Why are you glowing?” Silver spoke out, puzzled about the sight in front of her. Chuckling, the light around him began to fade, revealing the familiar fluffy Tundra she knew. “All Shadows can do that. Aren’t you a shadow too?” he answered, after dropping his own pile of logs onto her collection. [i]Am I a Shadow? What?[/i] “I...I don’t know,” she replied, unsure of her answer. “I was born here. I think. Does that make me a Shadow?” she added, wrinkling her snout in deep thought. Raven seemed amused, which made Silver even more confused. “Then you [i]are[/i] a shadow, Silver,” he replied coolly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She nodded slowly, face still painted with bewilderment. Silver stared at Raven, wanting him to elaborate more on this strange ability. Strange to her, at least. It seemed to be that she still had a lot to learn. He studied her for a moment, before blurting out, “Oh… they didn’t teach you,” [i]Teach me what?[/i] “Then I’ll teach you how to manipulate light and dark.”
[center]~~~[/center]
[font=lora][size=4] As Raven had promised, after they expanded their den, he began to teach her how to use the powers granted to all Shadows. It turned out that all dragons had three abilities, one a standard which was based on the location one was born, and two different ones. Normally, one would be a destructive one, while the other two were not quite. Silver learnt that her abilities were the gifted Shadow manipulation, agility, and the ability to control metal. Her wings, she found out, were made of silver, hence her ability to control them. She also gawked at Raven when he made a big crater on the ground, showing off his ability to be excessively strong. Like her, he was a shadow too, and a healer, meaning he was able to heal others and himself, but the latter was not as quick as the former. Silver took all this information, storing it in her brain as notable details for later.
Corey and Misty walked in on the two of them ‘trading’ blasts of light - when Silver brightened up, Raven dimmed. “Control?” Corey called out, startling the two training dragons. Raven was indeed teaching her control, as Corey had guessed. It meant maintaining the balance between both light and dark, training one’s ability to control between the two mediums. Both turned their very focused attention to the two returning animals carrying fish and plants, halting their commands between the two mediums. By the looks of it, Silver guessed that Corey had already eaten his insect-full breakfast, obvious by the tiny bloat on Corey’s grey belly. “Yeah, she’s actually not bad at controlling,” Raven replied, eyeing the furry tufts of star moss clumped in Misty’s small paws. A wave of triumph washed over Silver, feeling happy that she was pretty decent in controlling. Both dragons trotted over to the entering familiars, eager for a bite of food.
But that was when two distraught animals crashed into their camp.
[center][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/static/cms/familiar/art/30386.png[/img]
[img]https://www1.flightrising.com/static/cms/familiar/art/608.png[/center][/img]
[font=lora][size=4]A Runescar Lynx and a Zeeba pounded the earthen, rotting floor. The Lynx looked very out of breath, while the Zeeba began saying between pants, “Oh! Finally! Help, help...The Shade...the Shade...follow us please…dragons are injured,” earning a frightened gasp from Corey. Raven stared in horror, while Misty dropped her balled up star moss onto the ground. It fell soundlessly, scattering it’s woolly bits everywhere. “The Shade?” Silver started. But before Raven could say anything to answer her, the two animals ran away into the trees, one of them shouting “Follow us!” Raven, Silver and their familiar friends stared at each other, before racing after them.[/font]
[center][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/ven9gmk4qi14dr5/shadowbottom2.png[/center][/img]
Chapter Eleven
Silver
When Silver woke up, she found herself sprawled amongst the scattered leaves of their den. It was a brand new day. Then she remembered that she had her new friends with her, and she was excited to see how the day would turn out. Stifling a yawn, she stretched her limbs as far as she could until they began to tremble. “Good morning,” a deep voice called out, making her look up. Raven was standing by the den entrance, some logs at his paws. With a small smile, Silver returned the greeting. “Thank you so much for the shelter. It means a lot,” Raven said, before bending down to collect the logs and walking away, leaving her no time to reply. It seemed like he didn’t want her “you’re welcome”, strangely. Raven was that grateful.
It turned out that she was the last to wake up, evident by the bare space around her. She sat up and began trotting her way to Raven. “Where did the rest go?” she asked. Raven told her that they had gone to catch food and that they were both tasked with expanding their den. With a vigorous nod, she began sourcing for the sturdy, wooden logs. It was relatively easy, reason being that the location they were in had many logs. She dragged them to her with her paws, then bent down to grab them with her jaws. Then she walked back to the meeting point.
