"Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength, while loving someone deeply gives you courage."
— Lao Tzu
Chapter 12: The Festival (Part 1)
Fynir raised his head and yawned. Today was the day. A very nerve-wrecking day for the fire dragon. Walking around the festival with a damaged wing will certainly attract some unwanted attention, and turn away dragonesses within a blink of an eye. All of that was very unappealing to him and just made him want to stay in during the festival. But… "It never hurts to take a risk now and then."
Fynir said to himself as the slid off his bed and went out his room. "If Glint hasn't done anything last night, then I guess I have to act…" The dragon slowed his speech as he saw something odd while walking towards the white dragon's room, almost trailing off. "Again…?" He finished with a raised eye. Volteer appeared to be giving Glint a lecture, reprimanding him, but not just Glint… Aurea. "What in the blazes?" The red dragon muttered as he tried to creep in unnoticed to catch some words.
"…Fully disregarded the rules... placed to… but… happy… for you two…" Was what he managed to hear before he saw Volteer smile at the two as Aurea looked down, blushing while Glint just stood awkwardly. The Electricity Guardian then made his way down opposite of Fynir's direction, once he was out of sight the red dragon closed in to investigate.
"That's a first you two. I never thought I'd see you, Aurea, getting reprimanded by your own uncle." The fire dragon said as the two noticed his approach.
"Well, Aurea did say she didn't care last—ow!" Glint rubbed his shoulder as the dragoness started to speak.
"I broke a rule for the first time ever Fynir. And in my case, it was worth it." She said before glancing at Glint, giving him a chastising look.
Fynir noticed the newest detail about the dragoness, a necklace. "That looks good on you, where did you get it?"
The dragoness gripped the necklace in response to his question, "This? It's from my mother. I'm wearing it now because… um…"
Glint let out a sigh before shushing the dragoness. "What she means is that we are now dating, and she's wearing that now because her mother told her not to do so until a specific condition was met that was to be determined by Aurea. In this case. I'm that said condition."
"Glint!" the dragoness exclaimed in embarrassment, lowering her head. The white dragon gave her a cheeky grin in response, shrugging as well.
"Oh ho-ho! You two… congrats! It was a long time coming, you know. I mean you were practically tripping over Glint, Aurea, it was that obvious to about everyone who observed you two." Fynir said, smiling as he paced around the two.
"Yeah… Aurea did kind of wanted to make this unknown for a while. It was futile when you came here. So why not reveal it now?" Glint replied to Fynir, he then bent his head to Aurea. "And yes, I know I'm embarrassing you."
"Glint. Stop it." The yellow dragoness replied with a pleading tone.
"Of course," the dragon said. "Sorry Aurea."
"So you two are going to the Amourian Festival right?" Fynir asked as he stopped circling the two.
"Yeah. I'm kind of excited, but at the same time… I'm not." Glint answered.
"Well, knowing you, you'll get used to it."
"I suppose… but what about you Fynir? Are you going?"
"I am, you know the festival isn't just for couples right? I mean, single dragons and dragonesses go there as well to look for a partner."
"I forgot to mention that to him," Aurea said to Fynir, looking at Glint apologetically. "So he didn't know until now."
"Aurea, you forgot something?" the white dragon said to the dragoness incredulously. "You're normally so organized that it's hard to even believe you would forget to tell me something like that."
"Glint, I'm not a machine…" the yellow dragoness responded softly. "We all make errors. Besides, I was nervous as you can recall."
"Right…" Fynir chimed in awkwardly, stopping the two. "So I think I'll be going now… see you two at the festival!" The red dragon exclaimed as he took off down the stairs, leaving the two behind.
The red dragon slowed as he neared the exit of the temple. He debated what to do, there wasn't any reason visit Sarin, considering what she was busy with. Everybody else was likely busy with each other… Spyro, Cynder, Glint, and Aurea… "Wow, I'm the odd one out," he muttered with a slight scoff. The dragon slightly sagged, he didn't even have a friend to hang out with right now, none of his friends from his hatchling days were even alive. Except for one… but if the rest were… they were probably happier than he was currently. Fynir sighed and moved away from the temple, taking the final step outside the perimeters. Looking back at the temple, he said, "Well, at least I don't feel as lonely as I did when I was back after my hometown was razed."
But he still felt a general sense of loneliness.
The dragon just walked, better to do something than nothing was his reason. He walked without direction or purpose. If he was seen from an external perspective, the dragon would appear lost, not only in the sense of direction, but rather everything. Fynir eventually stopped as he neared one of the entrances in the festival. Everything looked almost ready, decorations, stalls, everything. Public traffic still milled about however, at least until the festival officially begins.
Then the festival area would be closed off from those not participating in the festival, it was a good thing the festival takes place at night, when the general population would not be outside in great numbers. The dragon proceeded through and studied the festival areas as he passed through, trying to get an idea of where things were generally, so he wouldn't get lost even though he had been here many times.
When he got out of the area the dragon froze for a moment, thinking that, maybe he could find Phenyla. The dragoness could help him pass time if not anything else, unless, of course Aurea was with the wind dragoness as well. But he thought it was at least worth a try. Although, he wasn't sure how to find the dragoness, but was in luck as he spotted her apparently making her way down a street. What a coincidence. He promptly steered towards the wind dragoness and got up to her. As he was right behind her, he called her name, "Phenyla. Hey."
The dragoness turned her head slightly at the mention of her name, and upon catching sight of the dragon she smiled. "Hey Fynir, I didn't think we'd run into each other here."
"Why is that? I wander around the city all the time. I mean, there's nothing better to do anyway," he answered, matching the dragoness' pace.
