"Hey Finch!" A slender SkyWing colored in varying shades of orange, aside from the black and white markings across the tips of his wings and across his forehead, hobbled into the healing wing of the palace. A number of scrolls were clenched in one of his claws that he had tucked up near his chest to stop them from spilling everywhere. Again. "I brought you the scrolls you asked for. Sorry it took me so long to write them," his voice genuinely apologetic.

The copper scaled healer turned her neck around to face him with a rye smile, "Don't worry about it Aether," her head swiveled back around to look at the leg of the dragon she was treating. "Set them down on the desk over there and come here. I want to see how much you've learned so far." Her voice was focused but not unkind as her tail swished around to point at the desk on the other side of the room. "Come now, we don't have all day."

Aether quickly hopped over to the desk and set the scrolls down before he zipped back up to Finch's side with a curious look over her shoulder. There was a long gash that ran up the leg of the SkyWing who rested on the bed in front of him. Finch handed him some cloth and he stepped around to start dabbing at the blood that was continuing to well up around the crimson scales. Once he was able to get a look at the gash itself he winced. It was long and deep and would definitely need stiches.

He let himself focus a bit, humming slightly as he wrapped the leg tightly before he went about collecting what he would need to stich up the gash. He looked to Finch for approval and she gave him a nod, so he continued on. Thankfully since he was a writer he was pretty quick with his claws and, despite his general nervousness, they were steady as he stitched the raw skin back together. With that done he wrapped the leg tightly in bandages and turned to look back at Finch with a nervous gaze.

She gave him an intense look that had him shrinking back slightly before grinning and giving a nod, "Good job. That's all I need from you right now, you're free to go."

His face lit up and he fought the urge to jump around like a dragonet, "Thanks Finch!" He turned to bound back up the short set of stairs and track down his sister. He followed the familiar path to the guard house and poked his head in to see Solstice's familiar dark scales covered in armor. He swiveled his head around to see that there was currently no one else in the guard house, so he confidently trotted in with a grin across his snout. "Hey!" He bumped into Solstice's shoulder and wrapped his wing around her, "Your shadow hasn't come to find you yet today?"

A dark crimson claw lashed out at him, though he had seen it coming and was able to duck under the swipe. The scowl that crossed Solstice's face wasn't actively hostile though, it was just her usual resting expression. "You know it isn't like that," she huffed out a puff of smoke, "He's just a friend and I'm one of the guards. It's kind of my job to keep close to him."

"Uh huh, sure. Keep telling yourself that." He ignored the hard eye roll and curl of his sister's lip as she stared at him. "Well you better not keep him waiting for your protection."

Sunlight bled into an array of wispy gray clouds and seeped into his dark scales. Maroon felt its warmth in his wings, his flesh, his bones. He longed to fly higher above the clouds, to touch the sun with his talons and feel how hotly that sphere in the sky burned. He pondered if it burned just as fiercely in other parts of the realm, or if it shied away from the ice and snow. In his mind, he imagined that the sun loved the SkyWing kingdom the most. It warmed the stone upon the mountains and provided his people with lovely basking ridges. At night, the warmth resisted the cold faces of the three moons, having embedded itself so deep within the earth that the mountainside felt like it had never been torn away from the sun’s embrace. That was why Maroon loved the mountains and the sky. It was as if they were lovers, ever together in the darkness of night, and he was lucky his wings were strong enough to grant him the gift of frolicking between them.

If there was ever a day that he didn’t get the chance to fly in the mornings, it would be a sad day indeed.

His talons clicked against marble floors as he landed upon the platform outside of his room. Maroon sighed, stepping inside and making his way towards the large mirror that waited at the head of his room. A songbird’s tune poured from his maw as he observed himself. His jewelry remained in place despite his early morning flight, and he was delighted to see that he appeared properly groomed. ”Seems that even the wind adores me, lest I would have had to spend even more time on my appearance,” he purred to himself with a flourish of his right wing. ”And that means that I would have the chance of missing her.”

