Popped in today and was pleasantly surprised to see I'd also missed the previous chapter! So I've got more stuff to read today, whoo! :3
Day 92: Night Coat
Hhholy moly, that opening scene with Brokentusk and Bartleby was a roller coaster! The banter between the two of them seguing into that heart-to-heart talk was devastating. ;__; I was afraid we'd lose Patience as well, so seeing them swear to defeat the Game Master instead was a good palate cleanser.
Day 93: Mail Day!
It was cool to see the blip from Valoo's POV! And always nice to see letters and news! Was definitely not expecting to see the Shadowbinder at the end though, wow. :o
Popped in today and was pleasantly surprised to see I'd also missed the previous chapter! So I've got more stuff to read today, whoo! :3
Day 92: Night Coat
Hhholy moly, that opening scene with Brokentusk and Bartleby was a roller coaster! The banter between the two of them seguing into that heart-to-heart talk was devastating. ;__; I was afraid we'd lose Patience as well, so seeing them swear to defeat the Game Master instead was a good palate cleanser.
Day 93: Mail Day!
It was cool to see the blip from Valoo's POV! And always nice to see letters and news! Was definitely not expecting to see the Shadowbinder at the end though, wow. :o
Please check the spelling of my name when pinging me: @Disillusionist. Thanks!
Suddenly skipping twelve whole years without realizing it is a terrifying concept the further you look into it [emoji=spiral scared size=1]. Though I can also the narrative benefits it brought for you, it sort of brought everything up-to-date based on our time and thus easier to pick up again.
Anyways, Shadowbinder is so silly. I love the little explanation for Nightshade's goopiness.
Suddenly skipping twelve whole years without realizing it is a terrifying concept the further you look into it . Though I can also the narrative benefits it brought for you, it sort of brought everything up-to-date based on our time and thus easier to pick up again.
Anyways, Shadowbinder is so silly. I love the little explanation for Nightshade's goopiness.
Yeah, the time skip taken a lot of pressure off of me (plus it allows me to potentially bring in newer breeds on familiar pulls), but the in-world implications are wild and devastating.
Slime is a really good gene for Shadow dragons, it turns out.
Yeah, the time skip taken a lot of pressure off of me (plus it allows me to potentially bring in newer breeds on familiar pulls), but the in-world implications are wild and devastating.
Slime is a really good gene for Shadow dragons, it turns out.
-----
[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3244658/108#post_58540235]Previous[/url][/center]
-----
[center][b][u]Day 94: Falling[/u][/b]
[item=greenworm]
Sentence: 20-30 Coli Battles[/center]
-----
[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/90867673][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=1&body=103&bodygene=261&breed=24&element=1&eyetype=0&gender=1&tert=36&tertgene=244&winggene=261&wings=77&auth=89da5e8816cea2c87725e3d9e0c1fd10523abea5&dummyext=prev.png[/img][/url][/center]
Arkose woke to find that the space that Crocodile usually occupied was empty. The blankets were cold, it looked like she had been gone a while. It was dark out, what was she doing up and out so late at night? Better question, why didn’t Crocodile invite Arkose to join in whatever fun adventure she was having? Arkose had always been down to do pretty much anything with the other auraboa.
That was one of the things that she appreciated about Crocodile, she was a good escape from her past. She had been married before, she had tried that domestic life, and it wasn’t for her. Waiting for decades for Runik to return from space-time war, missing him too much to do much more than keep house and hope that he hadn’t been killed, it was excruciating. With Crocodile, there was no waiting, everything happened in the moment, barely any time to think about it. She had taught Arkose a new way of living, and the spontaneous instability of it all was so invigorating.
Arkose decided that she was going to go and surprise Crocodile, wherever she was. She would like that, and then Arkose could join in on whatever fun she was having.
Arkose got out of bed and instantly began searching for her girlfriend. She looped through the air, taking care to be as quiet as possible. She had decided that as soon as she found Crocodile, she would sneak up behind her and scare her, and she didn’t want anything to give her away.
All mischief drained from Arkose the moment she realized she could hear Crocodile’s voice coming from Runik’s tent. As she turned a corner, she could make out their shadows lit up through the canvas of the tent.
