"Hey… it's time to wake up." A soft female voice spoke, the sweet sound not really jarring the young male out of sleep. The light pressure of her paw shaking his chest, however, did jar him from his slumber.
"No… I don't want to get up." He replied groggily, not even having the fortitude to open his eyes to the light of the stone clad room.
"Well I didn't want to get up either, Jagan, But Pengu should be back from his trip to Talon today!" Amba reasoned, knowing that Pengu would want the first thing he saw upon his return to be his siblings.
"I'm sure he would be just fine if he had to make the grueling journey to my bedroom, I'm busy." Jagan croaked out, using his arm to shield his eyelids from the light.
"Oh yeah? What are you workin' on over there?" Amba asked incredulously, knowing exactly what his answer would be.
"What does it look like? I'm trying to sleep!" He declared, just wanting to be left to his bed. "now go away!"
Amba didn't leave. She simply walked over to the curtain and drew them the rest of the way open, letting the sun envelop the gloomy palace chamber with its warm light.
"Oww!" Jagan cried, trying to use his blanket to shield the accursed rays, but being foiled when Amba ripped them out of his paws.
"Okay okay I yield! Just give me my sheets back!" Jagan yelped in pain, now just awake enough to ball up his paws and rub his face. "You do have to admit that these beds are really comfy though, every time I get in one I never want to leave!" he exclaimed, charging up the monumental effort it took to escape the plush mattress.
"Yeah, Chief Benja has been very kind to us." She responded, finally releasing her grip on Jagan's beloved covers.
"Did Pranee come back while I was asleep?" He asked hopefully, rolling over and trying to blink the burning brightness of the sun out of his eyes. Out of all the different places the ruler dragons traveled, Pranee should have been the first to return. Spine is only a short boat trip from Heart's palace.
"No, she's still gone and I'm getting more worried." Amba answered. She turned to saunter towards the door with a faraway expression.
"Hey, Amba, don't worry yourself too much." Jagan said, walking up to her and tapping her side with his. "Pengu will know what to do."
"I know he will, but… I just got my sister back, and I don't want to lose her again." She said, hiding her now crying face in Jagan's mane.
"C'mon, let's get to the dock before we start to panic, okay?" Jagan replied, not really knowing what else to say to his worried sister.
"Okay." she said, taking her face out of Jagan's neck and leading the way into the ornamental hall.
Amba admired the tinted glass mosaics lining the halls, their simplistic styling yet complicated scenes showing the true skill of the artists that had created them over the years. Amba gasped when she saw the latest piece at the end of the hall, a beautifully rendered depiction of the few dragons to return from being stone resurrecting her sister, The bright colors of the glass being hit by the sun causing an almost magical shine.
"Wow… this is beautiful!" She said, as if she hadn't even been upset the minute before.
"That was fast… haven't we only been back for like a week?" Jagan asked, inspecting the excellent work that the artist had done in such a short time.
"Closer to two, but that's still really fast!" Amba corrected, her bubbly personality back in full force now.
She really is just like her older sister. Jagan thought, the almost childlike glee with which Amba took the world around her reminding him of Sisu.
Oh yeah, Sisu... I wonder what she's doing right now. A familiar high pitched scream and a splash outside gave him the first clue.
Looking out of one of the open windows he saw Sisu laughing as hard as he'd ever seen, and Chief Benja's daughter flailing around in the water of the castles moat like a jumping carp, with some of the local Heart guardsman and merchants even gathering on the bridge to enjoy the spectacle.
Jagan smiled, the joy of his sisters always warming his heart. The warrior princess thrashing in the water was icing on the cake.
"What's going on out there?" Amba asked, poking her head into the windowsill next to Jagan.
"I'm not quite sure, but it would appear our sister is trying to drown the Chief's daughter." Jagan responded, embellishing the story just a bit for comedic effect.
"All is well in paradise!" Amba replied cheerfully, before promptly removing her head from the windowsill and turning the corner towards the castle's exit, leaving Jagan to giggle to himself, before quickly following.
}-+-{
Having rescued Raya from their sister, the quartet was now sitting at the end of the dock waiting for Pengu's ship to arrive. The warmth of the dock beneath his resting form and the rolling ocean waves massaging Jagan's worried mind ever so slightly.
"It's nice to be back in Heart, isn't it guys?" Amba asked the group, trying to spur small talk to pass the time.
"It really is, I still can't believe that Sisu won the fight to claim it for herself way back then." Amba replied, reminiscing about the grand battle that happened all those years ago.
"Whoa whoa wait, you guys fought over Heart?" Raya asked, becoming visibly attentive to the three dragons.
