"You're up!" Friehalt exclaimed as she opened the door to see Friday sitting at Darkstar's table drinking a steaming cup of tea. She had come to check on the imperial daily, and Darkstar had had him on some pretty heavy anesthetics. to get him through the worst of the pain. It clearly had paid off, however, because he was finally awake.
The imperial raised his head in surprise. "Friehalt!" He exclaimed.
"You remembered!" The ridgeback grinned, feeling a fluttering in her chest.
"Ah, well you're a face to remember," Friday smiled softly, then winced as his shoulder shifted.
"You look like whatever you were fighting got you pretty bad," Friehalt's face fell in concern and she moved to join him at the table.
"Ah well, it put up a good fight," Friday groaned. "I only just fought it off."
"What were you fighting?" Friehalt asked, perking up.
"You don't want to know," Friday grimaced. "It's gone now, that's what counts. It couldn't get me."
"It looks like it got you pretty bad," Friehalt reiterated, scanning the Imperial's wounds up and down.
"Well, yeah, but it didn't
get me," Friday pointed out. "I got away. Thank goodness. I don't think you'd be as keen to help me if I had been tainted by
that!"
The way the imperial shivered as he spoke gave Friehalt chills. He seemed haunted by whatever it was that had attacked him. She had never seen anything like it before... unless the dragons in her life that had encountered it had a different reaction to it altogether.
"Was it the Shade?" Friehalt asked. Immediately, his cyan eyes snapped up to meet hers, brows furrowed.
"How did you know?" He demanded.
Friehalt shrugged. "It's kind of a big deal where I come from. Dragons seek it out, and use it for fuel. I was trying to get away from all of that."
Friday bristled as she spoke. "What dragon would willingly invite that abomination into their body?" She spat.
"Dragons who want more than what they can get naturally, I guess," Friehalt pointed out. "I mean, I think that's a big part of how Jett was able to take over-"
"Wait," Friday cut her off. "You mean you guys have a Shade-touched dragon as a
king?" He looked sick. "Gosh, if that's the case, I'm sticking around. I'm not going to let it get away with that. The Shade is vile and nasty and should be driven from this world!"
Friehalt's face fell. It seemed like everyone wanted to fight and take down Jett. Just when she thought she had found someone who might join her in her dream of living free of that conflict, she had to go and mess it up by mentioning the Shade. She opened her mouth the respond when the door swung open again.
"Where's Darkstar?" Yoela asked. Her face was strained with worry.
"She's treating the other patient," Friday nodded towards a closed door that Friehalt had never entered. Apparently, at the Trickmurk Ball, one of the party-goers had eaten some of the diseased food and fallen quite ill. Darkstar had put her in quarentine and was doing her best to treat her. She was a light dragon, so she had been holding on pretty well, but lately there had been a decline in her health and she didn't think she was going to make it.
"I know she said we weren't supposed to come-" Yoela said, lowering her head. "But if she's not doing well, I want to say good-bye." The corners of her eyes began to glisten.
"I tried to tell her it was a bad idea," Xander sighed. "But she wouldn't be persuaded."
"It's just not fair! Dad can walk in Mom's dreams anytime he wants, but I can't even talk to her?" Yoela sniffed.
Suddenly, the imperial was interrupted by the quarantine door swinging open. Darkstar strolled out, a somber look on her face. She looked frustrated. Her gaze softened as she caught sight of the two newcomers.
"You know you weren't supposed to come, right?" Darkstar asked. Though her words were harsh, her expression bore sympathy for the younger dragon. "I can't let you see her, or you're going to get sick too. That's not going to help anything. I know that's not the answer you want to hear, but there's no way around it."
"She's not going to make it, is she?" Yoela asked.
"I'm not going to lie to you to make you feel better," Darkstar confirmed. "I wouldn't be surprised if she passes before the day is done."
"Do you want a cup of tea?" Friehalt asked, moving to put on the kettle. Darkstar wasn't one to drink tea, but she always had a stash for her patients and family of patients.
Yoela nodded, cheek streaked with freshly fallen tears. Xander nudged her and the two moved to join Friday and Friehalt at the table. Friehalt brought them steaming mugs of tea and stayed to chat with them as long as they needed. Darkstar returned to treating her patient, sweat forming on her brow.
They spoke until late into the night, when Darkstar came out with the news that Tiffany had passed on.
It took longer than usual for Xavier to fall asleep. Tiffany had been growing weaker the past few days, and he knew it couldn't be long until she passed.
When he finally did drift off, he found himself in a meadow of flowers in the Sunbeam Ruins. The sun was shining brightly and warmly and birds were singing in the treetops. A wildclaw was running free through the meadow, wings skimming over the grass and wildflowers and giggling with absolute euphoria.
Tiffany was happier than she had been in a long time.
Xavier smiled slightly. The weight of the illness had lifted off her shoulders, and it was beautiful. He knew, however, that this could only mean, one thing: her time had come.
Xavier wanted to call out to her, to say his goodbyes, but seeing her run with such reckless abandon, he couldn't bring himself to interrupt it. Instead, he watched her play in the meadow with a sad smile on his face until the night began to fall and Tiffany faded into the night sky. And for the first time that Xavier could remember, he was alone in his dream.
Oh my goodness, there was so much Coli today! And everyone did so well until the last 10 battles of the last stint when Tiffany, Ragna and Webb moved into the Scorched Forest... Other than that incident, it was really fun battling! The majority of my dragons are a high enough level that I can stick to the Woodland Path and really work on leveling them up beyond the first two venues!
If anyone wants Tiffany, you have until 23:59 FR time tomorrow (Monday) to claim her.
Also, I had a question involving the disease plot. I started it before Coronavirus became a big thing, but I'm wondering if it's maybe something that would be too real to make into a big plotline. If that's something that would add to your anxiety, Tiffany's death can be the last of the virus. On the flipside, however, living through it might add interesting contexts I wouldn't have had before. But all in all, I want to ask your opinion on it, because I don't want anyone to feel like they have to stop reading because the story is getting a little too real.
On the flip side, all this social distancing means I'll be able to write a lot more frequently! My classes have been moved online for the last 3 weeks, so I still have stuff to do, but I'll have more time to write, so you can expect this to really get going again! Which is good because there's only 3 months until June and that's when I'll be wrapping up this Pinkerlocke and starting a new one.
My word, Friday is absolutely fantastic! I love his genes, colors, and outfit; everything just goes together so well. And I'm so glad Darkstar and Friehalt finally found each other! I agree with them; they have a lot of catching up to do.
Thank you for taking the time to write all that out! It really made my morning!
