Garrock didn't respond to Fellwing's words right away, nor made any sign he had even heard Skobeloff's words. He just stared down at the black drake with pure fury. It was only when Stargaze spoke up that he finally averted his gaze and turned it on the Orphan, the rage melting away from his eyes and becoming somewhat dazed, as if he wasn't entirely sure how to respond to her plea. Clearly, he hadn't expected anyone to jump to Fellwing's defense, let alone offer to take the blame in her stead.

After a long pause, his face wrinkled to something akin to disgust and he turned away. "You," he said, rounding on Skobeloff. "Lead me to the Tessith stronghold. The sooner we start gathering up the missing dragons, the sooner we can get off this dreadful island." He looked like he was about to storm off when Fellwing uttered her comment about going alone, and he paused, turning to look over his shoulder back at her. "And that, right there, is the attitude you should have started with." He motioned with his wing towards Skobeloff before raising his voice slightly, addressing not just Fellwing but all being present. "Your little friend here was able to get far more done in the last couple of hours by himself than any of you were able to working as a group. He's already ensured the safety of three dragons while you have ensured the safety of only one." He nods towards Kyte, who, judging by their frown, clearly doesn't appreciate the older dragon bringing them into this. "If you end up taking anything away from this whole mess, let it be this: your clutchmates will only slow you down."

With that, he begins to take a few steps away, but not before Fellwing catches a glimpse of his wing, the same one that one of the the infected brownies bit during their confrontation. The Seer can just about see small black specks beginning to form on the membrane, similar to what had had happened to Kyte. Clearly, the Darkness is starting to take its hold over the older dragon.

When Garrock ordered him to lead the way to the stronghold, Skobeloff hesitated. As much as he wanted to get some one on one time with the bearded dragon, the Darkness had just found purchase in Fellwing again. Skobeloff didn't enjoy allowing darkness to fester within his friends. But at the same time, Garrock probably wouldn't like to be kept waiting and Fellwing herself probably wasn't in the mood to even speak with him, let alone let him convince her to focus on expunging the Shadow within her while he was the target of her anger.

Fortunately, an opportunity presented itself when Garrock stopped to have the last word in his argument with Fellwing. While that was happening, Skobeloff snuck over to Stargaze. "The Darkness just got through Fellwing's defences again." Skobeloff whispered to Stargaze. "That should probably be taken care of before you tangle with whatever is lurking in that lair." It was at that point that Garrock wrapped up his parting words and began to move. "Good luck out there." Skobeloff said to his clutchmates. "See you soon."

With that said, Skobeloff ran to catch up to and pass by Garrock to lead him to the stronghold. Despite his unease at leaving his clutch with one clutchmate dipping a toe into the Dark, Skobeloff had an obligation to fulfil. So he did his best to console himself with a belief that he wouldn't be away from the others for too long and that he'd be able to fix anything he'd actually be needed for upon his return.

Well, at least everyone stopped arguing after she offered to take the blame. She gave a sad smile to Fellwing when she protested against it. That disappeared when Garrock spoke to all of them and gave his lesson: Everyone was better off and able to accomplish more alone.

...Was she slowing everyone down?

Before she could mull on that, Skobeloff slinked his way to her, and informed her that the Darkness got through Fellwing's defenses. When he told her to deal with it before they tangled with whatever had the other dragons captive, she nodded in agreement.

Skobeloff was counting on her on this, Stargaze realized that. Fellwing needed her! That quashed any doubt that threatened to creep into her mind for now.

As the clutch parted ways, Stargaze bounded after Fellwing calling, "Fellwing! Wait up! I'm coming with you!"

As soon as she caught up to her seer friend, she asked as they walked along, "...Fellwing. You don't think Garrock's lesson just now is true, do you?"

She quickly adds "I mean...aren't there a lot of tales that tell of how clutches and grown dragons accomplished great things by working together?"

During the argument, Alpin had sensed the growing tension among the younger drakes and had ended up edging closer and closer towards Kyte, who had remained silent the whole time. By the time Garrock had turned to leave, the brownie had clambered up onto Kyte's back, as if trying to hide behind the winged drake's wings and long neck.

