#Dargon Den

[thedargonden]

The Dargon Den now has a properly organized website!

If you plan to read “The Dargon Den” from the start, I suggest you use the website: https://sites.google.com/view/dargonden/the-dargon-den-story

Happy reading!

[thebomb-thebird-andtheburntbitch]

kiribaku+y/n fantasy idea- okay go:

bakugou get's himself captured by the royal guard one way or another while he was isolated/separated from kiri and you. he's cuffed, rendered magicless, and thrown in the castle's dungeon for his 'trial' which is really a very impromptu execution bc of reasons im too lazy to think of (probably wanted or smth). anyways, you see bakuogu getting detained and captured, but not in the right conditions to put up a fight without also getting captured, you keep yourself hidden and rush back to find kirishima.

what the castle guards don't do is strip him of all his magic items/necklaces bc they're dumb. one of his necklaces is a charm that was made from one of kirishima's scales and in this universe so long as the scale is not destroyed or shed naturally, it still holds kirishima's magic and basically works as a locator.

when the relationship between you three was formed, kiri pulled off two of his scales and gave one to each of you so he could always find you both, and if he wasn't around your scale would resonate with bakugous the closer you got. this dragon's looking out for his partners (*cough* mates *coughs*)

flash forward to bakugou's trial. he's brought up into the throne room of the king still cuffed and restrained. he's held by two guards and he's oddly quiet the whole time the king's talking and passing judgment. bakugou doesn't say a peep, but then uhoh- something starts sounding very broken.

screams from outside the throne room get closer, a guard bursts through the doors to announce that a dragon just descended onto the castle with another (wanted?) individual- you.

bakugou finally starts making some noise.

he's so excited dawg. he's yelling and laughing and having a grand ole time as the sounds of destruction get closer and the king notices the reaction of the scale he's wearing right before dargon!kirishima kool-aid mans right through the throne room's wall with you on his head, holding onto one of his horns where your paired scale is also reacting.

king does what every king does, orders his guards to start 'defending' like thats gonna do a god damn thing. you hop down after kiri makes quick work of the palace folk with a quick swipe of his tail like he was dusting off a shelf homies. you break him out of his cuffs and he nabs you before he's climbing back on kiri with you before laughing at the king for being the first criminal 'caught' then subsequencally 'rescued' under his rule.

later on, when you all three are safe and back at the cave kirishima calls his den, bakugou admits to being caught on purpose just so he could have you both come and:

1) wreck the palace bc he knew it would happen and be fun

2) be the first to escape the king

3) just to show off lol

aside from the mild panic you and kiri felt when he got caught, it was a pretty fun time and he got away with only a mild scolding from you and a secret thumbs up from kiri.

[haunted-the-vagabond]

Haunted’s Song of the Day 029 - Into Free by B’z

Side Note: THE WIND IS PUSHING ME

[moonlitluca]

Okay so I'm kinda running out of space in my den in Flight Rising so I'm giving away free weird looking babies I have. Below I have the babies or hatchlings and the adult form of said babies/hatchlings. So yeah, if you want any of them, lmk and I'll give em to you for free.

ALL ARE UNNAMED

Dargon number one

Dragon number 2

Dragon number 3

Dragon number 4

Again if you want any, lmk by dms and just send me your user and I'll send em to ya.

[amethysia]

okay, because I know I’ll never get around to actually writing a full length story, I have an AU idea for Junkenstein and dragon Symmetra.

TLDR at the very bottom~

So, Word goes out that something strange is in the mountains and rumor has it, it’s a dragon. Junkenstein is like, IMMA STUDY THE SHITE OUT OF THAT, so he goes to see what it could be, dragon or not.

He comes to find a beautiful dragon lady, making her home in the mountain, lounging on a bunch of treasure, because that’s how dargons do. Junky is super excited and starts writing notes. She becomes angry that someone has come into her abode and ‘kind of’ attacks him, as in roars a lot and lunges at him. He shows her that he means no harm and eventually she let’s him do his nerd thing.

Over some time, she takes a liking to him and ‘impresses’ upon him, eventually choosing him to be her mate. She does a bunch of silly things to get his attention and he’s just like, DUDE THIS IS GREAT SCIENCE YOU ARE SUCH AN INTERESTING CREATURE, until eventually after giving him lots of unusual ‘gifts’, rubs on him like a cat, and FINALLY he gets it. He gets a little off put by this, because he a hooman and she a dagron, but she’s like, but you’re not trying to murder me for my treasure and you nice, and he like, well, let me think on this.

One day he comes early to her lair, causing symm to be like, oh he’s here, only to find out it’s not him, it’s some hunter (coughMUCREEEcough) looking to nab a dragon for the muns. Junks decides to bring her some gifts, because he does kind of like her and being her mate would be interesting and a good lesson in science (sure JS.... “SCIENCE” ). Upon arrival he hears her cries of pain and finds Mcdude about to off her, when he tackles him to the ground, calls mcree a monster (”I’m the monster? But!”) and does everything he can to harm Mcbro to get him to leave and never come back. 

Junks turns to Symm, holds her limp body and apologizes for being ‘the worst mate, because he couldn’t even prtoect her’. He takes her back to his laboratory to help her recover. She rests for a LONG time. JS is having to deal with village authorities, other hunters, and many crazy things, all while trying to tell them that ‘the dragon left’. One evening he becomes angry and emotional and practically destroys a lot of his works, because he is tired and frustrated, doing all of this by himself. He is holding his head and sobbing/screaming when she comes from resting and comforts him. He protests that she needs to rest, but she says she is fine. She pretty much sees that he has done so much for her and that she chose a great person as her mate.  

He falls asleep on one of his tables, trying to come up with some plan, when he realizes, she’s gone. He is frantic and has no idea what to do, till he hears the screams coming from the village. He runs toward town and sees a large and terrifying dragon, raining gold and other treasures from it’s hands, also burning a few things in it’s wake as well. He stands there watching, knees weak, his entire mind blown. She is finally done with raining destructive currency on the town, flies over to pick up JS, and she flies them to another mountain, quite some distance from the town.

She declares that this was one of her other den choices before his town and that there is an abandoned cottage not to far from the den that he could live in. He tells her that since he decided to be her mate, he would live with her and not leave her side.

and yeah, I’m a DnD weirdo and Dragon lady hooking up with a crazy scientist having halflings and living a weird life on a cliff side, forgive me I am sin.

[roksanalyasin]

Top/Bottom 5 Fanfictions Tag

I was tagged by @ekoorb03 and @katalyna-rose thank you two sweet things

I’m in a bit of a pickle because this changes a lot depending on account. I’ve only started using AO3 this year, I don’t post all of my work on Tumblr, and I’ve had my FF.net account since 2008ish but I haven’t posted my newer one-shots there yet. So, I’m going to do a list for both AO3 and FF.net, and I’ll base it off views.

What are your five most popular works?

What are your five least popular works?

Are you surprised? Why?

Top 5 - AO3

In the Blood - rewrite (True Blood) Hits: 1512 

Shadows & Daggers: A Rogue’s Love Story (Dragon Age: Inquisition) Hits: 1351 

To Vex the Rose with Jealousy (Dragon Age: Inquisition) Hits: 765 

Wicked Game (Dragon Age: Inquisition) Hits: 385 

Endearment (Dragon Age: Inquisition) Hits: 222 

Bottom 5 - AO3

How I Long For You (Dragon Age: Inquisition) Hits: 31 

Closer (Dragon Age II) Hits: 30 

An Interview with Vicious Val (Dragon Age: Inquisition) Hits: 28 

Dragon’s Den (Dragon Age: Inquisition) Hits: 24 

Lullaby (Dragon Age: Inquisition) Hits: 20 

I’m not surprised that my two long-fics are the most popular, nor am I surprised that my most popular one-shot is not a Valina/Cullen one. I’ve written an unusual OC in a universe that already has the Inquisitor, so most people aren’t looking for my non-canon OC. What does surpriose me is that even years after the True Blood TV series finished, it’s still such a vibrant fandom in the fanfiction community.

I also note that my bottom 5 contains none of my explicit works, and there’s only one non-explicit fic in my top 5 here. You guys be thirsty.

