#emberglow leaf

[purpleheroine]

[dire-vulture]

(part 1 here!)

Tamarind and Tarragon: Chapter 1, Part 2 (1567 words)

          Tamarind opened the door to his apartment, letting Tarragon into the front room.           "I know it's a little small but-"           "It's plenty big!" Tarragon said, looking around in awe.           "I guess for you, it would be," Tamarind laughed, then said "I, uh, need to take care of something in my bedroom. Stay right here." And Tamarind ran off through the hallway, leaving Tarragon behind.           Now alone, Tarragon inspected the room. It wasn't messy by any means, but it was obvious Tamarind hadn't prepared for a guest. The large leaf-patterned sofa had a decorative blanket sloppily tossed on it, and there were some bottles and old newspapers, circulars, and gardening magazines strewn about on end tables, some of which had fallen to the floor. Several shelves with precariously perched glass butterflies and haphazardly sorted books lined the walls across from a large, curtainless window. But most of all, Tarragon couldn't help but notice that atop the shelves were many potted plants in dry soil, scattered disorderly between random papers and fallen, dried leaves.           "You guys are looking rather sad..."           Tarragon found a tiny watering can beneath a shelf, then went into the adjacent kitchen to fill it. He began watering the plants, and shifted their positions to get better light. He also started clearing some of the clutter and dead leaves, to give the plants more "breathing room," and so they'd be more noticeable upon walking in.           "I hope this makes you happier," he quietly said to a Saintpaulia, then went to water the plants on the next shelf. Suddenly, Tamarind appeared in the hallway's arch.           "I can clean up for myself, thank you," Tamarind scoffed.           "Oh, sorry. The plants needed help..." Tarragon said, looking at a drooping coffee plant.           "Yeah," Tamarind looked away, now slightly embarrassed. "Geez, pretty sorry sight when a Nature dragon's plants aren't doing well. I've just not been home much at all lately. Only to sleep, really."           Tarragon put down the watering can. "If I'm gonna be your roommate, they might as well be my plants too. I'll always make sure they're getting plenty of attention! I don't want you to lose them."           "Thank you," Tamarind said and scratched his head. "Speaking of the whole roommate thing, it's too late to get my landlord now, but tomorrow after work I can arrange a meeting. You don't have to make any decisions right then of course, you can see if you really do wanna stay in town first."           "That would be great!" Tarragon said, walking up to Tamarind. "When do you get out of work?"           Tamarind's eyes followed Tarragon and he answered, "I usually work from 8 to 6. The town's contracted me as a landscaper. We've really been putting in a lot of hours as of late, big project."           Tarragon's eyes lit up. "Landscaping! I made all sorts of mushroom landscapes back home! It was one of my favorite ways to spend time, aside from growing flowers."           "Oh! Well, we work much larger things than that, but if you're gonna be looking for work, I could bring you for a trial run tomorrow. We're all large dragons, but we could find use for a smallfry like you, I'm sure."           Tarragon bounced around in excitement. "I'd love that so much, thank you!"           "How about I show you around the house now?" Tamarind put his paw on the vibrating Tundra, attempting to calm him down.           "Yes, please," Tarragon gave a small nod and smiled.           Tamarind lead Tarragon down the hallway which was only just wide enough for both of them to be side by side.           "There's the kitchen on the left, but I see you've already been in there," Tamarind said, eying the dripping faucet. "On the right is my room!"           Tamarind opened the bedroom door, and let Tarragon in. The room was clearly freshly tidied, worn clothing neatly placed in a basket and lace coverings set upon the bedside tables. Several candles were burning to provide light, but the matchsticks were nowhere to be seen. Tarragon smelled some lavender incense that Tamarind must have also lit while he was waiting in the entrance room. A very large mattress covered by a smoothened butterfly quilt took up about three-fourths of the space. It was a wonder Tamarind could walk on the floor at all, but he squeezed past the bed and stood by the closet to give Tarragon more space.           "It's not much, but this is my little den! My bed is your bed! You're welcome to sleep in here tonight."           Tarragon hopped up on to the mattress. It was a vast sea of comfort; it reminded him of his parents' bed but even bigger and softer. The mattress was made just big enough to fit two Guardians and the quilt had a faint earthen smell. Tarragon spread out his arms and closed his eyes.           "I could fall asleep right now."           "We'll go to bed soon, I promise. Gotta get up early for our breakfast date after all," Tamarind chuckled. "But we still got the rest of the tour."           "Oh yes," Tarragon smiled and jumped off the bed. Tamarind took Tarragon back into the hallway, then opened the next door over, revealing a smaller room, devoid of everything except a bare mattress and small table.           "This'll be your room. There's nothing in there right now cuz my last roommate took just about everything when he left. I don't have sheets to fit that bed, but we can go get some later this week. Like I said, you're welcome in my room in the mean time."           "Um," Tarragon stared at the mostly barren floor, but lifted a paw, pointing to the bright red molted feathers on the ground by the bed. Tamarind rolled his eyes. "Course he left us a gift. A Coatl, he ditched me to move back to the Emberglow Hearth." Tamarind hastily brought Tarragon out of the room and closed the door hard enough to make Tarragon flinch.           "Sorry about that."           "It's ok," Tarragon said, feeling rather awkward. "Wait. If I'm sleeping in your room, where will you sleep?"           "In my room. It's big enough for us both."           "Oh," Tarragon said. "Okay." Tarragon's tail gave a slight twitch and he shrunk his body a little. "I guess being in bed together after the first date is to be expected," he sighed.           "Sorry, I guess I wasn't being considerate," Tamarind's orange face was turning pink. "We don't have to share a bed. There's the couch. I don't wanna make you sleep on it, but I won't quite fit there myself." Tamarind paused, then added, "Am I making you uncomfortable?"           "You caught me off guard," Tarragon said, trying to stifle the discomfort in his voice. "I've never dated anybody before and I'm afraid I'm doing everything wrong."           "Bud," Tamarind said, opening his arms for Tarragon to accept an embrace. Tarragon timidly entered his arms. "You've done nothing wrong. You didn't even know this was a date 'til an hour-and-a-half ago. I want you to be comfortable here."           Tarragon pressed himself a bit harder into Tamarind's body. "It is comfortable in your arms," Tarragon quietly said. He lifted his head to look into Tamarind's eyes. "But please, no more surprises. I can only take so many."           "I promise I'll do better."

