On the Link between Avians and the True Dragons

NOTE: This is no longer fully OC-canon, with several details going against what I have decided for the Avian Link AU. It remains up more as a display of writing ability, for now.
A cluster of very short stories by Chipper the Crow, usually focusing more on the 'science' side of things. From the point of view of the dragons within the world, that is, so of course the truth is dubious. Some entries simply serve to display the world. May end up with some sort of plot, though I don't want to write a strictly plot-based story - I've tried writing chapter stories with continuous plots before. They didn't work. So this is a method of getting myself to write, without limiting myself too much. Some will have small plots of their own, though there's also multiple that focus only on a brief fragment of conversation between two dragons.
Focuses on Pyrrhia specifically, and should mostly be set in about 5014 A.S., though events will not match perfectly with canon's timeline. Fantribes are included, but are not the focus.
(Note: Page contains a few censored swears, but nothing excessive.)
== 0 - Notes before reading (optional) ==
These notes are not required to read this story, but provide context, and certain explanations of what X thing is or why Y is mentioned.
*This is not intended to be 100% accurate to biology. Not even 100% accurate to taxonomy, in fact.
*Assume everything written here to be in the draconic equivalent. There is no dragon latin or dragon greek, obviously, but there is no dragon english, either. It's just their version of it, translated to what would be the english equivalent. Or maybe these dragons are speaking these languages somehow, whichever you prefer to imagine.
*Draco is used here as the name for the genus containing dragons - if the genus of flying lizards named the same exist on Pyrrhia, they are likely referred to differently.
*Draco draco - true dragons. Pyrrhian dragons, specifically. Some consider almost all tribes to come under this as subspecies, though others suggest that they are all separate species that can nevertheless produce fertile hybrids. The common argument for this is that separate species of birds have been shown to produce fertile hybrids, and dragons are likely the cousins of birds. Thus, it is entirely possible for there to be separate species. The 'one true dragon species' viewpoint, however, is at this point in time the most common one, and the one considered the truth to most characters shown in this story.
*Draco aves - AviWings. Due to certain differing traits and an inability to produce hybrids with most dragons, they are considered separate from true dragons.
*Pantala and Pyrrhia have not made contact yet. The four pantalan tribes would not be a part of this conversation yet, though if they were, HiveWings and SilkWings at least would probably come under something like Draco quadripterus.
*Something very important to this entire concept: reptilians and birds have draconic traits. Almost all have 6 limbs, many have something like horns (or, at the least, spikes), and many birds have something like true teeth.
*The title of this page is also the title of some in-universe writing by Cass, a character in these stories. Not all of these will be directly related to the link between dragons and birds!
*The phrase 'of the X' after a dragon's name is similar to a family name. Many don't have a family name, or make up one based on physical characteristics purely for convenience if specification of who's who is needed. Some shorten it to just the name itself - e.g. 'Dr. Cass of the Vivid-dancers' vs 'Dr. Cass Vivid'.
*The technology is meant to be 'vaguely Victorian era', though sometimes it might not seem that way, and it definitely won't always match a certain time within that era. Scientific ideas definitely won't exactly match, nor general culture. But Erne is, as you can probably plainly see, meant to be just 'London, but SkyWings'.
*The currency used, at the least, in the SkyWing Kingdom is 'notes', though barter is more common outside of places with 'higher society'. Hookshore, while not currently ruled by the SkyWings, uses the same currency as a remnant of when it was ruled by them.
*Ghosts are real. Almost all instances of ghosts here are genuine, as opposed to just imagined by the POV character.
== I - The Erne Natural History Museum ==
Three dragons were walking through the halls. It was all rather ominously silent, and if they were near any windows, and if it weren't for the clouds, their way would have been lit by moonlight. Instead, the SeaWing Rose of the Wine-dark was their source of light, keeping her glowscales bright but the covered lamp hung around her neck brighter. She walked ahead of the two naturalists behind her, not looking back, though she kept her ears open.
What did she think of those two? Well, Amber of the Blazing-eyes was rather nice, and fairly sisterly, as was fitting of a MudWing like her. Bigwings, if Rose recalled right. But, at the same time, she was, to a certain extent, a proud academic, in Rose's opinion. Did work about scavengers, and the MudWing noble Lady Osteo had once tried to get her exiled, but further than that there wasn't much to say about her.
