AN: Hey, everyone! I'm finally back with another chapter. After this, we're going to have just one more set in Possibility, and then we'll get to see what Cornice is up to again.
There's also a new poll on my profile. Vote on your favorite Unexpected Places characters! Not only am I really curious about who you like best, but I'll also try to incorporate the winners in a little more into future chapters.
Without further ado, I hope you enjoy this chapter!
"What did the fortune-teller say?" Tumbleweed asked, as soon as Ozone and Sard rejoined the trio of SandWings. Kulta and Jackal looked similarly curious.
"It was kind of vague," Ozone answered. He didn't want to offend them, but he felt strangely reluctant to share what he'd learned about his future with all of them. It seemed too private. He made a face, hoping to dissuade them with humor. "But she did say that my love life would be complicated."
Sard gave him a curious look, knowing that he was withholding information, but to his relief, she didn't call him out on it.
To his relief, Tumbleweed barked a laugh and didn't inquire any further.
"What about you?" Ozone asked Jackal and Kulta. "You never said."
"We got to ask three questions together," the pale gold SandWing responded. "I learned that apparently I'm going to make a fateful choice within the next few months and that Jack and I should learn to rely on each other."
"She said you should trust me more," Jackal corrected her. "I already know I can rely on you. And she told me that I'm going to be successful in an important endeavor very soon." His eyes shone with anticipation.
"So you each asked one question individually and one together?" Sard guessed.
"Yep," said Jackal cheerfully. "But the one was enough for me."
Ozone eyed him inquisitively. His SandWing friend was always energetic, but he seemed to be in a particularly good mood right now.
Then again, Ozone supposed he probably would be equally excited if he had been promised success in the immediate future.
He wondered if Jackal had some specific goal in mind.
"Let's go check out some of the other stores," Tumbleweed said impatiently. She seemed no longer interested in fortune-telling now that romantic prophecies between Jackal and Kulta had been ruled out. "I know we have a lot of time here, but there's also so much to do! I just can't wait to do everything and see everything! Let's go, let's go!"
"Three moons, you're energetic," Sard observed, with some amusement.
"I know," Ozone agreed. "And I thought you were hyper!"
"Nah," she said, returning his playful grin. "I just can't resist making a little bit of mischief now and then. And Buzzard and Gale make it so tempting."
Ozone laughed at that, taking the time to appreciate the moment. It felt good to simply spend time with friends and to not have to worry about training or accidentally angering his fellow soldiers-in-training for once.
They continued down the main street, stopping briefly at various booths to check out samples of exotic fruit sold by a RainWing, scraps of colorful fabric being displayed by a SandWing, and sparkling geodes collected by a SkyWing. They didn't buy anything right away, not wanting to be weighed down throughout the day by their purchases, but Jackal promised they could stop by again on their way out for a rock studded with yellow crystal that Ozone particularly liked.
The next shop was run by a dragon with unusual tan scales. He had a flat snout, straight gold horns, and ridged scales along his muscular arms. When Ozone and his friends came into his store, he was carefully sculpting something on a potter's wheel, which he was gazing intently at with a pair of dark eyes.
The shopkeeper straightened up, nodding to them in a friendly way. "Welcome."
"He's a hybrid," Sard hissed softly into Ozone's ear, seeming shocked.
"That's right," the dragon in question said pleasantly, meeting her startled gaze; clearly, she hadn't meant for him to overhear. "My mother is a SandWing and my father is a MudWing. Such intertribal relationships aren't uncommon here in Possibility."
Ozone was fascinated.
"Um," he began and then stopped, uncertain if the shopkeeper would be offended by questions about his unusual parentage.
"You look curious, young dragon," the shopkeeper said, looking amused. "First of all, my name is Loess. Now, you may ask me some questions if you want. Can't promise I'll answer all of them, though. Some things are personal."
Ozone hesitated for a moment. He didn't want to be rude.
"What was it like growing up in Possibility?" he asked at last, deciding that was a safe question to ask. He did want to know what it was like having been born into such a busy city filled with so many kinds of dragons.
His friends, looking disinterested in his interview, wandered deeper into the store as he spoke to look at the various clay figures displayed along the walls.
Loess let out a surprised-sounding guffaw. "That's not usually the first question I get. I appreciate your tactfulness, young one."
"Ozone," the SkyWing offered.
"Well, Ozone, it's the only life I know," the potter said straightforwardly.
He couldn't help but feel a little surprised. He'd never thought of it that way, and it must have showed on his face.
"Don't you suppose I could ask you the opposite—what it's like to grow up only among dragons from your own tribe?" Loess pointed out. He gave another significant pause, his eyes glinting knowingly—or was it wearily?—before continuing. "Even here, there are always a few narrow-minded dragons who speak only with those that look like them and come from similar backgrounds. But more often, dragons are better than that. We have a well-mixed culture here in Possibility."
