The Mud Kingdom, Five Years Into the SandWing Succession War


There's a sort of whiplash feeling when you can suddenly smell the person next to you.

Despite all the other things that could make someone freak out in the current circumstances, smell was the one thing I could fixate on. I didn't design it. I don't think anyone at the Corps had. Where did smell come from?

Of course, there were many other new feelings as well. Actually feeling the grass underneath my claws that I myself had designed. Vivid colors, the light of the sun, the wonder that was wind and its importance.

Just being real. What a rush!

Of course, the experience was immediately soiled by a big and clumsy SkyWing squashing me flat. Thus, the second sensation following smell was pain.

"Woah...this is cool! It's like I can feel what's around me with my senses—oh my gosh, I can hear my own voice!"

"You could do that before, Motion," came the exasperated voice of Life. I would have said the same thing, but you know. Crushed.

In actuality, she was only sitting on the part of me that was in a solid state, head to shoulders, but the effect was still achieved. I could barely keep track of my liquid.

Being down here on this planet...it felt as though our powers would be reduced somehow.

I tried to waggle a few claws, tired of a certain someone's stupid red butt, but she had me completely pinned. For any normal dragon, this probably would be a dream. Man, was I glad Life did not give us genitals.

"Excuse me, Motion. Perhaps you could make like your name and move a little?"

Thank you, Space.

She finally stood, and I seized the opportunity to take a huge gasp of beautifully fresh air. That was a new feeling too. Air wasn't a thing at the Corps. —Come to think of it, how were we able to hear each other back there? It was in a vacuum.

"Oops. My bad, Matter."

"Who else's 'bad' could it be? Just be glad you didn't touch my plasma." I shook myself out, surveying the surroundings. We seemed to be on the crest of a hill, in a generally treeless and plain-filled area. The marshland of the continent.

What a dumb plan. Death and Time were the only aspects not here, and they would no doubt know we were being so insubordinate. I should never have listened...but I suppose none of this would have happened in that case. Would have made for a pretty bland story.

I'm not boring you, am I?

Now that I could actually see, the world was quite pretty. The sun was low, casting all sorts of oranges and yellows throughout the sky. Whether or not it was dawn or dusk, I forgot. Motion worked with Time for that.

There were no signs of other dragons, but living things were still present, with a small flock of birds overhead and what seemed to be some bovine creatures grazing in a field a distance away. Animals weren't entirely my jurisdiction; Life had given everything names and designs. I really liked this though. As temporary as it was, getting to live a life on the continent, to have a real family, form bonds, and have experiences, sounded incredible.

Though, there were probably lots of dragons who wanted to be in a position like mine. The grass is always greener on the other side. Or you know, the other side actually has grass.

"It's so lovely," Life murmured, breathing deeply as though she were inhaling the entire planet.

"Yes yes, agreed," Space added, his galaxy of a heart spinning with introspection. (I mean that literally; his SeaWing-like body was dappled with the appearance of stars.) "It's great. So now that we've seen the planet for ourselves, can we go? Motion, take us back." As expected, the blazing red SkyWing was not paying attention.

"Guys, look!" Instead, she was gesturing towards...

Yuh oh.

Two MudWings were on the approach. They weren't within speaking range, but they definitely knew we were there on the hill. Holding weapons too; soldiers, likely on patrol. It was times like these I was grateful Life had made us look like dragons, especially after what you know as the Scorching.

"Grand," Space growled, his talons clenching. "Running or hiding will only incriminate us. Motion, you must take us back to the Corps!" Again, she didn't respond. I could tell she actually heard this time, but a devious smile was laced into her expression.

Lucky us.

Space was not about to just go along with this, so Motion turned to him pointedly.

"Space. Please. This is my opportunity to interact with actual living beings! No offense to you guys, but the Corps is—is stupid boring! Besides, what we do here doesn't matter in the long run. We can't actually die." Our corporeal forms certainly could. While I was curious like her, I wasn't that invested in learning what pain felt like. But we went to all this trouble. Might as well stick it out.

As those two continued to bicker, I noticed Life staring at the two MudWings, who were getting closer by the minute. She splayed her wings.

"Life? What are you doing?"

"I'm going to talk to them. We can sort this out." Life, the technical IceWing? Bad idea.

"Woah, woah, hang on. You have the appearance of an IceWing. They're enemies of the MudWings in the war. I fit in more, it should be me."

"And how are you going to explain...us?"

"As well as I can." With the others still arguing, I precariously stumbled down the hill, unfamiliar with the terrain. I sought desperately for what to say. How does one explain a colorful array of dragons hanging out in the middle of nowhere, during an inter-tribal war?

Luckily, these two soldiers recognized me as a form of emissary, landing from their flight. This did not dissuade them from raising their spears. My normally useful brain was still dry, so I opted to just try and keep up conversation and buy time by talking as much as possible. Alas, most of it was pretty senseless.

