#if ya like wof you would probably like these books

[mad-raptorzzz]

[ID: Multiple sketches of green dragon-like creatures called drakes from the book series Draconis Memoria by Anthony Ryan. They look oddly gecko-like with bulging yellow eyes on the tops of their heads. Instead of wings, they have a large spike erupting from each shoulder. On the left, there is a fullbody and headshot of a forest dwelling green drake. It is bright green with darker green stripes along its body. It's legs are squat, like a lizard. The drake has a long thin tail ending in a sharp arrow-head like spike. It has many spikes around its face. There is a red colored throat poach on it's neck. It has unique pupils that are thin slits with two hatch marks in its bright yellow eyes. The middle of the image has a fullbody and headshot of a prairie drake, which is a duller yellow-green. This drake is taller and has more of an upright posture. It's whole body gradually gets darker in color, with the multi-spiked tail being light colored again. There is some very subtle striping around its legs. The feet of this drake look more like a dogs paws with blunt claws. It's pupils are cat-like slits in golden yellow eyes. The right side of the image has a river dragon. This one is a dark teal with a light teal underbelly. It has horizontal striping and some light speckles on its body. There are many whiskers coming from its mouth, nose, and chin. It has small fins around its face and on its legs. The feet are large and webbed. Instead of a spike, its tail is more paddle-shaped. It has very large round pupils in its bright yellow-green eyes. The headshot of the river drake has its mouth open showing very sharp yellow-ish teeth and breathing a small yellow flame. The background is a muddy green. /.End]

Like I said I finished the Draconis Memoria series and I wanted to try my hands at illustrating the dragons, or drakes as they call them in the books, featured in the series. There are 5 main types.

The first if the green drake. Drinking the blood of green drakes can be done by anyone, even non-blood-blessed. It helps heal wounds and take pain away. If you are blood-blessed, it gives you superhuman strength, speed, and senses for a short time. Greens are the smallest overall drake and instead of wings they have two large shoulder spikes. The can breathe fire and have large spikes at the end of their tails. While not venomous, their bites are full of nasty bacteria. Greens are pack hunters and travel in large family groups. There are three subclasses of greens: forest, prairie, and river.

Forest greens are the smallest and the most adept at climbing. Their small size allows them to prosper in the very dense rainforest/jungle of the interior. They are also the best at changing their colors. Headcannon time now. Generally, their base color is a vibrant green with some striping. I think forest greens look the most like geckos/lizards. They have a lot of spikes and spines that actually help break up their shape and allows them to blend in more with their environment. Ambush predators, they prefer to silently creep up on prety then drop from above. The sticky pads on their wide splayed toes help them stick to surfaces. They have a throat flap like anoles that they can puff up to intimidate other dragons.

Prairie greens are the next largest of the greens. They have a more upright appearance as they live and hunt on the plains of the interior, thus need to be able to gallop quickly after prey. This gives them more of an upright appearance. Now headcannon stuff. They have a more dull-green-yellow color to blend in with the more brown yellow prairie grasses. They aren't great at changing their colors, but they are more chase-based predators anyway. Their packs operate like hyena packs: coordinated attacks and overwhelm the prey with numbers. They have fewer spikes for a more streamlined appearance. Their feet are more mammalian with almost dog/cheetah like toes better suited for running than climbing.

Last are the river greens, the largest and most aggressive of the bunch. They live in the fresh water rivers, swamps, and marshes of the interior. They can be very difficult to see in the murky waters, only to burst up without warning and drag their prey down to the depths. For headcannon things, they are also pretty good at color changing, but can't quite do it to the extent of forest greens. For example, they are restricted to green-blue colors mostly. They typically are a dark teal green with rippling patterns and a lighter belly. These greens have many whiskers and barbles to feel around in murky water. They have some pseudo-fins as well, with even their shoulder spikes having a membrane. The feet of river greens are big, floppy, webbed and paddle-like. Their tail is also flattened and the spike is more of a paddle, though still sharp. Fire from river greens is the weakest of any drake.

There weren't any notable green drakes in the books like the other dragons, so these are just some random guys. Next up will be the red drakes!

[mythos321]

Part 1 of my Wof x Persona au

“The world which has been shrouded in darkness, must now be reborn, righteousness which had once reigned has now been shrouded by the uncaring masses, leaving ruins which cannot be rebuilt

Many have come to stand forth against this fate, of many shapes and sizes and even species. These beings are known as tricksters, and they have come to be needed once more

Your time to rise forth against this distortion is nigh”

Chapter One:Start of The New World

That night still echoed in Clays brain, the night everything was taken from him, where he was forced to leave everything behind and be put in some strange program. He wanted to get angry, to feel bitter, and yet…all he felt was like he was a piece of trash, a bigwings who failed his sibs, no matter how much they tried to reassure him on his final goodbyes, he just couldn’t accept it, nor himself for what had happened, and hoped to the moons that they wouldn’t be burdened by his absence.