"Yeah, it was the greatest game of rock paper scissors ever played!" Sisu boasted, always happy for an opportunity to brag. "and I won!"
Raya could speak no words as her hopes of hearing about some amazing dragon sparring were dashed, the sheer confusion and childish nature of what really decided the borders of her region forcing her to shut her mind off and stare into the distance while processing this information.
"You have always been the lucky one sis." Amba replied mirthfully, the human girl's antics giving her a warm feeling that she just couldn't describe.
"Darn straight! Remember whe-" Sisu was cut off abruptly when Raya regained her composure.
"You guys decided which Datu would be the patron of our land with rock paper scissors?" Raya blurted, completely floored by what she had heard. She shot the dragons a very interested yet disapproving look while waiting for their answer.
"Actually all of the regions got patrons that way." Amba recalled, leaning against one of the moorings for a rest.
"Yep, I got the patronage of Talon by completely destroying Amba." Jagan added, proud of the massive floating cities built under his encouragement. He was also very proud of his big win, of course.
"Shuddup." Amba said quickly, shooting a spiteful glance at Jagan "Anyway, I'm the patron of Tail, stealthiest warriors in the land!" Amba exclaimed now with pure elation, she had always been a fan of warmer climates, so Tail was exactly what she wanted anyway.
Before she had time to brag further Amba spotted another dragon in the corner of her eye. Seeing another dragon while out and about wasn't too common, most petrified dragons outside of Heart didn't come back from being stone. She took some time to note his attributes: deep blue fur and a slightly lighter mane, with his fin being a similar color, just opaque, a lithe muscular build, and a fairly sizable scar on his shoulder. What stood out about him most to her was the flat horn, almost shaped like an axe head. This was a telltale sign of a respected Maharlika warrior.
"Who is that?" Amba asked in an almost breathless whisper to Jagan, the warriors toned muscle and disciplined demeanor setting off almost every taste she had in drakes.
"That blue dragon over there?" Jagan inquired, despite knowing full well who she was talking about. "I think his name is Saze, he was part of the final stand before we were all turned to stone."
"He's cute!" Amba gushed, resting her chin on her front paws and batting her eyelashes towards the clueless soldier.
"Amba he's a commoner!" Jagan chided, it was considered indecent in dragon culture for a royal to pine for a common dragon. Even if they were of a high social standing, such as the Maharlika, it was still looked down upon.
"So? I don't exactly see any other royal dragons around, do you?" Amba replied, never one for the social roadblocks of royal dragon culture.
"I still don't like it." Jagan replied, not able to come up with a coherent reason as to why.
"I don't mean to cut… whatever that was short, but who are the patrons of Fang and Spine?" Raya asked, now very interested in the actual information behind the games.
"Pengu got Fang right after I won Heart." Sisu answered, not wanting to discuss the conversation her brother and sister were having any further as well. "-and Pranee got Spine."
Raya could almost feel the air get heavier after Sisu spoke her eldest sisters name, the now dejected looks on the younger dragons faces starting to worry her.
"Is something wrong?" Raya asked carefully, not wanting to anger the ruler dragons.
"No no, nothings wrong, don't worry." Sisu rambled, her quick and sudden response only making Raya more worried.
"Are you sure? Because from how you all soured just from her name it seems that something might be wrong" Raya questioned, now miffed that the dragons were lying to her.
"Pranee is just a bit late returning From spine, its really nothing for you to worry yourself about." Amba said just a little testily, really not wanting to talk about the matter.
"If anything is wrong with Pranee I can have an army on it right away, you know that right?" Raya stated confidently, trusting in the power of Kumandra's now combined forces to deal with any problem.
"NO! Especially not that!" Amba replied with a bit more force "You are not going to raise an army over something that we can sort out ourselves!"
"Right, I don't want to be throwing such a strained alliance into an uproar over what could very well just be nothing!" Jagan interjected.
"I'm sorry! I just wanted to help." Raya stated now drawing her knees to her head and almost starting to cry. "I'm just so tired of things being wrong!"
"Hey…" Amba said, wrapping her arms around Raya in a calming embrace, lifting her face to look at hers and pushing her hair out of the way. "...Its alright, I know you just want to help, and I thank you for your graciousness. Its just that razing all of spine in search of my sister would only make things more complicated in the long run."
"What is this talk of 'razing Spine' eh?" A large gruff voice spoke, causing the three dragons and girl to startle
"Yeah, I don't think I want to anger the big man just yet." A deep female voice added.
Looking towards the shore end of the dock, the quartet recognized the towering form of Tong, now the Chief of spine, and Namaari, General of the Unified Kumandran army. Raya squirmed out of Amba's grip and practically stood at attention, blushing profusely.
