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Eztli missed the salty air. It had been days since the young Tundra dragon and his ragtag crew had shipped off around the currents of Sornieth. Don’t get him wrong, he loved to travel as much as birds love to fly, but you can never say no to a short break. He looked around from the outcrop of the ship that held his cabin shaking spare droplets out of his black-speckled fur before fixing his large hat again smiling as he looked around at his crew.
“It’s good to be out again isn’t it Azar? You never realize you miss the ocean until you part from it.” The lizard looked up from the spot it was resting around his wing and shoulder. It replied with a joyful hiss, the embers in his mouth and underbelly sparking joyfully as he stepped out again into the bright sunlight. He rested a red claw on the rail of the ship, lifting his head to feel the breeze ruffle the large tuft of fur around his neck as a bright scarlet macaw landed on his hat. Azar, still perched on the captain’s shoulder, hissed at the bird as Eztli smelt the air around him. Rain was nearby. It shouldn’t be that bad.
“Did any of the Wind Flight dragons warn us of a storm?” he called out nodding to a long bright mantis colored spiral dragon.
“Not a word Captain. Even checked myself” they replied as their lower body kept twirling around restlessly. Eztli frowned before looking out across the sea again. He swore he smelt a storm mixed in with the familiar salty taste. His nose never let him astray before, but if the nearby Wind Flight said nothing, it surely must be fine.
“Better keep an ear out,” Eztli muttered, turning back from the edge of the ship as dark clouds started their slow march towards the shore.
~
“By the nine Flights, why didn’t I trust my nose?” Eztli cursed flinching as pain seared his side. The storm came quickly as the ship passed the Thousand Currents. They didn’t even have time to prepare. He shook sand and scrap out of his fur as he checked for any injuries. Small scratches near the wing, no dizziness, no energy to fly, and no sign of the crew he thought bitterly.
“Perfect” he spat, spotting his hat nearby. It was worse for wear but it’s been through worse. Suddenly, a small familiar head poked out of the sand nearby.
“Azar! Thank the Plaguebringer she didn’t take another today.” He hurried over towards the small lizard who looked around stunned as to what even happened here. “C'mon. We need shelter before the tide comes in and I don’t think my wings can take us very far."
~
Echo had heard the news of an old ship captain crashing on the far side of the Arcane Region’s shore a couple of weeks ago. Lavender, one of her Fae dragon scouts, had spotted it not long ago reporting only one dragon in the nearby area. A lone captain. So as any good lair leader would, she sent a note only for Koi, another fae and her main dragon messenger, to return with small bruises, cuts, and a small burn on one of the fans that framed his face. She thought it was strange, from reports he was born to the Plague Flight, not the Fire Flight so he shouldn’t be able to generate fire. She shook the thought off as quickly as it came. She was always too curious.
“Still trying to figure out how to get the ship captain to join?” Echo looked up from her scrolls at the light gray Tundra with dark blue ringlet markings in front of her.
“Lyca! You scared me” Echo scolded, wrapping her purple leather wings around her brother in a tight hug. Lyca laughed and patted her arm as the two broke apart. “How was getting Cyrus a familiar? Is he getting settled ok?”
“Cyrus is fine. Matched him up with a wonderful Lilum Floron. It should do him some good. Adjustment might take some time though. Going from a mercenary job to a calm lair isn’t an easy transition.” Echo breathed a sigh of relief as Lyca continued “And it will do you some good if you went out and got something to eat”
“Can’t” She replied quickly turning back to the scattered scrolls on her desk “I have to read the report Koi sent about the ship captain”
“He won’t disappear because you stepped away for ten minutes to get some food in your stomach.” Lyca rolled his eyes and shook his head.
“I won’t be long, I promise. Magi will make sure I eat.” She nodded toward the enchanted magenta fox resting on a makeshift bed by the desk seeing Lyca's pink eyes soften in worry.
“You’ve been cooped up in here for days Echo. Being outside of this dusty office will do you some good.”
“But-”
“No buts. You can brainstorm better with food and maybe a small council meeting. I can at least get Vida and Astrophel so we can talk about this over some of the new food Tutti just harvested.”
Echo paused for a moment. Deep down she knew he had a point but didn't need to know that. She sighed turning back to Lyca "Fine but ten minutes tops. Got it?”
“Of course, our glorious founder” Lyca bowed a cheeky grin on his face.
“Remind me to talk to Orca about making you do more guard training”
“Oh come on! You know how I hate guard training. You wouldn’t do that to your loving and only tamer!”
“Can and will. Sorry Lyca!” Echo called, nodding to Magi to follow.
~
The meeting had gone well. Veda always came up with good ideas on how to solve problems especially when it came to recruitment, which Echo was surprisingly not very good at. They all decided to send Echo and one other to talk to the irritable captain since Echo’s genius idea of kind and informative letters didn’t seem to get anywhere to her dismay. So this is why she brought Carnelian, a tall and thin beige Skydancer with a dark garnet underbelly, with her. His ice would be useful, especially as they were near the border of the Ice Flight’s home, which would be helpful if they ran into one of the many clans in the Ice Flight, but also it could hopefully cool the temperamental captain down, pun intended.