For a moment, both dragons were silent. Ozone nodded thoughtfully.
"Do you have any siblings?" he asked, once it became clear that Loess was waiting for another question. Would other hybrids inherit the same traits from each parent? Or would another dragon born to a SandWing and a MudWing be built more narrowly, perhaps with a barbed tail and darker scales?
"No," Loess responded, as soon as the last word had left Ozone's mouth. "I can see that surprises you; you're probably thinking that I'm half MudWing, and everyone knows that MudWings are supposed to have sibs. But SandWings hatch one at a time, and since my mother's a SandWing, there was only me."
He shrugged, as if it didn't bother him, but Ozone wondered.
"Don't you get lonely?" he asked.
"Don't you?" the hybrid challenged him. "Why should I be any lonelier than any other dragon without siblings? Because I'm half MudWing? Because there's no one else who looks like me? It's like I told you before: I've never known anything else."
Ozone was silent for a moment.
"I didn't mean to stereotype," he said quietly, feeling guilty for jumping to the same conclusions that everyone else did, about a dragon he'd met barely three minutes ago. He didn't want to come across as if he presumed to know more about Loess's life than the potter himself did. "And yes, I do sometimes."
Loess's expression softened. "Hmph. I suppose you're all right, Ozone."
"Thank you," the SkyWing said.
The shopkeeper laughed. "Most wouldn't take that as a compliment."
"You used it as one," Ozone pointed out.
"That's true," Loess admitted, grinning.
Ozone dipped his head to the potter in polite farewell. "Thank you for answering my questions. I'd better go catch up with my friends now, so they don't end up deciding I'm taking too long and leave without me."
"Take care," Loess responded, returning to the mound of clay he'd been sculpting when Ozone and his friends came in.
Jackal and Tumbleweed were standing together near the very back of the shop, admiring some ceramic figurines while Kulta lingered a few rows behind, talking to Sard in a quiet murmur that Ozone couldn't quite make out. The small orange dragon wore an unusual expression on her face, looking torn between wariness and intrigue.
Ozone tried to look busy, not wanting to interrupt any potential friendship that might be blossoming between Sard and Kulta. Sard had been atypically reserved all morning, which he attributed to her general distrust toward other tribes.
Maybe it'll work out, he thought hopefully. Maybe she just needed a little push.
As subtly as he could, he shifted closer so he might be able to hear what they were saying and interfere if Sard needed to be fished out of an awkward situation.
"Have you ever been to the city before?" Kulta was asking.
Sard shook her head. "Not Possibility. Not any city, actually. Only a talonful of small villages in the mountains. SkyWings are kind of independent."
"Proud?" Kulta guessed.
"That too," admitted the orange dragon.
"Hmm," said Kulta, narrowing her eyes thoughtfully.
Sard turned to browse one of the other aisles, assuming the nonverbal response signaled the end of the conversation, but the SandWing reached out one pale gold talon to stop her. "Do you live very deep in the mountains?"
Sard hesitated, as if puzzled by the questioning. "Not very."
"I only asked because I think it would be strange for me, being in such a confined space," Kulta said, rolling her shoulders as if the mere thought made her restless.
"It's not confined," Sard said hotly. "It's sheltered."
The pale gold dragon gave a dry laugh. "No need to get aggressive, SkyWing."
With effort, Sard forced her tense muscles to relax. "Sorry. I'm just—protective, I guess, of my homeland."
"That's understandable," Kulta said, her voice smooth as varnished stone. "Tell me a little more about your kingdom, the way you see it. Maybe then I'll be able to see it that way too. Because right now, all I see is a very crowded, wet landscape."
"Wet?" Sard asked, looking surprised.
"I live in the desert," Kulta reminded her. "Everywhere else is wet to me."
To Ozone's surprise, Sard laughed at that. Perhaps she found Kulta's aloofness as alluring, in some odd way, as Ozone did Jackal's open friendliness.
"All right," she said. "We are somewhat close to a lake. I guess I'll accept 'wet'."
Ozone decided not to eavesdrop anymore. It seemed Kulta's reserved nature was enough to balance Sard's sparks of temper enough to prevent a fight from breaking out. Both dragons were opinionated, but Kulta wasn't easy to provoke.
He couldn't help wondering why the SandWing had developed a sudden interest in the mountains. She hadn't struck him as someone keen on small talk. When Ozone had first met her, she'd seemed content to observe his interactions with the other two without saying very much. Could it be she was shy, like Ozone himself?
Wherever Kulta's abrupt curiosity had come from, Ozone supposed he should be glad she had been willing to talk to Sard. As much as he cared about his fellow soldier-in-training, she was very touchy and could become sullen when she felt left out.