Now, Dr. Cass, on the other hand... Cass of the Vivid-dancers. A SkyWing from a family of dancing artists, as his family title pronounced, but he himself had turned to biology and museum curation. Not that the two subjects were too different when you got down to it, of course. But he certainly seemed to think they were. He was mostly harmless, but Rose still had a low opinion of him.
Amber was still working on scavengers, but Cass, of course, had an important job in this very museum. And Rose, well, Rose was a sort of general assistant. So the three had gathered here, late at night, so that Amber and Cass could discuss... birds.
"They aren- pause for a moment, Rose? -aren't exactly dragons, of course," the bronze-ish SkyWing chittered, slinking over to look into the eyes of a taxidermied raven. The small beast was posed to be holding a shiny coin in its foreclaws, with more scattered around its feet. Of course, they were starting to realise that ravens specifically weren't hoarding birds, despite other corvids doing such a thing, but the museum had yet to replace it. Ravens were large, noticeable, and, of course, majestic. Perfect for such a scene, really.
Amber moved over to stand beside him, seemingly thinking the same thing as Rose from her skeptical expression. She folded her wings tighter by her sides, and tapped the glass with a single gold-painted claw.
"Well, of course not, uh. They have scales on their legs, of course-" She examined her own arms. "-and the way they're arranged is, um, almost the same. And you can just barely see the, the cheek spikes, there. There's the other corvids' hoarding behaviour, too. Not, not ravens, but others. But...no feathers."
"No feathers," Cass agreed, "no feathers on us whatsoever. From the Ice to the Sand, none of Draco draco naturally grow feathers."
"And yet...Ave- AviWings." Amber raised her head, facing the ceiling. It could barely be seen now, of course, just a watching phantom, but a taxidermy of an AviWing had been hung from the ceiling. Willingly donated, and everything. It really did look like somebody had stretched a bird over a draconic frame, when posed alongside a flying eagle taxidermy.
"Draco aves, Amber. Stop- I know you knew. But it's worth mentioning, isn't it? An entirely separate species, by our reckoning...and yet we still count it as another tribe."
"Tribes are more of a social thing, really, when you consider it," Rose piped up, earning a surprised look in her direction from both of them. They seemed to have forgotten that she was there as well, which... kept on happening to her.
"True, true," Amber responded, and smiled at her. Cass nearly smiled, but just stayed silent for a moment, before adding, "It makes you think, though, mm? They are so close to us, and yet they are the only draconic species known to us to have feathers as the norm. The TempestWings' sparks, of course, have avian wings, but they are not the norm."
The two started walking again, and Rose returned to her position as being their light.
"I met a girl with feathers, once, a MudWing girl," Amber said.
"Eggs near an animus spot?"
"Well...yes, based on where she, um, told me she hatched. My field of choice isn- isn't animi, is that linked to her status?"
"Oh, yes, mm, I'm surprised you never heard of it. Spots with high magic tend to lead to fascinating changes in genetics, and many times that change seems to be re-activating feathers. Or maybe the other way round, actually - maybe, maybe magic...led to feathers from scales. You really never heard of it?"
The sound of Amber pausing to scratch an itchy scale with a wing thumbclaw.
"I...I might have. I don't know, you of all dragons know my memory on many subjects is, um. Uh. Awful?"
"Well, either way, it is a recorded thing of much interest to naturalists like us. I know some scrolls on the subject, I could recommend them to you...they're in my library?" That last statement, that hesitant question mark after it...oh, right. Rose had almost forgotten about Cass's curious interest in Amber. Well, call it what it was. Simply a crush, of the romantic variety. Not that MudWings are much of a tribe known for romance - she had a certain suspicion that Cass would be out of luck.
The tawny MudWing, oblivious perhaps intentionally, just replied, "That sounds interesting. Maybe another time, though."
"Of course."
"You had, um, you were thinking of something, more to say on the subject of birds- birds and dragons? The link, as it were?"
"Yes! Yes. Come look over here." The two moved over towards another taxidermy, one of an ostrich. Rose obligingly moved towards it, lighting up the four-legged beast. It was meant to look as if in movement, running across a false sunny background. It wasn't as large as a dragon, of course, but damn, it came too close to their size for her liking. Rose was glad of her aversion to dry places - ostriches were herbivores and all, yes. They were also fast, strong, and probably fatal if they crashed into you at...whatever their speed was.
The two scientists seemed to have an altogether different opinion of it. Cass was admiring, Amber fascinated.