Top 5 - FF.net

In The Blood - original (True Blood) Views: 209,489 

Claws (Wolverine/X-Men) Views: 27,087

The Ultimate Captivation (Vampire Diaries) Views: 21,944

How It Burns (Burn Notice) Views: 17,762

A Life In The Shade (Trigun) 16,384

Bottom 5 - FF.net

Clockwork Heart (Iron Man) Views: 2,724

It Was A Secret (Naruto) Views: 1,974

No Bounds (Torchwood) Views: 1,443

The Warden’s Rose (Dargon Age, Post-Origins) Views: 1,100 

Trigger Happy (Burn Notice) Views: 233

I preface this with FOR THE LOVE OF THE MAKER PLEASE DON’T READ MY FF.net stuff. I didn’t include links specifically because most of it is 7+ years old and there is a REASON I’m going through these old fics and re-writing them completely (they’re trash) I’ve come a LONG way in my fanfiction jurney.

There are two things that surprise me. One, I have no idea who the fuck is still reading In the Blood because that thing still gets the most views per month and has done so consistently since it was first published in Dec. 2009. Two, the popularity of my Trigun fic - it’s the only one on my top 5 list rated T, not M. 

I’m not surprised that my Alistair/OC fic is in the bottom 5 here because like Shadows & Daggers I wrote a non-canon OC.

I’m going to tag @ladynorbert @savvylittleminx and anyone else who sees this and wants to do it - tag me in your post!

[cherrypop-slacker]

[Night starter]

Verse: Dargon It felt so good to finally be up and moving again! After a long winter spent curled up under his piles of gold Osomatsu had woken up on the first warm day of spring.

The beast was lounging on top of his gold picking his teeth and pulling out loose scales. Suddenly Osomatsu let out a low snarl, he could feel something just the edge of his senses..there was an intruder in his den.

[pantheon-god-of-war]

Dragonslayer regalia: Viridian

Dragons, like humans and any other species within runterra come in different variants who inhabit different parts of this world. Smaragd dragons or commonly known as forest drakes dwell within the forests of runterra and are mostly docile creatures. They have evolved over the ages to be omnivores meaning they can remain within the forests and dine upon roots and other vegetation without needing to actively go out and hunt. This reduces the frequency with which they are spotted and makes them far less of a threat to human settlements since they have the option of dining on plants and mostly are found deep within the woods where human settlements do not dwell. 

Because of their seclusion forest drakes live very long and grow quite large in size. They are one of the few dragon races that are capable of learning human speech. In some ancient recordings there exists a tale of a young cleric who sought out a great forest drake for wisdom, in turn for the answers he got the cleric taught the dragon about human customs and cultures. Furthermore it is recorded that forest dragons are very curious creatures who orient themselves more with smell than with sight. They have lost the ability to breathe fire and instead have evolved acid glands, with which they can kill their pray in a few seconds of utter anguish. The acid is potent enough to dissolve metal, is however primarily used to dig their large caves in which they house. The stench of acid within deep forests can often be an indicator for a forest dargons den. Their scales have become resistant to their poison by adapting a coat of acid over their scales. Spear and swords work moderately well against them but under no circumstances should a human make contact with their scales. 

Since they house within forests and rarely move their wings have decreased over the years, they are still capable of flight but can not rival any other dragons that take to the sky often as a last trick these creatures can photosynthesise through the vivid green pigments upon their scales and wings. These pigments can change much like that of a chameleon allowing them to actively camouflage themselves within the forests they inhabit. Merely resting in the sun generates energy for them which the cells nearly instantly convert into potent healing power allowing forest drakes to heal from most fatal injuries. 

Pantheon has only slain a hand full of forest dragons in all of his lifetimes. These beasts lack ferocity and will to fight, they will try to defend themselves but would choose flight over fight if they notice they are outmatched. Pantheon also does not waste his time with things that are not a threat when a large quantity of more deadly beasts is present. The one Dragon Pantheon had the armor from however asked to be ended by the War god. He was an old forest dragon, with moss growing all upon his frame. he lived within a cave near a large lake that laid in the middle of an even larger forest. Pantheon had hunted down the beast and confronted it, only to find it capable of speech. The beast could convince Pantheon to lay down his arms promising the warrior that no harm would come to him. Pantheon true to his nature did not trust the beast but was compelled by honor to oblige. The dragon and him conversed for many hours about the currently stage of the world, the power struggles that went on and so forth. In turn Pantheon learned a lot about fighting dragons from an actual dragon. Over time Pantheon built up trust towards the beast leaving it at night only to return a few weeks later. He had learned that the dragon loved riddles and travelled to learn more of these word plays to then present the dragon. Their friendship lasted for nearly fifteen years with Pantheon always returning to the dragon who adopted the name Sholok’onir. 

One day however Pantheon found the forest dragon gravely wounded and on the verge of death his wings had been torn off and most of his claws had been removed to make matters worse the beast had been blinded. The Dragon told Pantheon how an entourage of ninety knights had found him, despite his attempt to reason with them they attacked leaving the beast grievously wounded, presuming it dead. Pantheon vowed to kill the knights and nearly stormed off. but the Dragon stopped him in his tracks. For his last lesson the green dragon taught Pantheon how to strike one piercing killing blow to end a dragon and where to aim to make a spear throw true. Before he ended the dragon however to take him out of his misery  Sholok’onir enchanted his scales with his own acid and dragon blood. He told Pantheon that this regalia would heal his wounds should he choose to wear his scales. The healing factor of the dragons skin still potent even after his death. Pantheon gratefully accepted the gift of the dragon and bestowed upon him a painless and swift passing. Armed with the new regalia of rejuvenation the war god sought out the ninety knights so that they could pay for their crimes. In an act of wrath he not vanquished their entire keep leaving nothing but corpses within his wake. 

[playstation-choice-blog]

Gerücht: Dargon Age 4 befindet sich in Entwicklung

Gerücht: Dargon Age 4 befindet sich in Entwicklung

Den entscheidenden Hinweis, welcher die Gerüchteküche rund um ein neues Dragon Age ins brodeln brachte, lieferte die Synchronsprecherin Alix Wilton Regan. Sie verlieh ihre Stimme den weiblichen Elfen-Inquisitor in Dragon Age: Inquisition und postete über Instagram, dass sie wieder zurück im Tonstudio sei: “Zurück im Studio und Welten brechen auseinander… Sie ist ein sehr sehr sehr wütender #Elf.”

[thedargonden]

[1] DREKI STUDIES - INTRODUCTION TO DRAGON HISTORY

DREKI STUDIES: "Our species had always been a peaceful monarchy back when our recorded history began.

Dreki, much like the modern offshoot, Idnagol, had each been given a magical gift when they were hatched, such as elemental sorcery, runic magic, healing, and many, many more.

One of the more rare, but more varied kinds of magical gifts were called Mystic Elementals. They were hatched with 4 eyes, and usually had abilities such as "mind reading" or "soulwatching" or dark magic.

The Dreki had built up an empire of sanctuary and freedom for thousands of years.

One day, a Dreki was hatched by the queen. Except this one was different than any Dreki seen before. Instead of a mane from head to tail, this dark purple dragon had sharp silver spikes along her spine. Her silver horns were also sharper than normal. She had 4 eyes like a Mystic Elemental, but her bottom eyes were matted shut. The queen named her Myrka.

By the time she was 5 years old, the dragon had a strange ability where she could create her own spells by saying what she wanted to happen. She casted a spell to completely remove her bottom eyes. Another spell that made everyone hermaphrodites so anyone could be what they wanted to be. She gave everyone the ability to use Telepathy. She also casted another spell that allowed all Dreki to shapeshift, except it didn't work on her.

She tried to make life better for everyone, but she ended up scaring them instead. All across the world, Dreki were in outrage about these spells. The queen, too, was furious at her, as she wasn't asked or told about this beforehand.

By that day, she was shunned for the rest of her life, and forbidden to create any spell on anyone anymore.

Many years later though, their moon started to drift toward their planet. Dragons were in distress and the queen was made aware of the imminent collision.

After an argument with the queen, Myrka flew off to the moon to bring it as far away from the planet as possible. She lived there, creating her own offspring, Myrkurs, leaving the rest to become what we now call Idnagols."