All he currently had on him was a(relative to his size) small bag, and a pair of glasses to try and blend himself into the crowd more, futile as he knew that may be.

As he walked and flew across the trail to his momentary place of residence, he heard talks of multiple different topics, one which particularly stood out to him being the “Detective Princess” Skywing he had heard about, who he also learned to be attending his new school, all Clay thought was he hoped to try and avoid interacting with them if they’re as prying as he assumed Detectives to be.

as Clay looked through his bag, he found a strange book inside it, with a cover that presented a red and black eye upon it, and almost seemed to be calling to him…Clay then threw it out, figuring it was some junk that got mixed with his things

finally, he had found the small town he would take residence in, located in the center of a small point which connected part of The Mud, Sky, and Rainforest kingdom, which featured a multitude of different Dragon tribes, similar to another city Clay had heard about on the other side of the continent, “probability” or something?

Clay hated to admit it, but he was slightly apprehensive of the other tribes, He luckily managed to find an aging Mudwing shopkeeper who pointed him in the direction of The Dragon he was looking for, The Skywing Kestrel

Clay saw the entrance to a small cavern and entered to find The Skywing preparing to close up shop for tonight, before hearing him enter

“We’re closed, get your food somewhere els- ah, you’re Clay, right?”

“Correct, Mrs. Kestrel”

“It’s Miss, actually, but just call me Kestrel, I’ll admit, I forgot you’re coming today” Kestrel stated, as she stretched her back

“Busy day I presume?”

“Nope, about as slow as a day like this can get, probably different for you though with your circumstances, eh ya little monster?”

“Correct, m- Kestrel, thank you so much for helping me” Clay politely said, but in all honesty, he couldn’t help but still feel uncomfortable towards her, even if she was doing something so nice for him, she seemed to have a small but noticeable burn upon her cheek, and her arms were covered in even larger burns, with a small stab wound also being noticeable upon the outer side of her right paw as opposed to the burns on the inner parts. Not to mention, though Clay knew she couldn’t help it, her face screamed “I’d beat a kid for fun! yippee!”

however, in contrast, Clay could tell she had a calm, if slightly cold tone to her voice, and he truly didn’t feel any malice from her outside of the appearance, so he decided to go with his gut and still trust her…though his gut had failed him before, even still, he wouldn’t let that guide him.

“Come on now, no need to be so formal, I ain’t some priestess, all I’m doing is doing your aunt a favor.” Kestrel stated, and Clay almost smiled thinking about his aunt Asha, the closest to a mother he ever had…He could tell he was gonna miss her almost as much as he missed his sibs

“Come along this way now, I have a place for you to stay” Kestrel then walked down the cavern, where Clay was greeted with a dusty old room that looked like it hadn’t been opened in years and almost like it was just used for Storage beforehand

“I prepared your resting area, but you’re gonna have to handle the rest, alright?” Kestrel stated as she laid out a small area that could barely fit a dragon Clays size, with no resting support to be seen

“Heard what ya did to the lady, I’d have never taken ya to be the type to maul someone with how you act!” Kestrel laughed, but Clay looked horrified at her thinking he’d do such a thing, and she quickly caught it, “Huh, guess that parts just a rumor then? well, not like it matters either way, I won’t pry too much on it though, just don’t pull me into it either.” Kestrel stated towards him, now looking almost disappointed, and Clay wondered if she somehow knew the person involved and held some grudge towards them.

“All I know is you got in trouble for attacking a diplomat, and your queen banished you from your home for it while putting you in that new program thingamajig. That’s all I know, and that’s all I need to know, and that’s all the people that need to know here, alright? don’t want any customers knowing a criminal lives here, got it?” Clay wanted to comment on how she worded his Queen saving his scales but knew this had already dragged on too much for either of their likings

“Got it.”

“Good, just endure this place for the next 12 months, and you’ll be off probation and your banishment ends, but that also means you can’t go getting yourself into trouble. I’ll make sure to help you get a route to your school tomorrow, you can get yourself introduced to your teachers. Don’t expect them to be friendly though, people don’t regard your type with much grace y’know”

“…I expected that” Clay somberly said, keeping a somber yet sharp face as he looked her in the eye, expecting her to finally reveal a snarl to her, but instead got a small sigh, and a pat on his back before preparing to leave for the night

“Don’t go messing with the tavern while I’m gone okay? don’t do anything stupid while you’re here alone, okay? or I might just toss ya to the mountains.” Kestrel said, and Clay couldn’t tell if she was trying to tell a joke or not.