"A splendiferous and magnificent day to you, my esteemed and venerable countrymen!" The two shared a glance, dubious, but at least they didn't attack. I took the lull to observe. To my left was a dragon of a very deep dirt brown, of impressive build and stature. They wore numerous battle scars and carried a mystical 'ancient warrior' sense about them. This was of course accentuated by two long barbels (look it up and you'll know what I mean) on either cheek, giving the impression of a whimsical mustache.

On the right was a significantly smaller dragon, who was also much lighter in their brown shade, close to beige or wheat. They had no such mustache, and a strangely round head, with no horns at all. Their ears seemed immobile, melded into the side of their skull.

The first dragon was highly observant, watching the rest of the Corps and being on the alert. The second one, on the other hand, seemed very preoccupied with staring at me. Their expression was indecipherable. "Ahem. Now, most generous and reasonable individuals. I do not desire to absorb your time as though I were some foamy sponge. Perhaps if you would allow...my people and I, to go about our merry way, we could avoid further delays. I feel exhausted already!" I was in fact, not wanting to save on time, hence the flowery language.

"Who exactly are you and your people?" The large MudWing asked, harboring a gruff and grouchy masculine tone. It fit rather well with his appearance.

"Ah yes, I am..." Hm. 'Matter' was a pretty strange name for a normal dragon. What was it that MudWings named themselves after again? "I am, um... Matthew!" The two suspicious glances I received were not helpful. Personally, I think Matthew was a fine name choice (which allowed my friends to still call me Matt, which is one syllable off from the real thing). "As in, like, matted up mud! And stuff. Who might you be?" Cold silence reached us outside of Space and Motion, who were somehow still going at each other.

"What is your purpose here? And is that an IceWing I see up there?" The big one asked again, rudely ignoring the question. He seemed to be fed up.

"Oh, well, you see, I was just out for a bit of a pleasant stroll amidst this truly beautiful wildlife. I was thinking to myself, 'you know what would be great? A peanut butter and jelly sandwich.' So I got some things and—"

"Enough!" Fu Manchu here slammed the butt of his spear on the ground to quiet me. I was considering calling him Rudey McRudesnout instead. However, he started to get closer. And you don't ever want an angry dragon with a spear to get closer. "I demand you inform me of what traitorous deeds you are planning with this mangy lot, or else I—"

I flinched back in surprise as McRudesnout was suddenly smacked on the back of the head in just the right way to be knocked unconscious. The perpetrator happened to be the second MudWing, who seemed regretful of having to use violence.

"You'll have to forgive Lóng. He's not with the Talons." This one sounded much more feminine, though her voice matched the power and dignity of Mc—sorry, Lóng's. Also, what the huh?

"The who?" (Funny band, by the way.) With the more threatening stranger out for the count, Life decided to make her way down the hill and join the conversation.

"Uh, the Talons of Peace. I assume that's what you're doing, because these tribes getting along these days isn't possible." I groaned with a roll of the eyes.

"You think we get along? Get a load of those two back there." Perfect timing as Motion yelled a particularly loud expletive.

"Greetings," Life said, arriving from her far more graceful glide down the hill. "My name is Snowlily, though just Lily is preferable." Wow. See, that's a good cover name. How had she been ready for that? Our potential ally nodded in recognition, though she still seemed uncertain.

"Yes, well. I am Fen, a fellow Talon. Who sent you out here? Why? This is not necessarily helping to maintain cover." I looked to Life, unsure of how to tackle this situation. Would going along with it work out best? Frankly, I had no clue what this dragon was on about, but the 'Peace' in her organization's name sounded promising. She wasn't concerned with a menagerie of tribes, which implied that the Talons were some sort of continental union, intent on stopping the war regardless of tribe barriers. Seemed like a good thing to associate with.

"You see, our group here...got a little...sidetracked! Those other two are always bickering. So much for the Talons of Peace! Heheh." Not even a smile. That joke flopped more than a fresh fish. 'Lily' glared at me with a frown that could send me to the flow of her lover. Such criticism was very unnecessary!

"Forgive my colleague, Ms. Fen. We were progressing through our mission rather nicely, but someone opted to call a strategy meeting." Well played. I was forced to go along with the blow as she indicated me as the subject. However, I noticed Life was prodding me in an effort for me to give my code name to her. She hadn't been there to hear when I said it the first time. After all, she didn't want to use something else and create a discrepancy that Fen might be suspicious of.

"I beg your pardon. I don't think someone—who may or may not be Matthew—appreciated those words." Ha! See? I can be sly.

"Alright, alright," Fen interjected, looking reasonably worried. "Just don't start fighting. Look, Lóng won't stay out for a while; you guys should get back to camp and reorganize."

"I'll go sort out these idiots," Life said, scaling back up the hill with a scowl. She was a shockingly good actor; the normally sweet and placid entity was mastering the distant IceWing vibe. Hopefully I had enough 'happy-go-lucky' to pass as a MudWing, though I realized it would be better to tone down the snide remarks.

"Sheesh," Fen muttered. "I don't wanna get on her bad side."