[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/90867260][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=1&body=80&bodygene=245&breed=24&element=5&eyetype=1&gender=0&tert=173&tertgene=238&winggene=240&wings=177&auth=aa5b1e5f24c532952497b5bc7a97297f9a7d6561&dummyext=prev.png[/img][/url][/center]
[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/90867249][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=1&body=41&bodygene=240&breed=24&element=9&eyetype=1&gender=0&tert=65&tertgene=244&winggene=251&wings=57&auth=e1e17ea6c68c9311753b13c6bef800543768f90c&dummyext=prev.png[/img][/url][/center]
They were laughing together, Arkose could see their heads close together. Her heart felt like it had been speared by a stalactite. Crocodile knew how she felt about Runik, why was she [i]here[/i]? She heard Runik’s soft giggle rise up, and she felt like she was impaled again. The last time she had heard that laugh was before he went off to war, and it brought a wave of yearning for those days that Arkose did not want to be feeling.
Arkose couldn’t take it anymore, she burst into the tent, anger flooding through her. Crocodile and Runik instantly stopped laughing, and stared wide-eyed at Arkose.
“Babe-” Crocodile began.
“What is going on here?” Arkose fumed.
“We weren’t doing anything, honest,” Runik spoke up, his voice soft despite the tension in the room. It made Arkose mad how calm he always was, like nothing was ever really a big deal. “Crocodile just had some questions about the loop.”
“Yeah, I promise we’re not up to any hanky panky,” Crocodile said, though her head had lowered and she was not meeting Arkose’s gaze. “I just knew you didn’t want anything to do with the loop, I figured you wouldn’t want to get involved.”
“I would never do anything to hurt you, Arkose,” Runik said.
[i]Except you have hurt me,[/i] Arkose thought bitterly, then she shut that thought out. She didn’t want to think about the past, and everything here was just a big blaring reminder. She couldn’t be here anymore. “Whatever,” She said, making her exit.
Arkose didn’t want to go back to the tent, not with all the reminders of Crocodile there. She was too angry for that. Instead, she flew up in the sky, wondering if she could fly far enough to get away from it all.
“Arkose!” Crocodile’s voice sounded from below her.
Arkose swore, and kept swearing.
“Babe, I don’t know what the big deal is!” Crocodile shouted. “I swear, it was just loop stuff! Nothing more!”
Arkose stopped, it was clear Crocodile wasn’t going to let up, and she might as well get this conversation over with.
“You know how I feel about Runik,” Arkose said. “He [i]abandoned[/i] me!”
“It wasn’t his fault!” Crocodile said. “He explained it to me, he said in his time, he was only gone a few months. The timelines just got messed up.”
“And now you’re taking his side!” Arkose spat. “This is what I mean! You’ve chosen him, I saw in your eyes how you feel about him.”
“Yeah, so what if I like him? I can like who I want,” Crocodile’s eyes narrowed. “It’s just feelings. I wasn’t going to act on it, out of respect for you. You have no idea what you’ve become for me. I usually don’t have relationships longer than a few weeks. We’ve been together [i]years[/i], I never do that. I thought you respected me, but if you’re going to throw out baseless accusations, maybe I was wrong. Maybe entering a long-term relationship was a mistake after all.”
Crocodile turned around and flew back down to the tents.
“Crocodile, wait!” Arkose called out after her, but she did not respond. Tears rolled down Arkose’s face, falling through the sky below her like rain. Her head was spinning, what had just happened? Had she just messed everything up? Was she alone once again?
[center][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/9a138c26554e324936484ade5021b573/280633acce0f81d9-f0/s540x810/4749c14343af35096e06119b885d7bc79977c4c5.png[/img][/center]
[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/93198576][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=1&body=174&bodygene=141&breed=19&element=7&eyetype=0&gender=1&tert=138&tertgene=270&winggene=70&wings=170&auth=de9a3d6b5513187c99eacb858d6363d2155243c6&dummyext=prev.png[/img][/url][/center]
Life was beautiful. The stars were out, the night was young, and Nightshade had finally made it to the Scarred Wasteland. It had taken a while, there had just been so many opportunities for mischief along the way. They were certain their mother would not mind, they were made for trouble after all. It had been a long time since The Shadowbinder had let them run free, they had been trapped in the goop for too long.
To say that Nightshade had a problem with authority figures was an understatement. They had lost count of all the governments that they had toppled. It had only become a problem for The Shadowbinder when Nightshade had decided that they were sick of the gods and tried to usurp The Shadowbinder herself.