Clay made sure to clean up his space, dusting the area, taking out trash, and even watering a small plant, before finally heading to rest. He couldn’t help but note how cold the floor felt to himself, how stiff it was…how lonely it made him

before he could rest, however, Clay saw a slight glow in his bag and looked inside it and found the strange book from before

“Huh, I could’ve sworn I threw this out” Clay thought out loud, as he opened the book to look inside, before suddenly falling to sleep on his resting space with little time to react

**

Clay quickly awoke, but he found himself not in the cave like before, and instead in a cell-like structure, with a strange fog seeming to surround his cell and that which stood outside of it, however, throughout the fog and darkness he saw a single light at its center, and at the far end of that line laid a strange looking Nightwing, whose eyes seemed darker than the shadows which surrounded him, with scales that were ebony black for all but his right arm, which appeared to Clay to be made of…stone? They didn’t quite look right to him that was for sure

What stood out most to Clay however, was the dragons piercing gaze, almost as though the moons themselves gazed upon him, making Clay feel an immense presence immediately.

“Welcome, young Mudwing, to my Velvet Room. My name is The Stonemover, and I serve as this places all-powerful master.” The Dragons voice rumbled, and Clay felt his entire back shiver as he heard it echo across his prison.

“My my, to think your room would manifest in such a way. Your heart truly has been shackled as a prisoner of fate, Mudwing.”

“What’s going on! where am I-“ Clay tried to move toward the front of his cage, but a baton suddenly clashed against it, and he saw two small scavenger-like creatures below, and was shocked when one of them spoke to him

“Show some respect, inmate! back off!” Shouted one of the scavengers, who appeared to have a paralleling eyepatch with the other

“You are in the presence of our master.” stated the other, calmer scavenger

“All shall be explained to you in due time, Mudwing, but for now, you must return to your real world, but do know, our paths shall cross oncemore very soon” As The Stonemovers voice rumbled, Clay began to faint once more, before awakening once again in the true world, and prepared to go with Kestrel to his new academy.

when Clay first entered the office of The Schools Dean, he saw none other than The Queen of the Seawings, Coral, accompanied on her left by who Clay guessed to be The Disgraced Eldest daughter, Orca.

On her right, there was a seawing older than Orca but definitely younger than Coral, with a mixture of dark and green scales, with creepy blobby eyes that reminded Clay of some toads back where he used to live

“I hope you are aware that you are not here because you are wanted! Only because Moorhen insisted on you being a part of my program. Understand if I so wish, I could send you right back to where you belong.” Coral viciously said, and Clay felt a special kind of venom in her words, one he hadn’t felt even from those strange wardens he saw in his dream, at least, he assumes it was a dream.

“Now now My Queen, it is important to be easy upon him, after all, he grew up in such a dirty place he probably doesn’t know much of anything! He could make great use in swimming however” The Man to her right said in a strange, oily voice, which made Clay feel gross just hearing, the backhanded remark didn’t help either

“Awww Whirlpool! always thinking of the best for everyone! I’m lucky to have someone like you under me!” Coral complimented, as Orca rolled her eyes, and walked toward Clay

“I’ll be your homeroom teacher from now on,” Orca stated, which surprised Clay, no matter how important the school he was surprised a princess would work such, even if she was disgraced like Orca. “Take your Id, and report to your Faculty office in the morning, I’ll take you to your class then”

“Thank you, your highness” Clay simply said as he took his card

“Don’t go around letting him run free you hear me? I don’t want a beast like him free in the streets.” Coral sharply said to Kestrel, shooting her a glare as well

“Alright, alright. No need to get any tails twisted.” Kestrel stated as she and Clay walked out to go back to Cavern Tavern

as they flew down the trail, Kestrel saw the aftermath below of a Skywing that seemed to crash straight down, destroying another dragons home in the process, with it now being covered up to be put out of sight for the sake of the dragons below

“Sheesh, again? I can’t believe so many of those are happening recently” Kestrel muttered, as she looked once again at Clay, who seemed to only be looking forward, before asking her a question

“…what is it, that made you take me in?”

“Huh, you wanna know why? well, your aunt asked, and I didn’t have a good enough reason to say no, so I went along with it…plus, I’m getting paid, if that helps. Look, just, keep your head up and blend in, can’t beat it, join it, I guess, don’t repeat mistakes, you get that right?”

“correct,” Clay answered, before flying down towards the Tavern, with Kestrel just behind him

“I’ll make us some curry alright? I hear Mudwings particularly need a lot of food due to their builds, so you’re fine with that right?”

“I’m fine, thank you” Clay didn’t feel hungry, he hadn’t for the past few weeks, he almost felt like he didn’t deserve to eat anyway after screwing up so badly, and simply hoped his Sibs were doing fine without him…

**

Clay prepared to leave for the school early, but before he could, a plate of beef curry was suddenly put on the taverns counter, seeming to be freshly made

“Don’t think I’m letting you starve yourself, alright? I want you to eat this and go to your school on a full stomach, got it?” Kestrel ordered

“Curry for breakfast?”