Once Garrock had gotten out of earshot, Kyte glanced over at Shieldwing and gave a snort. "Who threw up in his nest this morning?" they joked, hoping to break the tense atmosphere. However, it was clear the Warrior was also not in the best of the moods, as he merely shook his head before following after Stargaze and Fellwing.

The three of them followed a slight distance from the black and white drake, and it was only when they heard Fellwing mentioning a crooked tree that Kyte attempted conversation again. "If you want, I could try and fly overhead," they said, spreading their wings out for emphasis. "Thanks to Stargaze, my wings feel stronger than ever. I could spot where we need to be heading from the air."

"The stronghold is this way." Skobeloff said as he led the way back to the Tessith Tree. "Keep an eye out as we get closer, the local pixies seem to hold dragonkind responsible for the island's ills. One of them attempted to confound me with pixie dust as I made my way there the first time." As he spoke, the wheels in the Trickster's head were turning. He'd accomplished a noteworthy task on his own, and now they were away from prying ears. Garrock's secrets were within his grasp, all Skobeloff needed now was an opportunity to seize them.

"Yes, yes, you mentioned that already," Garrock responds as he follows after Skobeloff. Now that he's far enough away from the others, his anger seems to have quickly dissolved, giving way to exhaustion. It occurs to Skobeloff that, as a dragon nearing elder, Garrock would normally have had a nap at some point during the day, but given their current situation, he hasn't had the opportunity. It's also likely he's been pushing himself to keep up with the younger dragons, which hadn't helped his already obvious irritability and resentment towards them.

During the walk, his wings also relax slightly, allowing Skobeloff to catch a glimpse of the black specks on the membrane. At some point while the trickster was apart from the group, Garrock must have been injured. None of the drakes noticed, and Garrock has obviously been doing his best to hide and tend to the wound in secret. Bringing it up will probably lead to Garrock's defenses coming up again. The best thing Skobeloff can do at this moment is to try and start a casual conversation with the older dragon, allowing him to open up at his own pace and on his own terms.

"I have?" Skobeloff asked when Garrock told him that he'd spoken of the pixies already. Then he remembered the tale he told mere moments ago and laughed. "Oh of course I did. Silly me. That's the problem with us thinking types. We just get so caught up in what we're thinking sometimes that we stop paying attention to what we're saying." Skobeloff chuckled and shook his head as they continued on.

"In my experience, most drakes seem to talk without paying attention to what they're saying," Garrock responded. While his words seemed dismissive, they lacked the edge he had possessed only moments before. Clearly, he was too tired to be hostile at this point. "I hope it's not too much further to the stronghold. I'm quite done with chaperoning the lot of you at this point, especially with how little respect you all seem to give me."

"If it's respect you want, you won't get much through grumbling and abrasiveness." Skobeloff pointed out. "As the angels on New Nicaea are so fond of saying: Do unto others as you'd have them do unto you."

Stargaze listens to Fellwing as she answers, seeing that her attempt to try and help Fellwing fight off the Darkness didn't work. She started speaking again, feeling sweat bead as she too tried to recall stories from other clutches, "Well, Uh...E-Even Elders make mistakes, right? I mean there's whole debacle among Heads of Houses going on, right...?"

Kyte then spoke up, giving Stargaze a moment to think even more while he offered to fly and Fellwing answered, and she realized something.