ORIE: "Ooh, cool!"

Orie yawns, her bottom eyes squinting at the ground while stretching. She flips many pages to a part she foresaw was a good page to skip to.

DREKI STUDIES: "Idnagol and Myrkur relations had always been less than great. The Myrkuran queen, Illa, was full of hate and jealousy toward the Idnagols.

While Idnagols were living peacefully and their planet lush and green, the Myrkur planet was a wasteland of dust. It barely had an atmosphere and it was hard to breathe, as it used to be a moon.

Both races had a peace agreement with each other, but obviously Illa didn't agree with the terms. She spent her resources creating a ship to bring the thousands of Myrkurs over to the Idnagol planet for an attack.

Many prophetic Mystic Elementals warned others to leave before the attack, but few believed them and took action to flee. Some Myrkurs rebelled against the attack from the inside, but they were promptly executed if they were seen by Illa herself.

About 3/4 of the Idnagols died that day, around 50 years ago. Now the remaining Idnagols who survived the attack are still running from the Myrkurs. They have their magic that can do anything, even locate or kill them. Why they haven't done the latter is unknown still.

This concludes Dreki Studies for the time being. I'll write more if any other news happens. - Logi"

Orie stares at the book for a moment. She wonders how this "Logi" dragon could write more if she already has the book. She plays with the idea that maybe this "Logi" could just walk into their house and write more inside, and leave.

She fiddles her claws on the tips of her blue mane thoughtfully.

ORIE: "Phoenix! Do you think this "Logi" dragon could walk into the house and finish their book!?"

Phoenix emerges with an unamused face from the hallway into the loungeroom where Orie is. The spike on the top of her head bangs against the top of the doorframe.

PHOENIX: "How do I keep hitting my head on this stupid thing? You’re taller than me, and I’ve never seen YOU do that!"

ORIE: "Maybe it's just that first Myrkur spike on your head?"

PHOENIX: "Shut up. I don't care, I'm only here to get a root beer from the fridge."

She opens the fridge in the loungeroom kitchen and pulls out a can of root beer, but it's room temperature.

PHOENIX: "God dammit. ORIE, DID YOU UNPLUG THE FRIDGE?"

Orie looks at the fridge with a shrug.

ORIE: "No? That's weird. Check the generator."

Phoenix notices that next to the fridge on the counter there's a shoddily made mini fridge looking thing with some smoke coming out of it.

She opens it, and it's full of cheesecakes.

PHOENIX: "ORIE DID YOU BREAK THE GENERATOR WITH YOUR STUPID CHEESECAKE FREEZER?!? "

ORIE: "Oh... My bad."

PHOENIX: "ORIE WHAT THE HELL, WHY DON'T YOU JUST USE THE FREEZER!?"

ORIE: "I did, look."

Phoenix opens the freezer compartment of the fridge and it's packed with maybe 20 cheesecakes.

PHOENIX: "ORIE. WHY. WOULD. YOU. NEED. TWENTY CHEESECAKES. PLUS EVEN MORE. IN A SEPARATE FREEZER?!?!?"

ORIE: "Dunno, I just love cheesecake."

[thedargonden]

[8] THE TRUTH

October 23rd, XX19

3:00 PM

Tafla sits quietly on the sofa drinking a cup of tea. The look on the green dragon's face is distant and a bit sad.

As someone walks up to the hallway door to her right, she shakes her head and puts on a quick smile.

Orie emerges from the hallway with a face that shows she has something on her mind. When she looks up and sees Tafla, she smiles at her.

ORIE: "Oh, hi Tafla!"

TAFLA: "Orie! How are you?"

ORIE: "I'm alright. I was just going to play my game in here, but you probably aren't that interested in Celeste. I'll play it later."

TAFLA: "No, no, don't let me get in the way of your game. Come sit with me! Tell me all about... Celets?"

Tafla motions Orie over toward the empty sofa seat to her left.

ORIE: "It's Celeste, Tafla, haha."

Orie sits on the sofa with Tafla and starts to reach the controller with her left hand before quickly switching to her right.

ORIE: "It's about this girl who's trying to climb a mountain while also dealing with her own depression. She's a really cute, mostly positive person who tends to have trouble staying on top of her anxiety.

She tries helping everyone she can, maybe even to a fault, and after everything is still determined to climb the mountain."

Tafla takes a sip of her tea and shoots a smirk at Orie.

TAFLA: "Sounds a lot like you, Orie."

ORIE: "You know, I was thinking about that earlier and I kinda agree.

Oh, also a week ago when I played last, I was just getting to a climactic encounter with her 'other self' who is essentially a purple embodiment of her anxiety and depression given form, which honestly reminds me a lot of Phoenix, haha..."

Orie starts the game on her switch and puts the controller on the sofa right in front of her.

TAFLA: "Is this one of those hands free games where you don't even need to use the controller to play?"

ORIE: "What do you mean?"

TAFLA: "Your injury. How are you going to play it with that?"

All 4 of Orie's eyes widen as she realizes she can't play the game with this injury.

ORIE: "Noooooooo!

Whyyyyyyy!"

TAFLA: "Aw, Orie! I'm sorry! I can look into the game another time!"

Orie sets the controller down and turns the switch off.

ORIE: "No, it's okay. This injury is just so frustrating!"

TAFLA: "I bet..."

The room becomes quiet as the two dragons stare around the room. Tafla sips the rest of her tea, then sets the teacup and plate on the coffee table in front of them both and looks to the redwood floor.

Orie closes all four of her eyes and tilts her head up toward the white ceiling.

She taps the sofa with her right arm unconsciously and sighs.

ORIE: "Hey... Tafla...?"

Tafla quickly looks over to Orie with concern.

TAFLA: "Yes?"

ORIE: "I've been meaning to ask... you mentioned something to Phoenix about my biological hatchparent and guardparent..."

She opens her eyes and looks to Tafla.

ORIE: "What were they like...? What happened to them...? All you've ever told me about my hatchparent is that he's a healing sorcerer..."

Tafla is surprised by the question and her mind starts racing to figure out what to say.

TAFLA: "W- well... uhm... I certainly didn't expect this question to be asked right now...

H-hey... Orie, do you want some tea? I'm going to go make some tea for you. Give me one second."

Tafla gets up and brings her tea cup with her to the kitchen in the same room.

ORIE: "That's not really an answer..."

Tafla ignores Orie and continues getting a box of tea bags and sugar out of the cupboard.

ORIE: "Hey. Tafla..."

She proceeds to get out more tea cups and at the same time takes a couple tea bags out of the box. She lays the bags inside the tea pot. Orie gets up to move toward the kitchen

ORIE: "Tafla?"

She begins to pour the already hot water from the kettle into the teapot. Orie stops near the fridge.

ORIE: "Tafla! Please tell me!"

Tafla drops the kettle into the teapot, breaking it, and pouring hot water all over herself.

TAFLA: "Agh!"

Tafla turns around to face Orie.

TAFLA: "Look, I'm sorry... I just... I don't know what I can tell you... I'm afraid you'd be upset if you found out the truth."

ORIE: "I'm getting more upset not knowing, Tafla!"

Tears begin to form in Orie's bottom eyes and Tafla sighs.

TAFLA: "I know... and I'm sorry, but I can't tell you right now..."

ORIE: "Why not! It’s MY hatchparent!"

TAFLA: "..."

ORIE: "I deserve to know! You never have told me anything important about them! You always skirt around details and pretend like it’s fine! PLEASE TELL ME!"

TAFLA: “I... I don’t know what to say! You’re putting me on the spot here.”

ORIE: “UAHGH!”

Orie’s tears begin to trickle fast down her face.

ORIE: “Why don’t you trust me with any information about my family??”

As Tafla is at a loss for words, Orie steps toward the hallway.

TAFLA: "Orie!"

Orie runs into the hallway and down the basement stairs next to Phoenix's doorway with tears streaming from her face.

Tafla stands in the hot water from the spill, looking around for a towel to clean herself up.

She sighs and looks to the wet ground.