“Don’t question the inner machinations of my mind boy” Kestrel glared, and Clay got to eating his meal, shocking himself at how he was able to scarf it down

“Alright, NOW you’re allowed to go” Kestrel answered just as Clay finished his meal

“Thank you so much for the meal…it was delicious” Clay thanked Kestrel

“Heh, you really are a breath of air with your good manners. Now then, hurry up to school, use the route we used yesterday, and don’t get distracted, okay?…oh, and flip the sign over the cave to “open” for me if ya can.” Clay nodded towards her, and walked out, making sure to flip the sign as he left. “…OH, AND DONT FORGET AN UMBRELLA-…hm, already out of earshot, well, I hear Mudwings like the Rain anyway…I think?”

Luckily for Kestrel, she was indeed correct on her assumptions, with Clay happily flying through the rain on his way to school, to the point where he didn’t initially notice how much time he had left at first due to it being far less crowded because of dragons avoiding the rain, stopping just a bit away from the school to try and take in the scenery.

as he looked inside his bag, he once again noticed the book inside, despite having for sure put it away before last night, and he was now starting to be legitimately concerned about its constant appearances.

“Hey Mudwing, do you need some help getting to school? You haven’t forgotten already have you?” Clay suddenly heard the same oily voice from the day before and saw Whirlpool walking past him, having a strange toothy smile upon his face, not to mention the same condescending remarks as before

“I’m fine, thanks, just lounging with my freetime before I head over”

“Alright then!” Whirlpool then swam away, likely to go to his classes, and Clay prepared to start walking when he suddenly heard someone running behind him in the rain, before seeing a Seawing girl about his age appear in front of him, seeming to have started chasing Whirlpool when she first saw him

“Damn it! Screw that squid-brained sycophant!” The Vulgar Seawing shouted

“Sicko font?” Clay questioned, as the Seawing then looked at him, not seeming to have realized he was there, and the book inside Clays bag slowly began to open without either of their notice

“What do you want, Mudwing? You planning to rat me out to Whirlpool?” The Vulgar Seawing began to get in Clays face, to the point where he was able to note she had translucent green eyes, along with that she had a scale color similar to Queen Corals, but wore something similar to a coat on her, with what looked like smashed up jewelry on it…honestly Clay found it kinda stylish.

“Why would I do that?” Clay questioned, legitimately wondering why he’d do that

“Huh? Do you not know who he is? Are you For Real? He’s one of the teachers here and Queen Corals S ranked ass kisser! Bastard does whatever the hell he wants. Who does he think he is anyway-The king of a castle? I mean you could probably feel it too, right?”

“….which castle?”

“no- I meant- Wait, oh I get it, you’re from that Destiny Program bull…seems you’re a second year too eh? same as me, guess I should’ve pieced together you were part of that earlier though…whatever, let’s get to school, this rains crappy enough as it is.” as The Vulgar Seawing and Clay began to walk however, they both suddenly felt a sharp rush in their head.

“Ah great, just what I needed today…damn it” The Vulgar Seawing kept walking, as the world felt stranger and stranger until they finally made it toward front of…a castle?

“What the- did we make a wrong turn?”

“This should be it…the hells going on here? guess we’ll go in and ask about it.” The Vulgar Seawing stated, as she began to walk into the castle, with Clay just behind her, for a moment, Clay almost thought he saw the school shift back to normal before returning to its distorted form

“That’s weird…where’s the school?”

“Maybe we really did make a wrong turn”

“Nonono, this IS it, I’ve walked that way a thousand times it’s gotta be it…right? The sign was for the school right”

“Right”

“Yeah! you saw it too!” The Vulgar Seawing shouted again, as she suddenly heard something approaching behind her, a dragon in full armor, with strange strings seeming to come from above them

“Jeez, you freaked me out! what’s up with the costume? Mom make another crappy novel and make it everyone elses problem? I mean, the costumes impressive though, is the armor real? and what’s with the strings?…you gonna say anything???” The Vulgar Seawing kept pestering the knight, until suddenly, multiple others started showing up

“Is this some weird school hazing?!” Clay questioned

“I DONT KNOW DUDE!” The Seawing shouted, as they began to be enclosed by the knights more and more “Shit…this is real isn’t it?” The Seawing tried to look for a way for them to escape, but couldn’t find any “Alright, let’s just all calm down, none of us want any trouble right? we just gotta-“ The Seawing then grabbed one of the castles candlesticks and bashed it into a knight “COME ON LETS RUN” The Vulgar Seawing shouted as she and Clay made a run for the exit, but were stormed by more and more guards, with them both being knocked on the heads by shields. “Shit! the hell do you guys think you’re doing…” The Seawing and Clay then both fell into unconsciousness

“TAKE THEM AWAY”

**

“Hey. Wake up! Come on!”

Clay began to wake up, his head feeling remarkably better from before, as he found himself in a strange type of dungeon alongside The Seawing

“You alright man?”

“Yeah, you?”

