[IC] Epyllion: Beyond Moonlight's Reach

[XxFellsingxX]

Tamba and Pleexem must have had similar thoughts to Skobeloff because neither of them moved, instead looking between Fogdance and the trickster as if waiting for some sort of cue as to what to do next. When he did nothing, Tamba quickly went over to the grey dragon, placing her wing on her leg.

"It's alright," Tamba says quickly. "You're okay, you're fine."

Fogdance looks at her. "What was I doing before... and who is this?" She motioned to Skobeloff. "And why is he lying on the floor like that? Did..." She places a wing on her own forehead. "I don't remember what I was doing before." It seems to Skobeloff that her memories of what she was doing while her shadowself are clouded and hazy. She doesn't seem to remember encountering the trickster, or anything she may have said and done at the time.

Tamba seems to realise this and quickly speaks up. "You were acting weirdly," she says. "When the others started to go missing, you went out to look for them. When you came back, you didn't seem to be yourself."

"The others?" Fogdance squints as she tries to remember. "Yes, I think I remember. After Maug left, Alto went missing. Then Vipereyes. Then Kyte."

"You went looking for Kyte," Tamba chimes in helpfully.

Fogdance nods. "Yes... yes I went looking for them, and then..." She frowns. "I thought I heard something. My children. I thought I heard them in the woods, calling out for me."

"Your children?" Pleexem croaks, finally seeming calm after his supposed panic.

A pained expression passes over Fogdance's face, which quickly turns to a realization that she might have said something she wasn't supposed to. "It's nothing," she says quickly, shaking her head. "Clearly, I wasn't thinking correctly." She looks back at Tamba. "Everything after that is fuzzy, dream-like. Did I say or do anything strange?"

Tamba doesn't respond, instead looking over to Skobeloff. It seems Fogdance doesn't recall what she did while in the grip of the Darkness, so there is likely no danger of Skobeloff revealing himself and explaining what happened. That being said, in her currently confused state, the group should probably be as gentle as possible in their explanation. There also seems to be something she is keeping from the drakes, likely tied to whatever made her fall to the Darkness in the first place. Skobeloff might be able to get more information, but again, he'll have to approach this as delicately as possible. What will he do?

[rush99999]

Skobeloff

Realizing that there would be no danger in revealing himself, Skobeloff opened his eyes and got to his feet. After taking a moment to stretch his limbs after lying still for so long, Skobeloff turned to Fogdance and spoke. "Strange is certainly one way to put it." Skobeloff stated while wiping the porridge sludge off of himself as best he could. "Another way of putting it would be... not the sort of thing you'd want to hear about while in a state of confusion. Perhaps we should have this conversation somewhere brighter and more relaxed than in this dingy little room. Perhaps also with something calming to drink. I happen to know the recipe for a lovely blend of green tea if any of you are interested."

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Stargaze

During the wait, Stargaze reassured her friends, "She's coming. I know she's just on her way," However, there was still a bit of doubt gnawing at her.

Was she okay? She didn't take so long usually...

When Echo appeared, Stargaze immediately noticed that Echo isn't as vibrant as usual, and she even looks to be in pain. Her tail was wagging in happiness at the thought of seeing Echo again, but now it stopped as concern creeps in.

She asked Echo, "Echo? What's going on with home? Are you okay?"

[XxFellsingxX]

Fogdance looks momentarily startled when Skobeloff gets up and starts talking, but Tamba is quick to calm her. "It's alright, he's fine," the green drake says, patting the older dragon's leg with her wing. "No one is hurt, and that's all that matters for now."

"I... see," Fogdance says. She squints at Skobeloff, likely trying to place the trickster in her memories. Clearly, she recognises something familiar about him, but after a moment when the memories refuse to come to her, she simply shakes her head. "I suppose we should all go downstairs then, to the kitchen. You can all fill me in and we can discuss our next move." She grimaces. "If the others are still missing, we probably should do something." She pauses again, another look of straining to remember on her face, before she shakes her head and begins exiting the room. Tamba and Pleexem start to follow behind her.