Wait. I'm not Skobeloff. I can't do his...feats of trickery. I think...I need to be just straightforward here,

After Fellwing spoke, and there is a moment of silence, Stargaze speaks up,

"OK...I'm having trouble coming up stories of other clutches, but there is one story I can think of that outright refutes Garrock's lesson: My own,"

She continues talk to Fellwing earnestly, "If it hadn't been for Shieldwing, Skobeloff, and you, I wouldn't be here. I don't know what would have happened if a houseless rawscale didn't find a clutch to join. But I do know that I wouldn't have been able to just join a clutch on my own. You accepted me when no one else would,"

She finishes, "I'm sorry if I slow you down, but I am doing my best, and will continue to do my best to help all of you,"

She then informs her honestly, "I'm...saying all of this, because Skobeloff noticed that the darkness got to you. And I get it. I'm scared and agitated too. But I don't want to lose the friends I've made while trying to save my home. So, let me help as well! Maybe I can lead the way to this tree? After all, I grew up here,"

At Skobeloff's words, Garrock pauses mid-step and turns his head towards the trickster, fixing him with a scowl. He opens his mouth to say something, maybe to sling another insult, maybe simply to defend himself... then pauses. His expression fades back into exhaustion as he reconsiders his words and he gives a loud sigh. "I'm sorry," he says after a long pause. "But you don't understand how frustrating this is for me, wanting to help my own Housemates and being told I can't, as if I can't be trusted to do this task by myself. As if I'm weak, as if I'm not enough..." Beneath his frustration, Skobeloff detects a hint of hurt in Garrock's eyes. Not just any hurt, either, but an old hurt he has been hanging onto for a long, long time. He shakes his head. "I know your lot don't want me around either, you know. Is that why you're taking me to the stronghold?" He gives Skobeloff a searching look. "When you were in that cave, did you all draw straws to see who was going to be the one to escort mean old Garrock back to the stronghold so he can stop slowing everyone down?"

---

Once the arguing had died down and the Darkness withdrew its hold on Fellwing's heart, the group had a much easier time navigating the swamp. Stargaze's knowledge of the terrain, Fellwing's vision and Kyte scouting overhead allowed them to make their way to the spot the Seer had envisioned. The ground becomes firmer under foot and the group has to start treading carefully to avoid the mess of thorny vines that seem to entangle all the trees and bushes in the area. It occurs to the drakes that it was probably a good idea that Garrock hadn't accompanied them as there is no way the bearded dragon would have been able to make it through this area.

As the group attempts to locate the captured dragons within this mess, Fellwing - and only Fellwing - suddenly hears a familiar voice. "Fellwing... over here... Fellwing..." it beckons from somewhere further back. Fellwing recognizes it as the voice of Endora, an elder dragon from Kebros and a fellow seer who had helped in the past with interpreting her visions. Given that she is quite old, blind and not known for traveling far from Kebros' many strongholds, it does strike Fellwing as very, very odd to hear her mentor's voice on this strange island.

But it does sound so, so much like her. What will the group do?

When Garrock was finished speaking, Skobeloff frowned and shook his head at Garrock's theory that Skobeloff was just trying to get him out of the way. "Come now, don't be like that." The Trickster said consolingly. "You aren't slowing anyone down. And while you may be old, I find it hard to believe that anyone who shows concern like you did after Shieldwing crash landed on the beach could be truly mean." Skobeloff smiled at Garrock then. "You're a good dragon really, Garrock. It's just your concern for your missing Housemates and a lack of sleep has shortened your temper somewhat. I don't hold that against you. And I'm sure the others won't as well."

At Skobeloff saying he was a good dragon, Garrock ducks his head slightly in embarrassment. "I, err, wouldn't go that far," he says after a moment. For the first time since Skobeloff met the yellow dragon, Garrock seems to have been rendered speechless by this single compliment, and the trickster gets the sense that this might be the nicest thing that has been said to the bearded dragon in a long time.

Skobeloff grinned as Garrock became flustered and denied the raw-scaled trickster's claim that the bearded warrior was a good dragon. "You say that, but your willingness to come to a dangerous, Shadow infested island dropping dangerously close to the Cloudstalker for the sake of your Housemates suggests otherwise." Skobeloff jabbed playfully. "You can't hide the truth from me, you big scaley tsundere."

Garrock gives Skobeloff another look, though one a lot less hostile than before. "Well, don't go telling everyone," he grumbles. "I've got a certain reputation to keep." He raises his head to look around. As he scans the area, Skobeloff just catches the trace of smile. "Anyway, err, we should probably hurry along." He gives an awkward little cough.