He walked over to Tumbleweed and Jackal, who were still lingering near the back of the store. The tawny dragon brightened when she saw him.
"Oh look, Jack," she said, tugging on her friend's wing. "Moony Eyes over here seems to have finished talking to the shopkeeper about his fascinating nonsense."
"Moony Eyes?" Ozone asked mildly, deciding not to challenge the use of the word 'nonsense', since Tumbleweed didn't seem to mean it as an insult.
"Your eyes totally lit up when he said you could ask questions," she responded, by way of explanation. "I've never seen you be that enthusiastic about anything. In fact, I didn't know you were actually capable of getting excited at all. I'm debating getting a little offended that you apparently don't find me that interesting. I feel kinda bad for Sardonyx now. Since she's so full of energy and you just… aren't."
Ozone shrugged, feeling a little self-conscious.
"Anyway," Jackal intervened. "If you're done speaking with the shopkeeper, we can all move along, right? I don't want to rush all of you, but I want to see if we can get to Barracuda's shop before she leaves on her lunch break."
The name sounded familiar; Jackal must have mentioned her before.
"Okay," Ozone agreed.
They went down the aisle where Kulta and Sard were still talking to collect them before they left the shop. Ozone and Loess exchanged nods of farewell.
On their way to the SeaWing's shop, they passed a large building with a domed roof. The architecture looked elegantly old-fashioned, and Ozone couldn't resist pausing to give it a curious look. Dragons walked in and out of a door positioned at the top of a marble staircase, admiring the stone entranceway as they passed by. Others reclined in a garden located behind the building; most were deeply immersed in scrolls, but some appeared to simply be enjoying the pleasant weather.
"What's that building?" he asked his friends.
To his surprise, it was Kulta who answered. "It's a library. There are all sorts of fascinating scrolls inside." Her eyes shone with anticipation.
"Let me guess," said Tumbleweed. "You want to go inside?"
"Just for a little while," the other SandWing said, already spreading her wings to fly to the top of the steps. "You can go on without me. I'll catch up with you later."
"Okay," said Jackal, watching her go with an amused expression. "Bye, I guess."
"I wouldn't have guessed that she's a scrollworm," Sard commented.
Ozone shrugged. To him, it didn't seem strange. He wasn't the type to sort other dragons into categories in his mind, especially dragons he was still getting to know. He had no idea why Sard, and most others, would find doing that helpful. More often than not, categorizing dragons led to incorrect assumptions, and Ozone was already socially inept enough without accidentally jumping to the wrong conclusions.
He'd kept standing there as he thought, not noticing that his friends were starting to move along again until Tumbleweed called, "C'mon Ozone!"
He hurried to catch up.
It wasn't much longer before they reached the shop they were looking for, which seemed to be displaying a collection of odd-looking metal jewelry.
Jackal's friend was a muscular dragon with dusk blue scales and lighter blue eyes, one of which was covered in a black eye patch. When she caught sight of the SandWing, she gave him a toothy smile. Her two longest fangs stuck out slightly on either side of her jaws; one was blunted at the tip, giving her a tough-looking appearance.
"Jackal, my friend," she said, punching him on the shoulder in a way that looked rough but playful. "It's good to see you. How have you been lately?"
"Good," he responded, nudging her with his wing in return. "I've brought a few of my friends here to meet you. You already know Tumbleweed, this is Ozone, and that's Sardonyx. Everyone, this is Barracuda."
Tumbleweed made a peace sign with her talons, while Sard greeted the SeaWing with a polite nod, and Ozone managed a shy smile.
"Nice to meet you lot," Barracuda said to the SkyWings, giving a jerk of her head, before turning back to Jackal. "You lose Kulta somewhere along the way, or what?"
"She heard the library calling her and couldn't resist," he answered.
"Bah," said the SeaWing, with a dismissive flick of her tail. "I guess we don't need her at the moment. Listen, I've already told everyone where we're meeting, and I found a few more dragons who were interested. We should have an even bigger turnout than last time. Everything's finally starting to look promising."
"That's not for a couple more days," Jackal said, with a glance at Ozone and Sard. "Let's not talk about this right now, okay?"
Barracuda tilted her head to one side. "But I thought you said—"
"I changed my mind," Jackal interrupted sharply, before she could finish. "We're just going to hang out today, if that's all right with you."
Ozone felt almost desperately curious to know what they were talking about, but looked away from the pair as Tumbleweed nudged his side with her elbow. She'd been browsing Barracuda's wares as the SeaWing talked with Jackal and was now trying on a weirdly clunky-looking ring. "Check this out."
She twisted it, and a pair of wicked-looking spikes suddenly popped out from the bottom. Tumbleweed grinned. "Bam! Now I have IceWing claws!"
Ozone looked up at the rest of the jewelry. "Are these all weapons in disguise?"