          Last on the tour, Tamarind showed Tarragon the bathroom and let him wash up for the night. When Tarragon exited, Tamarind handed him a basket.           "Here, you can keep your bag and accessories in here while you sleep."           "Thank you," Tarragon said as he started tossing his few belongings into it.           "Have you decided where you want to sleep? Don't worry about me, I can curl up on the floor if I gotta."           "No, don't do that," Tarragon said, his fur light and fluffy after toweling off. "I've thought about it, and maybe it would be nice to not sleep alone tonight."           "Glad to hear it! We're on the same page. Let me get ready for bed and I'll see you in my room," Tamarind beamed and hurriedly entered the bathroom. Tarragon entered the bedroom. The room was dimly lit, with only one candle left providing light. The incense was mostly burnt up by now, but the lavender smell still soothed Tarragon. He put his basket next to the bedside table then hopped into bed and shut his eyes. He hadn't yet fallen asleep when Tamarind entered into the room, but Tarragon remained motionless. Tamarind stood in place watching Tarragon, then sighed.           "Figures," he mumbled.           If Tarragon hadn't been secretly awake, the huge shift in weight when the 14-ton dragon climbed onto bed certainly would've stirred the quarter-ton dragon, but he stayed quiet and still during the process. Tamarind blew out the candle.           As the two lay in bed together, Tarragon suddenly let out a big sniff. Tamarind jolted up and looked toward the sound, but it was too dark to see anything.           "Are you crying?" he asked.           "I am," Tarragon said in a shaky voice and sniffed again. "You've been so nice to me. Today was amazing. I can't believe I made it to the Windswept Plateau."           Tamarind inched closer to Tarragon and wrapped his arms around his body.           "I'm glad you're here."           Tarragon sniveled some more, then leaned his head into Tamarind's chest.           "Are we boyfriends?"           Tamarind softly lowered his paws down Tarragon's furry arms. "Only if you want to be."           "I do."