"I didn't figure you as a wandering type. But…" The dragoness gave the red dragon a hopeful grin. "Do you know any good spots 'round here? I want to capture the hustling nature of Warfang. Besides, cities are nice to paint, very technical work, sure, but it's… well… fun."
The dragon hesitated, "Well, that would depend on if you are comfortable with working in a… 'stressful' environment."
Phenyla shrugged, "define 'stressful' for this particular case."
"In the case I'm talkin' about… are you fine with handling the possibility of an accident in a small workspace? It's going to be tight, with everyone moving through like a constant wave, unending."
The wind dragoness considered it for a moment, "I think I'd rather go to that spot I mentioned in the temple first."
"Thought so…" Fynir said. "So… what are you doing?"
"Me? I am going to fetch a letter, then I need to go find Aurea," she answered, not looking back at the dragon.
"A letter? From who?" he almost stopped the intake of air as he said that before bowing his head slightly low. "Sorry. I'm intruding on something confidential."
Phenyla giggled. "Suddenly well-mannered are you?"
The dragon sheepishly laughed, "I guess some manners rubbed off from an old friend of mine. He went back home a little bit before the war started though, wherever home is to him… He never told me anything about it."
"If you don't mind, who exactly is this friend of yours? He sounds… mysterious." The silver dragoness asked, an inquisitive glint flashed in her green eyes.
"That's because he is. I mean, he doesn't have wings for Ancestors' sake."
This confounded the dragoness, her confusion bled from her expression. "How…? What? Did he lose them or something?"
"Not at all, he didn't hatch with them, neither did his parents, nor did his grandparents… so on and so forth."
"I can imagine it, but the image is very perverse and skewed in my mind, it's not natural. Is he even a dragon?"
Fynir did not hide the fact he was enjoying surprising the dragoness about his old friend. He wore a grin ever since he started this. "If he wasn't I would have said so. Did I mention his body is more snake-like? Like a serpent?"
"I have never seen a dragon like that before, but thanks for the clearer image, it looks considerably better."
"He has two names you know."
"Like a nickname and an actual name?" Phenyla asked.
"Nope, two names. Not a nickname, but two names. Although, he never told me his other name, which is the one that he uses around his parents or family. That much he told me."
"So what's the name he uses with you?"
"Orentus. It sounds kind of noble-like, I know. But to my point of mentioning him in the first place. He always was very polite, and gee, you'd think he's shy with how he normally avoids any opportunity for talking, but no. He's just reserved. That makes up his outward behavior. But if you're friends with him like me, then he's both of those things and a pretty goofy guy, smart as well."
"He sounds awfully like… a guy version of Aurea… Except even less social." The dragoness said, almost cringing. "Or am I getting the wrong image?"
Fynir chuckled. "You're getting the wrong image. Did I mention that he almost never talks to dragonesses?"
Phenyla raised an eye and stepped to the side of the street before stopping, "Why? Is he scared of us or something?"
"Nope! I recall asking him, though. And he said that he couldn't really understand you girls."
"What an odd dragon…" Phenyla concluded before continuing her walk towards what the dragon assumed to be to the courier station, where mail was delivered.
"I concur, but he's a good guy," Fynir added as he followed the dragoness again. There was a small frame of silence as they walked, but then Fynir said, "Phenyla?"
"Mmm?" She hummed.
"I think your name is a mouthful," he started before pausing. Wondering if that was too blunt of a comment.
"Is that a compliment?" The silver dragoness asked in a teasing tone, flicking small bits of pebbles towards him with her tail.
"Maybe." He replied in an equally matching tone before getting back his neutral one, "Can I shorten it?"
The dragoness pursed her lips. "To?"
"Nyla."
"Ah, no. You're not my boyfriend, sorry!" she replied playfully.
"But Phenyla is too much for a name." The red fire dragon moaned in a childlike manner.
"It's only three syllables you twit," she answered with a laugh, pushing the dragon lightly by bumping his side.
"But having a one syllable name makes you a number one star." The dragon replied thoughtlessly, at this point, he was just messing around.
"Oh, but I am already number one. You can't go higher than that," the dragoness remarked with a grin.
"No, you just need to add two more digits—two zeroes—and if we are going from the lowest to highest number; then you'd be at the very bottom."
"'If'. Fynir. 'If'." Phenyla said as she stopped for a moment, waving a claw at the dragon while accentuating 'if'. "If we did that… we aren't going to however. So too bad!"
"Now you're just no fun," Fynir replied with the roll of his eyes. The dragon realized a moment later that the dragoness stopped and he managed to halt himself before he bumped into a wall. They finally reached their destination.
"Well, here we are. I guess you're going off elsewhere now?"
The fire dragon frowned briefly. "Hmm… the problem is that I don't have anything in particular to do after this then."
"Oh, well, I'm sure you'll find something to do," Phenyla said, looking at the dragon helplessly.
Fynir thought for a moment, furrowing his brows. "How 'bout… can I watch you?"
"What?" the wind dragoness exclaimed in surprise. "Watch me paint? Are you sure you're not going to be bored Fynir?" she shot him an amused expression.
"Better than watching paint dry. I think you can manage chitchat and painting at the same time… unless you think otherwise?"
Phenyla glanced through the window of the station and shook her head. "Uh, just meet me at the temple if you're so inclined. Sorry, but I have to get in line, otherwise…" She didn't finish her sentence as she darted through the doors and lithely made her way to the lobby of the station. The red dragon sighed as he lost sight of her. He stared through the window by him for one last moment before walking off, heading off back towards the temple.
Fynir was sure the artsy dragoness was bound to ask him why he chose to converse with her instead of anybody else. He guessed it was a way to pass time until the festival.