---

Echo winces slightly. "I've... been better," she says. "You may have noticed that the island is a little different from how you remember it. As an elemental, I am tied to this island, particularly to this swamp. The Darkness has found its way into the hearts of many inhabitants, and I've been using my magic to keep it from seeping into the very earth itself." She glances behind her to the mouth of the cave, where Fellwing would recall from her visions she saw an injured drake resting a little further in the cavern. "Among other things." Her eyes linger on the cave before she turns back to the group. "With so much energy going to keeping the Darkness at bay, maintaining my physical form like this a little trickier than usual."

[rush99999]

Skobeloff

Skobeloff follows the group out of the cell and to the kitchen. "You three have a seat at the table and relax. I reckon you've earned a break after all that's happened here." Skobeloff said as he moved to begin gathering the ingredients he needed. "The tea will be ready in a few minutes." Having said that, Skobeloff fell silent as he focused entirely on making the tea. As the water boiled, the Trickster peered into a small bowl he had set down away from everything else. Skobeloff had placed the gem sand he had collected from the beach inside the bowl. Teleportation wasn't the only property it had. If one were to look down on the gem sand at just the right angle before talking to someone about something important, the light glinting off the sand would impart insights into how best to speak with them. After a moment, Skobeloff nodded himself before stowing the sand away and turning back to the tea.

A few minutes later, Skobeloff arrived at the table with a kettle full of tea and four steaming cups already filled. "I hope you all enjoy." Skobeloff said as he passed a cup to each dragon at the table before placing the kettle in the center and taking his own cup to the place left for him. "Once we're finished, we'll discuss the event that Fogdance cannot remember and what we are doing next. For now though, kanpai." For the next few minutes, Skobeloff sipped his tea and made pleasant conversation with the others, making sure they were all calm and relaxed. Then, once the kettle ran dry and the cups were empty, Skobeloff cleared his throat and turned to Fogdance, the smile that usually adorned his face fading away as he spoke.

"So Fogdance, you wanted to know what you were up to during the events you cannot recall." Skobeloff said. "Well some time during the course of your outing, the Darkness managed to get a hold of you and turn your normally nurturing nature into an over-protectiveness that bordered on possessiveness. This caused you to take... extreme measures to ensure the safety of your charges." Skobeloff paused then to ensure this revelation wasn't too distressing for Fogdance, taking a moment to calm her down if it was before continuing on. "When I got here, we managed to coax you back from your Shadowself." Skobeloff said. "But as for what to do now, perhaps it would be prudent to ensure the Darkness can't get to you the same way it did before... I get the feeling that you recall more than you let on, possibly something related to how you became your Shadowself. Anything involving that is sure to be a sensitive subject. But to have the best chance of keeping it from getting that bad again, it needs to be discussed."

OOC

Skobeloff rolls an 11 to convince Fogdance to speak of what she is keeping secret.

[Vertigo]

𝐹𝑒𝓁𝓁𝓌𝒾𝓃𝑔

__________________________________________________

To Echo's they went, through thick and thin and muddy water. Luckily Shieldwing offered to carry Alpin when the latter could no longer swim, so Fellwing didn't need to embarrass herself further by trying to volunteer. She wasn't the strongest of swimmers herself, being far more accustomed to flying, but she didn't utter a word of complaint. Or a word in general, really. She was too busy trying to recall the details of her visions which, by now, had already started to fade.

Echo was not well; one could tell as much with a glance. Wordlessly and worried, she glanced over at Stargaze, letting the two exchange greetings and pleasantries before she stepped up, back straight and wings folded neatly at her sides.

"Echo," she greeted, bowing her head. "We've seen what the Darkness has done here."

It was only now she remembered the stranger she heard Alpin mention way back when, and instantly she regretted not asking him about it earlier. Perhaps it wasn't too late. "I've many questions. The stranger in the hollow-- are they the cause?" Her gaze flickered between Echo and Alpin, "What do you know of them? And--"

Fellwing glanced deeper into the cave. She knew she ought to be careful who she let know of her visions, so what happened with Alpin didn't repeat. But Echo seemed trustworthy enough, and they were in a hurry besides. "As I... as I understand it, you've a guest over. As the moons willed, I saw them, and you, and the state of their injuries. May we help in any way? What happened to them?"