“Meh, I’ve been better…haven’t been in weird dungeons before for one” The Seawing then began to walk up to the cells door, and bash her hands against it “Oy! Let us out of here! Or I’ll turn this place into a construction site! Ugh, damn it where even are we?! some elaborate theater set?!” as she said that, her and Clay suddenly heard screams outside, almost as though a person was being tortured beyond it. “Whoa…whoawhoawhoawhoa man…we got to find a way out of here…shit, we’re too late” footsteps began to approach them, as the guards from before revealed themselves once again, with a man in a long blue royal robe behind them

“To think you of all people would try to go about as they please inside MY castle!” The man in the robe revealed none other than The Seawing Whirlpool, who also sported a tacky gold crown and despite his wear felt even LESS imposing to Clay than before

“Wait…Whirlpool? The hell kind of get up are you in???”

“Are you trying to go against me yet again, Tsunami? Seems mommy didn’t teach you your lesson well enough last time…and you even brought a stupid Mudwing as backup, to think you’d get soooo desperate!”

“This ain’t funny you ugly asshole!” Tsunami bashed against the bars yet again

“Is that how you speak to a king?! Not only have you broke into MY castle, but now you’ve spoken against me- THE KING, your punishment shall be death! Time for a quick execution!” Whirlpool(?) Then had his guards rush into the cell, and Tsunami quickly knocked one down with her tail

“Come on! Let’s get out of here!” Tsunami tried to grab Clay to make a run for it but was quickly struck in her side, knocking her against the wall, and Clay got between The Guards and her as they began to approach her

“Just get outta here! These guys are serious trouble! I’ll find a way!” Tsunami shouted, but Clay wasn’t buying it

“Oh? running away? to think you’d be such a heartless friend!” Whirlpool(?) callously mocked Clay, who still stood against the guards

“He ain’t a friend…COME ON, SAVE YOUR OWN SCALES ALREADY”

“Too scared to run? whatever, I’ll focus on the former princess instead!” Whirlpool(?) then had his guards quickly grab Clay and toss him aside, as he began to kick down the already hurt Tsunami while laughing “I waited so long to deal with a useless pest like you! Now I finally have you ready to be dealt with once and for all! hehehehehe, come on, where’s that energy from before?” Whirlpool(?) mocked. “Whatever, I’ll just kill you right now!”

“STOP IT!” Clay shouted, still trying to fight back, which momentarily caught King Whirlpools attention

“Hm? Are you trying to stand against me? how annoying, guards, hold him there, after this disgrace, he’s up next to die!” Guards then swarmed Clay to keep him down, as another prepared to execute Tsunami, who though she said nothing, was clearly terrified of what possibly awaited…

This is truly an unjust game…your chances of survival appear to be almost none, however, if my voice can reach you, then that truly means your will to survive just may triumph…

What are you doing? do you truly plan to simply watch? are you forsaking her for yourself? Death awaits hers if you do nothing! was your previous decision to protect your Sib a mistake then?

“NEVER” Clay shouted immediately, without any doubt in his mind of such, as he fought against the guards strength to try and save Tsunami

Very well then, I have taken note of your true resolve!

Clay suddenly felt a massive spike within his mind, as though it was exploding from in and out

Vow to me. I am Thou, Thou art I…Thou who is willing to stand against all which is absolute, and bring forth Thine own justice! Call upon my name, AND RELEASE YOUR RAGE

Clay shouted once again, distracting the guards for a moment, as his contract continued to be forged

Show the strength of thy will to discover all on thine own, even if one be damned by The Heavens and chained by The Hells themself!

“Hurry up and execute her!” King Whirlpool shouted

“That’s enough”

“…what was that?”

“I said,

That’s

ENOUGH”

a sudden burst of energy emitted from Clay, as he felt a strange white mask emerge upon his face, and with all his will, and in spite of all the pain, he ripped off with all his might, letting out a roar of pain and anger, as his blood soaked eyes revealed a new resolve, and a smile formed upon him that would make even the most dangerous of dragons quiver, as a burst of flames suddenly engulfed Clay from below, as the face of a true monster suddenly emerged from the flames, with a serpentine-like lower half, and wings of pure black, with a long Copper Coat that had black edges which seemed to be that of a snakes head, with fire that emitted from its eyes, and roars that almost seemed echo ever forth without stop in proud ungovernable fury

Instantly the guards surrounding Clay were destroyed by the mere emergence of this beast, and King Whirlpool ran away in fright without haste, leaving only Tsunami to see the new beast that befell the world

“Wha…what the…?”

all Clay could do now was smile in tandem with his new freedom, at the start of his new self, at the start of his new world.

I am the Dark Son of the Earth, Obsidian!

[xxl1zardb3ansxx]

More silly fanfic of WOF. Yippe.

One more day until it starts

Star awoke the next morning to find that yesterday was not a dream, and she was still here. She would be meeting the rest of her winglet today, which would be a good chance to take note of their personalities. Not in a creepy way or anything, but just to see what their tendencies were like.