"It's- it's got four legs but they aren't, uh, like dragon legs, right?"
"Yes. Take a look at how they're arranged-" he traced a claw in the air, illustrating the structure of the bird's legs, "-and you can see, they aren't really an exact copy of ours. Convergent and all that. But it's interesting, isn't it? The way it came out."
"Elabi- elaborate?" And Cass inhaled, the excited gleam in his eyes showing plainly that he had been awaiting this moment.
"Flightless birds, Amber! They have wings! But they are so small as to be utterly useless. And yet, in many of the running birds, the arms that in other birds are useless have become front legs. Like ours, but not ours. But, again, in birds with wings, their arms are, well, arms...even those that use their arms as legs tend to fold them up against their breast when not in use. But, and I found this fascinating when a companion led me to realise this, we have both, Amber! All known dragons have both full wings, whether feathered or leathered- heh, rhyme -and all four legs, all four primarily used for standing. We have features from both worlds! And some even of that last world, the sea! So interesting! So fascinating...!" At last, the SkyWing took a breath and settled back down, tapping his claws on the ground in an excited, involuntary way.
Amber considered this, looking around her, at the feathered and scaled shapes of the Reptilian-Avian hall's taxidermies.
"Have you, hm, written this down anywhere?"
"Not yet. Not yet! But I should! It's a simple conclusion to make, of course...but it's fascinating to consider, yes! And that's not even getting into our unique abilities...some believe that the noble dragons are avatars of whatever great gods rest above, and I suppose that's the only way it would make sense, wouldn't it? I don't know if you hold any beliefs, but I for one..."
From there, as the time went by, the topic started to change more. None of it was really all that interesting to Rose, of course, she was more interested in what the two thought on the topic of avians and dragons. That was why they had decided to meet here, after all. She kept her ears open, of course, but slowly it had turned from avians, to religion, to MudWing folklore, and somehow to the War. And, of course, then to the end of it, and the new Academy- "...apparently my sister is considering sending my nephew to it, that would be nice of course..." from Cass -but then it started turning to SUCH intriguing topics such as the poetry Cass had read recently, the writing of Queen Coral that Amber had read, (though Rose had not) and, of course, at last, to that one most important topic, the most vital, gossip. A couple of workers in the museum had broken up, apparently, and echoes of their bitter parting were somehow reaching every possible corner. Rumours of something related to RainWing bodies, supposedly. And, of course, an important royal coming to visit was always vital to know. Especially when said royal was apparently that Princess Sunny, of destiny fame. But, of course, before it could become too interesting, it always turned back to pettier matters.
Rose was damn glad when, at last, the pair's walk took them to the front doors. The two parted ways, leaving Rose there on the outside pavement, as the world slowly woke up. She hummed to herself, not a tune but a slightly strained, partially irritated hum. Well, at least she could go home and stay there. Today was the one day of the week she wasn't working, and she was intending to spend it resting after having to stay up past midnight providing light for a couple of scholars caring more about 'atmosphere' than practicality.
And yet, all the while as she took to the air and soared through the cool morning air over the streets for a direct route home, she was considering the conversation again. Of course, nothing they were describing was especially obscure, but the relationship between dragons and birds as a topic was sparked in her mind. Or, actually, she thought it was sparking another topic in her mind. Damn, damn, the three moons, the fourth moon, she'd never get out of this, now. She could actually feel that distinct start of a new interest in her mind. Well, ornithology wasn't an especially niche topic, not like mammalogy... yes. Yes, maybe she could find a way in?
And maybe there was more to look at! In that mostly-awake state in which such plans can only be made so suddenly, the SeaWing was thinking. The Rainforest - that was the right place to find intriguing birds, right? Maybe she could move there, if only for the soon holiday. She landed outside her small home, still considering the same thought over and over again.
There was an opportunity, somewhere there, though if she knew what it was she couldn't recall it at that moment. Maybe Rose would be more than an assistant... the museum was nice, and all, but there was always going to be something new, wasn't there?
...damn that Dr. Cass, and his intriguing way of describing things! She was sure she'd be dreaming of wearing feathers on her scales when she could finally get to sleep. Feathers...
== 2 - Taxidermies at Edera Hall ==
A hazy fog coated the early morning air, obscuring the sun from the dragons' sight. Not fog. Too contaminated for that - just smog. Well, what more could be expected from the City Erne?