[Digizel]

Shieldwing

Shieldwing couldn't help but grin a bit, tail lashing slightly in anticipation. He was excited; and why wouldn't he be? He'd heard all kinds of stories about Echo from Stargaze since the clutch came together. And there was a part of him that couldn't wait to see what made her so special. Plus, this was going to be a new kind of creature he'd get to meet; exactly the kind of thing he had been looking forward to: seeing creatures and beings that you just couldn't find living with the other dragons back in the capital. However, something he hadn't taken into account was just how bad the situation was going to be on her.

Shieldwing's excitement soon gave way to concern as there was a longer wait than he had expected. He glanced at the white dragon in front of them, and got a prompt response from her before he even got to ask his question. Luckily, the muck soon began to shift, and a form began to peak itself out from below. But then he caught a look in the Elemental's gaze. One that he was able to read as relief, but there was also a grimace...? Was it just from how much effort she was having to put forward to mee with them like this...?

He listened to Stargaze's question, but then also to Fell's follow-ups. Oh yeah, that's right. Fellwing's visions had mentioned something like this, including an injured dragon. But to the red dragon, there was something a bit more concerning for him....

"Er..." Shieldwing interrupted, moving to step forward again himself. "Maybe we should wait a sec before pelting her with all the questions at the same time. She's having a hard time as it is." He then shifted his attention back to the elemental. "I'm sorry, I don't think we've introduced ourselves yet, have we? My name's Shieldwing, and that's Fellwing. We're Stargaze's clutchmates, and we're here to fix things over here. There's another one, but he went off on his own...." Shieldwing's gaze fell slightly, but he quickly shook it off. "And the big, strong guy back there is Garrok, he's watching over us while we're here."

Shieldwing adjusted himself, standing taller, with his head held higher and wings tucked at his sides before continuing. "Is there a better way to talk? Or place? One where you might be a bit more comfortable? Like Fell said, we've got a lot of questions, but we don't want you to strain yourself or anything."

[XxFellsingxX]

Fogdance's expression shifted many times as she listened to Skobeloff's explanation. However, as he finished speaking, her turned towards her tea cup and there was a long solemn silence. "This isn't exactly a topic I feel comfortable discussing with anyone, particularly ones as young as you," she says eventually. "However, given the circumstances, I feel I owe you an explanation for my behaviour." She sighs and reluctantly looks up so she is eye-to-eye with Skobeloff. "However, what I am to tell you may go against the beliefs the Houses instill into young ones such as you. As such, I'd ask that everyone here promise on the Moons themselves not to breathe a word of this to any dragon outside this room."

The twins look at each other apprehensively, obviously having no idea about where this is going. They then look over to Skobeloff, waiting for his response.

---

Echo glances at Fellwing, not seeming at all bothered by the black drake's familiarity with her, before turning her gaze towards Shieldwing. She nodded weakly. "It might easier for us to talk in my cave, as that's where my power is at its strongest. It's also where Kyte is resting, and I'm sure they'll be glad to see other dragons after only have me for company for the last few days." she says with a weak laugh. She glanced up towards Garrock. "Though your friend will have to stay outside."

Garrock shrugs. "Fine by me," he says. "I'll keep watch out here, just in case trouble finds us."

Alpin speaks up at this point. "Err, not to be a bother," he says. "But I don't know if I'm up for swimming in, erm, a dark cave."

Echo raises a hand. "You need not worry. You will not have to swim," she says. "As being part water elemental, I can manipulate the water to get you all safely to the cave. All need do is step out onto the water surface. I will do the rest. I may not be at my best, but I am strong enough to do this."

[rush99999]

Skobeloff

Skobeloff looked at the twins and smiled reassuringly before looking back at Fogdance and nodding in acceptance of her request. "With the Moons as my witness, I promise to never speak of anything you reveal in this room." Skobeloff vowed.

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Stargaze

Stargaze could only listen as Fellwing asked Echo her numerous questions, and Shieldwing had introduced themselves as her clutchmates. She added onto his introduction happily for a moment, remembering she wanted to introduce them to Echo, "Yeah, they're my friends!" Her tail wagged happily, but not as fast as it did when they first arrived here. It was slower because she was worried about Echo's condition and the events happening here.