Star walked out of her winget cave and finally took in the details of the school. There were little purple and yellow lanterns hanging in the hallway hosting a little candle in each of them. They gave a nice atmosphere in the hallways, making them cozy and soothing. As Star walked, she passed many other new students, walking towards the winglet caves, holding various items. One Seawing had an entire chest of jewels for no reason, a Skywing had a clacky white necklace, and a Hivewing came through holding a spectacle box and nothing else. Star saw that the Hivewing got a lot of weird looks. It was probably because a lot of dragons still weren’t over the whole Hivewing incident (Read books 11-15 to know what i’m talking about.) Star wasn’t one of those dragons. It was their stupid queen’s fault not theirs. But still dragons shot them dirty looks as if they were a Rainwing who couldn’t change colors. They just can’t handle anything beyond basic math because they’re all idiots whose parents never said ‘no’ to them in their entire lives. Anyhow. Star kept walking and exploring the school. She decided to check out the library first, as that was probably the place where Star would spend most of her time. Either A) reading B) Studying or C) Sketching. As Star was walking a Skywing bumped into her shoulder and said, “Watch it hybrid.” Star almost stopped. She hadn’t been called that in a very long time. She didn’t respond to people like that. They just wanted a reaction. The Skywing snorted a small laugh when Star didn’t respond. “Scared are ya?” He asked in an annoying tone, almost like her brother Astrion’s.

“No. I just don’t see a point talking to idiots.” Star snapped back, not at all scared of this stupid Skywing.

“Oh really?! You wanna fight hybrid?” The Skywing declared.

“Sure, why not.” Star said, brandishing her poisonous barb at him.

“Hah, you don’t scare me-”

“Oh, shut up Vermillion.” A female voice said from behind them.

“Ugh, not you.” Vermillion said, rolling his eyes.

“Hey, I’m Blizzard. Blizz for short. This here is Vermillion the dung hat. He’s got seal blubber for brains so don’t pay attention to him.” Blizzard said appearing out of nowhere.

“H-hi. I’m Star. S-StarGazer.” Star said, suddenly overwhelmed. Star’s brain was filled with the image of Blizzard’s beautiful face. Her sleek white scales, shining icy blue eyes, ice-like spikes sitting along her neck and tale menacingly. 

“That’s a nice name. Are you new here too?” Blizzard asked in a sweet tone.

“Uh, hello? I’m still here penguin brains!” Vermillion interrupted.

“Oh, be quiet. Go find a rat in the prey center or something.” Blizzard responded, clearly more interested in talking to Star. “Anyway, are you new here too?”

“Yeah.” Star squeaked out, blushing wildly. 

“Cool, I hope we’re in the same winglet!” Blizzard said, running off toward the wiglet caves. And Star couldn’t tell if it was just her wishful thinking or was Blizzard blushing a little? It didn’t matter. Just get to the library. Star hurried over to the library and found a corner to hide in. Star began looking around the library. Star noticed that the librarian was blind. Star didn’t exactly know how that worked, but she wasn’t brave enough to ask. Star eventually found some scrolls she was interested in. An interesting series about a scavenger boy getting into magical trouble with his friends. Star decided to stay and read for a while before the librarian said we had to go to initiation. Star and a few others shuffled out of the library and into the main hall. It was very crowded in here and Star had to take a second to quiet all the voices. Eventually a group of dragons shuffled on stage. A Mudwing, Seawing, Nightwing, Rainwing, and Sandwing.

“Hello new students! Welcome to Jade Mountain! We are so excited to have you here. Within these school walls, we know that you may not like each other, but you will have to respect each other as long as you're here. So I don’t wanna hear a single word about someone being rude. And if I do, we have a very strict policy for punishment and you will get a 5 hour detention. So, I hope you all know that before we start the year. Anyway, with that out of the way, we hope you enjoy your stay at Jade Mountain. We have activities in each of the rooms of the school. However, if you are tired, you may go to your winglets and sleep. Or whatever it is that you kids do these days.” The Seawing explained poking her wings toward various rooms in the school. Star was tired, but she wanted to see what event was happening in the library. Star walked over there having to really try to shut out everyone’s annoying thoughts. As Star approached the library, she noticed Blizzard there looking around. Star tried to act natural and walk up to her but ended up nervously shuffling to the other side of the library. There was a writing event going on, where StarFlight, the librarian, would let you make a book, and place it into the library. It was cool but Star was kind of nervous about sharing her work. Sure she could submit one of her already done works from home, or she could write a completely new one. Maybe a guide for new students like herself. As Star was studying the shelves, Blizzard walked up to her.

“Hi, Star.” She said, fiddling with her talons.

“Oh! H-hi, Blizzard. H-how's it going?” Star stuttered, once again, swallowed by Blizzard’s image.

“Good. This writing event sounds interesting to me, although I’ve never really written a book before. Have you?”

“Yeah, I uh, I have.” Star squeaked, nervous in the presence of Blizzard.

“Really? Cool! I would like to read one of them sometime. I-if you want.” Blizzard finished nervously.

“Y-yeah. Sure. Um, I have one in my bag in my winglet cave. I could go get it for you.” Star suggested.

“I’ll come with you! It sounds like fun.” Blizzard said, smiling. 