"It is nice to see you Chief," Amba said to Tong, before looking at the girl standing next to him. "and you too, General. Don't worry about that crazy talk, just a little hiccup with our sister."
"A 'hiccup' you say? If something is wrong in my borders, I think I should be the first to know." Tong said, rightfully wanting to know the happenings of his homeland.
"Oh really, its nothing to worry about Chief, Pranee is just a little late" Sisu added with a nervous chuckle, breaking her silence. The Lovey-doveyness of her younger sister always making her feel weird. Raya took this opportunity to slip away from the group and run off with her fellow dragon nerd, Sisu reaching out with a longing look and almost calling out for Raya to take her along, but resigning herself knowing that as one of the Datu it was her duty to be present while the Chief aired his grievances.
"Spines guide dragon could be in trouble and you saw it fit to only tell me now?" Tong grunted, the dismissal of the possible severity of the situation in his homeland bothering him.
"Really tong, I'm sure it's probably nothing. You know how us dragons can be sometimes." Jagan interjected, hoping to save face with the now understandably displeased chief.
"I will discuss this matter with Pengu when he gets back…" Tong stated evenly, before looking out into the distance past the now visibly embarrassed dragons. "...Actually, I think that's his ship."
All present turned to look at the small Djong sailboat, its sails now completely retracted with a sailor pushing the ship into port with a stick, the dragons all shifting on their feet when the weight of the ship hitting the dock caused it to sway beneath their feet.
Another sailor jumped down to tie the ship to the mooring, the Quartet of dragons and Spine chief walking past the young sailor to greet Pengu, the Green furred leader dragon now walking out onto the gangplank, the metallic golden edges of his regal horn shimmering in the midday sun.
His eyes lit up upon seeing his family there to greet him. Now rushing off the gangway, he nearly bowled the other dragons over to greet them, first capturing Sisu in his close embrace.
"I missed you Pengu!" Amba said as she grabbed both Sisu and Pengu into group hug, grabbing Jagan by the scruff and bringing him in before he escaped her reach.
"Welcome back to Heart, Pengudatu." Tong stated in his usual stoic demeanor, still miffed from the possibly important information being kept from him, but happy to see the more responsible elder brother again.
"Oh, hey Tong!" Pengu exclaimed happily, before standing on just his back legs and giving the massive chief a big hug.
The tall Spine warrior, visibly mortified, looked over Pengu's shoulder to the other dragons for some kind of guidance, but they were just about as surprised as he was. He settled for halfheartedly returning the hug before letting Pengu back down.
"I'm so glad we're all back together!" Pengu said to the other three before noticing something odd, his younger clutchmate was mysteriously absent. "Hey.. where's your big sister at?" he said in his usual happy brother tone.
"well…" Jagan began, before Pengu interjected again
"Don't tell me she's already cooking again!" he sarcastically remarked, the purple dragoness' cooking well known to anyone who ever got the chance to eat it. "If I eat too much Turon i'll start to get fat!"
"Pengu, she's not- '' Sisu started to say, but Pengu spoke up yet again.
"She's... she's here, right?" he pleaded, his smile fading into a more half hearted yet still hopeful grin. Looking between all their faces and seeing no signs of mirth or deceit on the younger dragons' faces only made him worry more. "Don't tell me she didn't make it back."
"Pengu... I'm sorry." Amba said remorsefully, sad to disappoint her elder brother with the news of their sister's absence.
"Well she could just be late right? I remember the fog being so thick that we almost got lost up there a few times!" Sisu said hastily with a strained smile, trying to calm everyone's nerves.
"I think not, one of my best navigators was with her." Tong said decisively, knowing that his own troops wouldn't get lost in their homeland.
"Tong! Not helping!" Amba seethed through her teeth, the normally friendly to a fault water dragon's sudden change in demeanor causing Tong to slightly recoil.
"No Amba, he's right. The dream I had yesterday is starting to make sense now." Pengu said with a pained grimace, looking out onto the river with a thousand yard stare.
"A dream, brother?" Jagan asked, not understanding what he was talking about.
"Yes Jagan, our elders told me of how dreams held great significance, but I didn't believe them, Not until now anyway." Pengu replied, still not breaking his stare over the waves.
"What did you dream of, ancient one?" Tong asked, ready to sound the alarm at a moment's notice, rapt attention paid to Pengu.
"I dreamed the sounds of horror, the cracks of maces hitting bone, the strikes of blades on flesh, the dying gasps of soldiers. The sounds that terrified me most however, was not only the agonizing silence of the soldiers, but of my own sister wheezing, gasping for air as a man spoke her curses. The last thing I remember was the sound of a massive explosion that shook me to my bones... I haven't slept since then." Pengu recounted, almost tearing up as he remembered the pain in his sisters voice. "I was hoping for good news when I came back, but this has only worsened my fear."