It was then that Nightshade noticed an aberration wandering across the wastes alone. Both of her heads were looking around, like she was making sure that she wasn’t being followed. Surely they had enough time to spare for one more bout of mischief.
[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/92483779][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/preview/dragon?age=1&body=7&bodygene=233&breed=20&element=2&eyetype=0&gender=1&tert=136&tertgene=104&winggene=104&wings=42&auth=c2c82709e9989966a771eaf26e763f176bc84ee9&dummyext=prev.png[/img][/url][/center]
Nightshade swooped down, ready to wreak havoc on this poor unsuspecting soul. Their plans were foiled when one of the aberration’s heads snapped over to fix a rot-red gaze on the veilspun. They had been caught in the act.
“You’re a sharp one,” Nightshade laughed, flying circles around the aberration's heads.
“Yeah, well, I was taught to keep a close eye on my surroundings. You can never be too careful in the Plaguelands,” The head that had noticed Nightshade said, narrowing her eyes. The other head was watching the veilspun with a dazzled look on her face. Nightshade smirked, they supposed they did look quite dazzling in the moonlight.
“I’ve heard that as well. Say, how well do you know this area? I’m trying to find The Disciples. Do you know where I can find them?” Nightshade asked.
“What do you want with them? My parent always told me not to get too close to them. They said that my grandfather has a bunch of dragons trapped there and are using them to try to become a god,” The dazzled head shuddered. Nightshade felt a burst of inspiration, maybe there was still a way to cause trouble here.
“Let’s just say I’m going to try to dismantle the whole thing,” Nightshade grinned. “Wanna come?”
“Hell yeah,” The other head said. “Let’s do it.”
“Do you want to go tell your parent where you are going?” Nightshade asked, half-taunting her. “I heard it’s very easy to get stuck in these games.”
“No way, if I tell my parent, they’ll try to stop me,” The observant head said. The dazzled head nodded.
[i]Damn, she’s pretty ride or die already, this is going to be fun,[/i] Nightshade thought to themself. “Well, partner in crime, I’m Nightshade. What’s your’s?”
“I’m Ribbon,” The aberration said. “Now, what are we waiting for, let’s go!”
[center][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/9a138c26554e324936484ade5021b573/280633acce0f81d9-f0/s540x810/4749c14343af35096e06119b885d7bc79977c4c5.png[/img][/center]
[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/87679544][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/dressing-room/dragon?did=87679544&skin=0&apparel=554,3290,20607,20610,20612,25794&xt=dressing.png[/img][/url][/center]
[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/92604015][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/dressing-room/dragon?did=92604015&skin=0&apparel=48844,31070,30822,3629,6030,30828,30848,31968&xt=dressing.png[/img][/url][/center]
Faust woke up as the sun filtered through the window, reflecting off of the dust motes in the air. She could feel the rocking of the Proud Mary on the pus-like river beneath her. Beside her, Kalak had not woken yet. Faust took a moment to enjoy the gentle snoring of the guardian, watching the rise and fall of her chest. She was overcome by a rush of affection.
It had been hard, since the challenge, between grieving Halibut and helping Kalak with Luego. These nights at the Proud Mary felt like a little oasis. A part of Faust wanted to stay here forever, in this moment. She had not yet told Kalak of her feelings for her, she was worried it would break this spell, and these nights would cease to exist.
Kalak began to stir. Faust looked away as her red eyes blinked open, not wanting to get caught staring. Kalak stretched and yawned, throwing off the blanket and getting up.
“There’s nothing like sleeping in an actual room instead of a tent,” Kalak said groggily. “I guess we should get breakfast and then relieve my dad of his grandma duties.”
“You know Joshe is happy to have Luego as long as you need,” Faust reminded her, hoping to hold onto this morning just a little longer.
Kalak looked over at Faust, and the snapper found herself getting lost in her eyes. Time seemed to stop, neither of them wanted to break eye-contact.
“Faust, I think I’m in love with you,” Kalak said at last, and Faust felt every atom in her body rush in response.
