Several days had passed before Mary spotted her son's silhouette in the sky. She felt her coils relax for the first time since he had gone. What a relief.
A claw tapped softly against her head, and the Spiral twisted around for a second to grin.
Ferox smiled back. For the past couple of hours she had been draped around best friend's neck like a living scarf. Thankfully he never seemed to mind. The Gaoler had a second sense when it came to Plightning Hollow's leader, and he had been spending a great deal of time with her.
His mate,
Volantes, was also curled next to them, her golden swirling eyes trained on Inspiration as he made his way towards them. She didn't say anything, but Mary could have sworn just the tiniest of smiles tugged at the other dragon's lips as she finally slipped from Ferox's shoulders and began excitedly twisting in the air.
"INSPIRATION! YOU'RE HOME!" Her son did an equally happy loop and soon they were circling each other, doing figure eights and sixes and all manners of numbers. Only a soft tug from the two Gaolers prevented them from becoming a tangled up mess of limbs and coils.
"Welcome back." Volantes commented, clearing restraining from rolling her eyes as Inspiration playfully bopped her with his nose. "The trip went well I take it?"
"Sure did! You were right mom, Oceanic Harmony is very nice. As soon as I arrived she gave me some food and let me rest up. I don't even feel like I've been flying for that long."
"That doesn't mean you aren't resting up for a bit here." Mary was quick to pull a stern face. Not very effective from her unfortunately, but she was gratified to see him nod.
"Don't worry. I'll go find
Virtue and relax with her for a bit. She'll want to know what happened too. But before I do that, here!" Reaching into his satchel, the Spiral pulled out a scroll and handed it over. "She replied!"
"Hooray! How exciting!" Mary immediately unrolled the scroll, pushing her goggles up so she could see better. "Did you want to listen to what she said?"
"Nah. I figure you're going to tell everyone later so I'll just listen then. I'm starting to feel a bit tired now. Maybe I was just too excited to realize it." Inspiration grinned sheepishly at his mom before turning and flying off. "Catch you later!"
Mary watched him leave in mingled exasperation and affection. Oh that son of hers...ah well. He was back and safe. One worry off of her mind. Hopefully this letter would get rid of the other ones.
"I should probably wait for Rosetta." She commented. "Could one of you go get her please?"
Volantes nodded before getting up and running off. The Gaoler was quick, so Mary was certain they wouldn't be waiting too long. Which was good, because her mate had been a bit anxious about their son and the possibility of a new alliance. Not that Rosie didn't WANT to ally with another clan. She was just a bit...paranoid at times. A bit overprotective. And maybe a little too eager to run into battle should the situation called for it. Heh. That was her Rosetta. Fight now and talk later. A true Wildclaw.
Speaking of which, there they were! That had been quick.
"Very fast." Ferox commented, earning a nudge and slight smirk from his mate. The two Gaolers sat down, watching with coupled amusement as Rosetta clomp-clomped over to the Spiral.
"Is he ok?" A nod. "No injuries?" Shake of the head. "Off to rest?" Another nod.
"Good..." The Wildclaw sighed with mild relief, blinking as Mary coiled around her.
"I was just about to read Miss Oceanic's response! Listen!" There was silence as the letter was read aloud, though Rosetta gave an irritated snort at the use of the nickname. Mary just laughed. Wild was pretty fitting.
After gushing over Ozamaki's part of the letter, falling into a fit of giggles at the pun, and nearly swelling with pride over the compliment of her son, the Spiral finally finished reading. She twisted herself so her chin was resting on top of her mate's head.
"I'm really glad she agreed to meet at Zephyr Steppes. That will make things much easier!" Ferox nodded his head in agreement.
"Much." Was the quiet reply.
"Though...I wonder what Shadow meant by being careful along the way...Just a typical warning or something else?"
"If by 'something else' , you mean a prophecy, then I seriously doubt it." Rosetta replied with mild scorn. Heh. Mary had nearly forgotten that her mate didn't believe in such things. Considering they were going to be meeting with a clan of WATER dragons....well...that would prove to be a little bit of a problem.
"This Shadow seems like a dragon experienced in battle." The Wildclaw continued in a more approving tone. Completely oblivious to her error. "It's one thing for Inspiration to deliver mail, but for a party to travel we would need to be prepared for an enemy attack."
Mary snorted and playfully smacked her mate's spines. "You and battle. Everything always has to be a fight."
"That's because this world is harsh! You have to be prepared for anything." Came the counter retort. "I wouldn't be surprised if there were even dragons within our own clan that might be spies."
"Oh hush." Nose scrunching, the Spiral's coils tightened a little. The thought that there may be disloyal dragons within the clan was distressing. Mary could not bring herself to believe that any of the friends and family under her leadership could possibly be traitors.