Naturally, Echo suggested that they talk more in the cave. She nodded in agreement. After Echo reassured Alpin that she can help him, she also offered, "I can help too if you need it,"

She then nods to her friends and starts to lead them into the cave.

[XxFellsingxX]

After Skobeloff's response, both of the twins nodded with only slight hesitance. "Me and Pleexem also both swear not to tell anyone," Tamba said.

"Y-yeah," Pleexem stammered. "Sure."

"Okay," Fogdance said. She turned her eyes up towards the ceiling as she began her tale. "I don't know when I first realised I wanted to be a mother. I've always had a skill for nurturing and teaching younger dragons. Even when I was a drake myself, I always found myself naturally trying to aid and protect those younger than me. It was instinct. So, when I was going to have my first clutch of eggs, you can imagine I was very excited. Me and my partners had at eleven eggs, and while I knew that most of the raising of drakes is done by their House, I expected at least one of my children would end up in Tessith. Regardless, I promised myself I would do my best to support and care for all of them, wherever they ended up."

Fogdance gives a heavy sigh, and all three drakes are able to see obvious pain in her expression. "However, things didn't go how I expected. Out of those eleven eggs, only two hatched." She lowers her head. "It... happens sometimes. Not often, but it happens. Just one of those cruel facts of life." Her eyes start to shine with tears. "Everyone tried to comfort me, of course, tell me it wasn't my fault. Truthfully, I don't know if there is anything I could have done differently, but the fact is, I had lost nine of my children." She brushes away an emerging tear with the back of her claw. "To make matters worse, the two that survived did not end up in House Tessith. You may have met them. Their names are Hopa and Aziri." She attempts a weak smile. "I am very proud of them both, and I do what I can to support them. However, the sad fact is, at the end of the day they belong to their Houses, not to me. I cannot be there all the time to protect them, to brush away their tears and scare away their fears." A edge of coldness starts to enter her tone. "And that... that started to make me realise how flawed Dragon society truly is, how the Houses may not be the ideal way to raise and care for our young." She starts to look at the three drakes in the room. "I know I probably shouldn't be saying such things in front of young, impressionable drakes, but if the Council thinks you are all old enough to go on such missions, perhaps you are old enough to start questioning the world around you." Her eyes stop on Skobeloff. "So, after some time of grieving and trying to get by, I decided that I would try and have a new lot of eggs, raised outside the safety and structure of the Houses. Me and another dragon, not of my affinity clutch and one who I will keep anonymous for their sake, decided to have a clutch of eggs outside of the confines of the Houses. We would raise in secret, caring for them ourselves. Then, when they were at least of winged drake age, we would present them to the Council. We would show them how good our children, how they had grown to be fine dragons without the system restricting and influencing them." She gives a small, sad laugh. "We honestly thought we could change society, that we could bring down the Houses and show them a new way, a better way." She sighs again. "But, just as before, things didn't work out the way I wanted."

---

As the drakes and Alpin stepped out onto the river's surface, they notice the water feels solid enough for them to walk on, feeling not unlike walking on a sheet of glass. However, before they can fully comprehend this, all four of them are suddenly pulled beneath the surface. For Stargaze, this isn't too unusual as she seen Echo do this trick before, but it will be a little disorientating for everyone else as they realise that, despite being underwater, they can still breathe and speak like normal. They all seem to be contained within a large bubble of air that is slowly being pushed forwards, into the mouth of the cave. During their journey, they will notice that just like on dry land, there is not any sign of life beneath the water either. No fish, plankton, nothing. Just the swaying of water plants, and even that seems more stilted than it should be.

Eventually, the bubble bring them back up to the surface, where they find that same cave Fellwing saw in her vision. And, just like her vision, the pale orange winged drake can be seen, lying and resting on the rocks. They raise their head as the group emerges. "Back so soon, Echo? Were you able to find something better to-" They stop mid-sentence as they realise that they are not addressing the elemental. They get to their feet immediately and come bounding over. "Thank the moons! I was starting to think the Council had forgotten about us!"