The 2 of them walked out of the library and towards the winglet caves. They walked in a pit of awkward silence, neither of them knowing what to say. Eventually they reached the Jade winglet cave. Blizzard gasped and said “I’m in this winglet too! Yay!”

“Oh, yeah. C-cool.” Star stuttered, realizing she’d have to deal with even more of Blizzard. Which wasn’t a bad thing, but that meant more stuttery nervousness. Star walked over to her bed and opened her satchel. She rummaged in it for a bit before feeling the familiar leather cover of the book she wrote. Star lifted it out of the bag and handed it to Blizzard. She seemed very excited to see a book, but who can blame her? Both of them were very tired so they decided to stay in the winglet cave and talk for the rest of the day. 

“So where are you from?” Blizzard asked, getting comfy in her bed.

“The Rainforest. I live in Cocoona village. What about you?” Star asked.

“I usually stay in the ice palace. My mom is Snowfall. She’s nice but sometimes it’s nice to get away from my duties with her. I’d love to visit your village sometime!” Blizzard explained, getting excited at the end.

“Oh, yeah you probably could, although I’m not sure how the others in the village would react. My mom would probably like you though. She’s friends with Snowfall. Sorta. She helped solve the whole Pantala thing. She also helped organize the trade route between us.” Star explained shrugging.

“Oh, is your mom Moon? Cool. I heard she’s really nice.” Blizzard said, smiling sweetly.

“Yeah, she can get a little annoying sometimes though. With all the ‘It’Ll MaKe SeNsE wHeN yOuR oLdEr’ stuff.” Star was a little surprised that Blizzard didn’t freak out when she found out her mom was Moon.

“Haha, yeah. My mom says that a lot too. It is annoying. Like, how about you stop repeating that, and give us something we can understand then? It’s not that hard.” Blizzard said, laughing a little.

“Yeah! Like, when there was an evil character in books when I was young, I would ask ‘Why is he being mean?’ And I would have gotten the concept of bad much earlier if my mom just said, ‘because not everyone is good.’ instead of ‘It’ll make sense when you're older.’ Sorry does that make sense?” Star said, realizing she might be talking a bit too much.

“Yeah that does make sense! We could’ve gotten a grip on the world easier if they just laid it on us.” Blizzard said, throwing her talons in the air. Just then a Hivewing walked through the door.

“H-hi is this the, uh, Jade winglet?” The Hivewing asked, pushing up his broken spectacles.

“Yeah, welcome!” Blizzard said, waving him into the room.

“Th-thanks.” The Hivewing chose the hive-looking hexagon shape bed for himself.

“I’m Blizzard, and this is Star. What’s your name?” Blizzard asked the Hivewing.

“I’m, uh, Ant. Nice to meet you.” The Hivewing said, setting down his things.

“Ant? Really? What a stupid name!” Said Vermillion’s annoying voice from the doorway.

“Shut up Vermillion! You act like you're literally not named after a color!” Blizzard protested in Ant’s defense.

“Please don’t tell me you're in our winglet.” Star said, placing her snout in her talon.

“Oh yes I am hybrid! I’m part of the Jade winglet! The same winglet that took down Queen Wasp!” Vermillion announced, as if nobody knew already. Ant flinched a little at the words ‘Queen Wasp’ Star guessed it was because of the war. Vermillion took the bumpy ledge and continued to spew his nonsense.

“My dad says that Hivewings still can’t be trusted. They’re probably just building up their forces to take us down. He also says that Silkwings are just stupider Rainwings. And I agree.”

“Well, your dad is an idiot.” Blizzard said, flipping open the book Star had given her.

“What!? No he’s not! Yours is!” Vermillion shouted.

“Yeah, I’m sure.” Blizzard said, not caring at all about Vermillion.

“Your Icewing brain is just to stupid to handle it!” Vermillion said, trying to get a reaction.

“Really? My brain is the one that’s stupid here. Uh-huh. Sure makes total sense.” Blizzard said, sarcastically. 

“Mph- Ugh! I hate you!” Vermillion huffed, turning his head away.

“That’s nice.” Blizzard said, turning the page.

Star could hear Ant’s thoughts saying thank you silently. He was an obviously shy dragon, but he was still polite. Even if it was in his head. Star pulled out her sketchbook as she guessed nobody wanted to talk. She started sketching Blizzard, hoping that she didn’t notice. Star remembered her earring and looked at it. It was glowing a little, but not much. The little tear drop shaped piece of purple glass sparkled at her, pointing out its little star details. She knew what it meant but Star didn’t want to answer it right now. A light green Rainwing with pink highlights, and purple details walked in.

“Is this the Jade winglet?” She asked, looking quite disgusted at the sight of Vermillion.

“Yep! Welcome.” Blizzard said, smiling.

“Great. Thanks. I’m Castra by the way.” The Rainwing said, flying up to the hammock.