[center][img]https://64.media.tumblr.com/9a138c26554e324936484ade5021b573/280633acce0f81d9-f0/s540x810/4749c14343af35096e06119b885d7bc79977c4c5.png[/img][/center]
[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/93319625][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/dressing-room/dragon?did=93319625&skin=0&apparel=54712,2982,45160,45161,54702,45168,45184&xt=dressing.png[/img][/url][/center]
[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/88954911][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/dressing-room/dragon?did=88954911&skin=0&apparel=7283,24519,28150&xt=dressing.png[/img][/url][/center]
“You really think my shade is strong enough for this?” Mayall asked, staring at the small camp that she and Ichabod sat a little ways from. It wasn’t much of a camp, it was only made up of one flashy tent. It looked as though it was trying, and failing, to look like a castle.
“If you don’t want me to train you,” Ichabod growled. Mayall winced. Like many of her family members, he had very little patience.
“No, I can do this,” Mayall steeled in determination. “Especially if it means Shui is going to notice me.”
“I still don’t get why you care so much about his opinion, especially when I am going to kill him someday,” Ichabod snorted. “Whatever, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of the test. If you can’t even devour one measly dragon with your shade energy, then I’ve wasted my time. I like to think I’ve chosen a simple target. A small camp, a leader with only two allies. They should be easy enough to get past.”
“And this is an important kill?” Mayall asked.
“If you succeed, the rest of this faction will scatter, leaving me with fewer rivals for ascension. I assume they will go and join other factions, which will give them marginally more support and power, but we can wean down their numbers over time too,” Ichabod explained. “If you infect either of them, maybe we can sway them over to our side, unless you want to devour them as well.” Ichabod moaned longingly and rubbed his stomach. “Nothing fully satisfies you with The Shade, but there is nothing like consuming another dragon’s energy and feeling their life energy dissipate within you as they are reduced to nothing. You better get moving, or I’m going to get too hungry and I’m going to do it myself.”
Mayall didn’t need telling another time. Melting into the shadows the way Ichabod taught her, she snuck forward. She knew Ichabod had said she could eat or infect anyone who saw her, but she would rather not run into anyone.
It was easier than she expected. If she leaned into combining her shade magic with harpy DNA, she could take on a bird-like form and remove suspicion. She was delighted to find that her target was alone when she located her. She had the biggest chamber in the tent, and clearly she liked having her own space.
Ichabod has said he liked using shade magic to devour dragons whole, but Mayall had different plans. She positioned herself over her target, and let shade-feathers fall on her. Her target let out a screech as the falling feathers left patches of void on her scales. It did not take long until she was entirely covered, and Mayall could feel her life energy getting sucked into her, feeding her shade. Ichabod was right, it was like something she had never experienced before.
[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/dragon/9391573][img]https://www1.flightrising.com/dgen/dressing-room/dragon?did=9391573&skin=0&apparel=27991,27992,27995,27993,27997,27998&xt=dressing.png[/img][/url][/center]
Before too long, Pinky was no more.
-----
[center][url=https://www1.flightrising.com/forums/qnc/3244658/110#post_58576953]Next[/url][/center]
-----
[center]@pinglist-3016[/center]
-----
I'm shocked that I managed to get chapters out 2 days in a row!!! It seems this writer's block really is done! (But don't expect this regularly, I don't have the time to post daily).
You know, I always intended Runik to eventually join Arkose and Crocodile to create a polycule, and this chapter was supposed to be the start of that, but as I wrote the fight, I realized that I don't know if Arkose will ever want to reconcile with Runik in that way, and I don't want to push her where she is not comfortable and force a storyline that is not working. I don't know what this even means for Arkose and Crocodile's relationship, we will have to see where the story takes them as I continue to write them.
At least we had some other warm fuzzy romantic moments to contrast that!
Also, RIP Pinky. [b]If anyone wants to claim her, she will be available until Sunday March 9th 2025. First come first serve.[/b] If no one claims her, I will be figuring out something else for her because as I was looking at her page today in preparation for writing, I realized she is now a decade old and exalting her feels wrong.
It's very difficult to find greenworms, as they blend so well with the grasses that they feed in.
53
5
Sentence: 20-30 Coli Battles
Arkose woke to find that the space that Crocodile usually occupied was empty. The blankets were cold, it looked like she had been gone a while. It was dark out, what was she doing up and out so late at night? Better question, why didn’t Crocodile invite Arkose to join in whatever fun adventure she was having? Arkose had always been down to do pretty much anything with the other auraboa.
