Creative Corner

[center][font=gabriola][color=#91e8c1][size=5]Ailyth[/size][/color][/font][/center] [right][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=81559554][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/coliseum/portraits/815596/81559554.png[/img][/url] [/right] [size=2]Ailyth’s life had begun in a mellow sort of way, fitting for the dragon who was renowned within the Oasis for never losing his temper. He was born to a mother and father who doted on him – but not excessively – and who raised him and his siblings to recognise and care for others’ feelings, something which he excelled at now, later in life. As a hatchling, he took on – as so many eldest siblings do – responsibility for his siblings in a smaller capacity than his parents, enabling him to gain the skills needed to parent his own child Jeckyll when she was created – literally. His parents had never forced him to care for his siblings, but as a hatchling known to be older than his years, it was no surprise to his parents or his former clan that he chose to care for his siblings in the event that his parents were held up elsewhere. His parents trusted him because Ailyth was a rather collected dragon, who was never known to be rash, and therefore could look after his siblings competently. So it came as a great surprise to his parents when Ailyth returned one day and announced that he had found his mate in a dragon he happened to stumble upon in the woods. Naturally, they kept their opinions to themselves, but upon meeting Anuvien, they realised that Ailyth had met his perfect match in a dragon as hotheaded as he was collected, as large as he was small and as loud as he was quiet. Now Ailyth spends his days cleaning up his wife’s messes while teaching Jeckyll what he knows of the woods, having spent so much time in it. The family tends to keep to themselves, despite the Oasis’s best efforts, but they are content with their bubble.

[center][font=gabriola][color=#91e8c1][size=5]a lizard and a friend.[/size][/color][/font][/center] [right][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=81768168][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/coliseum/portraits/817682/81768168.png[/img][/url] [/right] [size=2][i]jeckyll[/i] "HiIneedtomailthis." Jeckyll rushed out, rocking back and forward on the spot, as the dragon in front of her inspected the object she had slammed onto the table. Well, slammed might have been a bit of a harsh word, because Jeckyll couldn't have slammed it. Or perhaps it should've been [i]him[/i]. Jeckyll watched as the dragon's eyebrows lifted at the sight of the Panther Anole. It was just after noon, and the green and white dragon had just barrelled into the post office, determined to fulfill the order given to her by her mother. Unfortunately for her... "Living creatures cannot be mailed." The other dragon said matter-of-factly. In the back somewhere, Jeckyll heard a stifled snort. Jeckyll flushed. She knew there was something complicated about her mother's request, yet she hadn't been able to put her foot on it until now. Then she remembered. "...Please?" The other dragon smiled kindly. "I'm sorry. It's one of our policies. Perhaps I can help you another time...?" "Jeckyll." "Right. Jeckyll. I'm Orthile." Then her eyebrows raised. "As in of Anuvien and Ailyth?" "That's the one!" Jeckyll tried to focus, but still felt hurt that she couldn't do as her mother asked. Her mother wouldn't mind, but Jeckyll didn't like leaving things unfinished. "Why do you need to mail it?" Orthile asked curiously. "My mother - Anuvien - asked me to." Jeckyll remembered the slip of paper in her pocket and fished it out. "She wants to send it with this." Suddenly, the dragon - Orthile, Jeckyll reminded herself - erupted with laughter, upon reading the note. "Did you take a detour, by any chance?" Jeckyll scuffed her foot. "There might be a slight chance that I went directly through the swamp." Noticing that Orthile seemed on the verge of laughter again, she protested, "It would've taken too long to go around!" Orthile roared with laughter, and Jeckyll couldn't help but grin at the dragon's infectious laughter. "Read this." She said, once she had recovered. "Jeckyll, this bag of ground leaves is for the postmaster. Do not go through the swamp, it may change form..." She read on. "Oh, oops." [i]Into an anole[/i], it had said. "Oops indeed." Orthile grinned. "C'mon, we'll fix this." And with that, the two left the store, a new friendship, as well as a lizard, in tow.

[center][font=gabriola][color=#91e8c1][size=5]Jeckyll[/size][/color][/font][/center] [right] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=81768168][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/coliseum/portraits/817682/81768168.png[/img][/url] [/right] [size=2] Where did one start when they spoke of Jeckyll? If you asked others, they might assert, like her doting mother and father or Orthile, that she’s a sweet dragon with a good natured temperament who never loses her temper with others unless they have severely wronged her, her family or her friends. They would talk of her strong loyalty to her family, and theirs to her and they would point out her friends as being a positive influence on her life. If you asked someone like Tide or Mossfin however they might remind you of her inability to sit still, her tendency to wreak havoc wherever she went and her strange almost dreamlike way of speaking whenever she was trying to escape a consequence of her own actions. However, Mossfin would rush to assure the enquirer that she does not dislike Jeckyll, does not dislike any member of her kingdom and that she would fight to protect anyone in danger. Tide would grunt at your asking such an ‘impertinent’ question and ask you why on earth you were asking after her when her parents lived not too far from his and Pearwillow’s home. Born to - or created by - Anuvien and Ailyth, Jeckyll seems to have inherited her parents’ most endearing traits. She is quite scrappy, rather like her mother but fiercely loyal like Ailyth and together this results in a contradiction of a young dragon who manages to endear all those who meet her. When not helping with her mother’s experiments or her father’s flower garden, Jeckyll enjoys listening to Orthile’s never ending gossip and performing exaggerated antics to get Raindream to laugh at her.