She sends a telepathic message to Orie,

TAFLA: ⦕Orie... I'll tell you soon... I promise... Just give me some time to clear my thoughts and mind...⦖

Tafla reaches for a small towel hanging on the fridge handle. and puts it on the floor to wipe the mess up.

Meanwhile, in Phoenix's room...

PHOENIX: "Hey, Arakados. Was that just Orie running by, crying?"

Arakados is completely entranced by Phoenix's computer. They look up at her and give her a confused look.

ARAKADOS: "Hrm?"

PHOENIX: "Orie was crying. I think you should go comfort her."

ARAKADOS: "Oh. Yea yea, gimme a seconderg."

PHOENIX: "She's... your girlfriend. What are you doing that's more important than your girlfriend?"

ARAKADOS: "I'm finishing up for now."

PHOENIX: "Whatever."

Arakados had looked through Phoenix's entire laptop by now. There's nothing left to see.

No secrets.

No nothing.

They check the desktop through the file explorer one more time, click the view tab and zoom out the file layout. They... see nothing new.

They sigh and start to get up....

Before something catches their eye.

Right in the file explorer view options, next to a check box, there's an option that reads 'Hidden items.'

Their eyes widen as they realize this wasn't checked.

They were sure they had clicked it before, but maybe it must have turned off after taking a break and they must have missed something big.

They check that box again for later, and close the laptop.

They get up and begin to move to the basement.

As soon as Arakados is gone, Phoenix quickly gets up and opens the laptop.

She unchecks the 'Hidden items' check box and clicks back to the Home tab of the file explorer, then quickly runs back to her bed.

PHOENIX: "No one can know the truth..."

[thedargonden]

[4] GOOD AS USUAL

October 11th, XX19

1:00 PM

Orie is playing on her switch again. In the game, the character she's playing as wanders into a castle ruin. There are these glass-like blocks with little white specks on them all around the place, but she can't interact with them.

Down a path she uncovered, she dashes through dangerous and spiky areas to land on a ledge on the right.

ORIE:

"Woo! I did it!"

She walks to the next room where only a mirror stands in the center of the room. Thinking nothing of it, she walks past it.

But the character realizes that her reflection showed a creepy and purple version of herself, before said purple version bursts out of the mirror and runs away.

ORIE: "Hrm..."

Orie starts to think about that.

Phoenix bursts through the doorway and sits in front of the TV, looking furious.

ORIE: "Oh hi, Phoenix!"

PHOENIX: "DON'T even start with that!"

Phoenix stares daggers at Orie.

PHOENIX: "WHAT is your PARTNER doing on MY DJ SYSTEM, in MY ROOM, looking in MY SONG LIST FILES?!?"

Orie realizes Arakados has been in Phoenix's room since a week ago.

ORIE: "Ohhh right! Wait why didn't you ask me before?"

PHOENIX: "I didn't care at first. In fact I actually like Arakados. They’re pretty cute.

But they haven't left my room for DAYS, and I'm going to LOSE MY MIND if I don't get some FUCKING ALONE TIME!!!"

ORIE: "Did you just call Dakka cute?" ::o

PHOENIX: "SHUT UP, THAT'S NOT THE POINT AND YOU KNOW THAT!"

Orie sets down her game controller on the sofa next to her and sits up.

ORIE: "They are trying to look for your 'super special secret,' that silly derg."

PHOENIX: "My... What?"

ORIE: "They believe there may be a secret song on your song list or something that you're either embarrassed of, or don't want us to hear."

PHOENIX: "... No. I don't have a 'super special secret'... Or whatever you said.

And besides, even if I did, I wouldn't hide it in my MusicBoxe! If anything, I'd hide it in my laptop!

... Not that I have a secret on there anyway..."

ORIE: "Oh."

PHOENIX: "And that's NOT AN INVITATION, you understand?"

ORIE: "Uh huh!"

Phoenix starts to turn toward the doorway.

PHOENIX: "Good. Well I'm going back to my room to slee-"

ORIE: "Wait!"

Phoenix stops to lock eyes with Ori.

ORIE: "Do you have a minute?"

Orie gestures to the empty sofa seat next to her as Phoenix starts toward her again.

PHOENIX: "For?"

ORIE: "To talk, you know... Like friends do."

PHOENIX: "No thanks, I'm not a talking type dragon."

ORIE: "Please?"

PHOENIX: "Just tell me what you want to say right now. I don't want to sit down."

ORIE: "Alright.

First off, are you feeling okay?"

PHOENIX: "What do you mean?"

ORIE: "Like...

mentally..."

PHOENIX: "As good as usual. Why?"

Orie glances at the bandage around Phoenix's forearm.

ORIE: "You're not... Doing... Uhhhh...

Something with a knife, are you?"

Phoenix glares at her.

PHOENIX: "What are you insinuating?"

ORIE: "I'm just checking up on you...

I'm worried about you, you know?"

Phoenix bares her teeth at Orie.

PHOENIX: "It's not YOUR businesses to worry about me, Orie.

Fucking hell, is everything that happens to me suddenly your business just because you 'care' about me? What, do you want me to give you a reward for pretending to care about me?

Or, do you think I'm your child or something? No. You're not my hatchparent, Orie. You barely even know me. I only live here because I've got nowhere else to go. No other reason.

If you're asking if I'm cutting myself, my answer's no. That's my final answer and I won't change it.

Don't ever bring this up again or I'll actually literally kill you."

Phoenix begins to stomp out the doorway.

ORIE: "But-"

PHOENIX: "Bye."

Orie stares into the doorway as Phoenix disappears into the hall.

She sighs. This wasn't what she needs to hear right now.

She wishes she could help Phoenix somehow, but clearly she has trouble opening up, and lashes out toward her when pressed.

Besides, she has a hard enough time dealing with her own mental health issues, even if they tend to be hidden below surface level.

Orie reluctantly accepts the fact that she won't be able to get through to Phoenix and picks her controller back up to play more Celeste.

Meanwhile, in Phoenix's Lair...

Phoenix storms into the room brushing past Arakados in front of her MusicBoxe DJ System. They barely even look away from the screen with their red dragon eyes.

ARAKADOS: "Oh hi. You look like someone stepped on your tail."

PHOENIX: "DON'T-"

Phoenix stops before getting to her bed and looks at Arakados with an apologetic look.

PHOENIX: "Sorry... please... don't even start with that..."

ARAKADOS: "Alrighty then."

PHOENIX: "Thank you."

Phoenix flops onto her bed with anger and pretends to go to sleep.

Arakados continues searching through Phoenix's laptop, acting as if they are using Phoenix's DJ equipment, as they overheard Phoenix from the loungeroom.

They silently chuckle to themselves about how devious they are, and wonders what kind of secrets Phoenix would have on there.

It's only a matter of time before they're uncovered...

[thedargonden]

[13] ABSOLUTE PERFECTION

November 7th, XX19

9:00 PM

PHOENIX: “It’s... It’s perfect.“

Phoenix stares intently at her masterpiece, for her days of work and attempts are finally complete.

A metal frame surrounds the graham cracker based dough. Below the dragonfruit topping, layers and layers of different types of cream cheese, separated by varied fruits like cherries and strawberries (all of which she picked from the mountain above the den).

The perfect cheesepie has been completed. Phoenix would finally see a smile on Orie’s face. She would be appreciated by her. She might even be called Orie’s BEST FRIEND. That would make her truly happy, if Orie called her a friend.

Phoenix holds the door frame and sticks her head down the hall.

PHOENIX: “Orie! Come here! I’ve got a surprise!”

She involuntarily squeals quietly and shuffles her feet. She can’t wait to see Orie’s face when she sees this.

Loud grumbles of annoyance come from the basement stairs down the hall.

PHOENIX: “Oh come on, Orie! Trust me!”

Orie uses her telepathy from downstairs with an angry tone.

ORIE: ⦕I already know about the “perfect cheesepie.” It’s impossible to block out all your annoying thoughts about it, even with my mystic eyes closed, muffling it all out.⦖

PHOENIX: ⦕But, have you seen it with your OWN EYES YET?⦖

ORIE: ⦕Yes, through my mystic eyes, as I’ve already said. I’m a fucking mindreader, Phoenix.⦖

Phoenix thinks to rephrase the question.