With a light heart, Maroon began his trip towards the barracks. He kept his head high and his wings tightly tucked against his ribs, his tail delicately wisping behind him as if it were a long flame. Even then, he felt the sun-soaked breeze from his flight lift up his paws and allow his gait to be much more lordly than usual. Anyone, even the most lowly Tainted servant, could tell that the young prince’s day had begun well enough. And that was a good thing for everyone.

The guard’s barracks was much less ornate than the rest of the castle, but that didn’t matter to Maroon. The most beautiful thing to ever grace the earth of Pyrrhia was there, and that was enough for him. Her presence made the barracks the most glorious place he had ever seen in his entire life– so much so that even Aether’s untimely presence there didn’t soil his mood. With a broad grin, he approached the pale dragon’s side and gave him a sidelong glance. ”Good morning, Aether,” he greeted briefly before he turned to Solstice with a flutter in his chest. ”And good morning to you, my dear sun. Did you sleep well last night?”

He blinked at her with his deep amber eyes as he took a step towards her. Though she was his sun, her heat always frightened him, for it would flare at times he didn’t expect it to.

An angry hiss and a spark of fire met Aether's teasing statement as his sister finished securing her armor and grabbing the standard spear for the guards. He couldn't help the creeping grin along his muzzle as she muttered under her breath about one thing or another. His best guess was about how annoying himself and the lofty prince were.

He was about to excuse himself to get back to his own work, he had a number of scrolls that he needed to transcribe for Finch before the day was out, but both himself and Solstice could hear the familiar clicking talons on the stone outside the barracks. It wasn't that he disliked Prince Maroon, he rather liked the crimson dragon actually, it was just that he was absolutely terrified of saying something wrong in the royals presence.

"Good morning your highness," he greeted him quickly in return though he figured that Maroon didn't particularly care if he responded or not. He knew the prince only had eyes for his sister, which was both incredibly amusing and somewhat terrifying. What about Solstice had every caught Maroon's eye was unknown to him, maybe that was because she was his sister or maybe the prince was just crazy. Maybe both, probably both. He did have to clamp his jaw firmly shut so that he didn't laugh as he watched the distaste on Solstice's face.

Dark brown eyes rolled hard at the greeting from Maroon and Aether was glad that he was able to easily read Solstice's expressions underneath the heated disinterest. The endearment wasn't lost on either of them and it was likely only the fact that Maroon was royalty that he didn't get cuffed upside the head or whacked with a spear.

"Morning, your highness," Solstice's voice was surprisingly cool despite the fact it looked like she wanted to blow smoke from her nostrils, "I slept fine thank you." Her eyes flickered to Aether for a moment before they returned to the prince, "I was just about to start my rounds. Apparently the SandWings had a security breach in one of the their little battle pits," Word travelled quickly through the guards, "Some rogue hybrids on the loose and last seen heading this way."

That was the first Aether had heard of this and his head perked up in curiosity, "Pit fighters? That sounds exciting." His tail waved across the ground. He wondered if they were scarred and vicious, coming to the SkyWing Kingdom with hopes of refuge. Maybe lulling them into a false sense of security so they could strike and take over from Queen Emerald. That would be very exciting and he might be able to put his newly acquired medical training to use.

Solstice rolled her eyes again, "Sure, but we don't know anything about them other than they were able to take out a large number of well trained SandWing guards. The last thing we need is for them to come around here." Her gaze returned to Maroon and she dipped her long neck to him, "If you'll excuse me your highness," her voice was polite as she slipped past the two males and out of the barracks.

Aether watched his sister push past them with general disinterest. He had gotten used to her brusque exits, especially when it came to Maroon being around. He didn't think it would be so bad, to have another dragon that cared as much about you as Maroon seemed to care about Solstice. His sister was just stubborn and he did think the prince was inclined to lay it on a bit thick. Not that he would tell him that, he wanted to keep all of his limbs in place thank you very much.