All present were completely dumbfounded and petrified by the news, Amba bursting into terrified tears as the gravity of what Pengu had seen truly sunk in. Jagan and Sisu were not far from being the same way.
"...A dragon is in danger." Tong said with a shell shocked look on his face, breaking the silence and quiet sobbing of the sensitive youngest dragoness. "We must inform the other Chiefs!"
"No! Tong... You will not." Pengu said, the sharpness of the negative followed by the even tone in his voice gluing the hulking man's boots to the boards of the dock.
"But your sister needs help!" Tong replied in a less commanding tone than last time, trying to reason with the eldest dragon.
"I know that! But news of this magnitude could destroy all the hard work that we have already done to reunify Kumandra." Pengu said, "My sister needs help, but it has to be out of the sight of the public... Tong, can I trust you to build and lead a search party without letting the other chiefs know of it's happening?"
"Your will is my command, holy one." Tong said, kneeling in front of Pengu and displaying the circular hand sign of worship.
Amba managed to control her sobbing somewhat and responded first out of the younger clutch of dragons, still barely able to string words together as she spoke.
"T-tong… Y-you're taking-g me with you. *sniffle*" She ordered in the most commanding voice she could muster, still sounding like a terrified child no matter how hard she tried.
"You're taking me as well." Jagan said lowly, the possibility of one of his siblings in danger causing a boiling rage to make itself known in his demeanor. No matter what happened with his sister in spine, he would be out for the blood of whoever did it.
"Yeah! Me and Raya are going too!" Sisu replied, puffing out her chest in the most soldierly stance she could manage.
"You're staying with me, Sisu. The two greatest living heroes mysteriously running off would bring unnecessary heat to this little catastrophe." Pengu proclaimed in the textbook 'older brother' tone that Sisu had heard so many times before.
"Aw what?" Sisu started ranting before everyone tuned her out.
"Two dragons and one chief is hardly a force to be reckoned with. Who will be our Healer? And what will we do for a fighting force?"
"About the fighting force… I can't let this trip be more than five." Pengu said, explaining his reasoning afterwards "After five you will need a larger ship than this one, and that would raise even more suspicion."
"Right, the ship!" Tong said before hailing the fang sailor who now stood completely baffled by the sight of the dragons so up in arms. "Sailor, you must get this ship ready for a voyage to Spine!"
The fang sailor, not one to be bossed around by some forest dweller, responded in the most polite way a soldier could refuse an order:
"You are not my commander, I answer only to general Namaari."
"Excuse me?" A returning feminine voice said "I don't know if you missed the memo, but according to the code of the newly unified Kumandran military, the orders of any region's chief outweigh the orders of any commanding officer."
"General Namaari!" The sailor stood at attention in complete embarrassment. "My sincerest apologies ma'am!"
"It is not me you should be apologizing to. Talk to the big man." She said, leaving the soldier to sweat his apology out to the Spine chief.
"Pengu, whatever this is... I want in." She requested, wanting to be helpful in any way she possibly could to the newly freed dragons.
"I don't think you understand what you're getting yourself into..." Pengu said, almost explaining the situation before the feisty Fang general stopped him.
"from the looks of it I'm getting myself into a fight." She spoke strongly, glancing in the direction of the now cowering sailor and a very, VERY displeased Spine chief. "I owe Raya dearly for putting her trust in me in spite of myself. I feel that this is a good way to start repaying that debt."
"I won't stop you then young general." he replied, before hugging his siblings.
"Me and Sisu have to go now, but we will see you when you come back. Don't get hurt. Do I make myself clear?" Pengu said in a deadly whisper.
"Yes brother, I will make sure that nothing happens to any of us." Jagan replied powerfully.
"Are you seriously making me stay in Heart when my sist-"
"Soldiers these days, always ready to get up in arms." Tong said walking back up to the now two dragons and one elite warrior. "I assume you told Pengu that you wanted to go then young one?"
"Yes tong, I want to help." Namaari replied, looking up to tong with a glare that told him 'no' wasn't an option.
"Good, Kumandra always needs good warriors like you." Tong replied, proud of the young generals initiative. "Speaking of warriors, we still need to find a healer."
"Oh I think I know one!" Amba said before splashing into the water and darting off towards the pier where the other dragon soldier stood watch.
"Troi oi…" Jagan muttered bringing his paw to his temple, knowing exactly who his sister was heading off to find.
}-+-{