"It could happen Mary...you know it could." Was the gentle rebuke. "I just want to make sure you're prepared for that eventuality."
"Yeah, yeah. I get it. But I still don't believe our dragons would do such a thing. We're family."
"Always." Ferox agreed. Volantes nodded in agreement, though there was a slight edge in the gesture. The atmosphere was getting ugly.
"Aaaaannnyway, let's get back to deciding what we plan on doing. We need a date. Any ideas?"
"We'll need time to prepare." Rosetta mused. "Get supplies together and instruct our parties."
"How many dragons would be coming, do you think?" The Spiral chuckled. "We can't bring the entire clan."
"Agreed, but we need a large party. Again, just in
case." Siiigh. Battle strategies. Very well. Two could play at that game.
"How about this? A typical foraging group is 3 right?"
"...right."
"If we bring enough dragons to form several groups of threes, and instruct them on formation if we find a threat, would that suffice."
"Yes!"
"Heh, ok. Then how about twelve dragons? That would form about four parties, not too big, but definitely not too small. Fiona is definitely coming, so there's our healer. And twelve wouldn't overwhelm her."
"Hmmm, sounds reasonable. Now the question is, who will be going with us?"
Mary pondered for a moment. The first six were already picked out the moment the conversation began. And there was little doubt they would want to go.
"Perhaps you can help me make a decision guys." She turned to look at the two Gaolers then back to Rosetta. "I know for sure that you three will be going with me." An approved hum from her mate made her smile. "So that's four. Plus Zephyr and Fiona, obviously. So there's six...I wanted to include Spire, but..."
"No. He'll need another couple of days to recover. I'm not sure it was a good idea to agree letting him deliver this next letter." The Wildclaw shook her head.
"I didn't want to...trust me. You know how stubborn he is. And how much he loves his job. But I agree, as much as it would disappoint him, it wouldn't be a good idea to bring him with...how about Virtue?"
"Hmmmmm...perhaps. She is very strong, if a little bit...overbearing with that piety act."
"We could bring
Amber instead." Volantes offered. "It would offer her an opportunity to put her talents to use for the clan. And I know she would be honored to come."
"Very honored." Ferox agreed.
The Spiral smiled approvingly. Amber had been one of at least four dragons who recently joined the clan thanks in part to Lineage's efforts of reaching out to family members in the RainBlossom line. While the other three were focused on protecting the ward, Amber had been very eager to spend as much time as she could with Ferox and Volantes. This really would be a good bonding experiencing for her and her great-great grandparents.
"I think that's a good idea. Amber can definitely come. Right Rosetta?" A slightly annoyed huff followed this question, but there was no argument. There was no question that the Gaolers of Plightning Hollow were very strong. Especially Ferox and Volantes. The duo had proven time and time again how valuable they were to the clan. There was little doubt any one of their family would do the same.
"So that would make seven. Now I have a couple of other suggestions."
"As do I." Rosetta suddenly perked up as if in thought. "I think we should include
Smendrick."
A low, rumbling chuckle from Ferox earned a glare and raised brow.
"You have something to add?"
"Fandragon."
Mary felt Rosetta's crest lift in aggravation at this 'insult' to her mentor. Oops. Time for some intervention.
"We can bring Smendrick. He'd be a great addition to the team, and Molly has others that can help her run drills." She soothed. As Rosetta relaxed, she shot a wink at Ferox, who smiled widely in return, his own swirling red eyes glittering with mirth. He did so enjoy teasing Rosie. Heh.
"So that would be eight. I can already think of two more I feel should join. Lineage, because I know she would be interested in another clan's history and it would be good for her to get out of her library for awhile."
"I...supposed." Rosetta sounded a bit dubious, but considering Mary had insisted upon Smendrick joining on her behalf, it was doubtful she would argue.
"I also think
Celsius should come. He may be really shy, but he's a good fighter when it comes to it, and he can predict the weather." There was a murmur of agreement. "So that's nine and ten. We just need two more."
"
Erebus" The male Gaoler suddenly spoke up.
"Hmmmm, actually that's a good idea!" Rosetta agreed, to everyone's surprise. "He's stealthy, for an Imperial. And strong besides. If we need someone to get out in a hurry and get help, he'd be very capable."
"Having a shadow dragon would be beneficial I suppose..." Volantes's hackles stood on end for a moment, her natural tendencies causing her to dig heavy claws into the floor. "He is very stealthy, and has is a very talented pathfinder."
"So it's agreed! We'll bring Erebus. I'm sure he would be glad to go, he likes exploring." Mary smiled. "So that's eleven. Now normally I would think to ask Theia to go since that is his mate, but she's been very busy helping with drills as well. Besides, I know exactly who I want as our last team member."