[center][font=gabriola][color=#91e8c1][size=5]Raindream[/size][/color][/font][/center] [right] [url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=77458818][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/coliseum/portraits/774589/77458818.png[/img][/url] [/right] [size=2] Raised by Tide and Pearwillow, Raindream was immediately an unusual hatchling. For starters, he had been found encased in a Plague egg, already an oddity in this Water dominated clan. Secondly, he didn’t speak. Ever. Tide immediately took a liking to his adopted son, and raised him as his own, and while Pearwillow doted on him as well, it was to Tide that Raindream had a special bond and could communicate with without a need for words. Tide raised Raindream to be a strong warrior, and to this day, both will go out hunting and fishing for the kingdom, and bring back their spoils, with Raindream often outpacing Tide in the amount that he brought back. None of the hatchlings were ever mean to Raindream as he grew, although he endured a couple of questions from hatchlings, and they quickly learnt that although he didn’t speak, he giggled quite easily, and so while they played hide and go sneak, Raindream was often made to giggle to alert the sneaker to where he was hiding. This was easily accomplished by saying a silly joke in front of where the sneaker suspected Raindream was hiding, as it was difficult to flush him out of hiding otherwise, due to his smaller frame and ability to sneak into anywhere, like a MaineCoon cat. Naturally all this was done in good natured fun, and Raindream grew into a secure dragon who was proud of his oddities and didn’t shy away from being himself. Nowadays, Raindream spends time with Orthile and Jeckyll, his two best friends in the whole world, and he enjoys listening patiently to Orthile’s gossip and giggling his head off at Jeckyll’s antics.

[center][font=gabriola][color=#91e8c1][size=5]trust; a magician's best friend[/size][/color][/font][/center] [right][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=81594049][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/coliseum/portraits/815941/81594049.png[/img][/url] [/right] [size=2] “Come one, come all!” Cried a mysterious voice from the kingdom’s centre. “Come see the [i]great[/i]… magician, perform tricks that defy all expectations.” Slush watched nervously from behind her curtain in her caravan as her familiar, the Spirit of the Wind, performed his familiar role as the town crier. It was always nervewracking coming to a new town, city or kingdom, and not knowing if she would have a chance to perform her stupefying acts of magic. But luckily… “Who is it? Who’s the magician?” The crowd seemed to have swelled with numbers, dragons jostling to the front to get a look at the familiar on the stage. All eyes swivelled to the asker of the question. Her familiar smiled mischievously. This was his favourite part, Slush knew. “Why don’t you come along to the show tonight, and get a look for yourself?” Slush smiled to herself as the crowd cheered and began pushing their way towards her familiar for tickets. Fortunately for the crowd, all the tickets were free, and upon realising that, they cheered again. ------ [size=2] Slush stared at herself in the mirror and began the careful art of disguising herself as another dragon. Ever since she was found out to be a young magician, other magicians, wannabe or new, began seeking to steal her tricks, upon their discovery that she was quite good at show magic. So with the help of her loyal familiar, she happened upon a trick that would hide her true identity from the crowd, allowing her to move amongst normal dragons with nary a care in the world. As she worked, she heard the noise of the crowd grow louder, and she said out loud to her familiar, curled up around her leg, “Wow, the Estuarine Oasis really knows how to support artists!” Her familiar [i]mrrp[/i] ed and seemed to begin snoozing lightly. Finally, the crowd seemed to reach a breaking point, and lazily, the Spirit of the Wind uncurled from her leg and raced out to the crowd, dressed in a jaunty costume. “Are you ready to meet the one? The only… the Magician!” The crowd cheered, and she grinned. It was time to go. ----- [size=2] “[i]No![/i]” She shouted. “I won’t stay a moment longer.” It was just after the show, and shivering and cold suddenly, Slush raced to the caravan, pursued by dragons of all ages, begging her to slow down. Somehow the lights of her show had malfunctioned, and the heat had melted her face disguising make up off. “But why won’t you stay?” Asked a particularly insistent Bogsneak hatchling. Against her better wishes, Slush started talking, and explained her sordid tale of running from greedy magicians to the crowd. The stunned crowd was silent for a few moments. Then hesitantly, a grumpy voice called out. “I don’t know about the rest of you lot. But I’m not revealing this talented lady’s secrets no matter what.” “I won’t either!” Cried an energetic green and white dragon. Slowly the affirming voices built in momentum and grew louder. “So you see?” Said the small hatchling still next to her. “None of us will let those bad guys hurt you! You’ll be safe here!” “Please stay!” Begged the hatchlings in unison. Slush considered, knowing that her cover had been blown, and that even with that, the kingdom wanted her as part of their clan. “Okay.” She said, scooping up the littlest of them – Riverrose, she remembered. And as the hatchlings cheered, internally, she did too.