He was nervous. Nervous about the festival. "Let's face it Fynir," he started, muttering to himself. "You're just a lonely dragon who's very desperate for a dragoness that will fill the little void in his heart." The dragon chuckled at this, it really sounded stupid aloud, but that was… kind of… his situation. A brief blank period possessed his mind and then the dragon face palmed, stopping as he did so. "I am a sad sack of walking meat and bones," he concluded, almost laughing aloud at his situation.
The dragon, for a moment, failed to realize the he reached the temple and was already walking up the steps, he stopped at fountain as he finally realized how quickly he made it there. Or just so it seemed. Now he just had to wait. The dragon idly toyed with the grass below him and waited, mostly for the dragoness, but for the inevitable night to come. Fynir just sat, that was until his back started to ache, so he just laid on the ground.
As what felt like an eternity passed, the dragon heard someone approach him. "Well, you seem awfully bored." Fynir's eyes gazed on over to who was speaking, Phenyla.
"Hey Nyla," he murmured before looking around. Odd. The dragoness didn't appear to be carrying anything, nor did he see anything lying around. That was, until he saw where the wind dragoness had set up. It was underneath a tree, the soft shade helped hide the items underneath. "Did you already set up?" he asked the dragoness as he stared in the direction of the tree.
She replied, "I did. In fact, I saw you over there; you seemed preoccupied just lying there, so I set up before coming here just now."
The dragon shook his in disappointment at himself. "Sorry, I should have helped you set up. Why didn't you just ask me?"
"Oh, please, it doesn't take long to set up. But I appreciate the thought Fynir. It's sweet of you," the dragoness responded as she walked over to the tree. There she began her process of work. Her eyes narrowed as she studied her subject.
"Sweet of me, huh?" Fynir muttered in response to what she said, before taking a place next to the dragoness.
"What?" Phenyla asked in a teasing tone, looking at the dragon for a moment. "I can't say that or something? Or are you just embarrassed to hear such a thing from a dragoness, Fynir?"
The red dragon shifted. "Maybe," he said, somewhat mumbling, as he let out a soft chuckle. A silence took over the two; the dragoness was too busy working to bother much with conversation. This Fynir could understand, but it certainly made things awkward for him at the very least. However, he did make his best attempt to continue watching the dragoness; it was intriguing, almost enthralling, to watch her work.
The skill she had shone as she worked with confidence and efficiency. Fynir figured she had years of experience to attain the skill she was portraying today. And that did prompt his question. "How long have you been doing this?"
"This?" she repeated with a small smile making itself known, as she gestured to the work-in-progress. "I've been doing this for… almost a decade. Eight or nine years."
"That's quite a long time… or I guess it is," the dragon replied.
Phenyla frowned slightly as she put in a small amount of thought about it, "I wouldn't say it's a 'long time' but it's a moderate amount of time."
"Eight years feels like forever though!"
"In our lifespan… I don't think so. Anyway, Fynir, how are you feeling about the festival that you're going to?"
"Well… I'm a bit nervous, but wouldn't be?"
"I reckon even the most confident person would even be the slightest bit nervous, but I think you'll be fine."
"I'm not shy, that's for sure," the dragon answered with a smile.
"Like I said, you'll be fine," Phenyla replied, giving the dragon quick nudge with her shoulder. There was another period of silence between the two, it was a consented silence however, as the dragoness needed to focus her work. When the sun finally set and the artsy wind dragoness finished working, Fynir knew it was time to go to the festival. He said his goodbyes to the dragoness before departing to make his way to his destination.
As Fynir walked down the streets of Warfang, his eyes shifted from place to place. All these dragons and dragonesses walking around made him nervous. Practically everyone was heading towards the same direction. As he neared the entrance of the festival, marked by the arch-like structure that was made out of wood, the dragon watched as other dragons and dragonesses around his age begin to mingle. Some dragonesses he passed around gave him the looks that told him everything he needed to know about what they thought of him and his wing.
He did his best to pay them no mind but then, something else caught his attention. Something rather discreet. At the top of the building's roofs that were next to the entrances, were some guards. He couldn't place a number to them, but they were definitely there, watching silently. "Looks like the Guardians are taking precautions," Fynir thought aloud, and now that he thought about it. It was likely that they also were placing guards inconspicuously at the temple. However, he didn't see any. The dragon continued on his way, there was nothing to be concerned about. Why would there be an attack now? Especially with so many other dragons around.
"I swear this is the most nervous I've ever been," he muttered as he turned a corner. There were many stands, vendors with a plethora of items to sell to any who might be interested. Of course, this being a dragon's festival, not any other species were participating. Funny enough though, they, especially the moles, were wise enough to take advantage of that fact by selling things. The dragon had his attention enveloped by the sheer amount of dragons passing through, "I could have sworn our entire population would be smaller than this…"
Fynir watched as an ice dragon was trying to woo an ice dragoness with a… serenade. Something he would never do, since he knew he would fail horribly at it. The red dragon thought as he watched them a moment longer before moving on. Fynir kept his eyes to the front and prepared to turn once again, another corner.
The fire dragon wondered if he was going to run into the others at some point.
Distracted with his own thoughts, the dragon failed to register the fact that he was about bump into someone head first, and at the last second he turned his head up front again and immediately felt a sharp pain as he saw a blur of red before finding himself sitting on his haunches with his paw instinctively rubbing his muzzle. "Ow…" The dragon groaned, he heard another voice do something alike to his reaction but of course… it was a dragoness.