While it is dim in the cave, there is enough bio-luminescent plants to provide a light source, allowing everyone to be able to see this dragon. While it takes a moment, Shieldwing will eventually be able to recognise them. Though he can't recall their name exactly, he will know them as a dragon he used to see hanging around his rival and bully Stonescale. However, despite being able to recognise them, it doesn't seem this drake has recognised Shieldwing yet, as they are beaming happily at all of the drakes.

[rush99999]

Skobeloff

Skobeloff sat in silence and listened as Fogdance told her story. The tragic nature of the tale was quick to wipe the smile from his face once more. He knew all too well that some eggs simply didn't hatch. Skobeloff forced those memories back into the dark recesses from which they had reared their heads and continued to listen as Fogdance spoke of the two that did survive. Hopa and Aziri. the names were vaguely familiar, but Skobeloff found himself unable to attach faces to them. He likely heard their names in passing or passed by them at some point, but it probably wasn't a very distinct encounter to him. At very least, Skobeloff was fairly certain that neither of them were in House Myndoth.

Then Fogdance revealed the reason why she had sworn the drakes to silence before speaking on this.

The occasional Orphan or Rebel was one thing. As was the odd reservation regarding how things were run on the Moonlit Isles. Skobeloff was no stranger to such things, having become clutchmates with Stargaze, who was herself an Orphan. But an entire clutch raised away from the Houses? That sort of daring was rare enough to be practically unheard of. Regardless, Skobeloff gave no indication that he thought less of Fogdance because of her actions. When she paused for a moment after stating that her plan to raise a Houseless clutch in secret didn't pan out any batter than he first attempt at having children, Skobeloff gave Fogdance a warm smile. "I know this must be difficult for you. But you're doing well." He said reassuringly. "Take your time and continue whenever you feel ready to do so. We can wait."

As he waited, Skobeloff took a moment to glance over at the twins to see how they were reacting to things. They had been just as quiet during Fogdance's explanation as Skobeloff had been, so hopefully they were taking it as well as he was.

OOC

Skobeloff studies Tamba and Pleexem. He rolls a 13 and learns who they are holding a grudge against and what they are hoarding.

[XxFellsingxX]

Tamba made no indication that she thought any less of Fogdance during this conversation, though her eyes shone with a sadness that indicated that she felt sympathy for the older dragon and listening keenly to everything she said.

Pleexem on the other claw seemed very uncomfortable, though in the brief time Skobeloff had known the lilac dragon he had never seemed particularly relaxed. He kept glancing towards Tamba, also seeming to want to know what she makes of all this. Seeing that she seems to be listening, he merely looks back at Fogdance. Skobeloff can get the sense that he does not want to be in this conversation or part of anything that is currently going on. At one point, he glances towards Skobeloff, and in that brief moment where the two's eyes meet, he gets sense that Pleexem is not happy that the trickster has gotten them into this situation. After all, he's not a member of House Myndoth like his sister, and is likely far less fond of keeping the secrets of others, at least those that do not belong either to himself or his twin.

Fogdance doesn't seem to notice Pleexem's discomfort, as he is currently giving a soft but sad smile at Skobeloff. "Thank you, dear, just give me second," she said, wiping yet another tear away. She takes a moment to steady herself before she continues. "Anyway, I didn't get the opportunity to see my second clutch hatch. One day, me and my partner came back to find the entire nest destroyed by some Monster. A few eggs were missing, and those that were still there had been smashed. We tried our best to find what had happened to the missing eggs, but we never found them." She looks between the three drakes. "I think, while I was taken over by the Darkness, I saw you three as my lost children. Any drakes who somehow survived would be somewhere between your ages after all." She shakes her head. "But no. My children are gone. Even if their eggs survived the Monster attack, how would they have lived out in the wild without anyone to care for them? It's not possible."

[rush99999]

Skobeloff

"You've done well, Fogdance. Saying all of this, dredging up all of these painful memories, mustn't have been pleasant for you." Skobeloff said once Fogdance had finished speaking. "Because of that though, I believe the mystery regarding your brush with the Darkness is solved. When you went out in search of Kyte, you found something else instead. Something dark and devious. Something that plays on pain to give the Darkness a way in. Something against which we'll need to be able to defend ourselves. But how?"