[center][font=gabriola][color=#91e8c1][size=5]Slush[/size][/color][/font][/center] [right][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=81594049][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/coliseum/portraits/815941/81594049.png[/img][/url] [/right] [size=2] Magic ruled Slush’s life. Fear and anxiety battled for dominance every time she left the stage but not while she was on it. Slush was anyone she wanted to be while she was on the stage, and this left her with a need to always be performing, even to those closest to her. After moving out as a young hatchling and being taken in a travelling circus, Slush quickly discovered that dragons all over Sornieth loved her tricks – and some weren’t willing to wait to wait to see her on stage. So, danger ruled her life at some point, and she was on the run from greedy dragons eager to wring her show magic out of her. It was during this time period that she happened upon the Estuarine Oasis. Following her performance, and the revelation that she was in fact, just a young dragon and no one intimidating, Slush tried to run again. However, her plans were foiled by the Oasis’s kindhearted members and its band of feisty yet warm hatchlings led by the king’s daughter, Toadleg. Slowly Slush has learned to take a break from her magic, and to calm her nerves by playing with the hatchlings, who have assured her that any dragons trying to harm her would have to come through them. Nowadays, Slush spends her time curled up in her little caravan with her young familiar and performs circus tricks for the hatchlings – free of charge of course, because they saved her life.

[center][font=gabriola][color=#91e8c1][size=5]Ebrillwen[/size][/color][/font][/center] [right][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=81565283][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/coliseum/portraits/815653/81565283.png[/img][/url] [/right] [size=2] Abandoned as an egg under a fortuitous moon, Ebrillwen did not expect much from life. He was born deep in the Leviathan Trench and for several moons, wandered the Sea of a Thouand Currents deep underwater, glad to still be alive but relying on small fish to provide him with food. He joined a travelling clan with dragons of shapes he had never seen before, but soon found them to be unsettlingly similar, with their unblinking eyes and off-putting way of eating food too much for the young dragon. To him, his luck had finally begun to come in after his encounter with a giant whale where he narrowly survived, and now values vitality above all else after spending a moon recovering from his ordeal. Eventually, he washed up on the Estuarine Oasis’s shore, and upon being mistaken by a young Toadleg for an Imperial, he embarked on a harrowing adventure with her resulting in Ebrillwen and Toadleg becoming firm friends – but not without a little squabbling, despite their uncanny similarities. They bonded over their desire to be helpful to their clan in their own ways, their loyalty to the clan and of course, their mischievousness, which has resulted in more than one lesson being learnt. Ebrillwen spends his days playfighting with Toadleg and Riverrose. While the clan looks for a nanny for the hatchlings of the clan, they all enjoy being hatchling-sat by different members of the clan in the meantime.

[center][font=gabriola][color=#91e8c1][size=5]Riverrose[/size][/color][/font][/center] [right][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=81453048][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/coliseum/portraits/814531/81453048.png[/img][/url] [/right] [size=2] Oft-described as wise beyond his years, Riverrose often quips that he is being raised by the whole clan, when asked by others where his parents are. Often said just to get him and his friends Toadleg and Ebrillwen out of trouble, it’s also quite true. Though his brother Austrewing often supervises the hatchlings when he’s not busy with Orthile or the library, he treats Riverrose more as his peer, his equal and his friend, rather than having a parental influence on his life. This suits both dragons quite well, as Riverrose as always been more independent than other hatchlings his age and Austrewing couldn’t fulfil the role of the dad that Riverrose deserves, as he is always too distractred by new acquisitions to the library that he rarely pokes his nose out from a book even while supervising his brother and his friends. And so Riverrose manages to get into sufficient amounts of trouble with his friends especially when he's spending time with Austrewing. Riverrose admires a great number of dragons, and relies on them to grow up into the dragon he wants to be. One of these dragons is Tide, who he admires for his no-nonsense, yet diligent and steadfast behaviour, as well as for his [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3176636/3#post_52616860]dedication to his mate, Pearwillow[/url]. Another is Mossfin, whose [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3176636/2#post_52507143]story of bravery, perseverance and hard working attitude[/url] is known throughout the clan as the reason they all live, work and play in the Estuarine Oasis. Then there’s Pearwillow herself, [url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/3176636/2#post_52579820]who endured great hardship to get to where she is today[/url]. Riverrose hopes that one day he will prove himself to be worthy of another hatchling’s admiration. And perhaps that day is nearer at hand than he imagined…