Great! Now you messed up big time Fynir! Ancestors have mercy on me now. The dragon thought as he anticipated getting yelled at or something like that. He reactively pressed his wings to his body and shrunk a bit before he heard the dragoness that he butted with say. "Are you okay?." Fynir opened his eyes, surprised. Maybe he shouldn't have been so surprised, perhaps only a prissy dragoness would have a big issue with this.
His eyes widened ever further as he was dumbfounded by what he saw, the dragon tried to answer but came out as mere stuttering. "I-I'm… I-I'm uh… fine…" The dragon was now mentally berating himself, the dragoness in front of him was simply stunning.
Her more lighter red crimson scales glittered in the moonlight, contrasting with his own dark red scales, along with that were the two silver bracers she had on each forearm, near the paws. It looked kind of like how Cynder placed hers when she decided to have her bracers on. Her soft orange eyes had a confident but inspiring look, but he saw the apologetic traces that were there because of their mishap earlier. As she breathed, dragon just admired her steady falling and rising of her amber chest, the way her amber wings were slightly flared. Her four horns were pointed diagonally, which gave her a look akin to a regal crown. The minor details he noticed were the orange markings that were on her cheeks that ran down to her body for as far as he could see. He couldn't see her tail blade so it was a mystery to him. Overall, this dragoness could only be described in one word to him…
Beautiful.
"You're staring…" He heard her say, trailing off. The dragon thought if he wasn't going to get his head yelled off before, now was certainly the time.
"Uh…" the dragon started as he went out of his trance, bracing himself as well. "Sorry."
"Oh, that's fine. I guess you hit your head harder than I thought," the fire dragoness extended her paw; the dragon took it, gingerly. He realized he was treating her like some sort of delicate goddess or something, this was likely faulty. As he came up the dragon, met her eyes. He felt an aura around her, he was unable to pinpoint the feeling yet however.
"Thanks," the red dragon muttered to her, trying his best to smile.
"No problem, it was just an accident," she said, giving him a gorgeous smile.
"I'm Fynir. It's very nice to meet you," the fire dragon said, in a somewhat trance-like tone.
"Well, hello Fynir. It's nice to meet you, I'm Sear," she responded, extending a paw while tittering.
"Uh, well, sorry for bumping into you there too, and for staring… like an idiot."
She gave him a sly smirk, "An idiot you may be, but your tone tells me something, is it something I should know?" The dragon had a feeling that she was admired often. The pallid look on his face told the dragoness all she needed to know however. To which… she laughed, it was music to the dragon. "Oh, you should see the look you gave me; I have never seen someone get so pale like that. It was like you were dead for a moment." Fynir remained silent. Sear was definitely something. Something special. "I get it though…" She started before pausing, "You think I'm attractive." Her eyes bearing down upon him, it was like she was testing him. What results was she looking for? He didn't know.
"I… yeah. You look as if you are one of the Ancestor's in disguise and here I am, a mere fool who can't help but feel he is undeserving of gracing his eyes with such beauty," the dragon said with a depressed sigh as he slightly stretched his damaged wing for a moment, however, the dragoness didn't notice it yet.
"My, you sound awfully sad…" He could hear the pity from her.
"I don't normally sound like this…" he paused. "It's just that… it's hard to act normal when you can't be normal due to an unfortunate event."
Sear frowned, "you look perfectly fine to me…" The dragoness began to look him over.
Fynir just flared out his damaged wing so she didn't have to scrutinize him, he heard her gasp for a moment. Not wanting to speak yet, he lowered his head. The fire dragoness came over to his side and examined the wing. Noticing how tiny fragments of his membrane for the wing were still attached and how the whole majority of it was just gone. He was flightless, the dragoness could see why that would be a major deterrence for any other dragoness to even consider him for dating. What use was a dragon who couldn't fly? He would be severely limited in doing many things. "No wonder why you said things where you make yourself so diminutive in terms of worth." She gently touched his wing, prompting him look at her.
"Yeah… I'm just a blight in most eyes," he replied as he suddenly retracted his wing and took a step back.
"I don't see you that way…" Sear said softly. "Sure, a wind dragon would probably tear their eyes out if they lost the ability to fly, but you're not a wind dragon. And you don't seem to be hindered by your lack of flight."
"Well… thanks…" Fynir shrugged, "but that doesn't help with the fact I'm likely to be coming out here alone later." He said with a sigh before putting on a strained smile. "Maybe it would be better if I just went back. Why bother? I guess I'll see you later Sear. If we ever meet again."
Sear watched him walk down the street; she was just shocked at his behavior. The dragoness became determined to act now, she quickly began to run through some things in her head before taking off in a sprint after the red dragon. "Fynir! Wait!" she yelled at the distant dragon, making him stop and turn his head. He seemed to be surprised.
She caught up with him within moments. Taking a moment to catch her breath before speaking. "What the heck is wrong with you?" she said, glaring at him with a fervent shake of the head. Before he could respond, she continued, "Stop acting so depressed! You're acting like some hatchling who lost their toy or something! I mean, if you're so concerned with your wing, then do you really think I would be talking to you right now? It's not your wing, Fynir! If that's the issue for some other dragonesses, then they are missing out on an experience."
"So suck it up, and get your act together so you can be the dragon that you are! I don't care what the story behind that wing is, if you lost during the war or if you came out of the egg like that, or if you destroyed the stupid thing in some ridiculous accident for Ancestor's sake! Just stop being so down…" Fynir seemed shocked at her berating him like that. Thus, he was speechless. He averted his gaze shamefully and considered what she said.
"Besides…" The fire dragoness said rather gently, as she gazed at him, a twinkle in her eye, "I wouldn't mind giving you a chance. I'm not judging early." Sear said with a smile.
