While most of the dragons either had no features to hide or already had taken care of them, Winter seemed to be lacking.
"How will I hide my fangs or my slitted eyes?" she hissed. "I can hide my ears with a hat but my eyes and my teeth? I don't think i can do anything about that!"
Luckily, Chu, the flirtatious dragon, seemed to have a problem. He pressed his hand to the ground for a few moments, and a pair of mechanic's goggles and a medical mask popped out of the ground. He handed them to the ice dragon.
''Here just say you have a cold, and those should hide your eyes well," he explained. "What do you think grandpa will those do in hiding her features? Or is something else needed?" Chu poked him, and Jeonbae nearly fell over, managing to right himself at the last moment. Sighing, he nodded.
"Those should be fine" he told him. "Unless we'll be eating, there's no reason to take it off."
In the meantime, Aster and the others had been discussing who would be flying with who, seeing as Chu was unable to do so on his own. He felt a bit off-to-the-side, but he was much older than the other dragons. I wouldn't be able to understand anything they're talking about Jeonbae assured himself. Shifting to his dragon form, he laid along the ground observing the other dragons get sorted out, front claws extended in front of him, at a right angle to the ground. He sniffed the air again. Still no thunderclouds, or humans. But he was worried about something tonight... he wasn't sure what. Just relax, don't be so tense. It's a night of merriment and drinking! a little voice in his head said. Jeonbae smiled a little worriedly but decided to have all the fun he could.
"I'll go ahead to arrange Aksaja's metal plates," he rumbled. "It's not normal market hours, but I have connections that should be able to get you what you need." He flew up into the air, fur along his spine rippling. Arcing a path towards the Gold Village, the dragon tribe quickly faded behind him as he glided on wind currents and magic.
--
After a long while of flying, the lights of Gold Village appeared on the darkening horizon, a faint smell of oil and smoke reaching Jeonbae's nose. It wasn't long before he dipped to the ground, changing back to his compact form before anyone noticed him. He adjusted his glasses and bandana, and taking a deep breath, entered the village. Even though it was only sunset, swathes of drunken citizens stumbled past him, and the sounds of coarse laughter and merriment echoed around him. He ignored them, and kept walking with an even pace, dodging crowds. Before long, he reached the Merchant's District, an upscale neighborhood of white-stone houses and silver inlays, archways and cobblestone streets, gas lamps and not to mention rich barons' sons. The Countess' Citadel towered in the distance, and closer still was the Church of Draconian. With it being a weekend, most stalls in the district were closed or shuttered, the shops elsewhere being open extra hours. Jeonbae ducked into an alley and strode into a back courtyard, doors to apartments lining the perimeter. He knocked on one with the silver lettering that read "102". Sounds of heavy footsteps echoed in the distance, and the door opened, revealing a man known as Ammarissaix, or Maris a friend of Jeonbae's since the former's residence at Gold Village, one of the few people that knew his true identity as a dragon. He had a slightly narrow and hard face, yet sported a large, burly figure from years working at scrapyards and around heavy machinery. He was not a man of many words, choosing to say the ones that mattered. Maris did not look surprised to see Jeonbae, and instead simply nodded.
"Good to see you, friend," Jeonbae greeted, smiling slightly. "I hope I'm not interrupting your day off, but I'd like to make a request." Maris nodded slowly.
"A friend of mine needs some scrap metal, enough to maybe make a set of armor for his upper body and arms." Maris grunted in affirmation.
"Wait here. I should have something in the back." Moments later, he returned with a armful of scrap pieces of iron and copper. "This enough?" Jeonbae nodded in thanks. "For what you did last time." As he turned to leave, Maris spoke again.
"Watch out for Imperial Soldiers. Word is that they've been killing dragons for magical energy." Jeonbae immediately paled in apprehension, but nodded again in thanks. "I will keep a lookout." He had to let the others know. Going out for drinks may have been a bad idea.