[wavesofthewest]

Chapter 14: Plaguelands

Fate: 40-50 coli battles

“Come on! Inside! You don’t want to be around when the plague stretches its tendrils here, do you?” they heard Poison yell from the cave entrance. Riot of Rot had come and the year of plague was upon them. A year no different than any other for those of plague element, but a year of heightened sickness for the others. The new year especially was dangerous for the others, when plague magic was strong enough to create smaller versions of the Contagion in other elemental lands.

Two years had passed since Sage had died, and while the Tribe dealt with the difficulty of making decisions without the rational side of the council, Blue had been taking it much harder. Her grief had worn away after a few short months, but something about her had changed. She wasn’t as carefree as she used to be and wasn’t afraid to use violence if it was the most efficient way to get what they needed.

Abstract and Nera had become close, despite their arguing and occasional fights. The two had another nest, and while they had yet to declare each other mates, the others knew it was a matter of time.

Ashes still spent most of his time with Poison, training to be able to do what Heaven couldn’t - or at least, that’s what he told Nameless, and what Nameless told everyone else. When the two weren’t training, Ashes hung with Nameless, and Poison trained alone.

Toshi and Smoke had drifted apart, although neither of them had changed. Toshi stayed as treasure manager, still as childish as she was before, and Smoke was still the tribe’s gatherer, but they saw each other less and less as they made time for other things in their lives. Smoke would spend more time with Blue while Toshi would sleep more, as she was beginning to feel the effects of her magic come late.

Petal spent most of her time in a small wagon she’d built, creating small clockwork trinkets for the rest of the clan and working on larger projects that she wouldn’t tell the others about.

The familiars were still around and accompanied their hosts. Leaf, Sage’s webwing, had found a friend in Nameless. Iced continued to help Toshi with her treasurekeeping. A Highland gem guardian had found its way to Petal, who had later been named Spark, and an Emberglow gem guardian - Flame - accompanied Smoke wherever she went.

Life had gone on in the Tribe, and two years passed as if there was no time at all. When they reflected on it, they were always surprised to find how long it had been since Sage’s death, as it never felt as long as it had been.

Now, though, Riot of Rot had come, and Petal still stood outside the cave entrance, taking a last look at the nature around them. She didn’t know if it’d still be there the next day - she knew that the passing of the new year was dangerous to dragons, but she didn’t know whether the same applied to plants and beastclan.

“Come on!” Poison yelled from the cave entrance. “Do you want Nameless to lock you out or not?”

Petal sighed and walked into the cave, where Poison, Nera and Nameless stood, waiting. Nameless focused his magic on the cave walls, and ice began to form around the edges. Petal helped speed the process up by lending her power to the gaoler, and before long, the entrance to the cave was sealed with a wall of thick ice. The four retreated further into the cave, where the rest of the tribe sat around a small fire. The skydancer sat by Nameless, who curled his tail around Ashes, who was on his other side. They’d done that more recently, and everyone in the tribe was hoping that Ashes had found a friend in the gaoler; however, both of them shot down any rumours saying this quickly. They were only someone to talk to when bored, according to them. It made her think.

“Hey, Nameless?” Petal asked, looking up at the male who was four times her size. “Would you consider me a friend?”

The gaoler looked down at her and chuckled. “Of course I would, Petal. We’re all friends in the tribe, whether or not we want to admit it. Nera and Ashes are special cases, though…nobody - well, except for Abstract - likes Nera, and Ashes is…different. He’s detached from everyone. But you? You’re super friendly and everyone loves your trinkets. Of course we’re friends; you’re everyone’s friend.”

“But Ashes isn’t that detached from you. You talk sometimes when he’s not off training. I think he likes you, Nameless, I think he does. You just don’t want to admit you’re friends and that’s fine, it really is. I wouldn’t blame you. He can be a bit difficult sometimes, his temper and everything…but it’s good for him to know that there’s someone there for him. You know? Like Smoke is there for Blue.”

Nameless winced and glanced at Blue, who was busy talking to Smoke on the other side of the fire. ��It’s not the same. Ashes never grieved. He just went back to training. I don’t know if that was a method of hiding his grief or if he just didn’t, but for a long time, he was the most influential dragon on the council because the rest of them were too busy considering Sage’s death and everyone else’s deaths. I think he’s a bit mad that everyone’s caring about Sage dying but not Heaven, and honestly, I don’t blame him. Heaven was his sister, the two were close. Sage, on the other hand…once he found out that he’d been lied to about his biological parents, he stopped talking to her. They hadn’t parted on the best terms.”