The fire dragon gazed at her, not quite sure how to react just yet. "I… I guess I was being an idiot about it. Figures. It takes a dragoness I just met to tell me that, not myself, not any of my friends, but someone I just met." He muttered before he started to compose his next words. "Uh, anyway… Hi, Sear, I think you're a gorgeous dragoness. Will you be my partner this evening, and if things come to fruition, maybe even more than that?" he asked nervously, he gulped, as the dragoness seemed to stare at him.
"Yes, I will…" She answered, and then she grinned at Fynir making his heart do a little dance. "See? That wasn't so hard now was it? Just flat out ask the girl."
"I think it's still harder than you say it is. What I just said over there sounds incredibly bad," he replied before smiling. "So… do you have anything in mind to do?"
"I was going to a vendor I heard of in the center plaza. That was, until I bumped into you," she said before looking at him expectantly.
The dragon gulped once more and nodded. "Right…" He began to walk back towards the deeper parts of the Amourian Festival. He also figured it would be best to actually start getting to know each other. "So… where are you from originally? I can tell you aren't from Warfang. I came from a little village myself, called Tartum. I've been here for a good number of months, almost a year."
Sear was glad he took the initiative, "Originally, I was raised in Grantis, before I moved to Eglocer…" She paused as she recognized what Fynir said in regards to his original home. "Tartum. That village was razed to the ground early in the war. I thought there weren't any survivors?"
"So that explains why nobody came searched around the darn place before the apes came and made camp there."
That statement made the dragoness think, she then glanced at his wing. "You really were from Tartum then… it explains your wing."
"Yeah, it was destroyed in a fight with apes; I was really young back then. I could only do so much against trained killers. I'm lucky to have survived that, especially that fall all the way down."
"You fell from a cliff?" The dragoness said in slight shock.
"I did indeed. So you have been to Tartum before then?"
"Before it was razed. Yes, my parents took me there when I was really young for a trip."
The dragon nodded, he focused his attention briefly to the large crowd of dragons passing through and made sure to keep track of Sear who was forced to go behind him. Fynir slowed down and let the dragoness come to his side once again, he then extended his wing and nervously placed it on her. "Don't want you getting lost in that crowd now, don't we?"
Sear narrowed her eyes for a moment, she was debating shoving his wing off for it made her slightly uncomfortable at first or simply letting it be, however, she did understand the intent behind it and let it slide. "Thank you," she said with a nod.
"You're very welcome…" When the crowd thinned out he removed his wing, "I'm glad you didn't take that the wrong way."
"I almost did. But I thought I that I could trust you enough, so I didn't. Thank you for proving me right."
"No problem," Fynir said, he also considered asking her about Grantis, it was interesting because she came from the same place Aurea did. He soon found the opportunity when they stopped at a vendor, not the one they were looking for, but Sear made her interest evident. The mole behind the stand was preoccupied with something but said that they were free to look and touch the items. It was all jewelry.
"So Grantis huh? One of my friends is from there." He said to the fire dragoness as she picked up a choker to examine it.
"Really? Grantis isn't that big, so I reckon I know who your friend is." She replied while still holding the choker.
"I bet you do actually. Her name is Aurea," the dragon saw her freeze for a second; she directed her gaze to him and met his eyes.
"I only know one dragoness called Aurea, she was a good friend. I don't think the one you know is different from the one I knew," she said, reminiscing about her past for a moment.
Fynir wasn't too surprised himself, but now he realized that if Sear was a friend of Aurea, he just tangled himself in a metaphorical web. "She never mentioned the specifics of her friends to me; I only met another, Phenyla."
"Okay… If you managed to be friends with Aurea and Phenyla—who I am to meet tomorrow—then you're already in a good light to me Fynir." Sear said, giving him a warm smile. She then glanced at the choker she was still holding. "What do you think? Will this look good on me?"
"Ancestors, you're really asking the wrong dragon," he responded with a chuckle. "I'm bad at this stuff. To be honest however, I think you'll look good either way." Fynir answered, as the dragoness thought about it.
"If you say so," she placed the choker back where it originally was and started to look at other things. Fynir wasn't interested in examining the jewelry like she was and instead focused his attention on the constantly moving crowd of dragons. It was like a never-ending wave. "Hey, what about this?" Sear called out, making him turn.
The dragon raised an eye; there was almost no difference except that she had two ornate rings secured on her inner horns with red ribbons tied. They flowed as the wind blew. It did make her look nicer. "You look beautiful. Even more so than when I bumped into you," Fynir answered.
If the dragoness was blushing, it was too light of a blush for him to see, but she did look down for a moment. "Aw, thanks, Fynir." The dragon just smiled in response.
"How much is it?" the red dragon asked as he start to pull out some white gems from the small satchel he carried. The dragoness quickly turned as asked the mole, who then turned to the dragon.
"Since your lady friend is buying the pair, it'll be at half the price, so twenty-five gems," he said as the dragon handed twenty-five white gems. The two continued wandering the festival after that. The dragon recalled there was more to this festival than walking around, chatting incessantly. In this case however, talk was what was needed.
"Since you were… no, are still friends with Aurea technically. How many friends did she have?" Fynir asked. The dragoness turned her head and contemplated for a moment.
"Besides us girls, there's Farus and Raven." The dragoness seemed to get a bit irritated when she said Farus. "Ugh, that dragon, the things he and I argue about..."
"Who? Farus? What do you butt heads about?"
"A lot of things. I question how I even tolerate him sometimes after all these years. Back then, in Grantis, it was normally about where to go, or when to go, or even something trivial like getting to explore this section of the abandoned creepy fort," she answered with a sigh. "Nowadays, he thinks I shouldn't be going out a lot like this."