That was one of the things that she appreciated about Crocodile, she was a good escape from her past. She had been married before, she had tried that domestic life, and it wasn’t for her. Waiting for decades for Runik to return from space-time war, missing him too much to do much more than keep house and hope that he hadn’t been killed, it was excruciating. With Crocodile, there was no waiting, everything happened in the moment, barely any time to think about it. She had taught Arkose a new way of living, and the spontaneous instability of it all was so invigorating.
Arkose decided that she was going to go and surprise Crocodile, wherever she was. She would like that, and then Arkose could join in on whatever fun she was having.
Arkose got out of bed and instantly began searching for her girlfriend. She looped through the air, taking care to be as quiet as possible. She had decided that as soon as she found Crocodile, she would sneak up behind her and scare her, and she didn’t want anything to give her away.
All mischief drained from Arkose the moment she realized she could hear Crocodile’s voice coming from Runik’s tent. As she turned a corner, she could make out their shadows lit up through the canvas of the tent.
They were laughing together, Arkose could see their heads close together. Her heart felt like it had been speared by a stalactite. Crocodile knew how she felt about Runik, why was she here? She heard Runik’s soft giggle rise up, and she felt like she was impaled again. The last time she had heard that laugh was before he went off to war, and it brought a wave of yearning for those days that Arkose did not want to be feeling.
Arkose couldn’t take it anymore, she burst into the tent, anger flooding through her. Crocodile and Runik instantly stopped laughing, and stared wide-eyed at Arkose.
“Babe-” Crocodile began.
“What is going on here?” Arkose fumed.
“We weren’t doing anything, honest,” Runik spoke up, his voice soft despite the tension in the room. It made Arkose mad how calm he always was, like nothing was ever really a big deal. “Crocodile just had some questions about the loop.”
“Yeah, I promise we’re not up to any hanky panky,” Crocodile said, though her head had lowered and she was not meeting Arkose’s gaze. “I just knew you didn’t want anything to do with the loop, I figured you wouldn’t want to get involved.”
“I would never do anything to hurt you, Arkose,” Runik said.
Except you have hurt me, Arkose thought bitterly, then she shut that thought out. She didn’t want to think about the past, and everything here was just a big blaring reminder. She couldn’t be here anymore. “Whatever,” She said, making her exit.
Arkose didn’t want to go back to the tent, not with all the reminders of Crocodile there. She was too angry for that. Instead, she flew up in the sky, wondering if she could fly far enough to get away from it all.
“Arkose!” Crocodile’s voice sounded from below her.
Arkose swore, and kept swearing.
“Babe, I don’t know what the big deal is!” Crocodile shouted. “I swear, it was just loop stuff! Nothing more!”
Arkose stopped, it was clear Crocodile wasn’t going to let up, and she might as well get this conversation over with.
“You know how I feel about Runik,” Arkose said. “He abandoned me!”
“It wasn’t his fault!” Crocodile said. “He explained it to me, he said in his time, he was only gone a few months. The timelines just got messed up.”
“And now you’re taking his side!” Arkose spat. “This is what I mean! You’ve chosen him, I saw in your eyes how you feel about him.”
“Yeah, so what if I like him? I can like who I want,” Crocodile’s eyes narrowed. “It’s just feelings. I wasn’t going to act on it, out of respect for you. You have no idea what you’ve become for me. I usually don’t have relationships longer than a few weeks. We’ve been together years, I never do that. I thought you respected me, but if you’re going to throw out baseless accusations, maybe I was wrong. Maybe entering a long-term relationship was a mistake after all.”
Crocodile turned around and flew back down to the tents.
“Crocodile, wait!” Arkose called out after her, but she did not respond. Tears rolled down Arkose’s face, falling through the sky below her like rain. Her head was spinning, what had just happened? Had she just messed everything up? Was she alone once again?
Life was beautiful. The stars were out, the night was young, and Nightshade had finally made it to the Scarred Wasteland. It had taken a while, there had just been so many opportunities for mischief along the way. They were certain their mother would not mind, they were made for trouble after all. It had been a long time since The Shadowbinder had let them run free, they had been trapped in the goop for too long.
To say that Nightshade had a problem with authority figures was an understatement. They had lost count of all the governments that they had toppled. It had only become a problem for The Shadowbinder when Nightshade had decided that they were sick of the gods and tried to usurp The Shadowbinder herself.