PHOENIX: ⦕Have you seen it IN PERSON YET?⦖

An sigh of anger resonates through the basement stairs and down the hall.

ORIE: ⦕If I come up there to look at it for one second, will you leave me alone for the rest of the night?⦖

PHOENIX: ⦕Of course!⦖

ORIE: ⦕UUUUUUGHHHH, OH MY DREK. FUCKING FINE!⦖

As Phoenix hears Orie’s bedroom door open and then shortly after, stomping up the stairs, she looks back toward the pie and realizes... she forgot to cut the pie!

She runs over to the counter and quickly grabs a kitchen knife as well as a plate from the cabinet. She cuts the pie and carefully takes the piece out of the pie tin. 

The piece of pie sags just slightly, but since this is something Phoenix invented herself to her knowledge, this could be considered normal for the dessert.

She examines the layers. It looks so delicious, she wishes she could taste it, but she promised herself that Orie would take the first bite before her own.

Phoenix turns around as Orie walks into the room with an angry huff. Phoenix gestures toward her creation.

PHOENIX: “Ta-daaaaaaa! I made you a cheesepie! It’s a cheesecake, but in PIE FORM! A Cheesecake flavored pie, with my own twist! You’ll love it!”

Orie looks at the plate from afar, with a strange half smirk of confusion. This is it! Smile incoming! For a split second, Phoenix swore Orie’s eyes turned static, but it was probably her imagination due to her excitement.

ORIE: “It looks... bad.”

Phoenix’s face drops. She wasn’t expecting this response to her creation.

PHOENIX: “L-... Looks aren’t everything! Trust me, it tastes amazing!”

ORIE: “How do you know that? I heard your thoughts about not wanting to taste it before me.”

PHOENIX: “I...

I spent so long trying to perfect it...

and... and-!”

ORIE: “-and you failed! Congratulations! Can I go now?”

Phoenix looked back at her creation. It didn’t look bad at all! What was Orie talking about? Maybe Orie was skeptical of Phoenix’s skills as a chef. No, she would not back down until Orie tried her cheesepie.

PHOENIX: “At-... At least try it! You never know, it could be the one taste you didn’t know you were missing from your life!”

Phoenix thought she saw static in Orie’s eyes again, right before Orie closed all her eyes and shook her head a bit. Orie’s face took on an angry look again.

ORIE: “Fine! Look, if I try your stupid pie, then can-”

PHOENIX: “CHEESEpie!”

Orie rolled all of her four eyes at once.

ORIE: “Ugh, cheesepie... then can I finally go back to my room in peace and not bother me?

I was kind of busy, you know.”

PHOENIX: “Yes, I would leave you alone, if you really want me to.”

Orie squinted at Phoenix for a couple of seconds, and then to the cheesepie.

ORIE: “Okay. Give me a fork, then.”

Phoenix bounces up and down in excitement, before realizing Orie’s giving her looks of disapproval and impatience. Phoenix quickly grabs a fork from the drawer and after she sets it on the plate, she brings it to Orie, who promptly sits on the floor with her arm out to grab the plate.

Orie holds the plate up to her snout and sniffs it with an interested look on her face. With her other hand, she takes the fork, and chops off the tiny tip of the pie and carefully puts the piece of cheesepie in her mouth.

The flavor. Immediately Orie notices the amazing flavor. It’s just the right amount of sweet and savory. the dragonfruit gives it the punch it needs. The various fruits and cream cheese compliment each other as if they were made for each other. How could Phoenix, of all dragons, master a cheesecake flavor this perfectly. In Orie’s opinion, it’s absolute perfection.

None of this information reached Orie’s active mind though, as the entire time she tasted it, it was ripped from her and subdued into static.

ORIE: “Huh. I was... not expecting that. It tastes like water.

It’s surprising how bland it is, despite all the fruit and cheese you put into it.

Thank you for wasting my time.”

Orie sets the plate in Phoenix’s hand, who is stuck in awe of all the work she just put into, only to have her work blow up in her face. She doesn’t even know how to react, as Orie starts to turn away.

PHOENIX: “W- WAIT! How could it taste like that!?! I put so much work... and heart... and blood and... and sweat and tears into this!”

ORIE: “Maybe you’re just not meant to be a chef, Phoenix. It’s bad. Deal with it.”

Phoenix can’t believe this. She sits down, takes the fork and cuts a big piece of the cheesepie and shoves it in her mouth, not even caring that Orie had used the same fork a second ago.

No way. No fucking way. Orie had lied. It didn’t taste bland. It didn’t taste like water. It was clear as day that Orie was a liar. Phoenix hated that Orie would lie like this to her face.

None of these negative thoughts reached Phoenix’s active mind though, as the entire time she felt these negative feelings toward Orie, they were ripped from her and subdued into static.

PHOENIX: “But! It really is good! You were supposed to like it and say, ‘wow, Phoenix, I can’t believe you made something this good!’

You were supposed to become my best friend!”

Orie turns around angrily with static filling her four eyes.

ORIE: “Phoenix. No matter how hard you try. No matter how long you live. I will never. EVER. Be your friend.”

Phoenix stares at Orie with static filling her own eyes now, not knowing how to deal with this situation.

No, Orie actually likes the cheesepie. She doesn’t mean what she had said. That’s just how Orie was. She just doesn’t know how to say thanks. That’s all. Right?

PHOENIX: “I... It’s okay Orie. I know you don’t mean that. You’ll learn to be nicer in time! Trust me! I’ll be your best friend!”

Just then, faint rustling in the ground followed by hurried wing beats interrupts their standoff. Orie, thinking quick, runs to the door and opens the door, before opening it and seeing the shadow of a dragon flying away into the moonlight. Phoenix steps toward the loungeroom kitchen window and sees the dragon too.

The dragon turns their head back for a second and their glowing red eyes catch a surprised look before hurrying away quicker and impossibly disappearing after a couple of seconds more.

ORIE: “Who the hell was that?”

Orie throws around the idea in her head that it was maybe Arakados, thinking of the most likely dark scales and red eyes, but then...

ARAKADOS: “MAAAAASHHH!”

Phoenix and Orie turn around to see Arakados with Phoenix’s cheesepie on the floor and crushing it with their hands.

PHOENIX: “NOOOOO!”

Phoenix rushes over to Arakados and takes the cheesepie tin away from them. Her work! All of her beautiful and delicious work! It’s... destroyed!

She sits down on the floor and after a couple of seconds of examining the destruction, she promptly smushes the pie into her face without any words and holds it there indefinitely. Arakados smiles with glee.

ARAKADOS: “Yesss! You get it! MMMMAAASSSSH!!!!!!!”

Orie quietly steps away and back into her room, ignoring the dragon she had just saw, for she had research to continue, especially after this new interaction with Phoenix.

She had been reading ‘DREKI STUDIES - What We Know So Far About Dragon Psychology’ for possible answers about what the whole static thing inside Phoenix’s dream meant. But, now she had a new theory about what was going on.

Orie felt it. She felt the static wash over her in that moment when Phoenix’s eyes were filled with static. She felt it rip something from her when she ate the cheesecake. The static ripped the flavor from her. She knows that wouldn’t happen under normal circumstances. She knows magic was involved, in some way or another.

Stepping into her bedroom, she walked toward the bookshelf next to her bed. she grabbed the book on the bed, making sure it was bookmarked, and then she slides it into the shelf neatly.

Orie examines the books from top to bottom for a couple of moments, and then... her eye catches the book she was looking for.

She picks up the quite large book labled ‘DREKI STUDIES - Myrkur Sorcery and its Affect On Dragons.’

ORIE: “Absolute Perfection.”

Orie smiles as her prophetic abilities confirm that this was the right book to pick up.

[thedargonden]

[11.5] AN INDEFINITE FAREWELL

The following is a story posted on 05/22/2020 on my StoryFire account. This is regarding the state of “The Dargon Den” on StoryFire. This isn’t about “The Dargon Den” in general. Thanks for understanding! - Orie

Orie sits in a room with a nice looking desk. Phoenix is behind the camera, reluctant to help Orie with this.

ORIE: "Hya. As you may know, my name is Orie!"