"Yeah," Tumbleweed said. "That's why they look so ugly."
"Excuse me," said Barracuda suddenly, shoving her snout in Tumbleweed's face. "First of all, they're not weapons. They are innovative jewelry. Secondly, they are most definitely not ugly. Third, you're paying for that."
"Aww," said Tumbleweed. "I was hoping it could be a free sample."
Barracuda scoffed and held out her talons. Tumbleweed reluctantly took the ring off her talon and dropped it into the SeaWing's palm.
Jackal stepped up between Ozone and Sard, wrapping his wings around their shoulders. "I bet you were wondering what my conversation with Barracuda was about. You see, I'm trying to start this little group in Possibility. I told her I was bringing you here because I thought you might be interested in joining it. But I've changed my mind over the course of the day. You would probably find it extremely boring."
"What kind of group?" the SkyWings asked in unison. Sard's tone sounded rather suspicious, while Ozone was just curious.
"I'll tell you about it later," Jackal said, folding his wings again with a mysterious smile. "Right now, we have a lot more to do and not a lot of time to waste. I'm going to stay here and talk to the lovely Barracuda for a few more moments, but the two of you and Tumbleweed can go ahead and explore."
"Stop, you're making me blush," the blue dragon said sarcastically.
Jackal ignored her.
"All right," said Sard, looking reluctant. "C'mon, Ozone."
Once the SkyWings and Tumbleweed had left Barracuda's shop out of sight, Sard glanced tentatively at the SandWing before leaning in to whisper in Ozone's ear. "Is it just me, or did that dragon seem highly suspicious?"
Ozone shifted his talons uncomfortably. "She kind of did." He hated saying bad things about any dragon, but this SeaWing made him nervous. What use was there for selling hidden weapons when the war had been over for fourteen years? That seemed awfully like facilitating mugging and other acts of violence to Ozone.
"Excuse me," said a tall SandWing, walking up to them. "Did the three of you just leave Barracuda's shop just now?" His tone sounded relatively polite, but it had an edge to it that warned the dragonets not to mess with him. Around his neck hung a golden medallion stamped with a symbol that Ozone didn't recognize.
Tumbleweed stepped in front of the SkyWings. "That's right, Officer."
Sard and Ozone exchanged alarmed glances behind their friend's back. What did the police want with them?
"If you bought anything there, I'd like you to please hand it over," said the police officer. "It needs to be inspected. We've received intel suggesting that she's been selling illegal weapons there alongside her jewelry collection."
"We didn't buy anything." Tumbleweed didn't seem even remotely fazed. "And if you don't mind my being bold, I think you're mistaken, sir. I've heard rumors like that, selling weapons and such, but not about Barracuda's shop. That's Blenny you've heard about. They're both SeaWings, both jewelry sellers—it's easy to get them confused."
"Is that so?" the police officer said.
Tumbleweed nodded. "Her shop is down a few streets, I believe."
"Hmm," the older SandWing said, his tail flicking thoughtfully from side to side. "I suppose I'll have to double check back at headquarters." He didn't seem convinced, but he at least seemed to be giving Tumbleweed's accusation some thought. "Stay out of trouble in the meantime, you hear me?"
Tumbleweed gave a toothy smile. "Of course!"
The other SandWing gave the tawny dragonet a long look before he turned away, heading back the way he'd come. She watched him go with an unreadable look in her black eyes. As soon as the police officer disappeared from sight, her cheerful expression dropped. "We have to let Barracuda know she's being investigated."
Neither SkyWing responded. Ozone glanced at Sard, who looked uneasy.
"Why did you do that?" he asked Tumbleweed.
"What do you mean?" She tilted her head to one side.
"You lied to the officer," he said. "You just showed me that Barracuda's jewelry turns into weapons. And then you framed someone else instead."
She waved him away. "They'll figure out quickly enough that Blenny is innocent. I just wanted to buy Barracuda some time to switch her weapons out for normal jewelry. Don't give me that look. I've got her back. That's what you do for your friends, isn't it?" Tumbleweed looked and sounded completely serious.
Ozone stared at her for a moment, realizing with a jolt that this was the first time he'd seen her without a playful grin on her face or a glint of mischief in her eyes. If this was what her serious side looked like, he didn't like it at all.
He opened his mouth to say something, but before he could decide what, Sard stomped down hard on his tail. He glanced at her questioningly, and she shook her head. It was clear she didn't feel comfortable picking a fight with Tumbleweed, which made Ozone feel even more unsettled. Sard would normally fight anyone.
He looked up at the tawny dragonet again, but she'd already begun pushing her way back through the crowd to Barracuda's shop. There was no arguing with her.
He sighed. "I guess we'd better follow her."
He just hoped they wouldn't regret it later.