[Guardian Angel Haruki]

Stargaze

Stargaze led her friends and the drake across the water. Knowing what's going to happen next, she warns her friends, "Here comes the fun part!" before she immediately sinks into the large air bubble with her only making a "Woo!" sound.

As soon as her friends recuperate and realize they're in a large bubble of air underwater, Stargaze smiled as she commented, "Pretty cool, right?" She took stock of the aquatic environment around them, and realized that it wasn't as lively or vibrant as usual. It was still and dead...

She added upon that realization in sadness, "Though...this area's usually much more lively..."

Then they arrived into the cave proper. Before she could even tell them that this is where she grew up, the other drake that was already here spoke up, thinking they were Echo. Stargaze's exuberance faded as she realized that the drake in question was none other than Kyte.

She had seen him before as someone who hung out with Stonescale, and just watched the bullying. She came to realize...

If Kyte was here, then Stonescale might be on this island too...

At that thought, her tail now tucked between her legs in anxiety. She answered him, knowing she can't really hide and she was in the front leading her friends...

"Oh! Uh...Hi, Kyte. Um...Gl-Glad to see you're okay, haha..."

It was clear from her greeting that she was trying to put on airs of 'Everything is okay and is going to be okay,'. Internally, she was freaking out. She was worried that the bullying was going to start again, here of all places. At her very home!

[Digizel]

Shieldwing

Shieldwing hesitantly reached his claw out to the water's surface. He wasn't overly fond of water. After all, it restricted movement and made him a slower, far less capable warrior. However, when his claw didn't immediately sink into the water, but rather stood atop it, his eyes widened in surprise. He cautiously stepped out further onto the water's surface, unable to stop his tail from wagging behind him a bit as he was actually standing on top of the water's surface! He had never felt something like this before! It was strange...and he was loving every second of it!

Man, he KNEW his first trip from the capital would give him all kinds of cool experiences!

"Whoa...." the dragon murmured, looking down at the water below. He pushed down with his claws a bit, allowing his tail to dip down onto the surface as well, feeling it around. It was like he was standing on regular floor.... However, Stargaze's words caught his attention quickly. Did she say "the fun part"? What did that- "WHOA!"

Suddenly, the red dragon was pulled down beneath the water's surface, almost like something had snagged his body and dragged it under! He gasped and fought and squirmed for a moment...until he quickly realized that nothing actually had a hold of him. He blinked as he realized what was going on. He wasn't in the water, fighting for air. In fact, there was still air all around him. He soon straightened himself out completely, clearing his throat.

"Ahem...y-yeah. Cool. Definitely super cool." he quickly said, hoping to cover his misunderstanding as soon as possible. He began to make his way through the small tunnel with the others. Much like Stargaze, he quickly realized that it wasn't as...lively as he would have expected underwater to be. Usually even in small places like this, there were things swimming around or swaying a bit more. Or at least, so he thought anyway.

Soon enough, the group arrived back at the surface and Shieldwing gladly stepped foot on the inside of the cave. He looked around for a moment, looking for any sign of life. However, he had hardly even been here for a second when another dragon had exclaimed something about their arrival, and had bounded up next to them! This drew Shieldwing's attention immediately. He puffed himself up a bit to make sure he seemed tall, strong and confident. However, all of that bravado melted away when he recognized just who it was he was looking at. And his confident smile turned into a bit of a scowl.

"You..." Shieldwing muttered, stepping forward, instinctively putting himself between the orange dragon and Stargaze. "I know you. Aren't you one of Stonescale's little lackeys?" he narrowed his gaze at the dragon, the name "Stonescale" having practically been spit from his mouth like he were removing something gross from his mouth. He glanced back toward Stargaze, hearing that name. Kyte.... He wasn't sure, but it sounded familiar, he supposed.

[XxFellsingxX]

Fogdance shook her head. "I have no idea," she says. "All I remember is hearing the voices of what I thought were my children calling out me. Everything becomes hazy after that."

At this point, Tamba spoke up. "Something must have attacked you," she says. "You were collapsed when we found you, and it took you days to come to."