“Are we sure this is a good idea Echo? You saw how Koi returned.” Carnelian asked over the wind as the two flew towards the outer parts of the Arcane region.
“I’m sure we shall be fine, Carnelian. I already sent a notice to him that we would be arriving” Echo replied not looking back at her Lieutenant.
“I’m sorry you did WHAT?” Carnelian roared, beating his wings to fly beside the dark purple Tundra, the constellation markings on his wings fluttering back and forth quicker and quicker.
“Watch your tone.” She teased nudging him with a wing. Batting away her nudge, he interrupted her again.
“Do you have any idea how bad this could turn out? We know he is capable of hurting harmless scouts and obviously does not want to be disturbed! ”
Echo rolled her eyes at Carnelian only to pause spotting small but noticeable pieces of shipwreck on a sandy and icey shore. She dove without another thought, careful to not land on any splinters littering the shore. Carnelian landed beside her, keeping an eye out for any sort of home the strange Tundra could be living in. Before either could get a good look, a deep raspy voice cut off by a dark chuckle drew their attention away towards a deep burrow angled downwards.
“So you did come after all.”
“I told you I was. You must be-” Echo started a kind smile across her face as the voice made its way into the sunlight
“Eztli. You are Echo yeah?” The black tundra looked between the two dragons, his plague-red eyes looking between the two wearily as his speckled tail flicked back and forth only given away by the slight shimmer of the ruby-torn cloak running down his back. His face was cold and calculated framed by the dark ruby rune markings around his face and claws. He had a large white mane painted with black streaks around his neck that made him seem much larger from a distance. Around the edge of his similarly painted wings, three golden rings were hooked at the bottom that matched the golden anklets on each claw. Despite this, the captain looked almost sick as Echo noticed the small but deep scratches littering the underside of his wing. She gave a look to Carnelian who nodded as he too spotted the scratches.
“Yes, you are correct. I brought my Second in Command with me so we could potentially discuss what I offered in my letters.” Echo replied nervously adjusting the translucent purple silk scarf around her neck.
“Not happening. I’m fine where I am. Don’t need to go to some” he spun his claw around trying to find the words “ragtag clan trying to take in weak dragons with nowhere to go. Honestly, how naive can one leader be?”
“Excuse us for just trying to be kind,” Carnelian said, taking a couple of steps toward Eztli. “Can’t reason with a lonely captain. They go down with their ship even if it can’t sail.”
“Watch your tone, Skydancer,” Eztli growled, his eyes narrowed. “I can get you sicker than a piece of spoiled food ever will if you make another comment like that.”
“Pardon him but Carnelian does have a point.” Echo interrupts trying to calm the captain down. “It’s no good to stay in a place like this.”
“That’s where you are wrong. I have Azar. I don’t need anything or any one else.” Eztli nudged the lizard with a claw scratching its head as it moved toward his shoulder.
“Are you sure? That burrow doesn’t look very comfortable and I can see some scratches along your side that look on their way to being infected. If you at least want to come with us, Raine can make sure they aren’t going to get worse. I'll give you my word.”
The captain shifted uncomfortably, his face softening as he thought. It was a good deal after all. A warm den, a close unit of dragons around him, and possibly a new start.
“Fine.” He spoke after a couple of tense silent moments. ”But I’m only going to stay for the healing. After that, me and Azar are leaving, understood? Don’t need any more scouts, or messengers, or familiars to try to get me to join.”
“Alright, but I’ll keep you to my word. Our temporary camp isn’t far from here.” Echo replied cheerfully as she raised her wings into the air heading away from the old shipwreck. It would do the captain some good to get away from the sea for a bit.
~
“I don’t need a damn familiar! I told you my stay here was temporary!” Echo chuckled to herself as Eztli roared, moving away from Lyca who was close on his heels.
“And like Raine said, we can look after you better if you join the lair.” Lyca retorted the tuft on the tip of his tail lashing.
“Even if I joined, I would be sitting around all day. That’s no life for a pirate captain.”
“Reymond or Echo can find you one!”
“He’s right you know” Echo called, stepping out from the shade covering her den. “You do fit here and it would be good to have someone of your experience here. Leadership like yours to come by.”
“And I promised you I would only stay for the healing!” Eztli retorted.
“One month.”
Eztli swirled his head around facing the purple Tundra. “What?”
“You can stay in the lair for a month as a mediator as a test run to see if you truly fit in and you can leave whenever you want.” Echo continued with a kind smile. Her eyes though had a strange knowing twinkle to them. Eztli barked out a laugh.
“Oh, you aren’t tricking me this time.” He smiled looming over the younger leader. “Your words might be sweeter than honey but you aren’t getting me to stay here. I’m leaving as soon as your healer says so.”
“Fine by me. It was just an idea anyway” Echo shrugged, moving past Eztli who huffed a reply making his way back to the healing den. Raised voices drew his attention away however as he spotted two dragons near the far side of the camp. The two were holding half-finished clothing as the lighter, taller one spoke loudly over the shorter fuchsia one. It wouldn’t hurt to give Eztli a test run right?