"What? He doesn't think you can handle yourself? I find that hard to believe." Fynir said, gazing at the dragoness, she definitely seemed very capable of handling herself.
Sear seemed to smile briefly at his comment before continuing, "But that's not exactly it. He is aware of the fact that most dragons consider me pretty or beautiful. So he assumes that since I've been in failed relationships before that I'd end up hurting myself more when I go around apparently dating every dragon I find interesting. But what I tell him is that I don't really get affected all that much with the breakups. I'm normally the one doing it too. So what does it matter?"
"You've been in relationships before huh?"
"You're not the first Fynir. Definitely not. But you certainly surpassed all the past ones before. In such a short span of time too, but that's too early to say with finality."
"I'll take that as a compliment," the red dragon replied with a shrug. "Uh, so, I'm assuming you've kissed before."
The topic made the dragoness smirk as she looked at Fynir; her eyes twinkled teasingly at him. "Actually… no. They never developed that far. Some of them rushed, some of them lost patience with me. It's their choice. And I have mine. They should be able to respect my time for wanting to wait," the dragoness monitored his expression; she could see the surprise he held. "Don't be too surprised Fynir. I have my own idea of how love works, and you have your interpretation."
"You really haven't ever found anyone to get that close to have you?" the red dragon replied as he went in thought.
"Not yet…" She answered. The dragoness found that Fynir led here off somewhere a little off the festival. The reason why he did this became clear to her as she saw the building around her clear and the night sky fully visible, no obstacle blocking the view at all. They were in a small green area, a sort of mini-park. They both stopped to marvel at the sky for a moment.
Sear placed a claw on her muzzle, in thought, she continued where she left off. "I'm not even sure if I want to find someone sometimes, I mean, am I going to lose the independence I have just so I can find a partner?"
"Then… what is this to you Sear?" Fynir asked as he turned his head, cocking it off to the side slightly.
Sear lowered her head for a moment before looking up. "An experience with someone. Someone that I can trust. I'm already telling you my more deeper thoughts, stuff that I wouldn't share so hastily. It seems so ludicrous considering we've met this night. But… I really don't have an answer despite what I said."
The red dragon seemed to accept her answer, but then posed another question of his own. "I don't think you really are losing independence as you said, don't you want to settle down one day with someone?"
"I suppose… but that's just it isn't it? I'll get tied down by family."
"No one said you have to have hatchlings as soon as you settle down." The dragon remarked.
"I guess I just want to see the world a bit more before that. It's a little too early for me to even consider even having a family."
Her statement piqued Fynir's interest, "Adventurous, are you, Sear?"
She nodded, reminiscing about the past. "I'd like to think that. I mean, I was normally the one leading my little ragtag group of friends around places." She then smirked, "Farus would definitely be more than upset if I told him I'm going to go adventuring again like in our childhood days."
"You antagonize him regularly don't you?"
"Antagonize is too strong a word Fynir… I like to think of it more as teasing revenge for him being annoying sometimes," she answered with a giggle.
"Are you two even close friends or something? Or is it your duty as a friend to torture him?"
"We're friends. That is for sure. But I think if we managed to argue and butt heads back in forth constantly throughout all these years without strangling each other. Then our bond is pretty strong apparently. I guess you can call that the magic of friendship."
"Magic of friendship…" The dragon repeated as he shook his head slightly, even after her explanation, how the two's relationship are as friends still puzzled him. "Is Farus single?"
"Ha, if he can't handle me, then what makes you think he can handle another dragoness?" she asked with a laugh, making Fynir smile.
"So that's a no then."
"You can meet him tomorrow if you'd like. I believe he did say something about checking up on me a day after I arrive in Warfang."
"Uh… wait… won't he… I don't know… shun me or something?" Fynir asked with a gulp, "I got the impression he's protective…"
"Who cares what he thinks," Sear answered defiantly. "If Farus doesn't like you then shame on him, besides, he knows better than to argue about things like that. Especially since in the past, our arguments about stuff like this ended in stalemates or were just plain pointless. "
"I'll just take your word for it." The dragon said after a moment. He then turned around and beckoned the dragoness to follow.
"That was a nice scenic view you detoured us to," Sear said as she went up to the dragon's side. Apparently not minding the fact that they still hadn't reached their destination. It was likely she was just enjoying the time with Fynir.
"Thanks, sometimes, it's just nice to find the quiet spots," he replied with a smile. The two continued moving through the crowded festival and soon they ended up in the center of the festival, the plaza. Fynir looked around, there were many vendors selling various items, which did make his thoughts run to the stall that Sarin was going to have set up. He didn't expect her to be there however, she'd be working on the project, so it'd be Zeth running it in her stead. He did want to check it out, perhaps even buy something for Sear again. The dragon turned his head to the dragoness, who seemed to be looking around too.
"Mind if I browse around?" she asked upon noticing his gaze.
"I don't mind," the dragon answered, "I need to look for someone anyways." The dragoness raised an eye, but didn't comment on that. "He's just someone I know." Fynir clarified, noticing the weary look she had.
"I wasn't doubting you," she replied with a petulant flick of her tail, "I was wondering why you're looking for your friend."
"Oh, sorry. I just wanted to make sure there wasn't any misunderstandings with my vagueness there."
"Mmm," Sear started, closing her orange eyes for a moment, "I appreciate your honesty Fynir, it is admirable, but I don't have any reason to doubt you so far."
"Right… thanks.
"Ten minutes. We'll meet up here right by this fountain," Sear nodded at the object, "in ten minutes."