However, when she returned, Silver wasn’t expecting to see a glowing ball of light. What is that?As she neared their meeting point, she realised it was Raven, but he was glowing with light. Silver dropped the logs onto a pile. “Raven? Why are you glowing?” Silver spoke out, puzzled about the sight in front of her. Chuckling, the light around him began to fade, revealing the familiar fluffy Tundra she knew. “All Shadows can do that. Aren’t you a shadow too?” he answered, after dropping his own pile of logs onto her collection. Am I a Shadow? What? “I...I don’t know,” she replied, unsure of her answer. “I was born here. I think. Does that make me a Shadow?” she added, wrinkling her snout in deep thought. Raven seemed amused, which made Silver even more confused. “Then you are a shadow, Silver,” he replied coolly, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She nodded slowly, face still painted with bewilderment. Silver stared at Raven, wanting him to elaborate more on this strange ability. Strange to her, at least. It seemed to be that she still had a lot to learn. He studied her for a moment, before blurting out, “Oh… they didn’t teach you,” Teach me what? “Then I’ll teach you how to manipulate light and dark.”
~~~
As Raven had promised, after they expanded their den, he began to teach her how to use the powers granted to all Shadows. It turned out that all dragons had three abilities, one a standard which was based on the location one was born, and two different ones. Normally, one would be a destructive one, while the other two were not quite. Silver learnt that her abilities were the gifted Shadow manipulation, agility, and the ability to control metal. Her wings, she found out, were made of silver, hence her ability to control them. She also gawked at Raven when he made a big crater on the ground, showing off his ability to be excessively strong. Like her, he was a shadow too, and a healer, meaning he was able to heal others and himself, but the latter was not as quick as the former. Silver took all this information, storing it in her brain as notable details for later.
Corey and Misty walked in on the two of them ‘trading’ blasts of light - when Silver brightened up, Raven dimmed. “Control?” Corey called out, startling the two training dragons. Raven was indeed teaching her control, as Corey had guessed. It meant maintaining the balance between both light and dark, training one’s ability to control between the two mediums. Both turned their very focused attention to the two returning animals carrying fish and plants, halting their commands between the two mediums. By the looks of it, Silver guessed that Corey had already eaten his insect-full breakfast, obvious by the tiny bloat on Corey’s grey belly. “Yeah, she’s actually not bad at controlling,” Raven replied, eyeing the furry tufts of star moss clumped in Misty’s small paws. A wave of triumph washed over Silver, feeling happy that she was pretty decent in controlling. Both dragons trotted over to the entering familiars, eager for a bite of food.
But that was when two distraught animals crashed into their camp.
A Runescar Lynx and a Zeeba pounded the earthen, rotting floor. The Lynx looked very out of breath, while the Zeeba began saying between pants, “Oh! Finally! Help, help...The Shade...the Shade...follow us please…dragons are injured,” earning a frightened gasp from Corey. Raven stared in horror, while Misty dropped her balled up star moss onto the ground. It fell soundlessly, scattering it’s woolly bits everywhere. “The Shade?” Silver started. But before Raven could say anything to answer her, the two animals ran away into the trees, one of them shouting “Follow us!” Raven, Silver and their familiar friends stared at each other, before racing after them.
[center][font=garamond][b][size=6]Chapter Twelve[/size][/b]
[size=5]Crystal[/center]
[center][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/qnsvl4q1hbyggi5/arcanetop.png[/img][/center]
[font=garamond][size=4]Crystal curled into Cameron’s touch miserably. She had just healed from her banishment injuries, and now she’d have to spend more time recovering again. The Skydancer looked at her with sympathetic eyes. “You asked for it, charging into the heart of the Shade cluster. You must’ve had a death wish.” He ruffled her crest feathers and straightened up, moving to tend to Callan.
She’d just met some new friends, healed up nicely and was ready to explore, but the Shade just [i]had[/i] to come ruin her party. And she really wanted to get to know everyone. The yellow Wildclaw was standing to one side, awkwardly fidgeting and trying to keep her giant hooked claws from snagging anything. The Imperial was in a similar predicament, being so incredibly huge. The Pearlcatcher was hugging his pearl, and Crystal watched in amazement as he glanced from one end of the camp to the other, caught her eye and slowly sank down into the shadow of a nearby tree. Awkwardly, she looked away. There wasn’t anyone to talk to, every dragon that wasn’t foreign to her was either out of commission, or tending to those out of commission.