Orie sighs as she shifts her eyes to the ground.

ORIE: "I'm very sorry that it had to come to this, but I'm halting production of The Dargon Den on Storyfire indefinitely.

There's too much working against me here, such as the app crashing dozens of times (which I had to deal with to even start this update), the latest episode not being able to even upload, and the web support for written stories being nonexistent..."

Orie looks to Phoenix.

ORIE: "May I get a little help explaining myself?"

PHOENIX: "Gladly."

Phoenix puts her face in the frame of the camera.

PHOENIX: "This app sucks and they should work to make it better to use."

Orie gets up from her chair hastily.

ORIE: "NONONO! DON'T SAY THAT!"

Phoenix chuckles a bit and then unblocks the camera as Orie sits back down.

ORIE: "From this point forward, until further notice, I'll only update The Dargon Den on Tumblr and my personal "Google site" for Dargon Den... Not to be confused with The Dargon Den. Dargon Den is just the name of our indie dev company. THE Dargon Den is the story."

PHOENIX: "Myrka Drek, Orie, why didn't you think to distinguish the two a bit more? These are very confusing names to everyone else."

ORIE: "I KNOW, but now it's already too late! They're both called practically the same thing now... The company was just meant to be named after the story, but now it's out of hand...

ANYWAY!

If you wish to continue following The Dargon Den elsewhere, we'll always update it on our Google site page linked below. I don't believe Storyfire allows links in stories, but I'll try anyway."

https://sites.google.com/view/dargonden/the-dargon-den-story

ORIE: "If all else fails you could always search @DargonDen on Twitter and you can be directed to the Google site link in the bio!

Next, let's go to some of the other Den members to see what they think about the change!"

The shot changes to a yellow and blue bedroom with Arakados flopped on the bed and playing a game.

ORIE: "Hey, Dakka!"

ARAKADOS: "Oh, howdy. Just about to open my gates, do you want to join my island? Also what's with the camera?"

ORIE: "Sure, after I'm done with this. I'm filming a farewell video for The Dargon Den!"

Arakados sets down the Switch and their face turns to concern.

ARAKADOS: "Oof. You're quitting? What about the next part where your [REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED REDAKKATED REDACTED REDACTED REDACTED]?"

ORIE: "DAKKA, THAT'S SPOILERS! Also I'm not done with writing it! I'm just not using Storyfire for it anymore. I'm switching to the Google site for Dargon Den."

ARAKADOS: "Oh, oki, neat."

Arakados goes back to playing Animal Crossing.

ORIE: "Oh, I guess they are okay with it"

The shot changes to Phoenix's lair, where Phoenix sits at her DJ System with her eyes closed, listening to music.

ORIE: "Hai Phoenix, just wanted to gather your thoughts about the changes to The Dargon Den!"

Phoenix doesn't respond.

ORIE: "Phoenix?"

She's seemingly lost in the music.

ORIE: "PHOENIX! I'm trying to get your attention!"

Nothing.

ORIE: "Come on, I wanted to finish this before 12:00."

Without opening her eyes, she pulls up her right hand into a rude gesture.

ORIE: "Wait so you could hear me?"

Phoenix nods her head a bit.

ORIE: "Oh, kay..."

The shot changes to the loungeroom, where Tom, the Tomatoess lays on the couch.

ORIE: "Tom, I'm sorry to say, but I'm indefinitely going away from Storyfire. Anything to say about that?"

Tom's eyes open and then she purrs loudly and makes mumbling noises.

ORIE: "No reaction from you either, huh?"

She mumbles in agreement.

ORIE: "Fine..."

Orie delicately pets Tom's outer tomato skin and she purrs hardly in agreement.

ORIE: "D'awwww. You're so cute!"

Orie realizes she's still recording and looks to the camera in surprise.

ORIE: "Uh!"

She rushes to shut the camera off, and the shot changes back to the original desk the video started at.

ORIE: "Well, I guess that's all for this. I just had to set up everything because Phoenix won't come out of her room now... As you guys could probably tell...

Anyway, remember, try the link at the bottom or check through the bio for the @DargonDen Twitter account! Farewell, And Agoobai!"

https://sites.google.com/view/dargonden/the-dargon-den-story

[thedargonden]

[12] PHOENIX’S MINDSCAPE

November 4th, XX19

7:00 PM

Phoenix sleeps peacefully in her mattress, snoring loud enough that anyone could hear in a room adjacent to hers.

Beside her, a headset is sat open faced on her bed, playing dubstep through the Musicboxe DJ System.

Her laptop is also on the bed, opened up to a web page on the art of making delicious pies. An ad is playing in the corner of the web page, but it's overshadowed by Phoenix's snoring.

Suddenly, from the stairway next to her room, someone stomps up the stairs angrily, scratching the walls with her left claws. Once she reaches the top of the stairs...

ORIE: "pH-"

Orie stops in the middle of yelling to her to keep it down when she realizes Phoenix is asleep. She sighs in frustration, not wanting to wake her, as Orie's sure she never got great sleep.

She quietly steps in to close Phoenix's laptop, then she turns the volume all the way down on the DJ System.

Orie steps out of the room and leans on the doorframe. She puts her claw to her chin. Something inside of her is really worried for her mental health, although that wouldn't make sense, because Phoenix never had any issues like that she can remember.

She looks toward the tomato creature bundled next to Phoenix's snout. It looks so peaceful with her. 

She can't help but feel a bit of a shiver of wholesomeness down her spine.

Orie's face twitches a tiny bit as the wholesome feeling is gone.

Ever since the other day, Orie couldn't stop thinking about how Phoenix was acting. She KNEW Phoenix didn't normally act so kind.

But at the same time, it could all just be in Orie's head. Maybe she's just crazy.

A thought echoes all throughout Orie's mind. What if she just... looked in Phoenix's mindscape?

Nothing intrusive, of course. She just wants to make sure nothing weird is going on to calm her nerves.

She closes her top eyes and uses her bottom mystic power eyes to dive into Phoenix's mindscape, realizing too late into reading her mind that she'd probably not agree to this.

At first glance, everything is sparce and separated. All of her traits, all of her thoughts, all of her memories are few and far between. Though Orie realizes this is normal for a dragon who's sleeping, and especially dreaming.

She can't find a dream though, which is strange because usually dreams are in the center of a dragon's mindscape when they're having them. It should be the biggest thing she can sense, but it's not there.

ORIE: "What the hell...?"

Perhaps Phoenix is just between dreams?

Orie's just about to give up and prepare to leave Phoenix's mindscape, when she hears a call behind her. Startled, she rushes out of the mindscape and turns around to see Arakados frozen in place, on their hindlegs, 4 pizza boxes in their arms, and staring at Orie.

Bleh. Switching from a mindscape to the physical world so fast usually makes her vision all blurry and it takes a while to refocus it. She can only see Arakados as a black and yellow blob currently.

ORIE: "Dakka? What are you doing here???"

Orie keeps her voice down as Phoenix is just in the room behind her, sleeping.

ARAKADOS: "I... Make pizza mash for me?"

ORIE: "Did you say something a moment ago?"

ARAKADOS: "Yea, I told you I make pizza ma-"

ORIE: "No, before that."

ARAKADOS: "Ohhh. Hrm... No I thought I was sneaky derg."

Orie looks to the ground in surprise and then squints back to Phoenix, struggling to focus her vision still.

ORIE: "Then who called out?"

ARAKADOS: "Uh I don't know but I go now bye"

Arakados flops down the stairs, dropping all the pizza boxes on the floor and falling down after them.

Orie cringes at all the noise.

ARAKADOS: "Ooh, box mash!!! Wonder what also could be mash!"

ORIE: "Shhhh!"

ARAKADOS: "Shhhh mash? That won't taste good..."

Orie rolls her eyes as she puffs smoke out of her nostrils in frustration.

ORIE: ;I temporarily cast this spell to mute Arakados's Shenanigan's for 5 minutes.;

Stepping back inside the room, she closes her top eyes and enters Phoenix's mindscape again. Inside, she searches all around but has trouble finding what could have called her.

She scowls, realizing it was probably only a stray thought and not something all too important.

Then she hears it again. Someone calling out for help.

