Market Thief
"Are you sure you don't want one of us to come with you two?" Proud Rain put another crate on the wooden cart, eyes full of concern as he eyed the small Dusthide. "Maybe at least someone to pull all of this, it's quite heavy."
The morning breeze was still cold and fresh as it blew into the den, moving the silver fur warming Round Ore's neck. "It's fine Rain, me and Gem are more than enough," She insisted, standing firm in front of the still skeptical Nocturne. But Rain didn't seem convinced, and she rolled her eyes. "Please? Plus, you have a new vest it is a shame for it to get dirty!"
Well, dirtier than it can get in a cave-
"Clothes are replaceable," Rain answered, but Ore cut him off.
"Not without treasure, they're not."
He pouted, but then sighed. "Fine, fine, just- be careful." Giving one last tuck to the cart's straps to check their security, before moving to combing through her mane with his claws to fix it up.
She held still, there wasn't much to gain from wiggling and getting out of Proud Rain's grasps. Ore had tried - and failed - to do so as a hatchling. Instead, her eyes wandered over to the tunnels in the back, where Blue Gem was still down in with the others.
Not like we have any time pressure to get our time slot in time, noooo. Ore scraped her claws over the ground, a mix and match of stone and planks.
It was a work in progress, but the den had been built out more and more, partially for aesthetics, partially because some support beams and wall reinforcements were required after Rare Dreamer's constant tunnel expansions making the foundation questionable. Swift Night had put most of them up with Proud Rain's help, maybe because he felt responsible to not have his wife further literally destabilize their home. But it was nice, it felt more homely, so Ore couldn't and certainly wouldn't complain about it.
"There, done!" Proud Rain let go of her, smiling wide. "Beautiful as always, naturally."
"After unnaturally messing with it," Ore answered, but then she laughed as Rain rolled his eyes and pushed her ever so slightly.
And as if on cue, the sound of steps coming their way could be heard, as Blue Gem jumped out of the nearby tunnel, hurrying to Round Ore's side. "Sorry, sorry- I got caught up in something. But I'm ready to go!" The Blue Dusthide breathed heavily but looked almost perfect. Scales shiny as if she'd just taken a bath, with fins clean with no specks tainting the beams of light passing through them from the entrance. Not to mention the new fins she had gained from that Soul Ruby Dreamer and she had dug up. They had found multiple recently, some even in the cart to sell. But while Ore only got some weak spots of light, Gem had grown such beautiful accessories...
Of course she did. Lucky. As always.
With Ore slipping into the harness to drag the cart, Gem next to her sliding into her own, Rain tightened them both to it and gave each a good nudge with his head. "You two stay safe, if anything happens, we'll be there instantly."
"I'm sure you will," Ore answered with a chuckle, and, after giving her sister a good nod to prepare, they began to pull the cart out of the cave.
The bugs and birds filled the air with their voices as the Dusthides took in the fresh air, the scent of the forest carried their way as the den lied just at the edge of it. The road led through it, and both knew the path had no splits beyond the marked crossroads.
But Blue Gem hesitated. "Are you sure we won't run into trouble?"
"It's the Ashen Forest, the most combed through one by the Burned," Ore told her, beginning to pull the cart to force Gem to move, "It's going to be the last place something bad can happen in. The docks aren't far anyway."
"But-" The cart pushed her from behind, so Gem caught up with her steps, "No going back now I guess."
"Nope!"
The two Dusthides were slow in their steps, the trees towering over them. "This would be easier if we could roll," Gem told her sister, "We're going to take ages."
"We've barely started walking," Ore responded, "And hey, when we have more funds we can get a better cart! At least a better one than Night's built one."
"Hey, he did a good job!" Gem insisted, flapping her wings which slightly hit Ore as they did, "He's not even supposed to do like, carpentry stuff. We should save up money to hire a proper one."
"So he isn't doing a good job?"
"I never said that! I just think he should get some time off so he can return to his studies..."
Talking was a good way to pass the time. Nor did they have much choice when stuck together like this. And Ore was glad about it, as they rounded a tree in the winding road. "You know, I'm glad we get to talk."
Blue Gem tilted her head. "We talk in the den too, we share a nest."
"You're barely in it," Ore mumbled, "You're usually down in the caverns with Dreamer." Round Ore kicked some pebbles out of the way, trying to make their cargo shake less when hitting stones with the wheels.
"Well, someone has to help her," Gem answered, "She's too big to fit all the small crevices. We're still searching for the entrance the water for the river is coming from."