[center][font=gabriola][color=#91e8c1][size=5]for a loss or a gain[/size][/color][/font][/center] [right][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?dragon=85151062][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/coliseum/portraits/851511/85151062.png[/img][/url] [/right] [size=2] "Garnet, Garnet!" Cried out two identical voices, the twins Lichen and Algae. Garnet froze, then struggled to inhale a deep breath. She wasn't there anymore. She was safe now. The twins seemed not to notice, as they ran up to her where she was sitting reading a book by the campfire lit once a moon. They tugged on her paw. "Won't you tell us a story?" They begged in unison. She took another deep breath, and grinned at the two smaller dragons. In this camp full of dragons with no instinct for money, it was nice, in her opinion, to have some dragons who had morals like hers. Whether that was a good thing or not, she reflected, it would be left to be seen. "Sure. What about a cautionary tale?" She had the perfect tale, yes, intended to scare the younger dragons but also to warn them against greed. Algae exchanged a glance with Lichen (or perhaps the other way around, their movements were so synchronised that she could never be sure who was who). "Sure!" They cried out. "Ok. Here goes." She steeled herself, and dove into her memories, for what she hoped would be the final time. ------ [size=2]"GarNET!!" Cried out a shrill voice. Garnet shrank back from the voice, but resignation was splashed across her face. It wasn't right, she thought angrily, as she made her way out of her small tent, and towards the dragon in the centre of the camp that was impatiently tapping her foot against the clearing's mossy ground. It simply wasn't right to her that she had to work with this impatient, bossy dragon whose manners extended from snapping hello to shrieking at Garnet whenever she messed up. Garnet and her mentor Andreya - yes, the Bogsneak who had screamed at her - worked from dusk to dawn each day poaching familiars from the wild, acting on the confidence that few would be bothered to prevent them from doing so. So far this gamble had played off, but it meant grueling work for Garnet, and all of Andreya's stress passed off to Garnet. But Garnet couldn't leave. It was her dream to work with animals, in whatever means necessary. And this had been her only way away from her parents and their terrible clan, although Garnet admitted to herself each day as the sun rose that the place she was in now was not much better than where she had been previously. It was damp, thought Garnet faintly, as she approached her so-called mentor, and the other dragon began rattling off the tasks that Garnet had to complete by dawn. So damp that she could feel the moistness on her snout, and as it condensed on her feathers, she felt the droplets sliding down either side of her snout. So focused was she on the loveliness of the sensation after months of backbreaking work on the fringes of the Emperor's Wake that she barely noted or noticed the Bogsneak's abrupt silence. Suddenly she was shaken out of her reverie. Literally. Garnet's teeth clicked against each other as her head shook backwards and forwards. "Can you [i]focus[/i]?!" Yelled Andreya. "We have work to do and you have done barely [i]anything[/i] all day!" Garnet shook her head to rearrange her feathers, but Andreya seemed to interpret this action differently. "Excuse me?" "No, no, I wasn't-" But Andreya had stopped listening. Her tail swished with agitation. "That's it. I won't be dealing with this behaviour any longer." Garnet cowered in fear. It couldn't be a good sign for her that Andreya was suddenly smiling, her teeth glinting in the light of the new sun. "It's almost morning." Said Andreya in a sing-song voice. "This dump is [i]your[/i] job now. I'm done with you and this useless work. I can't sell these familiars for anything, all I do is collect collect collect and then the one dragon I hire to take care of these stupid animals won't even do it. So now it's your turn. Seeing as you think you're too good for me and this work, it's your turn now." She turned away and in one swift move collapsed her tent back into the briefcase she carried whenever they moved places. "Abandon them for all I care." And Garnet watched as her mentor left the clearing, leaving her surrounded by cages upon cages of familiars, begging for a new home. ----- [size=2]Garnet sat back, and watched the fire dance, her companions almost entirely forgotten. "Um..." said Lichen (Algae?). "That wasn't much of," the other continued. "A story." Finished the first hatchling. Garnet rolled her eyes and stood up. "You get what you get." She sang to them, and then the breath was knocked out of her, as the two young Pearlcatchers knocked her to the ground playfully. As Garnet tussled with them, she smiled, a gentler smile than the one before. Yes, she had used that story for catharsis, she realised, having needed to tell someone who wouldn't judge her for her past life, but there was something blessed about these twins, and their fortuitous arrival in her life. And she thanked the Eleven for them every day.