He was too wrapped up in his own thoughts, he really needed to get better about that, that he didn't notice the wing until it wrapped around his shoulders. He jumped ever so slightly as he was snapped free of his thoughts and gave the prince a tentative grin. "I am well thank you," he tried to keep his voice as even as possible despite the buzzing in his head that told him that the Crown Prince was touching him. He considered Maroon a friend, but he had no idea if the other dragon thought of him that way. He hoped he did, that would be neat to be able to say that he was friends with a royal.

"I was planning on going to finish scribing scrolls for Finch," he shuffled his talons slightly at how boring it sounded. He liked his job, it made him happy and he got to meet all kinds of dragons in the infirmary who were grateful to him and his work. Compared to what Solstice or Maroon did though it sounded dull in comparison.

He had no idea what Maroon wanted, but he wasn't going to pass up the opportunity, "Of course if you had something else in mind, or wanted some company I'm already well ahead of where I need to be." He tried to keep the excitement out of his voice, though he wasn't sure he was doing a very good job. Keep the zeal under wraps Aether. He didn't want to make a fool of himself, "Only if you want though, of course, your highness."

As Maroon's smile grew larger Aether let his own nervous one cross his face. He was glad to see that he had said something right and the nerves were beginning to give way to excitement as the prince offered for Aether to join him at a festival in the valley. His eyes went slightly wide at the thought of attending a festival, and with Maroon of all dragons. Great skies to think he would be lucky enough to catch the eye of such a noble dragon to the point he wanted to go flying with him.

"Well," he hated to leave Finch with all the work, but Maroon did make a good point. No one would be able to contest him being with the prince. "I certainly haven't gone flying in a while." he hadn't been to a festival in ages either, he was always cooped up trying to get all his work done. He let Maroon lead him back out into the corridor without any resistance and gave the crimson dragon a grin when he asked for his final decision. "I think that sounds great!"

He doubted that Solstice would mind even though she was usually the one that was supposed to tail after the prince. He would at least, technically, have an escort even though Aether wasn't a fighter. He still had his sister's bulk and that would probably be enough. He followed after Maroon with a bounce to his step since he didn't know exactly where this festival was. He just hoped that they didn't run into any of those hybrids that had escaped.

AS they stepped outside he glanced up to the sky. They were blue and dusted with wisps of white clouds that floated lazily in the air. He could feel the wind calling to him and he grinned at Maroon before he stretched his wings and quickly took off. He let the sounds of the great expanse drown out the troubles and work that he had constantly flitting through his mind, taking a few loops around before he came to a hover to let Maroon lead the way.

Aether enjoyed feeling the wind brushing across his wings and blowing past his face. He loved his work as a healer and a scribe, but it certainly left him cooped up in the dusty parts of the palace more often than not. His eyes followed after Maroon as the other SkyWing hit the air. The deep red of his scales contrasted sharply against the pale blue of the sky. He could see why a lot of the females fawned over him, but he only had eyes for Solstice. Why, Aether still didn't know, but to each their own he supposed.

It had been a long time since he had gone to any festival and once he finally set eyes on it he could feel his excitement building. He was also a little bit nervous being around so many dragons, but he hoped it wouldn't be too crowded. He recognized the SandWing colors, being a pale yellow, and the bright red that denoted the SkyWings. There were a few other colors he didn't recognize but the white of the IceWings, which, if he remembered correctly, sold frigid drinks that provided a nice counterpart to the spicy foods the SkyWings offered.

He gently touched down next to Maroon and, unlike his companion, ducked his head down to make himself seem smaller. He could see one or two MudWings, their bulky forms making waves through the crowds, and a singular SeaWing chatting with a dark blue flagged vendor. It had been a long time since he'd seen so many dragons in one place and it did, in fact, make him nervous.

Thankfully it seemed the attention was mostly being pulled by Maroon rather than himself. He was pretty sure he heard some of the dragons wandering around questioning who he was. It made sense, he was a nobody hanging around with the biggest somebody in the kingdom.

Still, his attention was grabbed by the Prince asking what they should do first. He wasn't expecting to have to make a decision and froze for a moment, "Um...we could go get something to eat or drink and then go look at what's being sold while we eat?" That seemed to be the most efficient way to go about things.