"Ah..." Shieldwing suddenly gasped, only just now seeming to catch himself. His crimson scales grew a little bit darker as he blushed slightly, raising his wings slightly in embarrassment. Gah, how could he have let himself get so worked up like a playful hatchling? He was grateful that he was around Rudrick right now, because he knew many a dragon that would have been annoyed with that kind of behavior. In fact, it actually seemed like Rudrick seemed to welcome or even enjoy his excitement, which quickly made him feel a bit better. He smiled and finally found himself pacing well beside the older drake, with rapt attention being paid as he spoke.

However, as Rudrick mentioned that his weakness seemed to be at landing, and how Garrock would usually respond...his eyes shot wide with surprise, a fresh memory immediately flooding to the front of his mind. He quickly recalled what it had been like when his clutch had flown out for their first mission. It had been a thought he'd been trying to bury. He'd been too embarrassed about his fumble and interpreted Garrock's response as frustration with him.

But...with Rudrick's new information, then a new thought had come to his mind....

He paused at Rudrick's question, though was quick to step back into place after a few moments. His head, previously craned upward to gaze up at the larger dragon now lowered toward the floor as he began to think back.

"Now that I think about it..." Shieldwing murmured. "I...dunno. I...didn't pay much attention to myself." He looked aside, blushing a bit again, clearly embarrassed to be giving such a non-answer. "I-I mean, on the trip out, I was more worried about the others and trying to support them more and make sure they were doing alright than what I was doing. And on the return trip I was-" He stopped himself abruptly at that point. Memories of his frustrations at how their mission had gone came back to him as well. "...distracted." he said flatly to finish that sentence.

"I guess my wings were a little sore maybe, but if I had any troubles with the gliding, I didn't notice. The first time I was eager to land and ended up crashing into the ground. But I learned from that crash the and landed better when we got back to the mainland. I mean...w-well, you know. I-I didn't crash that time at least."

"That is true." Skobeloff admitted. "But that doesn't mean your condition should go completely ignored. More often than not, problems get worse when they're ignored." Skobeloff paused then, looking as if he were considering something. After a moment, the trickster continued. "As far as resources go, you're still small enough that you wouldn't need much. And really, all that stuff about things getting bad at some point is just fearmongering for the most part." He said. "As for taking the Crafter's away from those who need it more, that should only be something to worry about if you consider asking one of the older Crafters. If you were to go to a Crafter around your age who knows their way around wood, metal, wiring, and plastic; they'd be able to help you and you wouldn't have to worry about those worse off than you not getting the help they need... And furthermore..." Skobeloff leaned in closer to Coryn then and whispered so that only he could hear. "If the real issue is that you're too embarrassed to ask, don't be. A lotta dragons have limb problems, it's nothing to be ashamed of."

There's a pause before the creatures eventually lifts it claws from its face and rises back up, placing all four paws back on the ground. Getting better look at this creature, Fellwing can see that it about two times taller than her at least and has a very bulky, muscular build. It eyes Fellwing warily, but there is a hint of hope in its expression. After a moment, it takes a couple of steps closer. It begins to speak in a deep, growly voice, "Name is... Runa. I am troll, from mountains to the North." As if to demonstrate, the troll raises a paw in a direction. "Was heading to Capitol with others when big blizzard hit. Me and my brother got separated from the rest. Tried to track them, ended up here instead." Runa lowers her head for a moment, before quickly raising it again. "Found tunnels leading to mine. Was wondering if others had camped there, but haven't found them yet. Probably not there, tunnels not very stable. Been abandoned for some time. We're hoping to leave once night falls." That hopeful expression intensifies as she looks at Fellwing. "You are dragon. Do you know way to Capitol?" She points to herself, her voice becoming a little softer as she adds, "Have you seen others like me pass through here?"

---

Coryn raises his head as Skobeloff gets closer to him. "I... suppose," he eventually says after a moment. He sighs. "Maybe I'll visit one of the crafters later today. Most are at the Capitol, but we should have at least one or two still around."

---

Rudrick nods. "Well, there you go, you're learning all the time, even before you start being fully able to fly," he says. "That's why we teach drakes to glide even as rawscales, to hopefully prepare them for the real thing." He raises his head up to the sky. "And why using the drafts between the islands are so helpful. Every clutch has to cross between islands sometime early on, and that helps them and their supervisors identify anything they need to work on as quickly as possible." He then snorts. "Though I imagine Garrock wasn't too quick to give you pointers. He was likely focused more on the task at claw."

"Oh...!" Shieldwing exclaimed, perking up as that obvious fact were pointed out to him. "Oh yeah, I guess that makes sense.... So I just need to make sure I'm gliding perfectly before I start thinking about flying...." Though when Garrock was brought up again, he paused for a moment as he recalled his own crash. Quickly falling into step, he added, "W-well, uh, actually...? When I crashed on the island, the first thing he did was rush up to me and check me over. I-I tried to forget about it 'cause it was humiliating, and I thought he was just worried about his own scales for letting me hurt myself, but...I think he must've been worried about me. He'd said if we sprained a wing or something then it was our own fault, but the first thing he did was growl at me and look me over...."