"I don't deny that, it's just, I see you a bit less than expected."
Gem frowned. "You know, you can join us too every so often. Instead of me needing to go up."
"I've tried, if I have to remind you." Ore looked ahead, trying to avoid Gem's gaze. The scent of burned wood and smoke lingered in the air, as they came close to the edge inside the forest where the Stronghold laid. "I sat on the side when I did."
"If you tried again, then-"
"Let's just keep moving."
Gem protested but, again, there wasn't much choice, and a fight while trying to be at the docks in time just wasn't helpful. At least the Crossroads wasn't too far off, signs hammered into a tree as the path began to split, one leading further into the green, the other, into the gray, lifeless and ashen woods, covered in thick fog-like smoke rolling over the ground.
What they didn't expect was a figure at the crossroads, simply sitting with a list. They halted a short bit, before getting closer, the figure becoming clearer when they did.
It was a Mirror Dragon, a male one from the looks of it, cloaked in armor with fins sprouting out between the plates. He looked up with four deep blue eyes, and gave a toothy smile. "Good Morning to you Misses! On your way to the docks?"
Ore and Gem looked at each other puzzled, before Gem spoke up "Yes we are sir, you are..?"
"Fire Drop, Burned Border Control." He had a quiver at his side, and strapped onto it was a golden sigil. He was being truthful. "Just here during the market to check the cargo going there." He leaned upward, trying to look to the cart. "Mind me looking through?"
I don't think we can say no. "Sure," Ore answered, standing closer to Gem as the Mirror practically slithered past them, one claw on the wooden walls as the other rummaged through the sacks and chests.
"Quite the haul!" He complimented, pulling out some gems and ores before putting them back and presumably noting them on his list. "Which clan do you come from? From one of the southwest towns?"
Blue Gem smiled, one wing on Ore's back as she spoke: "Oh I'm Gem and that's Ore-"
He laughed, "How fitting!"
She chuckled too. "Thank you! But we're not from a town, we're from a self-made den actually!"
Ore didn't like how Drop froze for a second, before turning his attention to Gem. "Self-made? Whoever's your den matri- or patriarch must have been one rich fella." He held up a red gem, a slight glow coming from it, but it didn't react to his touch. Clearly, he had already used a soul ruby before. "By the looks of you two lovely ladies, you must have gotten a nice price on them."
"Oh we didn't buy them, we found the-"
Ore slightly shoved Gem to get her to quiet down. "Sir, are you done looking through yet, I'm sorry to press you, but we do have to be at the docks soon," she said to Fire Drop, who hesitated again, but then smiled and let go off the cart, slithering back to his spot at the signs with list in hand.
"Alright, I won't keep you any longer, everything you have seems fine to me."
With one wing, he pointed to the evergreen road. "You have a lovely day, and may the market go good for you two!"
Gem replied: "Thank you!" though Ore simply nodded as they both continued on. "He was nice," Gem said, "I didn't think we'd meet a Burned this soon though."
"I mean, they do live nearby..." Ore mumbled. She didn't like his eyes following them, as he still grinned...
Fire Drop watched as the Cart disappeared into the forest, and rolled his shoulders before pulling out the little souvenir he let slid into this quiver.
A small, red glowing gem.
"Well, would you look at that. Thanks for the little donation ladies, how did you get a bag of them to sell?" He whispered to himself, glee in his voice. "Don't tell me your little thieves." The red sheen reflected in his eyes. "Frost Fire will be interested in hearing about this."
With a whistle following an unknown tune, he got up, making his way into the gray thickets, disappearing into the smoke.
The docks were thriving with life, so many dragons running left and right, already set up stalls having fabrics hung up for sale, carpets on another, fruit and fish on the next, and clothing and so on.
In between them was the small stand of the Dusthides, mostly gems, ores, jewelry and unneeded Apparel. Compared to the other stands, Ore felt bad about how unprofessional theirs looked, and even though Gem kept running off to talk to people, nobody really came to buy anything.
Maybe they don't think our stuff is real?
She wouldn't be surprised, seeing some of the stationery shops open and with stands set up outside their fronts to bring in customers. And when Ore wanted to call out for Gem to come, she had already disappeared into the crowd again.
Of course she did.
Giving a sigh, it was difficult to look optimistic. The stuff they had was nice, genuine, right?