She searches toward the distress but only feels darkness.

She begins to squint her bottom eyes as she tries to find the screaming and realizes there's an almost invisible wall of static. She looks deeper into it and finds that behind that wall is a box made of static and a small version of Phoenix inside.

PHOENIX: "HELP!!!"

This angry and emotional version of Phoenix bangs on the static walls with tears running down her face.

PHOENIX: "CAN ANYONE HEAR ME???"

She scratches down the wall with her other claws and collapses onto the static floor.

PHOENIX: "THAT'S NOT ME!!!

I DON'T WANT TO BE STUCK HERE ANYMORE!

LET ME OUT!”

Orie is baffled. Could it be that this part of Phoenix's personality was subdued in this small part of her mind? That might explain why it feels like Phoenix is acting unusual. How or what reason is another question though.

ORIE: ⦕Phoenix? Is that you?⦖

The bit of Phoenix in the static gasps in surprise and looks up as Orie's telepathic message echoes through her mind. Then her face turns to anger.

PHOENIX: "ORIE I SWEAR IF YOU HAD ANYTHING TO DO WITH THIS, I'M GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU!!!!"

Phoenix's mindscape brightens up as Phoenix begins to awake from Orie's Telepathy.

Orie begins to exit the mindscape more carefully this time and her top eyes open. She shuffles around anxiously as Phoenix pops her head up carefully, as to not wake the tomato creature, Tom, up.

PHOENIX: "Orie?"

Orie's eyes are wide open as Phoenix stares at her sleepily.

ORIE: "Uh. Yeah?"

Phoenix yawns deeply, rubbing her right eye with her hand.

PHOENIX: "Why are you watching me sleep?"

ORIE: "I was about to yell at you for making noise but I realized that would be rude."

PHOENIX: "Pff. You? Not being rude? I'll believe it when I see it, haha!

But no, for real, what are you doing? Did you just use Telepathy at me to wake me up, silly derg?"

Orie thinks for a moment. She couldn't tell Phoenix what she saw in her mind. What if she freaks out? Is that even possible in her state? She has to keep it cool and not reveal this, just in case.

ORIE: "You... Were having a nightmare. I didn't want you to go through that."

Saying the word "Nightmare" gives Orie chills that she couldn't even begin to understand. She supresses a prophetic vision of a snowglobe relating to that word into the deepest part of her mind. She shakes her snout to the ground while Phoenix's head tilts to the side in confusion.

PHOENIX: "Nightmare? But... I never have those..."

Actually, thinking of it, that other version of Phoenix could have easily been a nightmare and not some deep conspiracy or anything. Orie ponders on this thought for a moment.

PHOENIX: "Are you sure it was a nightmare?"

ORIE: "Well. I read your mind. You were in a static room, banging on the walls and shouting and crying to be 'let out.' I'd call that a nightmare"

Phoenix's face drops to a glare and she bares her teeth a bit.

PHOENIX: "You-..."

Phoenix stops shouting mid sentence and for a slight moment, her pink irises flash with static and her face instead turns back to a smirk with cute and happy eyes.

PHOENIX: "Oh, that's probably nothing to worry about, silly derg."

All four of Orie's eyes are wide with fear.

ORIE: "Did you... Uh... Notice that?"

PHOENIX: "Notice what?"

ORIE: "You... Glitched? ... I don't know."

PHOENIX: "No, I was just surprised you read my mind! I didn't realize you'd do that without asking is all. Pfff. "

ORIE: "But there was static in your eyes for a moment! You're telling me that's NORMAL?"

PHOENIX: "Whaaaat? What’s with you and static tonight? Are you feeling okay?

You didn’t pull an all-nighter again last night, did you?"

ORIE: "I don’t need you of all dragons to tell me when I can and can’t sleep, Phoenix. 

But either way, you just said in your nightmare... Or... A part of you said..."

PHOENIX: "I'm... pretty sure if that was a nightmare it only had to do with whatever happened in the dream. Either way I'm really tired. Goonoight!"

ORIE: "But-..."

Orie sighs. What if Phoenix is right? Maybe Orie's just overreacting and taking any evidence as proof of something else going on here.

Maybe she is seeing things. After all, the static in Phoenix's eyes could have just been a remnant of what Orie was looking at inside her mindscape.

Maybe it really WAS a nightmare... Maybe...

ORIE: "Good night."

Orie starts down the stairs, realizing Arakados is at the bottom crushing pizza boxes...

ORIE: "Oh, Myrka Drek."

PHOENIX: "Watch your language please Orie!"

Orie turns around to look at the top of the stairs with confusion.

ORIE: "It's just a name. Is saying her name offensive to you as a Myrkur?"

PHOENIX: "No, of course not, but that's KINDA disrespectful to use her name as a swear!"

Orie's confused face turns to a scowl and she yells up the stairs.

ORIE: "It's literally still just a name! I never said it was a swear?!?"

PHOENIX: "You used it as one though. I know what you meant."

ORIE: "Ugh! What the fuck ever, Phoenix."

PHOENIX: "LANGUAGE, Orie! Please don't say that!"

ORIE: "Oh my fucking God!"

:Stop!:

Orie's shout echoes through the stairway as Phoenix stops talking, not realizing she had used a myrkuran syntax in her anger.

She expects a response from up the stairs but gets none.

She turns back around to see Arakados laying across the bottom of the stairs, staring at their motionless claws in the middle of crushing up the box more.

ORIE: "Oh, have you finally started contemplating why you're doing that?"

She walks down, but she can't get past Arakados. They aren't moving at all.

Behind Arakados and to the left is the finished basement where they keep a bunch of computer stations in a group just in case they all have a LAN party one day. Also to the left, right around the corner of the stairway is Orie and Arakados's room, exactly the same shape and size and directly below Phoenix's room.

ORIE: "Move, I need to get by."

They still don't move. She's tempted to step on them, but something stops her from doing that.

ORIE: "Move... Please?"

They still don't move.

ORIE: "Ugh, I don't have time for your games right now."

;I cast this spell to lift myself over Arakados and land me on the ground behind them.;

Orie starts to float, but she accidentally kicks off the ground when it was unnecessary. So she spins forward while in the air over Arakados. Her claws hit the ceiling, knocking some of the tiles out of the roof, which fall on top of Arakados.

ORIE: "AHHGGHH!"

She's dropped on her left side right behind Arakados pretty harshly.

ORIE: "OWWW!"

She yells at the air above her, waving her fist and breathing a plume of purple and blue fire in anger.

ORIE: "What the heck was THAT for, universe?!?

Myrka DREK, that hurt!"

Orie starts to get up, her left arm a bit sore from the drop. She limps toward the bedroom door with three legs, right next to the stairway, dragging her left arm.

She reaches the door and realizes she can't use her left arm right now.

ORIE: "Ugh."

She shifts around awkwardly, not wanting to deal with this right now.

ORIE: ;I cast this spell to open this door for me.;

Orie's right hand is pulled violently to the door handle, causing her to fall forward. Her spell locks her right hand to the door knob as her hand pushes it open, then drops her hand, causing her to fall into the doorway.

ORIE: "Rhuuuuurgh..."

That's it.

Orie is done with the world right now.

She decides it's best she just rest here on the cold floor for the night...

[thedargonden]

[11] STRAWBERRY CHEESEPIE

November 1st, XX19

4:00 PM.

Phoenix is in the loungeroom kitchen with a chef's hat on.

She hums to herself while gathering her ingredients on the kitchen counter.

PHOENIX: "Orie!! Come here!"

Slumping out of the hallway, Orie quickly turns the corner to scowl at Phoenix.

ORIE: "What?"

PHOENIX: "I'm about to make you a cheesecake! What do you want on it?"

Orie's eyes just about roll right out of her head.

ORIE: "Look, you know I like cheesecake but that doesn't mean I want it literally every day. I just had some for Halloween."

PHOENIX: "But you can't ever have too much of a good thing!"

As Phoenix said that, her hat falls off and she catches it before it hits the ground.

ORIE: "And you're a 'walking example' of that."

Phoenix puts her chef's hat back on over her horns again.

PHOENIX: "Awww, such a nice thing to say!"