"Who?" The Wildclaw lifted her head a bit, one green eye squinting suspiciously at the Spiral.
"
Splash."
At this sudden proclamation, Ferox began laughing loudly. Volantes looks similarly amused.
"As much as I like Splash, is there any particular reason? After all he is a bit...pushy."
"Yes, but he's very friendly and easy to talk to. We are going to see another clan, remember? We don't need the entire team to consist of warriors."
"Lineage isn't a warrior." Was Rosetta's rather surly reply.
"Yes, but she isn't exactly the social type either. She's quiet...and very strict. With Splash there, he'll be able to ease any tension, and he's got a gift for keeping conversation going. Besides, he's both my and Ferox's dear friend. He'd be a bit hurt if we didn't invite him."
"Ooooh...alright." The Wildclaw consented. "I guess he'd make an ok candidate. Just so long as we aren't being forced to grin the entire way there." Another bark of laughter from Ferox caused Mary to giggle and playfully bop the top of her mate's head.
"I'm sure we won't have to. So long as no one is super grumpy on the way. But anyway, we have our team. Now we just have to decide a date."
It took a while, but eventually everyone agreed that one month's time would be suitable. After Inspiration brought back confirmation of course. They would use the time he was away to plan out a path, start stocking up supplies, and prepping the teams.
Now that they had a game plan, it was finally time to respond to the letter!
Dear Oceanic "the Song" Harmony,
Thank you so much for your prompt reply! We will start preparations to meet at Zephyr Steppes as soon as Inspiration returns with your next letter. Would one month's time be alright? I figure that would give everyone enough time to plan and organize! If not, we can accommodate to a better time!
It will be myself and eleven other dragons meeting up with you. We will bring extra food and drink to add to the table. Nothing says friendship like sharing a good meal! I also wanted to note one of the dragons joining us is a researcher of family lines. I am sure she would be quite interested in the origins of your clan if you would like someone to start a family tree for you! She is very good at it!
In response to my brother,
Thank you Ozamaki! I very much look forward to seeing you again as well! It has been a long time hasn't it? It seems like we were still only hatchlings when you ventured forth on your own. I'm very glad to know that you have found a wonderful clan to join! I look forward to hearing your stories and experiences! And there is nothing wrong with misfits, after all are we not all unique in our own ways? I also look eagerly forward to meeting the members of your clans!
She paused as she re-read her brother's words, a small tinge of pink edging the scales along her face. A hero. He was too kind. Heh.
I appreciate your kind words. It does my heart good to know that other dragons I have helped are still thriving in this world. I am sure they have gone on to do great things, and to know I am a small part of that process is both humbling and gratifying. I am also sure you have done some great things yourself! I look forward to talking with you face to face soon. I am so excited!
She ended that part of the note by dipping her claw in ink and doodling her family's crest: a Obelisk's talons reaching forward, bolts of electricity flowing from the claws and forming a shape much like the fur on an Obelisk's leg. A tribute she had made herself to honor her great-grandfather, Zephyr. Satisfied that it was accurate, Mary finished the response to Oceanic.
Returning to you Miss Oceanic, we will be very careful. My team consists of very experienced travelers, so we shouldn't have too much trouble on the way. I, and my mate Rosetta, look forward to meeting Shadow. Rosetta is a warrior through and through, and I am certain she would love to hear about the skull he wears, though I may have to keep several of the others away as they are not quite as interested in a warrior's tale. There should be no trouble of them "Skull-king" about though! Haha! They are quite friendly and I am certain they are as eager as I am to mingle with your dragons and make friends!
Thank you for your kinds words about my son! He'll be delighted to hear them. He takes his job very seriously after all!
I look forward to your response! May your wings keep flight!
-Mary StormTalon
A week later, Mary, this time wrapped tightly around Rosetta, watched once again as their son departed, glowing eyes trained on the disappearing silhouette in the sky. She let out a sigh, coils twitching, until she felt a claw gently tap her shoulder.
Turning, she smiled gratefully as Ferox and Volantes took a seat next to her. Splash had joined them, his smile as bright as his burning eyes.
"Perhaps you two would like some company?" He asked as he settled on the other side. Mary grinned at the three of them.
"Yeah thanks. It's silly, I know...but-"
"There's nothing wrong with being worried about our
child" Rosetta softly bapped Mary's face with a wing.
"Nothing wrong at all my dear." Splash agreed. "But allow us to distract you both from your worries for a moment."
"Pep talk." Ferox chuckled.
"Exactly! Now how about we focus our thoughts on our upcoming journey? Oh I am so excited! To think that we-"
Mary cast one glance up at the sky, once again forming a silent prayer for her son's safety, before turning to the eager Tundra to discuss their journey.