Then she felt a furry mass settle itself beside her, a plumed tail flicking her playfully. [i]Hey[/i]. Her crests fanned out in greeting, a rumble in her throat. Blizzard blinked back, amber eyes bright. He seemed relatively unscathed from the Shade attack, and cocked his head to the side, pawing at the ground. [i]What’s up?[/i] It was strange how she was able to communicate with him without the use of words. A simple shift in her crests or posture was enough to tell him how she was feeling, and he would respond back in kind with equally subtle flicks of his ear or tail. Now, his gaze was understanding, and his ears twitched.
He got up and circled her once, twice, going faster and faster, bounding happily around her. Amused, she lifted her tail up in the air, and Blizzard snapped at it eagerly. Oh, this was going to be fun. She slowly straightened up, rising to her full height, and trotted around the camp, tail swishing from side to side. Blizzard chased after her with long strides, powerful muscles propelling him into the air where he attempted to grasp her crystalline tail. But it was to no avail, as Crystal had the advantage of flight. Without warning, she sprang into the air, scaling a tree in record time, and she laughed from a high branch as she watched her companion scrabble angrily at the innocent trunk, growling in annoyance. Finally, the Vulstal sat back on his haunches and gave her a very unimpressed look.
Crystal only laughed harder. Soon she was laughing so hard that she almost fell off the tree, clinging on to the branches for dear life as she wheezed. Blizzard stared incredulously at her, cantaloupe eyes accusatory, and soon he huffed with amusement and went to bother another dragon. She slunk to the ground and returned to her nest before Cameron could realise she’d been participating in physical activity and nag her again. She’d just settled down when she got the fright of her life. The Pearlcatcher emerged from the shadow of her nest, seeming just like a spectre out to haunt her. With much effort, she pushed down a shriek. The Pearlcatcher smiled sheepishly at her.
“Sorry. I forget I scare people when I do that.” Crystal offered a placating smile. “Karina and Fracture are so used to it, it slipped my mind that other dragons weren’t.” [i]Karina… and Fracture?[/i] As if sensing her confusion, the Pearlcatcher elaborated, “Karina is the Wildclaw. The Imperial over there is Fracture, and my name is Mirage. We’ve been travelling for a while, after we received some strange vision about two flames. It’s hard to explain, really. The best way I could put it is that one was crystalline and the other metallic, for some reason. Oh, and the Shade appeared too. Then we stumbled across you.” She nodded, finally knowing who the newcomers were.
“How far have you travelled?”
“We came from Fishspine Reef. Karina had the vision first, and the next night both Fracture and I got it too. It’s exceedingly rare for dragons of elements other than Water who aren’t natural-born oracles to get visions, and the fact that all three of us had the same vision meant something, so we decided to travel. We couldn’t find anything in Plague territory, but I sure am glad we found you here, because all that travelling is exhausting, even with shadow-travel.” Quizzically, Crystal blinked at Mirage. “Ah, right. I’m sure you’ve seen me shadow-travel before. Well, for me shadows form a whole transport network. I can dive into a shadow and reappear wherever I want, as long as there are shadows.” If dragons had eyebrows, Crystal’s would be all the way up in the sky. She’d never heard of that ability before, even with the Shadow Coatls in her previous clan.
Soon, the two lapsed into comfortable silence, but the Shade’s attack still occupied her mind. Indirectly, she’d caused the Shade to attack the whole group, and it left a sour taste in her mouth. She needed to get stronger, much, much stronger, so she could protect those who had accepted her as family.[/size]
[center][img]https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/s/nm0z9g1pkrloiln/arcanebottom.png[/img]
[size=2]@Petall[/center]
Chapter Twelve
Crystal
Crystal curled into Cameron’s touch miserably. She had just healed from her banishment injuries, and now she’d have to spend more time recovering again. The Skydancer looked at her with sympathetic eyes. “You asked for it, charging into the heart of the Shade cluster. You must’ve had a death wish.” He ruffled her crest feathers and straightened up, moving to tend to Callan.