ORIE: "No! God dammit, do you know what sarcasm is?"

PHOENIX: "Hey, no need for that kind of language!"

ORIE: "What, SARCASM? Does that word offend you?"

PHOENIX: "Oh Orie, you know what I meant."

ORIE: "Whatever...

How about you make like... a pie instead? You've got most of the ingredients for that anyway. Graham cracker crust? Strawberries?"

PHOENIX: "You're right! I'll make...

A CHEESEPIE!"

ORIE: "That's not what I had in mi-"

PHOENIX: "Hush, I've already made up my mind! A strawberry cheesepie!"

ORIE: "That's not a real thing."

PHOENIX: "WELL IT IS NOW!"

Phoenix grabs all of her ingredients and pushes them to the side where she could use them when she needs to, while Orie leans against the fridge, watching her.

ORIE: "Are you okay, Phoenix? You seem to be acting... different than usual."

PHOENIX: "Pfff, what? Different? How do you mean?"

ORIE: "Well, last night you were cursing and screaming about tomatoes trying to kill you, until I stepped in and solved it for you."

PHOENIX: "Wait, THOSE tomatoes? No way, they were so cute and cuddly! They just wanted hugs!"

Phoenix steps away from the counter, making sure to set her knife down.

PHOENIX: "Tom! Come here, girl!"

A little stubby tomato creature runs out of the hall doorway and yips in joy.

PHOENIX: "See? Cute!"

ORIE: "But I remember you were definitely cursing."

PHOENIX: "I never curse! I believe you're mistaken."

ORIE: "You were definitely...

Huh. I guess...

I must be remembering it wrong then?"

Orie feels something inside her resonate within her mind. A strange presence... It almost feels like herself, but her mind reading powers aren't supposed to work internally...

This string of thought tells her that the events of last night aren't what Phoenix describes, and that neither Phoenix nor Orie are really like this... but Orie realizes this is no more than a silly intrusive thought and the two dragons have always been like this.

ORIE: "Hrm. I guess you're right. It must have been some dream."

PHOENIX: "Pfff, see Orie? Tom doesn't have a violent bone in her body!"

Phoenix picks Tom up, and kisses her forehead before hugging her close.

ORIE: "She doesn't even have any bones. Also isn't she just going to rot and die in like a week or so?"

PHOENIX: "Oh, you're right. I gotta enchant her!"

;I enchant this tomato to never ever rot or go bad, but have a healthy lifespan for a tomato creature!;

ORIE: "How long is a 'healthy lifespan' for a tomato creature???"

PHOENIX: "I'd say maybe half a year? Give or take?"

Suddenly, Arakados walks in from the hallway with a blank expression. They round the corner to see Phoenix holding the tiny tomato creature and their face lights up. They rush over and smile creepily, snout extremely close to the tomato.

ARAKADOS: "Mmmmmm! That would go PERFECTLY on a pizza!" ò.u.ó

Phoenix gasps and snatches Tom away from Arakados.

PHOENIX: "NO! Dakka, Don't you DARE!"

ARAKADOS: "It's tomato. Tomato is food. Pizza is food. So tomato should go on pizza!"

PHOENIX: "No! Not this tomato! She's my pet!"

ORIE: "I thought it was my pet."

PHOENIX: "Just by you calling her an it, you've revoked your rights to her as a pet."

ARAKADOS: "IT BELONGS ON PIZZA!"

Arakados lunges for Tom, who's blocked by Orie.

ORIE: "Arakados! What's gotten into you???"

Arakados's head tilts in confusion and they stop.

PHOENIX: "What? This is classic Arakados behavior! I thought you knew this, being their girlfriend and everything!"

ORIE: "But... I swear, they were nice... and a really cool dragon... and-"

PHOENIX: "Are YOU okay, Orie? Do you have one of those mind reader feedback loop migraines or something?"

Orie looks at Phoenix. She's slightly concerned, but overall happy in her mind. She looks to Arakados, staring down the Tomato, barely taking note in whatever crisis is happening.

This is... normal.

Right?

This is how she remembers things being for a long time...

But why is there something in her mind telling her otherwise?

ORIE: "Right. You're right. I'm sorry. I'm just feeling off and confused right now"

PHOENIX: "Well obviously! Let me make you a cheesepie and maybe then you'll feel better."

ORIE: "Fine. Hey Arakados, I've got a pizza. You want to eat it with me over there?"

Orie points her left index claw toward the sofa.

ARAKADOS: "PIZZA?" o.w.o

ORIE: "Yep. Got some just for us in my bag."

Orie reaches into her dimensional bag, decorated in pink, and stickers of cheesecakes and hearts. She can't remember why she decorated it like that, it's sorta embarrassing.

She reaches inside the bag and pulls out a big pizza box. Arakados's attention is fully on Orie now.

Orie opens the box to show a heart shaped pizza before she blushes and closes it in embarrassment.

ARAKADOS: "HEART PIZZA!" O . W . O

PHOENIX: "Awwwwww, Orie!"

ORIE: "Shut up!"

Orie drags Arakados to the sofa to eat it.

She opens the box again and realizes it hasn't been cut yet.

ORIE: ;I cast this spell to cut this pizza in equal eighths.;

In response, the pizza cuts itself in 8ths. Then does it again. And again. And again. Cutting it into many pieces nonstop. Arakados's head tilts with concern.

ORIE: "No! Wait! Stop!"

;Stop!;

The pizza just continues splitting individually.

ORIE: "Uhm!"

;.shthgie lauqe ni azzip siht tuc to spell siht tsac I;

The cutting stops and Arakados stares at the carnage. Instead of a crispy heart shaped pizza, it's now a big glob of cheese, tomato sauce, and bread.

ORIE: "Well, that was a mistake..."

Arakados reaches in the box to try pulling out a slice, but only just grabs a handful of mashed pizza. They cringe at the feeling of holding it, but puts it to their nose to smell it and then puts it in their mouth.

ARAKADOS: "Oooooooh! It's now pizza mash!"

Orie stares at them in disbelief. This isn't Arakados... is it? The real Arakados would look at this and realize this was a destroyed pizza, and not...

ORIE: "Pizza... mash? That... doesn't exist. Did you just make that up?"

Instead of responding, Arakados closes the... pizza mash box and takes off with it toward the hallway.

ARAKADOS: "MY pizza mash!!!"

ORIE: "Arakados, what the hell! I'm still hungry!"

They just continue out into the hallway to who knows where without saying a word.

PHOENIX: "Orie! Language!"

ORIE: "No, shut the fuck up! Am I the only sane one here? Neither of you are acting the way you're supposed to!

Am I even acting like normal?!? Oh god, am *I* also crazy???"

Phoenix sets down her ingredients and looks over to Orie on the sofa, her hands covering her eyes in frustration.

PHOENIX: "Who says I'm 'supposed' to act a certain way?

Seriously, Orie... I think you need to lay down for a bit and drink a lot of water. I'm worried you might be sick..."

ORIE: "No! I'm not sick! God dammit! Everyone's fucking insane, including me!"

Phoenix shrugs.

PHOENIX: "Orie, I don't know what to tell you... This is how it's always been..."

Orie points at Phoenix with her left hand.

ORIE: "No! Fuck you! I don't care what you're saying! It's untrue and you know it!"

Phoenix stares at Orie, hurt.

PHOENIX: "I..."

Orie notices a tear form in Phoenix's eye, making her even more angry at herself.

ORIE: "Fucking GREAT!!! Now I'm upsetting you! What the fuck is wrong with me?"

Orie smashes her head into her hands a couple of times.

PHOENIX: "O... Orie..."

ORIE: "No, you know what? I’m going away from you before I say something I don't mean. You don't need my shit right now."

Orie stands up and walks to the door, fuming.

PHOENIX: "Orie...!"

ORIE: "Bye."

She opens the front door and walks out, slamming the door behind her and leaving Phoenix alone in the kitchen with her cheesepie ingredients.

PHOENIX: "..."

Phoenix's chef's hat falls off of her head again, on top of Tom, blissfully unaware of what just transpired.

Tom shakes the hat off of her and peeks out to see Phoenix leaving her ingredients on the counter and heading to her room.

She doesn't feel like baking anymore.