The council. The dragons who had the most influence in the tribe’s decisions. It had been founded shortly after Sage’s death on the realisation that it could happen to anyone in the tribe, including Blue. It consisted of the tribe leader, second, heir and their mates. Should the leader have more than one child, all of them would be on the council, but only the heir’s mate would also be there. Since the current tribe leader, second and heir didn’t have mates, the rest of the tribe felt it was unbalanced and biased, especially with Ashes’s and Blue’s tendency to do what seemed unethical in their eyes.

“They really need to get mates,” Petal thought aloud, immediately regretting it.

Nameless shrugged. “Nera and Abstract will tie tails soon, not that she’d be a valuable addition. I’m just worried about Ashes. He doesn’t have any intention of getting a mate, which means that the bloodline will stop. Just stop with him. And it’s not like his father can do anything to help - the only reason he’s heir is that he’s Blue’s son, not because he has Abstract or Sage’s blood in him.”

“Maybe someone else can take over or something. Ashes doesn’t seem too keen to inherit the tribe either. The bloodline can go to someone else, someone they can trust and who they know won’t have selfish ambitions for the tribe.” The skydancer glanced at Abstract, who’d fallen asleep on Nera’s shoulder. Nameless saw her glance and shook his head.

“No, no, no, no and no. We don’t know what Nera’s planning for the tribe should she take over. Maybe Smoke. Maybe Poison. Maybe me, maybe you. Literally anyone but Nera.” Nameless shook his head and sighed. “Unless we can find the lost child, that is. Then all our problems will be solved.”

“Nameless,” Petal sighed. “That’s assuming they’d even want to run the tribe. For all we know, they’re dead, and if they’re not, then they would have washed up to some other clan and been raised there. Their allegiance wouldn’t be with us, it’d be with whoever found them.”

Nameless opened his mouth to reply, but before he could get a word out, a loud thud was heard, as if something had fallen on top of them. They looked towards the ice wall - which was where the sound had come from - and held their breath. The cave wasn’t the strongest one they could find, and if someone made a hole in it, the contagion could rage in and infect them.

There was a pause, then the sound came again. Petal shot to the ice wall and gently knocked on it. She was greeted by another thud.

“They’re trying to break it open,” she called back. “Obviously. I think we should let them in. It’s a dangerous night, they could die out there, and it’d be on us.”

“No.”

Petal stared at Blue, who stood and shook her head. “But-”

“I said no, Petal. We have to think about ourselves first. If we let them in, and they’re already infected, we could go down as well. And the plague could come through the wall. We should let them die out there if we would have died if we let them in,” she cut. “Nobody is touching that wall. Nameless’s magic is strong, it should hold.”

Ashes cleared his throat. “Actually, I think we should let them in. There’s no harm in it. It’s not like the plague is guaranteed to kill any of us, besides, we have two strong and capable mages here who’d be able to cure us. Besides, the more the merrier, right?”

Abstract opened his mouth and Petal knew that it would be an argument that would take far too long to settle. She focused her magic on the ice wall, asking it to melt, and after a while a small hole appeared. She looked back at the fire; the three were still arguing, so she continued until the wall was broken down completely.

Standing in the entrance to the cave were a mirror and a fae. They were both panting from the work needed to break the wall down. Petal couldn’t help but feel a little sorry for them - they were travellers, like the tribe, but they hadn’t become accustomed to the hardships of it.

The skydancer cleared her throat and walked back to the fire, sitting down next to Nameless again. The two newcomers joined them while the mages focused on closing the cave again. Neither of them wanted to see Blue’s reaction. To their relief, the guardian only made an annoyed growl at the strangers.

“Well? What’s your name?” Blue asked. “Seeing as you were so urgently knocking down our door to get in here, you might as well introduce yourselves.”

“You don’t need to pretend to be friendly,” the mirror spat. “You didn’t even want us to come in, but the skydancer at least had the decency to let us not die out there. As for names, I’m Donder, and this is my sister, Bedankt. We won’t be staying after the plague leaves.”

Petal winced at the harsh tone, then again when Blue turned her back on the newcomers to sleep. Maybe rescuing them hadn’t been the best idea, after all.