"Sounds good," Fynir said in agreement, he watched as the dragoness gave him a small smile and walking off to the nearest stands. When he lost sight of the dragoness in the crowd, the red dragon began to quickly scan the area, walking around as he did so. It didn't take him long to find Zeth by the stand that he was in charge of.
The wind dragon noticed Fynir and waved. "Hey, what are you doing here Fynir?"
"Looking at the crafts you are selling," he replied nonchalantly.
"We made some in advance, but there is also the offer of a 'on the spot' commission if you desire." Zeth explained as the dragon examined every item there.
"I'll consider that, but I think I'd need to ask my partner what she thinks first."
"Oh, so you found someone," the wind dragon commented as he adjusted an item. "Sarin is going to tease you about it, that's for sure."
"Yeah, I know. I still have a hard time believing I managed to score so high."
"So she is pretty then?" Zeth asked with a child's curiosity.
"More than that… she's a blessing from the Ancestors…" Fynir answered almost dreamily, he shook his head after a moment. "I just need to make sure I can be what she looks for in a partner."
"It can't be that hard, right?" the younger grey dragon asked, suddenly, he did a small jump. "I know! There's a dance soon, maybe you should take her there. Oh, and you should definitely get flowers."
"Uh, flowers are fine, but I'm not sure if I can dance…" Fynir replied with uncertainty. Another thought passed his mind, "Gosh, how you even know what type of flowers does your dragoness like?" he asked to no one in particular. Zeth shrugged regardless.
"I don't know. Maybe you should just ask her?"
"But that would make the intentions obvious," the red dragon said. He realized that he might be late if kept conversing with the wind dragon and excused himself before hurrying back to the designated meeting spot. He found Sear there, waiting patiently, though she had a troubled look underneath all that patience. She noticed Fynir approaching, "You're actually early," she said, surprising the dragon.
"Huh? Really? How early?"
"One minute," she replied gazing at the dragon, it looked as if she was trying to read him.
Fynir nervously shifted, "okay… well, did you find anything you like?"
Sear nodded, "I did actually, it's from the vendor I mentioned earlier."
"What is it?" he asked curiously.
She grinned, "this might make me sound like an egghead but it's a book."
"A book huh?" Fynir seemed to be amused. "It doesn't make you sound like an egghead, I guess a bit of Aurea rubbed off of you."
Sear giggled, "I guess. How is she anyway?"
"Good, she found a nice dragon, who is my best pal, so I'll vouch for him if you doubt him."
The fire dragoness seemed surprised by this info. "Really? It just doesn't seem like little Aurie to be in relationship around this time." Fynir raised a brow the nickname for Aurea he never heard before. Sear caught his look and elaborated, "She was the closest thing to a sister for me." This earned a nod from the dragon before she continued. "I expected her to be hiding somewhere with book to her face. Although, if this dragon is someone you trust that much. I suppose he's treating her right, and he knows how that dragoness is too then. I think Dormis was particularly surprised to find out she isn't actually that shy once you get to know her. She can bite, in a smarty way."
"Is this 'Dormis' somebody who was trying to woo her?" Fynir asked, he found it surprising a dragon would be very interested in Aurea like that. She never seemed interested in such a thing as a relationship, at least, that was the impression he received from her.
"Yeah, he was. He's not a bad guy, but damn was he persistent. I mean, he actually followed us on one of our adventures one time, just because he had the very smart idea of being a hero if Aurea got lost or something," Sear said with a titter.
"And how did that turn out?"
"Ah, terribly. For him at least. He ended being saved by me, actually. You can imagine his embarrassment. Although, I think he made an impression on Aurea at some point. Otherwise, she would have just told off Dormis a long time ago. I mean, I was expecting to see the two together after such a long time, but it never happened. Because Aurie left, due to an… unfortunate event."
"I see. Well, what is this book you wanted anyways?"
"It's a… history book. Two actually. Ravager of Empyrea, by Vaecitus, it's his memoirs during the time of the Lenarian War. And I Shall Not All Die, by… well, it's the journal of a dragon, a knight from Empyrea during the Antarian Crisis, he never put a name on the work, it was published simply under 'A Knight of Empyrea' as the author."
"Interested in history huh? That's definitely surprising." Fynir responded with a cheeky grin.
"Hey, Vaecitus actually breached the Empyrean's natural defense, the mountains, and you know what he did in his spare time while in Empyrea while he wasn't trying to force the Empyreans into capitulation? He went on little adventures and explored Empyrea. And that knight? His story was probably the most grand of adventures. The place he was in, Antaria? That place is uninhabited by dragons, one of the biggest dragon kingdoms back then. Antaria is still deserted! The ruins are still there, everything! Do you know how great it'll be to explore that place one day?"
"Whoa there, I didn't expect you to nerd out me like Aurea does when it comes to things like this. Just how much will this cost me?"
Sear seemed to blush, but again, it was hard for the dragon to tell. "Sorry. It's… eighty gems."
"Eighty? I swear, I'll be broke before this night ends." The red dragon said jokingly with a chuckle; however, that comment seemed to raise concern from his partner.
"We can split it, if you're so worried."
"No, no. I'll pay. I just want you to be aware that I'm not a walking bank, that's all."
"Alright. If you really want to."
"Besides, you can pay me back by taking me on one of those ole adventures you seem so enthusiastic about." He added with a smirk.
That put a smile on Sear's features. "That would be nice." The fire dragoness led Fynir to the vendor who possessed the books she wanted. The exchange between the two was brief and when Fynir acquired the books Sear requested, he gave them to the dragoness. They were neatly wrapped in a protective covering and were contained inside a bag, luckily, the bag was designed for dragons, so the fire dragoness didn't have to carry it with her mouth. She simply slung the grips over head, letting the bag rest by her side as the grips clung to her neck, near her shoulders.