Shieldwing couldn't help but smile a bit as he thought about it. "Heheh, now that I think about it, maybe Garrock wasn't as bad as I thought. It was more than what I got back with my clan at least."

Skobeloff smiled when Coryn said he would look into seeing a crafter about his problem. "You won't regret it, I assure you." Skobeloff said. "Either way, I think I've taken up enough of your time. If you'll excuse me, I have to go talk to one of my clutchmates about unicorns. See you next time!" With that said, Skobeloff made to exit the room and make his way back to Heliotrope's clinic where he last saw Fellwing.

Runa scratches the top of her forehead with a claw. "Err, let's see..." She began counting on her claws. "There was Runa, brother..." She begins mouthing what seems to be other names to herself before saying, "And four others?" She looks back towards Fellwing. "we were on our way to have a talk with... Roth-scar?" she says. "Been having trouble with them for some time. They wanting to mine in our mountains, say we have a lot of precious minerals and stone. Colony elders not sure what to do. Roth-scar very insistent, sometimes mine around our territory either though we didn't tell them they could." Her face falls. "Things turning a little nasty. Other trolls worried about invasion, don't think we could take dragons in fight. Trolls strong, but dragon magic stronger."

There is a pause, as if she's thinking about something she'd rather not be dwelling on, and her eyes then light up, a glimmer of hope in them. "But other dragon came to our mountain some moons ago. Not like others. Very kind, cares a lot about trolls. Wants to make things better. It was her idea to come here. She says that Roth-scar are getting new leader, and she wants to try and either get the role herself or appeal to new leader for help." Runa nods affirmatively. "Seems very sure we can avoid war, and Runa would very much like to avoid war. Runa knows war can take toll. Lost parents in fight with other troll colony some time ago. Doesn't want to lose anyone else."

---

"Wait, did he just say unicorns?" Lazward said. He'd been staying quiet while Coryn had been talking to the other drakes, focusing all his attention on fighting back the plant invasion. However, Skobeloff's last words seemed to have struck him as odd enough to give him pause.

Coryn just shrugged in response, clearly also confused by what the trickster had just said. He glances over to Stargaze questioningly. "Your friend is a little strange," he comments.

---

It wouldn't take long for Skobeloff to return to the clinic. Upon entering, he would find most of the dragons had left, leaving only Heliotrope, Fogdance, Pleexem and, of course, the still unconscious Maug. Maug was still in the same nest, with Fogdance occupying another one nearby. Pleexem was standing near Maug, eying him him with mixture of anxiety and deep contemplating. Meanwhile, Heliotrope was at the other side of the lab, mixing some sort of solution together as one of her desks.

None of them seemed to notice Skobeloff enter.

---

Rudrick gives a big smile. "Yeah, he's a softy alright, though don't tell him I said that," he says. "He was probably really worried you'd hurt yourself because he wouldn't really know how to help you in that scenario. He's no healer, though he has some basic medical knowledge, and has no longer got a connection to the spirit moon. If you had actually gotten hurt, he'd be beside himself with worry. Trust me, I'd know." Rudrick chuckles. "I'm glad you noticed my brother's not all that bad. He tries so hard to keep others at wings length, but he does care deep down." There is a moment where Rudrick's smile falter slightly. "I mean, that's probably why keep others at wings length."

Before Rudrick could really elaborate, the pair had finally reached the exit of Snouthold, and Rudrick quickly turned his attention to scanning his surroundings. "Let's see," he mutters, more to himself than to Shieldwing. "If I recall, the old mine is somewhere..." He glances over to his left. "That way, I think." He indicates with a wing. "We don't really usually let drakes out over there. Mines aren't really all that stable." Again, his smile seem to lessen as worry creeps into his eyes. "I really hope Garrock hasn't reached them already."

Shieldwing's head tilted to the side slightly as Rudrick added that last line about Garrock, but was unable to ask any more. The two had finally arrived at the exit of the Snouthold. And it suddenly jumped to his mind that he still had yet to actually ask the question he had originally wanted to ask in the first place. But as Rudrick continued, his question became buried once more as he saw the look on the older dragon's face.

"...Even if he had, would that be such a big deal?" Shieldwing asked, stepping forward. "We just need to catch up with him, that's all!~" He flashed the larger dragon a grin. "So then if we wanna catch him or beat 'im to it, then we better get going, right? We can't waste time standing around worrying about it!"

Shieldwing could barely contain his excitement. He knew that there really was nothing to this. In all likelihood, they were going to just go out there and meet with Garrock and then he was probably just going to stand off to the side by himself while they talked. But still, this felt like a second chance.... An opportunity to actually do something, to help somebody and feel useful. And he was NOT going to mess this one up!

"You said it was probably this way, right?" he asked, already starting to move in the leftward direction Rudrick had originally pointed.

A triumphant smile played across Skobeloff's lips as he entered the clinic completely unnoticed. The little Trickster made a few mental notes that would help him in matters of sneaking later, then stepped further into the clinic and spoke up. "Guess who?" Skobeloff greeted those present and aware of their surroundings. "I'm looking for Fellwing. Gotta talk to her about unicorns and stuff. Do any of you know where she is?"