"Tell me about it." This was hard to say, considering that Life didn't actually have a bad side. Speaking of bad, I was reminded of Lóng, who was still resting peacefully on the ground. He looked like a very menacing dragon even while at rest, and I could have sworn his growl-like snores made the liquid part of my spine tremble. (And yes, I do happen to have a very flexible lumbar.)

"So...do you two know each other?"

"What? No, no. He's just a tie-in friend I had to make for my mission. It's no big, nothing important. Very little companionship at all." She seemed very intent on dispelling my question. I'm no love expert, but to me, that sort of behavior implies a crush; in this case, Fen's towards the big guy. No shame in that, though. The barbels were actually somewhat handsome and a compliment to his battle-hardened figure.

Hm. The sun was on the rise. So it was morning time. "...Hey, Matthew, right? I haven't really seen you with the Talons. Are all you guys new?"

I hadn't quite expected her to express such interest. This meant having to come up with more lies as a cover story. Wahoo.

"Pretty much. It was circumstance really. We all just happened to be chosen for...our mission. They're alright though; it's like a slightly dysfunctional family." Not all of that was fully made up. I felt the other aspects were like family to me, regardless of my lack of knowledge in the concept of family as a whole.

By this time, Life had wrangled both Motion and Space and had brought them down the hill to talk, though it was clear the argument was merely paused at the moment. Deadly glares were being exchanged. They were no doubt stewing up amazing insults, as those always seem to come to you after an altercation.

"Ahem. Fen, as I said, I am Lily, and you've met..." She took a second to sigh. Just plain rude. "Matthew. This is Salmon, or just Sam. And this is Molybdenum, but she prefers Molly." This of course was in reference to Space and Motion respectively. Life really was good at the fake name thing. After all, she had created the society that gave out such names.

"I can talk for myself, thank you! —I do prefer Molly." Great. Now we all had fake names...in a world we would likely be leaving within the week. Now I understood where Space was coming from; we could impact the world through our immortality and other associated powers. For example: 'What happened to those guys?' 'Oh, they just traveled into the cosmos at light speed because they were bored.'

That would not be good.

Time (the character, not the noun, and gosh I can see how that would be confusing) had always explained to me that our job was regulating the natural order of the universe. Meddling in it, especially in this way, or otherwise making our identities known, was against the mission of the Reality Corps.

Not the time to get bogged down. These existential dilemmas would be best discussed with the group if we could figure out how to be left alone.

"I'm pleased to meet you all. But maybe next time, we should avoid standing around in plain sight. I'm gonna have to figure out how to explain this to Lóng..."

"Y-yeah, sorry about that." I did feel kinda bad. We just about blew Fen's cover for whatever mission she was on. "We'll go...back to...um. Which way is this 'camp' from here?" The small MudWing sighed, muttering something about 'rookies'. Space nudged into my side with a frown, whispering close.

"You're suggesting we go to this stranger's encampment? Why are we going along with this nonsense?"

"Because I think we found the good guys," I whispered back, unintentionally a little harsh and defensive. "Besides, maybe doing something exciting will satisfy Molly's quest for adventure, and we can go home."

"That's not her name." Alright then, curmudgeon. This was quite literally our chance to live. Regardless of potential repercussions, I wasn't going to give that up.

"Well," Fen finally said, resigning to fate and to Motion's pleading look. "I've already thrown my secrecy out the window. I'll just show you back. Trust me, it will be easier, because I doubt you guys can follow directions that well." Heh. She was kind of funny with the sass and derision. Reminded me of myself. "Also, Molly, right? You okay? You look ready to spazz out." Oh, I forgot to mention that. Just like my body was comprised of the four states of matter, Motion's was perpetually moving and generating energy. As a result, she could be pretty hot to the touch.

Space on the other hand felt very cold, and if you somehow ended up inside of him (gross) you would suffer the same fate as an astronaut without a helmet. After all, he was a vacuum, which meant none of me in him at all.

Please don't take that out of context.

Also, as far as I know, Life's form had no special quality of its own, but perhaps that made sense.

"Nope! No, I'm a-okay! Just a bit antsy to get on the road. Thanks for the help, though!" Motion may have been an idiot and a hothead, but she was also a master influencer. That smile could convince you that the fundamental principles of reality were real living people.

Oh. Right.

"We've wasted enough time already. This way." Fen dropped a note for Lóng to explain her fake whereabouts (when did she find time to write that?) and took off as quickly as her tone implied, leaving us scrambling to catch up. Personally, I was impressed Lóng hadn't woken up at all during that bit, as we weren't necessarily being quiet or brief. Unless he was faking it in order to spy...

Regardless, I awkwardly started flapping my gaseous wings, joining my compatriots in the air as we tailed our first worldly acquaintance. Not much flying practice at the Corps. Or apparently just not for me; the others were keeping pace just fine. Win some, lose some I guess.

And hopefully, as we encountered these Talons of Peace, another win was coming.

Wait, why would I say that? I already know what happens. Oh well. It sounds dramatic.