Fogdance shrugs. "Like I said, I have no clue," she says. "I can only assume it was some kind of Monster or perhaps a corrupted Beast. That's the most likely answer I can think of, but I really do not know."

---

At Stargaze and Shieldwing's responses, Kyte's expression quickly flickered from surprise, to recognition, to hurt before finally settling into a mirror of Shieldwing's own scowl. "Okay, for the record, I wasn't his lackey," they say, their tail starting to lash around like that of agitated feline. "We were in the same clutch. That was all." They quickly avert their gaze to the ground, all the while muttering, "And not anymore. Obviously." While their tone was sharp, the way they lowered their head and hugged their wings against their body implied they were in a far more defensive mood than offensive.

[rush99999]

Skobeloff

By the time the talking died down, Skobeloff looked as if he were deep in thought. "A servant of the Darkness..." Skobeloff said to no one in particular. "One that can mimic voices... One that uses pain to give the darkness a way in... One that seems to prefer attacking lone victims, is powerful enough to win against a bearded dragon, and leaves those it attacks out cold for days." Skobeloff looked up at the others, a sly grin on his face. "I think I know what we're up against." The Trickster declared. "And I know how to defend against it. Despite being powerful enough to take on even the even the strongest dragons, it is incredibly cowardly and only ever attacks isolated victims. It won't attack you so long as you are with someone else. More importantly though, I know how we can go on the offensive against this thing!"

OOC

Skobeloff uses Fogdance's failure to overcome whatever she encountered to fuel a round of the Long Game. He rolls a 13 and chooses to create an opportunity and hide himself and the others from whatever attacked Fogdance.

[Digizel]

Shieldwing

Shieldwing's eyes widened a bit at Kyte's response. At first, he was unchanged, viewing the orange drake's words as little more than an excuse. However, it wasn't long before the drake's gaze lowered and he muttered something about...not being in the same clutch anymore? That caused the red drake to pause in response. He had expected a defiant retort, or maybe even a few insults thrown his way in support of Stonescale. However, it seemed like an opposite response came to the forefront. He was still sounding a bit agitated and offended at his accusation, but there was something different about it.

And now Shieldwing was starting to feel more like the bully all of a sudden.

"...Oh," Shieldwing murmured, suddenly lowering his stance a bit. Come to think of it, he didn't look very good at the moment. For a moment, he considered apologizing, but at the same time...it was kind of hard for him to feel bad. After all, clutch or not, this guy still stood back and did nothing when his clutchmate was messing with Stargaze. Inaction was almost as bad as taking part as far as he was concerned. He tilted his head, though, almost hesitant to ask...but he suddenly felt like he needed to know at this point. "But wait...what d'you mean, 'not anymore'?" he asked. "What happened?"

[Vertigo]

𝐹𝑒𝓁𝓁𝓌𝒾𝓃𝑔

__________________________________________________

"Of... of course," Fellwing half-whispered, sheepish, as both Shieldwing and Echo herself suggested they move their conversation elsewhere. She bit her lip, shuffling her wings impatiently as the red drake went through introductions. The Seer understood Echo was not in the best of shapes to talk, but that was precisely why it was important they skipped pleasantries and cut straight to the chase. Lives were at stake! Surely names could wait.

Even the bubble ride deeper into the cave, something the black drake would have rejoiced over in any other circumstance, felt excruciatingly slow now. Breathtaking, educational - but slow. And, after Stargaze's comment regarding its current state, also somewhat morbid. Fellwing decided she preferred the vast open skies to the suffocating world underwater.

Reflexively, Fellwing gasped as the bubble brought them back to the surface. Her first few steps on solid ground were shaky, and the orange drake in her vision seemed to wobble. Moons, where was her balance. She was still readjusting to her surroundings when Stargaze and Shieldwing recognized the injured drake - and the latter picked a fight. Because of course he did. "Shieldwing, this is not the time or place!"

Fellwing walked next to Stargaze, pressing into her side to drape a wing over her as if to comfort her clearly scared friend, then turned back to... Kyte, was it? "I do second my clutchmate's question, however. We're trying to figure out what happened here, as well as how to make things right again. Anything you - anything anyone here can tell us would be much appreciated."