She’d just met some new friends, healed up nicely and was ready to explore, but the Shade just had to come ruin her party. And she really wanted to get to know everyone. The yellow Wildclaw was standing to one side, awkwardly fidgeting and trying to keep her giant hooked claws from snagging anything. The Imperial was in a similar predicament, being so incredibly huge. The Pearlcatcher was hugging his pearl, and Crystal watched in amazement as he glanced from one end of the camp to the other, caught her eye and slowly sank down into the shadow of a nearby tree. Awkwardly, she looked away. There wasn’t anyone to talk to, every dragon that wasn’t foreign to her was either out of commission, or tending to those out of commission.
Then she felt a furry mass settle itself beside her, a plumed tail flicking her playfully. Hey. Her crests fanned out in greeting, a rumble in her throat. Blizzard blinked back, amber eyes bright. He seemed relatively unscathed from the Shade attack, and cocked his head to the side, pawing at the ground. What’s up? It was strange how she was able to communicate with him without the use of words. A simple shift in her crests or posture was enough to tell him how she was feeling, and he would respond back in kind with equally subtle flicks of his ear or tail. Now, his gaze was understanding, and his ears twitched.
He got up and circled her once, twice, going faster and faster, bounding happily around her. Amused, she lifted her tail up in the air, and Blizzard snapped at it eagerly. Oh, this was going to be fun. She slowly straightened up, rising to her full height, and trotted around the camp, tail swishing from side to side. Blizzard chased after her with long strides, powerful muscles propelling him into the air where he attempted to grasp her crystalline tail. But it was to no avail, as Crystal had the advantage of flight. Without warning, she sprang into the air, scaling a tree in record time, and she laughed from a high branch as she watched her companion scrabble angrily at the innocent trunk, growling in annoyance. Finally, the Vulstal sat back on his haunches and gave her a very unimpressed look.
Crystal only laughed harder. Soon she was laughing so hard that she almost fell off the tree, clinging on to the branches for dear life as she wheezed. Blizzard stared incredulously at her, cantaloupe eyes accusatory, and soon he huffed with amusement and went to bother another dragon. She slunk to the ground and returned to her nest before Cameron could realise she’d been participating in physical activity and nag her again. She’d just settled down when she got the fright of her life. The Pearlcatcher emerged from the shadow of her nest, seeming just like a spectre out to haunt her. With much effort, she pushed down a shriek. The Pearlcatcher smiled sheepishly at her.
“Sorry. I forget I scare people when I do that.” Crystal offered a placating smile. “Karina and Fracture are so used to it, it slipped my mind that other dragons weren’t.” Karina… and Fracture? As if sensing her confusion, the Pearlcatcher elaborated, “Karina is the Wildclaw. The Imperial over there is Fracture, and my name is Mirage. We’ve been travelling for a while, after we received some strange vision about two flames. It’s hard to explain, really. The best way I could put it is that one was crystalline and the other metallic, for some reason. Oh, and the Shade appeared too. Then we stumbled across you.” She nodded, finally knowing who the newcomers were.
“How far have you travelled?”
“We came from Fishspine Reef. Karina had the vision first, and the next night both Fracture and I got it too. It’s exceedingly rare for dragons of elements other than Water who aren’t natural-born oracles to get visions, and the fact that all three of us had the same vision meant something, so we decided to travel. We couldn’t find anything in Plague territory, but I sure am glad we found you here, because all that travelling is exhausting, even with shadow-travel.” Quizzically, Crystal blinked at Mirage. “Ah, right. I’m sure you’ve seen me shadow-travel before. Well, for me shadows form a whole transport network. I can dive into a shadow and reappear wherever I want, as long as there are shadows.” If dragons had eyebrows, Crystal’s would be all the way up in the sky. She’d never heard of that ability before, even with the Shadow Coatls in her previous clan.
Soon, the two lapsed into comfortable silence, but the Shade’s attack still occupied her mind. Indirectly, she’d caused the Shade to attack the whole group, and it left a sour taste in her mouth. She needed to get stronger, much, much stronger, so she could protect those who had accepted her as family.
Tirtouga | FR +16 | she/her
OOOOOOOOOOOOO, the plot thickens!!! I'm interested in learning more about these 'shadows!'
OOOOOOOOOOOOO, the plot thickens!!! I'm interested in learning more about these 'shadows!'
Tirtouga | FR +16 | she/her
@
Tirtouga678
StarryLune talked about Shadows in her chapter! You mentioned dragons being able to jump from shadow to shadow! I figured they were connected!
@
Tirtouga678
StarryLune talked about Shadows in her chapter! You mentioned dragons being able to jump from shadow to shadow! I figured they were connected!