It was then that Nightshade noticed an aberration wandering across the wastes alone. Both of her heads were looking around, like she was making sure that she wasn’t being followed. Surely they had enough time to spare for one more bout of mischief.
Nightshade swooped down, ready to wreak havoc on this poor unsuspecting soul. Their plans were foiled when one of the aberration’s heads snapped over to fix a rot-red gaze on the veilspun. They had been caught in the act.
“You’re a sharp one,” Nightshade laughed, flying circles around the aberration's heads.
“Yeah, well, I was taught to keep a close eye on my surroundings. You can never be too careful in the Plaguelands,” The head that had noticed Nightshade said, narrowing her eyes. The other head was watching the veilspun with a dazzled look on her face. Nightshade smirked, they supposed they did look quite dazzling in the moonlight.
“I’ve heard that as well. Say, how well do you know this area? I’m trying to find The Disciples. Do you know where I can find them?” Nightshade asked.
“What do you want with them? My parent always told me not to get too close to them. They said that my grandfather has a bunch of dragons trapped there and are using them to try to become a god,” The dazzled head shuddered. Nightshade felt a burst of inspiration, maybe there was still a way to cause trouble here.
“Let’s just say I’m going to try to dismantle the whole thing,” Nightshade grinned. “Wanna come?”
“Hell yeah,” The other head said. “Let’s do it.”
“Do you want to go tell your parent where you are going?” Nightshade asked, half-taunting her. “I heard it’s very easy to get stuck in these games.”
“No way, if I tell my parent, they’ll try to stop me,” The observant head said. The dazzled head nodded.
Damn, she’s pretty ride or die already, this is going to be fun, Nightshade thought to themself. “Well, partner in crime, I’m Nightshade. What’s your’s?”
“I’m Ribbon,” The aberration said. “Now, what are we waiting for, let’s go!”
Faust woke up as the sun filtered through the window, reflecting off of the dust motes in the air. She could feel the rocking of the Proud Mary on the pus-like river beneath her. Beside her, Kalak had not woken yet. Faust took a moment to enjoy the gentle snoring of the guardian, watching the rise and fall of her chest. She was overcome by a rush of affection.
It had been hard, since the challenge, between grieving Halibut and helping Kalak with Luego. These nights at the Proud Mary felt like a little oasis. A part of Faust wanted to stay here forever, in this moment. She had not yet told Kalak of her feelings for her, she was worried it would break this spell, and these nights would cease to exist.
Kalak began to stir. Faust looked away as her red eyes blinked open, not wanting to get caught staring. Kalak stretched and yawned, throwing off the blanket and getting up.
“There’s nothing like sleeping in an actual room instead of a tent,” Kalak said groggily. “I guess we should get breakfast and then relieve my dad of his grandma duties.”
“You know Joshe is happy to have Luego as long as you need,” Faust reminded her, hoping to hold onto this morning just a little longer.
Kalak looked over at Faust, and the snapper found herself getting lost in her eyes. Time seemed to stop, neither of them wanted to break eye-contact.
“Faust, I think I’m in love with you,” Kalak said at last, and Faust felt every atom in her body rush in response.
“You really think my shade is strong enough for this?” Mayall asked, staring at the small camp that she and Ichabod sat a little ways from. It wasn’t much of a camp, it was only made up of one flashy tent. It looked as though it was trying, and failing, to look like a castle.
“If you don’t want me to train you,” Ichabod growled. Mayall winced. Like many of her family members, he had very little patience.
“No, I can do this,” Mayall steeled in determination. “Especially if it means Shui is going to notice me.”
“I still don’t get why you care so much about his opinion, especially when I am going to kill him someday,” Ichabod snorted. “Whatever, as long as it doesn’t get in the way of the test. If you can’t even devour one measly dragon with your shade energy, then I’ve wasted my time. I like to think I’ve chosen a simple target. A small camp, a leader with only two allies. They should be easy enough to get past.”
“And this is an important kill?” Mayall asked.
“If you succeed, the rest of this faction will scatter, leaving me with fewer rivals for ascension. I assume they will go and join other factions, which will give them marginally more support and power, but we can wean down their numbers over time too,” Ichabod explained. “If you infect either of them, maybe we can sway them over to our side, unless you want to devour them as well.” Ichabod moaned longingly and rubbed his stomach. “Nothing fully satisfies you with The Shade, but there is nothing like consuming another dragon’s energy and feeling their life energy dissipate within you as they are reduced to nothing. You better get moving, or I’m going to get too hungry and I’m going to do it myself.”
