Roleplay

@DisastrousAbsol

"He's not just bad, he's literally the worst. He's the best fighter in the clan and while he's humble enough about it, the main reason he destroys things is because he's a pure psychopath. That's why he's a hunter and cavern digger. Jaladri hopes that by giving him something useful to destroy, he won't turn his sights on other dragons. There's a reason why he's kept under supervision." Shino growled, wings folded tight.

"Yeah, although Sumire is less of a surveyer and more muscle to keep him in line. I'm pretty sure he's the only reason why Ruin bothers to listen to Lynne half the darn time." Lily shook her head, thinking of the strange half-Mirror that they'd rescued months ago.

The Mirror had been stolen from his nest as a hatchling, rescued by Amaya and Galaxan and brought to the clan. Oddly, the Mirrodancer siblings said he smelled familiar to them, but couldn't figure out where from or who. The strange thing was that he'd been taken by the same drake who'd stolen August as a child and attacked the clan when Blitze had been born.

Now he resided as the clan's Hoarde Keeper, deep underground with the Vault. He said he rather liked his work, the only one able to happily swim in the lava surrounding the vault without burning fur or feathers. Ruin stayed down there with him, guarding the vault as well.
-

"Somnus? What are you doing so far back here?" A voice called, Shiva stepping into the warmer light of the caverns lit by lava.

The elder dragoness wore her age well, not a mark of dulling to her colors nor droop to her feathers.

"Are you looking for one of your siblings, dear?" She asked kindly, tilting her head.

@DisastrousAbsol

Sensing the confusion, Hel lifted her head.

"Sumire. Mirror-male. Guards our Vault. Fluffy." She said, short and clipped.

"And usually on fire. A kind soul, but stern when he wishes to be. He says he doesn't look like his parents at all, though he barely remembers them. All he knows is his mother had dark blue feathers and his father was small and gray-purple. That's about it." Lily shrugged.

"Isn't the fire cursed or something? He can't exactly stop being on fire, but he can tone it down a bit. We think the White Ridgeback did something to him as a hatchling that made him all firey. Blitze acts odd sometimes too, remember when the clan got all panicked when that drake tried to raid the Nesting Grounds? Blitze was taken for barely an hour but came back all wide eyed and speechless. August hasn't said anything about it, but Emi says he's been a lot warier ever since then." Izuku rambled, his analytical side coming out in full.

"Izu, babbling." Hel sighed, shaking her head.

"Ah, whoops. Thanks, Hel. I tend to go off on a tangent sometimes." Izuku paused, blinking.

"We could probably meet him if you'd like, the Vault isn't far from here, but I don't know if you'd be able to stand the heat. Plus Ruin would usually be with him..." Lily said, frowning.
-

"Ah, if you're looking for him, I believe Wraith said something about his needing help and whisking him off to their den. Moss told me about it a few moments ago. Would you like me to guide you there?" Shiva asked, tilting her head slightly with a smile.

She remembered when he was just a hatchling, giggling and babbling with Elio as they raced around the den, just before the Incident that led them all to move to the Molten Scar. How he'd grown in these few short months, only to be cursed into a form that broke and shattered, never able to sing or laugh like Skydancers should. She saw most of the clan as her own children, having been the Nesting Ground's Watcher for so long.

Nowadays she contented herself with watching the new generation's children, retired along with Yoruko but not yet exalted. She would never exalt herself.

@DisastrousAbsol

Lily shook her head, frowning.

"He never leaves the Vault I'm afraid. One, he's the only one who can guard it, and two, there's highly valuable stuff in there. To leave it would be asking to have something stolen. And while yes, Ruin is an absolute cactus, but he does listen to Sumire sometimes. Besides, the only ones who visit are those who want to put things in the Vault, Ruin's family, and Lynne." She explained.

"Yup, Anahita and Glare. Add Ruin and you have a really strange sibling dynamic. Anahita picked up Styx's love for jewelry making and Glare... well, he's figuring it out." Shino said, shrugging.

"Either way, Kage probably has something we could use to stop the heat from getting to you two, being that he's been making some anti-heat hanks for guests to wear. We could always ask." Kuroka added.
-

Shiva laughed a little, preening the younger boy back.

"Good to see you as well, dear. Come along, it's not far." She said draping a wing over him and guiding him through the halls.

Dragons, some familiar, some new, nodded and waved at Shiva as they passed by. Shinya, Rin, Lino, Yamato, Ace, Evelyn, Eclipse, Claudette, to name a few of the familiar ones. A blue gray female with gems in her claws, a pink and purple male with soft silks and Clouded wings, a blue and purple young lady with startlingly silver Ringlets, among others unfamiliar.

The day was winding down, many returning to their dens to sleep or getting ready for night patrol. Jasper and Natsuki talking in low tones about shifts.

"In here. Wraith? Is Blitze here with you? I've brought Somnus." Shiva called, brushing aside the curtain.

Wraith and Blitze both looked up, startled. The shaman was in the middle of restraining what seemed to be a ball of sheer, angry lightning, burns scoring the already scorched floor.

"Ah! Shiva! Uh, nice of you to drop by! Would you mind holding that thought for just a second? Blitze's little friend got a little too emotional and accidentally cast a maelstrom spell in the middle of storytelling." Wraith said, nervously grinning.

"Oh dear. Have you thought of sending it through the ceiling?" Shiva asked, wing held out to shield Somnus from the crackling energy.

Wisps in the corner worried and fretted, clearly distressed.

I forgot, I forgot, crying becomes storms and storms cause damage. I'm sorry, I'm sorry.

"Not your fault miss! It happens to Primals all the time, little Leo was a huge crybaby as a child and caused storms inside the caves!" Wraith told the wisps, though it looked more like they were talking to a wall.