After making sure it was comfortable, the dragoness faced Fynir, "Well… what now?"
"Would you like a craft as well?" the fire dragon asked, making her tilt her head in curiosity.
"What sort of craft?"
"Whatever you want it to be, if you want to commission on that is, or you can buy a premade one. I didn't want to buy anything in advance without your input… especially since it is for you." Fynir said with a smile, the dragoness responded kind.
"That's sweet of you, Fynir," Sear said before embracing the dragon, he blushed slightly at the sudden display of affection, but returned it, albeit a bit awkwardly.
"Uh… would you like to go there and we can work the details out there?" the red dragon asked, trying his best to keep his composure. Sear nodded, she noticed how her display of affection made him uncomfortable, and didn't want to impose any more embarrassment on the dragon. Fynir began to lead the way; the dragoness followed him as he led her through what appeared to be the now even larger crowd of dragons, though it was hard to tell now. It took a few moments for them to stop at the stand Fynir previously was at.
Sear went up to the stand and started looking at the crafts on display. The red dragon joined her side as Zeth, who was tinkering with something in the back, appeared. "Hey Fynir!" the grey dragon called out as he approached them, he then looked at Sear. "Are you his girlfriend? I'm Zeth, the apprentice of the one who runs this establishment."
The fire dragoness smiled at the wind dragon. "Yes, I am. Nice to meet you, Zeth, I'm Sear," she said with a nod. "You know, you look young to handling something like this by yourself."
"Oh, I'm not that young, if you're around Fynir's age, then I'm about three years younger than you and him," he replied nonchalantly.
"I see. Well, I came here to look at these crafts," she motioned to the said items around the stand.
"And maybe… you would like to make a commission 'on the spot' or—I forgot to mention this to you Fynir—a commission to be delivered at a specified date and time." Zeth said.
Sear glanced at Fynir to see what he was thinking, the dragon shrugged. "Honestly Sear, I don't mind paying," he said.
"Oh?" the dragoness started, raising an eye as she gave the fire dragon a sly look, "And what if I happen to make you moneyless?"
Fynir gazed at her, before replying. "If it makes you happy… I suppose I wouldn't mind, at least not too much."
Sear giggled for a moment. "Alright, I won't make you broke, but I will be making a commission." She said before turning her head back to Zeth. Fynir, at this point, assumed the dragoness didn't need his input and instead turned around and moved over to the corner of the stand, still close to the dragoness however, and waited.
He watched as the crowd surged for a moment before shifting constantly again. The dragon listened to Sear converse with Zeth until he lost interest. It was then he started to stare down on the ground blankly. It felt like ages until he picked up Zeth mentioning the price of the commission, at which, he looked up at Sear. "You heard the dragon, forty-five gems," she said to him, earning a nod from Zeth as the red dragon began to dig out the required amount of money. A quick moment passed before he pulled out the money and placed it on the table.
Fynir let out a sigh as he watched some of the money he earned go into something for someone not himself. Not that he was a self-centered dragon though. "Problem, Fynir?" He heard the dragoness ask with a raised eye, though, she had a half-amused smile working its way through her features.
"Not at all Sear, nothing wrong with putting hard-earned cash into someone other than yourself," came his reply.
"Where did you earn that money anyway? You haven't told me whether you have a job or not. Do you get it from the Guardians? As in, a loan?"
"If I got it from the Guardians, then I'd be huge debt right now," Fynir answered with a laugh. "So, no. I get it from doing other things."
"A job then? Or jobs?"
"That would be one way to put it."
"Oh come on, don't be so vague about it," the red dragoness said, "Whatever it is, surely it can't be something dangerous to know. You're not some sort of assassin or some other shady professional. That's for sure."
Fynir let out a chuckle and shrugged, "I actually just run messages for the Guardians to people. Technically, I'm employed by them, I just volunteered and they compensate me for it despite it not being a job. Kind of like favors, but I get paid… I guess."
Sear took a moment to parse his info, "So… a job then?" She concluded half-confidently before shooting the dragon a pointed look. "I thought you said that you don't get money from the Guardians?"
The dragon seemed to flinch slightly at her accusing look, "What I meant by that is I don't get it from them as in a loan or borrowing. Besides, I also get paid by the one's receiving the messages, it's a courtesy apparently."
"Whatever. I'll just need to remember you're a courier for the Guardians. That doesn't stray too far from the truth now does it?"
"I guess not," came the dragon's reply before a silence took the two over.
"So the commission I made isn't going to be ready this night, Zeth said that it'd be ready for pick up at the 'place'. I presume you know what he is talking about?"
"I do. It's the place where he works normally, along Sarin, his mentor." He replied, eliciting a nod from the dragoness. "What did you commission anyway?"
Sear just smiled. "You'll see." She began to head off somewhere, looking back for a moment to see if the red dragon would follow, to which he did.
Fynir just accepted her cryptic answer, he figured since the dragoness wasn't willing to tell him about it. He'd just have to wait and see for two completely different results. One was Sarin's work on the artificial wing, and two was Zeth's work on the commission. Now he just wondered… What were Glint and Aurea doing?
AN: So this took longer than I thought it would. But here it is, the first part of this two-part chapter. I've already written the second part, it's currently in my beta's hands right now and will be coming out soon, I'd say. The chapter after this has also been written, but I need to edit it myself and make sure I'm satisfied with it before I ship it off to my beta as well.
Thanks to my beta, Unit Omicron for doing his magic on this late at night. :P