A Sandwing came in next, looking excited. “Alright! This is the Jade winglet right?” Blizzard nodded in response. “Sweet! I’m Cactus!” The Sandwing said, bounding over to the heated stone ledge. The next dragons were a Mudwing named Cat-tail, a Seawing named Tortoise, and a Silkwing named Weaver. Eventually, it got dark, and they all went to sleep peacefully.

[mud-castle]

Why yes I am continuing this, bc I have more time for this but less time to draw due to lowering the number of projects I'm focusing on but also taking only one less credit hour than the allowed max at school, thanks for asking.

Anyway, onto reading The Hidden Kingdom:

How many dragons are in the Talons of Peace? I got the vibe that they were a super small group from the first book, due to the dragonets only knowing the three guardians and Morrowseer, but dragons being surprised that the Talons actually existed.

I know their main purpose was to raise the DoD, but that does bring to question what everyone who was not a guardian did. They didn't serve as any back up or help when the DoD was captured. Or really do anything as the DoD was running around the continent.

It would've been interesting to expand on what they actually did aside from raising the DoD. Did they run relief operations? Help those displaced or injured by the fighting? Etc.? They had some dragons under cover, what did they do?

I've always wondered. If Nightwings are held in such a high regard of being able to perfectly predict the future and read minds, and the Talons (as well as many others) seem to have faith in the prophecy, why bother with the false dragonets at all?

I'd kinda expect Morrowseer to get offended that they're questioning him to the point of having possible replacements who didn't hatch on the brightest nights. I always thought it was Morrowseer's backup plan, but rereading this, I'm realizing it was Nautilus's plan.

Squid knows what's up.

^^^YESSS GLORY GO OFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

Dragons canonically have tea in WoF, worldbuilding time. Some teas can be made with bone broth, and I'm choosing to assume dragon tea isn't leaf juice so much as bone juice spiced up with some leaves. Since this is only mentioned with Queen Moorhen, it's a Mudwing invention, that might've been adopted by their allies the Skywings, hence why Glory knows what it is.

Hmmm, ya know, it would've been super interesting if the Rainwings actually were the ones behind this in some way but withheld that info from the DoD since they're total strangers.

You could make it work too, a Queendom of reclusive dragons who don't want this terrible war anywhere near their home, so they scare them away. Orr the Queens of the Queendom want to keep their pacifist dragons happy and kill these trespassers in secret to both keep the peace, their own territory, and their way of life safe.

Damn, that's really sad tbh.

I think it says a lot that Glory has had more positive thoughts about FUCKING QUEEN SCARLET than any of the guardians.

Fuck the guardians, all my homies hate the guardians.

Also Glory is touch-averse.

This is meant to be seen as a bad thing that Rainwings don't take prisoners considering how Tui presents them later on and the way this scene is portrayed.

But honestly, Liana has a point, what would they do with them? They're not in the war. They don't need anything from them. At most they'd probably just want them to leave.

This doesn't hint at Rainwing laziness so much as the effect of Glory's hypermilitarized upbringing.

That is super cool.

I imagine Rainwings are world-class botanists, who are quite skilled in breeding plants for particular purposes. An example being flowers that can line your floor and not die from you walking on them everyday, or that perhaps regrow so quickly it seems like they're not dying.

I'm continually upset with the narrative of this book for making Rainwings out to be the exact stereotype everyone thinks they are, because there were a number of directions the messaging could've gone.

Glory goes on to say that sun time probably makes you smarter and fiercer, when really it's just good for your overall physical and mental health.

I'm not saying make the Rainwings especially skilled or scary, as fun as that would be, but she could just let them be peaceful, what's so wrong with that?

This book could've been about Glory --- who was raised to think you always had to keep giving to the world to be worth something, that you should expect the worst in others, that this world with always chew you up and spit you out so you gotta be tough and always hide your vulnerabilities--- realizing that yeah, the Rainwings are genuinely just a peaceful, calm group who do mostly enjoy napping in the sun, and spending time with their friends. That's fine.

There seems to be this thought that you must be sacrificing or suffering in some way to be good or worth respect, but that's not a healthy mindset.

Like the book could've gone the route of Glory getting angry at them for being (in her eyes) uncaring and lazy, content with giving nothing to the world, only for it to be pointed out to her that hey, maybe we don't want to be risking our safety and happiness for petty squabbles that lead to nothing but tears and bloodshed. Maybe we want to live in a place where we can raise our families and live and work alongside friends without fear of war and destruction looming over our heads. What's so wrong with that? Why are they considered stupid for living like that?

Sure others don't live the way you would think is ideal, but who are you to come into their home that they welcomed you into and judge their livelihoods?

Like bitch, I wish I lived there. I wasn't built for the grind.

No, we will not talk about the fact that the Rainwings didn't seem to care when their friends, queen, and students disappeared for long periods of time because I am not emotionally calm enough, and we're not in that part of the book yet.

I also just noticed that, though Glory may hate Kestrel, she also thinks the most like her out of all the DoD, which is... giving me a number of thoughts and ideas.