@DisastrousAbsol

Kuroka and Lily also left the pool, shaking off that water and drying out quickly in the hot air of the room.

"Well you guys have fun with that, I gotta go see a 'ghost' about night patrol." Kuroka said wryly, tossing her hood back up over her head.

She gave her brothers one last hug before jogging off down a hallway. Lily merely tucked her helmet into her bag, only ever needing it when flying.

"It should be this way, Kage and Amari tend to stay close to the Moss Garden." The eldest said, leading the way.

The halls had less dragons the further they went, as Kage's workshop was a little farther back, in the crystal cavern area. Walls became smooth obsidian speckled with gems, all rubbed til they shone in the light of the various lanterns.

"Kage chose this area specifically, says something about crystal being conductive for magic. And it's cleaner here." Lily said as they walked in.

Entering a room on the side, the walls had changed to almost slick quartz and rock crystals, rubbed down so smooth you could see your reflection on some parts. Kage was sitting with a sewing machine that Ryou had made for him humming to himself as he worked on a few hanks and ribbons.

The silent drake looked up with a wave, flicking his machine off. Lino, napping absently in the corner, jolted awake with the lack of sound, adjusting his glasses to see.

"Oh, it's you guys. Hi Xavier, Koga, good to see you. What did you stop by for?" The gray and purple male asked, tilting his head.

Kage had always been self conscious about his high, near squeaky voice, so he often refrained from speaking. His kids had taken to interpreting what his signs and signals meant, and half the clan had learned sign language because of it.
-

Wraith uncorked a bottle, splashing some sort of liquid over the spell. The lightning fizzled and popped, but ultimately dissapeared with a sharp snapping sound.

"Good! Fixed! Now, what's this about Somnus?" The enby asked, lifting their mask and blinking swirl patterned eyes at the two.

"Was there something you needed?" Blitze added, tilting his head.

A Cursed One? Like the Mirror-child? He's hurt, but doesn't bleed.

The wisps coalesced, flitting around Somnus, a flicker of pale blue starry wings or speckled fur, pink Fireflies winking in and out.

"Yes, he's my brother." Blitze said to the ghost, sighing.

One of mine, then. Belongs to another's flight, but was mine first. Good, I like this one. That witch however, I have a spell for.

A sound like a rumble of thunder and the snarl of an angry dragoness, yet gentle claws running through cursed fur and feathers.

The ghost flicked back over to Blitze, purring. It was clear he was her favorite, for whatever reason.

"Ah, as you can see, this ghost here is rather attached to Blitze. We were in the process of figuring out what it needs to move one." Wraith explained, dusting themself off.

"I see." Shiva hummed, a little nervous herself.

Why would I leave my children? My clan? I merely wish for my husband's ring, I won't trouble you for much else otherwise. We Founders all watch over our clan-children, as we promise when we begin our first lairs.

A humming sound, lilting like a lullaby.

@DisastrousAbsol

Kage beamed at them, gesturing something to Lino before waving a claw at a shelf full of colorful fabric.

"Oh, Dad's already made about twenty. He and Meiyan managed to make a total fireproof enchantment and simplified it enough to where he can mass produce it easily. Go ahead and pick whatever color you'd like, he pretty much made a full rainbow." Lino explained, shrugging.

"Thanks, Lino. Oh yeah, Alede is back. I think he went to go see your mom though." Lily said.

Lino jolted to his feet, panic in his eyes.

"Is he okay? Were there any problems on the way back? How are his eyes? Did Grandmother say anything about it?" He barked, tail lashing with worry.

"Of for the love of- He's fine, Lino! He's nearly blind, not helpless. And you wonder why he goes out on his own half the time." Lily groaned, rolling her eyes while Kage nodded sagely.

"He's my little brother, of course I'm worried." Lino said, a little taken aback.

"Yeah well you worry more than Yami does. Calm down." Lily retorted, relaxing her wings.

Lino grumbled under his breath and lay back down, curling his tail over his face like a disgruntled familiar.
-

"The old lair, huh? She did say she wanted to go 'home'." Blitze said thoughtfully, using air quotes around the word "home".

Well it was my home, I lived and died there. You are the closest to being of my blood, thus you are my favorite. Nevermind the Plagueborne who leads, you are the heart of my Blitzwings.

The humming lilted, fondness in the tune, pale lightning sparking through Blitze's fur.

Said drake made a face, disliking the idea of being any sort of leader figure. He was just Lynne's right hand drake that was okay at offering advice and strategies, not as good as Shiva or Mother, but he earned his keep. Lynne was plenty good at clever thinking when she got serious, but she got distracted easily and often got lost in thought. Which was why Blitze had to be the stern, no nonsense advisor to keep her on track.

"I'd rather not be, thanks." He muttered.

"Anyways, you sure you want to come with, Somnus? It could be dangerous, who knows what's moved into there now that we've left, not to mention we were born in the Canyon, not the Highland lair. We don't know anything about the terrain or the creatures there or even the dragons-" He continued, only to be cut off by Wraith.

"I know." They said, an almost amused smile on their face.

"You what now?" Blitze whiplashed, blinking surprised sparks.

"I lived there before the big move, though only for a few days. I still have an old map of the place. Luxio does so love his cartography hobby, and taught me a thing or two about it." The green dragon said, shrugging.

Walking over to a shelf of oddities and magical artifacts, they nudged through until they retrieved a sandworn, dusty piece of parchment.

"This was the layout, I believe. I've no idea if it's changed, but it should look like this." They said, handing the map to Blitze.

"Hm... still, you sure you want to come along, Somnus? Personally, I repect any decisions you make, but as your elder brother I still must ask." Blitze said, shuffling his wings.