Mayall didn’t need telling another time. Melting into the shadows the way Ichabod taught her, she snuck forward. She knew Ichabod had said she could eat or infect anyone who saw her, but she would rather not run into anyone.
It was easier than she expected. If she leaned into combining her shade magic with harpy DNA, she could take on a bird-like form and remove suspicion. She was delighted to find that her target was alone when she located her. She had the biggest chamber in the tent, and clearly she liked having her own space.
Ichabod has said he liked using shade magic to devour dragons whole, but Mayall had different plans. She positioned herself over her target, and let shade-feathers fall on her. Her target let out a screech as the falling feathers left patches of void on her scales. It did not take long until she was entirely covered, and Mayall could feel her life energy getting sucked into her, feeding her shade. Ichabod was right, it was like something she had never experienced before.
I'm shocked that I managed to get chapters out 2 days in a row!!! It seems this writer's block really is done! (But don't expect this regularly, I don't have the time to post daily).
You know, I always intended Runik to eventually join Arkose and Crocodile to create a polycule, and this chapter was supposed to be the start of that, but as I wrote the fight, I realized that I don't know if Arkose will ever want to reconcile with Runik in that way, and I don't want to push her where she is not comfortable and force a storyline that is not working. I don't know what this even means for Arkose and Crocodile's relationship, we will have to see where the story takes them as I continue to write them.
At least we had some other warm fuzzy romantic moments to contrast that!
Also, RIP Pinky. If anyone wants to claim her, she will be available until Sunday March 9th 2025. First come first serve. If no one claims her, I will be figuring out something else for her because as I was looking at her page today in preparation for writing, I realized she is now a decade old and exalting her feels wrong.
omg so much happening this chapter, especially pinky, she was an annoying character but very entertaining nonetheless. the consequences will definitely be interesting, especially for saphire
omg so much happening this chapter, especially pinky, she was an annoying character but very entertaining nonetheless. the consequences will definitely be interesting, especially for saphire
After that pretty fraught conversation between Arkose and Crocodile, it was nice to see the other interactions! Especially Nightshade exploring the world, and Kalak's declaration of love. [emoji=guardian love]
Aaaaand bye, Pinky, you won't really be missed. x'D
After that pretty fraught conversation between Arkose and Crocodile, it was nice to see the other interactions! Especially Nightshade exploring the world, and Kalak's declaration of love.
Aaaaand bye, Pinky, you won't really be missed. x'D
Faust and Kalak are so cute together <3! The total opposite of what's going on between Arkose and Crocodile.
And RIBBON NO-
RIP Pinky, though the way Mayall killed her was creative! I will also note that she's a 7-digit dragon, which are pretty expensive nowadays. (A couple years ago the avg was around 25-50g, but you could find lower. Currently, the lowest seems to be around 300g. She's also a G1, which can raise the price even more).
Faust and Kalak are so cute together <3! The total opposite of what's going on between Arkose and Crocodile.
And RIBBON NO-
RIP Pinky, though the way Mayall killed her was creative! I will also note that she's a 7-digit dragon, which are pretty expensive nowadays. (A couple years ago the avg was around 25-50g, but you could find lower. Currently, the lowest seems to be around 300g. She's also a G1, which can raise the price even more).
I have been waiting for the right time to get Faust and Kalak together for such a long time, I'm glad I can finally do it! Nightshade and Ribbon's dynamic is going to be fun too!
Yeah, it really was mood whiplash between those two scenes lol.
Oh, thanks for letting me know! I knew she was a valuable dragon due to her age, but I had no idea that she was that valuable. I may hold onto her in that case (either to sell or to slot into my other lore somewhere)
I have been waiting for the right time to get Faust and Kalak together for such a long time, I'm glad I can finally do it! Nightshade and Ribbon's dynamic is going to be fun too!
Yeah, it really was mood whiplash between those two scenes lol.
Oh, thanks for letting me know! I knew she was a valuable dragon due to her age, but I had no idea that she was that valuable. I may hold onto her in that case (either to sell or to slot into my other lore somewhere)
. Though I can also the narrative benefits it brought for you, it sort of brought everything up-to-date based on our time and thus easier to pick up again.