It could be nicer maybe. The stand itself was very basic, just a few wooden tables with the items laid out on charming soft grounds, and a pillow for Ore to sit with another unused one for Gem besides her. They did have a sign, on a pole screwed into one of the tables, but that it wasn't made professionally was noticeable. Maybe they could have made a bigger, better sign or something. Or they should have colored the cart in something brighter, more eye-catching?
Maybe-
"Excuse me, little miss?"
Ore flinched and almost fell on her back as she was torn out of her thoughts. Shaking her head to get a grip, she looked up to meet the brown eyes of a large, spotted, gray dragoness.
A guardian?? There were barely any walking around, they would usually be too big for the docks, so why was one here? "Y-yes mam? May I help you?"
The large dragoness smiled, "Oh, I've just been meaning to browse. I like seeing new stands each weekend."
"O-OH! Of course, please do, thank you!" Ore happily told her, making a bit of room for the dragoness to more comfortable bend over. Her eyes were sharp and precise as she scanned over the items.
"Interesting your selling untumbled gems," she noted, "Makes not many want to buy them right away unless they intend to get them tumbled themselves."
"Well, we, we don't have a rock tumbler near us," Ore said to her, "And I'm not sure if there's one here either."
"Sadly not," she admitted, "You should really seek to employ one though when you have more treasure to spend, it would be a good investment in the future." But then the dragoness stopped, a red gleam catching her eyes. "Well, would you look at that." She took up a cloth, and picked up the shining gem. "A soul ruby? Is this your only one?"
"No, no we have more!" Ore said, "Do you want to buy some?"
The dragoness seemed thoughtful. "... Sure, why not? I have someone who might be happy to get this. Two someones’."
"I- I can pack it up for you, all safe and secure!"
"If you can make it watertight, then sure." The dragoness chuckled, "It needs to go quite... deep into the water to get to them."
Ore nodded. "Done and done." The dusthide sprinted to wrap the gems nicely as quickly as she could, her mane a bit frizzy from the excitement. "Here you go, miss, have a lovely day!"
"You two madam." With her tail, the guardian waved goodbye, making her way back into the crowds though she stood out with her height, and Ore's front feet happily kneaded the pillow she returned to.
The happiness faded quickly though as the interactions became dry and non-existent again. And her smile turned upside down when Gem finally returned after the sun was already nearing its peak. "Where have you been?"
"Getting the word out," Gem responded, but her mouth still had the leftovers of an insect cake around it, and a new bangle hung from her ankle.
"Seriously?" Ore asked, "Well, clearly it hasn't worked so far because we only had one customer."
"One customer for our first time is good!" Gem insisted, but Ore shook her head.
"No, no it isn't!"
They bickered, neither paying attention until they heard a quiet clinking and glancing at their main table, they noticed a jewel gone and the tail of a small dragon zipping away as they ran.
"H-HEY! THIEF!" Gem called out first, getting some heads to turn their way, as Ore got up to run after the runner. But he was nimble and as she tried not to lose him, when she got near an alley, he ducked inside and rushing in after, he was gone.
There were too many smells from the market to make out his to follow, and with heavy breaths from the short hunt, Ore dug her claws into the ground and cursed, kicking away some piece of junk with her tail.
Looking up at the sky, the market was almost over, too. How was she going to explain this back in the den? They barely sold anything, and got robbed, even if it was only one gem. Maybe Proud Rain had been right to let someone go with them.
Taking in a deep breath, she tried to calm down. Nothing which could be done about it now. The least she could do was go back and see how the rest of the day would go...
Hearty River watched as the brown Dusthide left the alley, hidden in the shadows of the house's roof, and when the air was clear, he got down and slunk his way back into the crowd, beneath the feet of the bigger dragons.
He hushed his way through town, across to its edge with the docks, digging his feet into the sand before rolling into a ball to make his way fast across the beach.
His destination was further away from the regular docks, near the rocky shores and hidden from prying eyes, a red shining gem grasped tightly as he made his way home, to the large green dragon waiting in the water, only his back visible as he laid there curled up and resting.
"Morning Wave!" He called out, the large green mass stirring. "I've got something for you! Now you can match me and Brave Sea when she's back!"
The dragon stirred, finally lifting his head from the depths as the large Ridgeback turned to face the dusthide, eyes focused on the ruby in hand, with a sense of familiarity sparking in his eyes as he watched it shine.
@Opica Lore Pinglist
There we go, the first short story finished! Even though some if the bios of the important dragons aren't done yet since i wanna post them post the other short story, I do still want to include them below here:
