Stargaze listened to Shieldwing's answer to her question, and she nods to him in agreement. When he mentioned how he knew how Coryn might be feeling, she nodded in agreement, remembering why she wanted to go after Coryn as well.

She answers him, "OK. Let's go," before she moves with Shieldwing and after Coryn, following Rudrick's lead, down to the living quarters area. Rudrick proceeds to ask Lazward about Coryn's whereabouts. Upon hearing that Coryn is in the bathroom right now, she figured it was best to wait for Coryn to come out. Barging into the bathroom isn't exactly the best idea.

She noticed that the plants are moving on their own, and Lazward was beating it with a feather duster. She tilted her head in curiosity, and she couldn't help but wonder why the plant was acting up like that. Lazward's flat tone also baffled Stargaze. She couldn't tell if they were being serious or if they were joking.

"Fascinating." Skobeloff said as he drew level with Stargaze and looked at the plants alongside her. The Trickster reached out to one of the creeping vines with one of his forelimbs and allowed the vine to wrap itself around the proffered appendage. Once the vine had fastened itself securely to him, Skobeloff swiped a claw on his opposite forelimb at the section of vine connecting what clung to him to the rest of the plant. "The Snouthold's Trickster community must love Coryn." The raw-scaled Myndoth commented as he admired his newest tool/accessory. "There's no shortage of fuel for the Long Game when he's involved."

After a moment, Skobeloff remembered why he was here and turned his attention to Rudrick. "So I wasn't able to convince Garrock to speak with you, but I was able to make him think that the nearby abandoned mineshaft is infested with giant spiders." Skobeloff said to Rudrick. "If you head that way, you should be able to corner him."

Shieldwing simply nodded back to Stargaze and moved to follow Rudrick through the halls. He couldn't help but peer into the various rooms himself out of curiosity. Though nothing of particular interest caught his attention in these other rooms. Weirdly enough, nobody even seemed to have any kind of training equipment in their room. Weird. Or at least, it seemed that way to him. Whenever he got his own space, he wanted to make sure he could improve himself at every opportunity. The fact that other drakes didn't seem as eager as him to do that puzzled him....

Finally, they seemed to arrive at the small den that Coryn stayed in. He peeked his head into the room and watched the newer, bluer drake working at pulling a creeping vine...wait, a what now?

Shieldwing blinked, rubbing his claws against his eyes for a moment. No, yeah, that vine was definitely moving of its own accord. The crimson dragon followed the vine back to its source...and finally realized what he could only presume was Coryn's side of the den. It almost looked like a miniature jungle was beginning to form. What in the world was all that about? Comparing the two sides of the room was like comparing himself and Skobeloff. One side trying to do everything in its power to keep everything in order and fulfill a proper purpose...and the other complete chaos with no idea what could be hiding behind that greenery.

Just as his thoughts had turned to his blue-green clutchmate, he suddenly heard a voice from behind him, having never even noticed the sand rematerializing.

"I have returned!"

"WAGH!" he exclaimed, jumping from the unexpected third drake that had just joined them seemingly out of thin air! He half-stumbled into the den, back arched and wings frilled slightly on instinct. When he realized it was just Skobeloff again, his racing heartbeat began its attempt to slow itself down. "S-Skobeloff!?" he gasped. "Wh-where did you-how did-why-ugh, at least clear your throat or something when you use that stupid sand of yours!"

He took a deep breath to steady himself and straighten himself out. As he recovered from the greenish jumpscare, he frowned and shook his head. "Wh-what are you even doing back here, you've barely been gone a couple minutes?" Luckily, he got his answer quickly enough. He tilted his head as he watched Skobeloff examining the vines with Stargaze.

"...Wait, you did what now?" Shieldwing muttered. "You...really are something else, Skobe." Shieldwing finally let out a small, exasperated sigh.

He swallowed hard and cleared his throat. He shook himself a bit in another attempt to quickly recollect himself. During that process, he turned to look back at Lazward, head tilted slightly as he watched the other drake beating away at the vine now. "Hey, so, uh...you need some help over there or...?" He looked down at the vine again. Despite Lazward's struggles, the vine seemed to be unending in its endeavors. Strange, it didn't look thatstrong....

Though out of the corner of his eye, Shieldwing wanted to keep his gaze on Rudrick. If the older dragon decided to slip out and go after Garrock...he wanted to be ready to excuse himself from the scene. Skobeloff was here now, so he didn't have to worry about leaving Stargaze alone.

Not that he liked the thought of her being alone with him whenever Skobe felt like doing one of his devious little tricks, but he wasn't about to pass up an opportunity to talk to Rudrick alone should it crop up.

As Fellwing followed after Garrock, she'd once again note he has a surprising amount of speed and grace for a dragon of his size and age. He very quickly barrels through the hallways, not stopping to even nod at any dragon who passes him by, so it doesn't take him long to exit the Snouthold. Once he's out the door, he does briefly pause to re-orientate himself as he tries to recall the directions Skobeloff had given him. After a moment, he decides it would be easier to take to the skies to survey the area, and after a short run quickly takes flight.

Fellwing can still see him from the ground, thankfully, but following on foot it going to present its own challenges.

---

Rudrick took a step forward, likely to intervene in Lazward's attack against the plants, when Skobeloff made his dramatic entrance, causing the bearded dragon to stumble back slightly in surprise. "Moons above!" he exclaims, holding up claw to where his heart would be. A moment later, he gives a laugh. "You certainly are full of surprises, young one." He raised an eyebrow as the trickster addressed him, listening to him relay his conversation with Garrock. "Giant... spiders?" He looked confused - and even a little concerned - but eventually he nodded his head. "I'll be there, then." He addressed the rest of the room. "I'll be back." He then exited the room.

His sudden departure caused Lazward to briefly pause in his actions as he glanced over towards the door. "What was that about?" He then glanced over at the drakes in his room, acknowledging them for the first time. "And who are you guys?"

"That was just some family stuff." Skobeloff said in response to the first of Lazward's questions, before addressing the second. "As for who we are, I am Skobeloff, a Trickster of House Myndoth." Skobeloff then pointed a thumb behind him to where Shieldwing was running off after Rudrick. "That was Shieldwing, a Warrior of House Brynback." Finally, Skobeloff reached up to pat Stargaze on the head. "And this precious little cinnamon roll is Stargaze, the single most wholesome bean upon all of the Moonlit Isles. Be mean to her at your own peril."

With introductions out of the way, Skobeloff turned his attention towards the collection of gems and rocks that Lazward was fighting the vines over. "Those are some nice gems and stuff you've got there." Skobeloff commented. "Very nice and organised. I can see why you'd fight nature itself to protect them."

Shieldwing tilted his head slightly as he saw Rudrick excuse himself and dip out of the room properly. He raised his wing and nudged Stargaze's wing himself. "I'll go follow him and, uh...make sure things are okay. I'm sure Garrock won't be happy when he finds out there's probably no spiders." he murmured to the white dragonet. It wasn't a complete lie; he did want to do what he could to help this family get along a bit better. But that certainly wasn't the main reason he was going. It was just a convenient excuse for him to take off and seize this opportunity.

Without waiting for a response--not wanting to lose Rudrick who was bigger than him and thus, likely faster than him--Shieldwing spun around and stepped out of the room himself, checking for wherever the larger dragon had gone. He wasn't really familiar with the terrain or the fort layout itself quite yet, so it was imperative that he catch up with him as soon as possible to keep with him.

Still, if there was anything he was proud of, it was his athletics. Once he had Rudrick in his sight, he was confident that he'd be able to catch and keep up with him, size difference or no. If he got airborne first, though, that could be a problem....

Thankfully for Fellwing, Garrock was more prioritized on gaining height than distance in his flight, likely so he could better survey the ground in search of the mineshaft Skobeloff had mentioned. As such, Fellwing had a clear a view of him as she navigated the terrain below.

However, unlike Garrock who had a mostly clear sky in front of him, Fellwing had to deal with a bit of woodland in between her and the mine. At first it didn't seem too bad, especially compared to the vast jungle she'd had to traverse back on Stargaze's island... but as she walked further, she started to feel an odd prickling sensation beneath her scales, like there was a volatile energy in the air. The more she walked forward, the worse this feeling go, until it actually started to feel painful to move. Even stranger than that, if Fellwing at any point stops walking forwards and pauses for a few moments, she'll notice that she's actually being pushed back, her feet very slightly starting to slide backwards in the direction she has just come from.

---

Lazward furrows his brow as Skobeloff introduces himself and his companion to the winged drake. In particular, the description of Stargaze seemed to confuse him, and he tilts his head at her. "She's a... bean?" he says. After looking at the white drake for what most might consider an uncomfortably long amount of time, he shakes his head and turns his gaze back to Skobeloff. He seems to take some offense at the trickster's words because he puffs up his chest slightly. "It's not just 'gems and stuff'," he says. "I've been trying to gather different stone samples from all across the isles, and they contain traces of several varieties of magic, from those of the moons, to nearby elementals, to even fae influence." He points to a specific stone, that seemed to the untrained eye like an unremarkable lump of stone. "That one was a gift from one of my parents' former clutchmates, when they went up north to visit one of the troll kingdoms. Trolls have a very strong connection to stone, almost as strong as that of earth elemental, and they're very protective of their mountains. Almost every mineral down there has some special use to them, so for them to let dragons take any is a great honor." He looks around his shelves. "In fact, quite a few of these I wouldn't be able to replace if anything happened to them." As if on cue, the vine he had previously been fighting started to inch upwards towards the rock he had been pointed at. He scowled and gave it a hard smack with his feather duster. "Which is why I can't afford to lose even a single one!"

As he's doing this, Coryn finally seems to return. "Hey Laz, I saw Rudrick coming out of here a second ago, is everything-" He stops when he enters the room and sees the two younger drakes. "Oh, hey! I think I saw you in the lab earlier. What are you doing in my room?" He then pauses, and cranes his neck to look past them. "And why is Lazward attacking my Creeping Violet?"

---

Rudrick seemed a little less urgent to leave the Snouthold than his brother before him, and as such Shieldwing had no problem catching up to him. In fact, just as he was gaining on him, Rudrick had paused in his jaunt to greet another dragon who was coming from the opposite way, and stopped very abruptly, meaning Shieldwing might almost run into the back of him if his reflexes aren't good enough.

Regardless, Rudrick notices him and, after the bidding farewell to his comrade, turns around to speak the drake. "Oh hey," he says cheerfully. "I thought you'd want to stay with your friends. Is everything okay?"

"Hey to you too." Skobeloff said in response to Coryn's words. "You did indeed see us at the lab earlier, we're in you're room because we followed Rudrick here, and Lazward is attacking your Creeping Violet because it is trying to steal his stone samples."

Shieldwing rushed out into the hallway...his thoughts already racing. If Rudrick was in a hurry, maybe he shouldn't be rushing to his side. He didn't want to slow Rudrick down and make him miss his chance to talk to Garrock, after all. Maybe he was just going to be in the way; around but useless. Like he always seemed to be. Maybe he should just keep his distance and wait, looking for a better chance to-

WHUMP

"Ack!"

Shieldwing's body came to an abrupt halt as he collided with one of Rudrick's hind legs! He grunted as he walked right into the stopped dragon and stumbled slightly in recoil. He had been so caught up in his head as he rounded the corner of the room into the hallway that he had failed to realize that the other dragon had stopped completely.

Shieldwing raised his claw to his head, shaking himself a bit...only to then hear Rudrick's words from overhead. He paused, a slight blush forming on his face as he realized the situation. He quickly shook his head, immediately attempting to right himself as though such a bump had never even happened in the first place.

"Ahem," he quickly coughed, attempting to clear the air and his throat. "N-no, of...I-I mean, uh. Yes, everything's fine. Of course they are, my clutch is reliable. They don't need me around all the time. And, well...I thought maybe, you know...." As he spoke, he initially took a very stock, formal stance, chest puffed forward, head held high. But as he continued, he began to shrink a little bit more, his body becoming more relaxed, his wings drooping a bit, tail starting to go limper. "...Well...I-I thought I could maybe ask you a few questions about...."

He paused at that, suddenly attempting to straighten himself out, his prideful demeanor returning in full force. "N-no, nevermind, it's...foolish; nothing important. I don't want to slow you down if you're trying to get to Garrock...."

The longer he stood here and spoke, the worse things seemed to get for him. He could practically feel the nerves and anxiety beginning to boil over; was he really going to bother Rudrick with his remedial, pathetic problems? Surely Rudrick had more important things to worry about than his little issues, particularly Garrock. His emotions already starting to get the better of him, he tried to turn to the side, avoiding looking up at the larger dragon. "Apologies, I'm probably just getting in your way, so...."

As Fellwing closes her eyes, she is graced with a vision, similar to the ones the Darkness gave her... but also different, somehow. She can still see the forest around her... or rather feel it. The ground beneath her feet, the trees, the wind... she feels it so deeply that it creates a picture in her mind, like how a beast with sonar is able to 'see' through sound and vibrations. It's darker than the actual forest, but every object is outlined by a faint light, all of varying colors. She can even see herself as she feels her spirit starting to lift upwards over herself, her form highlighted by the faintest light of all.

This is also how she is able to see the bright, glowing wires wrapped around her legs and wings, constricting her and becoming tighter with each step forward she attempts to take. It's only when she sees them on her that she notices that they are, in fact, everywhere. All around her, wrapped around everything - the trees, the rocks, even molecules of dust in the air - and as she stares out in front of her, she notices they only get thicker and more tangled from this point forward, seeming to be originating from somewhere ahead. She realises, while she's still in this disembodied state, she can do one of two things:

One, she can cuts the wires, releasing herself and anything else she wishes to. She could even clear a rough path ahead so she doesn't get further entangled, allowing her to move forwards...

... or, while still detached from the physical, she could follow the wires back to their original source, see if there's way to root them out at their core. (note: neither option requires an extra roll at this time) What will Fellwing do?

---

Coryn looks blankly at Skobeloff as the trickster explains the situation to him, before turning his gaze back towards Lazward. After a pause, he just says, "Again?"

"Yes, Coryn, surprisingly the problem you haven't bothered to fix is still a problem," Lazward says, pausing in his attacks against the plant only to give his roommate a glare before returning to his attack. "Because that's how it works: you ignore something, and it gets worse. That is simple cause and effect."

"It's not a problem," Coryn says, even as his many, many plants continued to exceed their growth and fill his half of the room.

"Uh huh. Sure," was Lazward's only response as he continues to beat up the plants growing on his shelf.

Frowning slightly, Coryn turns his attention back to Stargaze and Skobeloff. "Err, sorry about this," he says. "Is there something I can help you with or...?"

---

"Oh no, it's fine!" Rudrick says, the smile on his face not faltering even for a moment. He doesn't even seem that bothered that Shieldwing ran straight into him. "If you have anything to ask me, go ahead, we can talk on the way to the mine. I don't believe there's anything too dangerous between here and there and I'd appreciate the company." He takes a step forward before motioning with one of his wings for Shieldwing to follow.

"...Ah!" Shieldwing exclaimed, noticeably perking up at Rudrick's words, his half-turn stopping in its tracks. He turned back toward the larger dragon, tail wavering in the air behind him. "A-are you sure? W-well, hah, I-I suppose if that's an open invitation, I-I'll be happy to!" He smiled as he watched that wing motion for him and he was quick to fall into place beside him.

But now that led Shieldwing to his next immediate dilemma. How was he supposed to bring this up, exactly...? Should he just, like...ask outright? No, no, wouldn't that just seem like it's coming out of nowhere? No, he's a Brynback! He's supposed to be good at leading conversations and negotiations and what-not, right? At least...he thought so. The many duties of Brynback leadership had always kind of overwhelmed him sometimes and made his head spin. But if he wasn't going to ask outright, how could he lead into it? Argh, where was he even supposed to start...?

"U-um...w-well...heh...I-I was curious, um..." Sheildwing murmured rather nervously. Then, suddenly a thought struck his mind. Ah, that could work! "When we first got here, weren't you with some other drakes or something like that?" he asked. Now that he had a starting question in mind, his confident and formal demeanor was quickly restoring itself. "What were you doing with them? You know, before you saw us with Garrock?"

His head craned upward a bit so that he could look directly up at Rudrick's face. He remembered some sudden conversational etiquette and wanted to make eye contact when conversing...though it was more than that. He was genuinely curious about this. Hopefully, it would lead right into the topic he wanted to truly discuss....

"Is there something I can help you with or...?"

"Oh yeah! That's right!" Skobeloff said in realization. "Rudrick was headed this way to check up on you after what went down at the lab." The Trickster gave a sheepish laugh then while scratching the back of his head. "I may have ever so slightly distracted him from doing so." Skobeloff admitted before straightening up. "But that's ok! I can do so in his stead."

Using her newly disembodied state, Fellwing follows the strange wires further into the forest, hoping to locate their source. She eventually traces it back to the opening of a mine, presumably the mine Skobeloff had mentioned earlier, and she sees the wires crossing over the entrance, as if trying to keep something out. She then, for a moment, sees a flash of something: the bright, illusory bodies of a couple of dragons performing some sort of spell, but it's gone very quickly. However, she can gleam from it that this is some sort of older magic that other dragons performed a while ago, likely to keep others from going into the mine. However, the magic has been left unchecked for so longer that seemed to have... overgrown almost, like an un-attended plant, and has spread outwards to create the strange effect that Fellwing experienced trying to approach the mine.

---

At Skobeloff saying he had wanted to check up on him, Coryn tilts his head to the side. "Me?" he says. He gives big smile. "Oh, I'm fine. Just tired from working all day... also may have swallowed some medicine that makes people sleepy, so there's that." He stretched out his front claws. "See, my front legs are a bit on the stubby side, so picking stuff up can be... tricky. I also don't have claws on my wings like a few other dragons, so I sometimes have to pick up stuff my jaws."

"It is an actual miracle that you haven't poisoned yourself yet," Lazward says.

Coryn give him a look. "Hey, I don't pick up the really dangerous plants in my jaws!" he protests. He then looks at the floor before mumbling, "Besides, Heliotrope doesn't usually let me around those anyway."

"No, really, I wonder why," Lazward responds flatly.

---

"Hm?" It took Rudrick a moment to recall what Shieldwing was referring to. "Oh! That!" He slaps his forehead with one of his wings. "Just overseeing some simple flight exercises for some of the newly-winged drakes." He laughs. "You know, a lot of them think that once they can use their wings that flying will come naturally to them, but it's not always true. I know me and Garrock certainly weren't the strongest fliers starting out."

"Oh yeah?" Shieldwing asked, glancing back at his own wings. He couldn't lie, he was eager for his own wings to grow. He really hoped that he could be one of the first dragons in the clutch to master the power of flight! "I wonder if they'd be impressed if I learned how to do it quickly...." he murmured lowly. He turned his attention back upward to Rudrick, eyeing up the larger dragon's wings for a moment. "How long did it take you and Garrock to learn? What's the fastest you've ever seen a new Winged Drake master their new ability? Do drakes ever get it right on the first try?" As he spoke, he began to increase his pace to keep up with the older dragon a bit better, even starting to walk around him a bit more, looking up at Rudrick with even more interest and less uncertainty than a few moments ago. "What's something I should remember when I do finally grow big enough to fly? I wanna be ready!"

He may be getting a bit distracted from his ultimate question at the moment, but...this little side tangent had caught his interest. If he could be not only a strong dragon, but a strong dragon but with superior flight skills? Maybe that was how he could get one over on enemies he currently struggled to deal with....

"Your front legs are too short to hold things easily and you don't have wing claws." Skobeloff mused over Coryn's problems. "Have you spoken with a Crafter about having some reach extenders or clip-on wing claws made for you? A few of my siblings had the same problem until our Crafter parent made them some cool stuff to help with that."

As Fellwing calls out to the Moons once more, she starts to feel a tingling in her incorporeal form as the light, freeing energy of Liberty seeps out of her and is replaced with a strange... hollowness. She still feels light, but in a much less pleasant sort of way. Whereas before the lack of weight allowed her to move much more freely, to act much more freely than she would while restrained by her physical form, here it felt like so much weight had been taken from her that she didn't feel anchored to this world anymore... that she would float off and dissipate entirely at a moment's notice.

As she was becoming aware of this, she would start to notice that her legs in particular had gone numb, and when she looks down, she'll notice that they'll start moving without her input, pushing her forward towards the threads. Once she's close enough, one of her front claws will raise and she'll notice it'll look much sharper than normal. In a single movement, her claw grasps at the threads and then yanks them out, like how gardener might pull out a weed by its roots. There is a bright flash as the magic that once guarded this cave is expelled, releasing from the form the spell held it in and returning to the moons. When it does so, that light also envelopes Fellwing's spirit form, freeing it as well.

Fellwing opens her eyes, and finds herself back in her physical form... with someone standing over her. It's definitely not a dragon. In fact, on first glimpse she thinks it's some kind of beast, given it's more animalistic features - cat-like eyes, two stubby horns on its head and overall very gorilla-like shape - but its skin is unlike any animal hide she's ever seen, glistening in the light more like marble. When she rises from her trance, the creature gives a startled snort and takes a few steps back, all the while muttering to itself "Uh oh, uh oh, uh oh!" and before it ends up backing into a tree. Once it realises it can't back away any further, it crouches down to the ground, covering its face as if it hopes it not be able to see Fellwing somehow means Fellwing can't see it.

---

Coryn looks down at his front claws, seeming a little embarrassed. "I mean I could but..." he mutters. "I don't want to bother them. There's dragons with far more debilitating conditions. I don't want to take away time or resources."

---

"Slow down, young one!" Rudrick said with a laugh as Shieldwing bombarded him with questions. Again, he didn't seem to mind at all, in fact seeming to appreciate the red drake's enthusiasm. He paused for a moment as he tried to recall exactly what he had just been asked. "Let's see... well, me and Garrock were always a little more heavy-set than other dragons our age. Well, me a little more than him, obviously." He chuckles. "Now that I think of it, I wonder if Dawrie had an easier time with it." He pauses, as if in wistful contemplation before remembering where he is. "What was I saying?" he says with a shake of his head. "Ah yes, me and Garrock. It took us a while to really get the hang of flying. Taking off was always difficult for Garrock, I don't think he enjoyed the feeling not having sturdy rock beneath his feet. For me, though, the issue was always landing..." He chuckles. "I used to get so battered, and Garrock would get annoyed with me... but I think it was mostly because he was worried I'd genuinely hurt myself. He's not very good with the softer side of concern, usually comes out as anger or frustration, but you've probably noticed that by now."

He chuckles as he considers Shieldwing's other questions. "To be honest, I don't think winged drakes ever really properly 'master' flying until they're nearer longtooth. Sure there are some who excel at it better than others, but your wings are still growing and you are still growing into your wings. Actually, it's only towards the end of being a longtooth that your wingspan reaches the width it will be for the rest of your life so..." He shrugs. "Plus, I've heard other Semscale dragons state that all of life is learning process, and some dragons take to certain elements of life quicker than others."

He pauses again before answering Shieldwing's final question. "As for you when you're about fly... I mean, I haven't really seen you in the air, so I can't really make any judgements on your form or anything like that. But you would have had to fly veer the air currents when on your mission so..." He looks down at the red drake. "When you were in the air, what did it feel like? was there anything you had particular problems with? Did you feel any discomfort or are experience any pain after gliding for an extended time?"