The smaller of the two SkyWings let out a quiet huff, her breath visible in the cold, and wrapped her red wings closer to herself. Her uncle, however, just let his wings hang folded by his sides. He had always been a warmer dragon physically than her. Dr. Cass strode up to the door, Ardour...more slithered. Cass reached out a claw, and caught the bell with a flick. It rang out, though quite quietly to those outside, and he settled down to wait. Ardour just stared up at the neatly carved letters on the door. Edera Hall. Not much of a hall, really.
Her uncle saw her staring, and asked, "Do you know why it's called that, Ardour?" The dragonet just shook her head. Never been much for words. Cass thought, and continued, "Well, it's about the ivy. Very little now, of course, but at one point, at one point it was heavy enough to nearly pull down the whole thing. So they rebuilt it, and named it after its death, mm?" She just nodded in a plainly false display of politeness. Cass tried not to take it personally - after all, she could be much more plainly cruel to most dragons. Some dragonets were just like that.
As he was about to open his mouth to speak again, the door in front of them opened. A face with a short, narrow snout poked out. Not a SkyWing face, though. A SandWing with dark gold-ish brown stripes. She was almost Ardour's size, but plainly older, and, most noticeably, she had a face painted with suspicion, barely poking out of the door. As soon as the unknown SandWing saw Cass, though, she immediately shifted to a relieved smile.
"Cass! Cass, yes, hello. You took my offer? And this is Ardour? Hello, hello, my name is Civet, wonderful to finally see you!" The SandWing, Civet, fully opened the door, and set her front paws just outside the threshold. Now, Ardour could see how unusual this SandWing really was - a ridiculously short frill, golden patterns, and, most notably, a highly unusual stinger. It was long, straight, and sharp. Spear-shaped. Before the dragonet could get too close a look at it, though, Civet ushered the two inside.
The parlour was... rather unlike the decorated ones Ardour was used to. Of course, it was pretty, it would be unthinkable for it not to be. It was not quite elegant, but it was...nice? Very representative of Civet's personality, from what Cass had said about her.
"The swan and rodents are, um. Temporary," Civet chirped, seemingly sensing the awkwardness in Ardour. Cass, on the other hand, just nodded understandingly.
"You're a taxidermist?" Ardour responded, looking carefully at the various dead things placed around the room. Some were clearly permanent decoration, others were likely to be, as Civet had said, temporary.
She nodded, and replied, "Yes. Taxidermy for the Museum, and once for Burn - but we don't need to discuss that! You are Ardour, mhm? Dr. Cass talks about you a lot. Much praise, too! Be proud." Civet gave her a reassuring smile, though it had perhaps a few more teeth than expected. Ardour just stood there, feeling heat in her scales. Cass was a perfectly fine SkyWing, of course, and more accepting than her own mother in a few ways, but she hadn't realised he mentioned her to his colleagues. She coughed nervously, and moved to investigate one of the boxes around the room. The other two seemed to accept the change in conversation, and moved after her.
The young SkyWing moved towards one box in particular - the one labelled 'SILISK - Museum'. Civet slipped around to move in front of her just as she was cautiously reaching towards the lid, gently pushing her claws back.
"Please don't touch the actual body! That's one for the Museum."
Instead of replying to this, Ardour just said, "Silisk?"
"Yes! It is simply a dragonbite viper...dead, of course. A friend of Cass-" Here, she nodded to him. "-explained to me about it, the term silisk. The term scavengers seem to refer to the dragonbite with would, um, probably be something like this if it were to be translated to, mm...the draconic tongue. Draconic voice?" At Ardour's stare, she added, "It raises less panic than a box labelled 'dragonbite'."
Cass stepped closer, and added in a smooth tone, "This particular one is the same one that killed Burn. Of course, it was partially crushed, and it took Civet here a moment to grab it and too long to get them to agree to us taking it, but, well, historical importance, hey?" Civet grinned, and stepped away from the box. She settled herself onto a chair, and the other two sat as well. The taxidermist continued, "We have others, of course. Well-preserved skins, stuffed bodies. But, well, when I saw the chance for this one... had to take it, you know?" Cass nodded, but Ardour's small smile became slightly more nervous. But she decided not to voice her opinions and concerns here.
Cass settled into his chair further, resting the tip of his tail on his front paws, and stared at Civet expectantly.
"What are y- oh! Yes. Ardour. This meeting was, mm, not meant to be just a conversation between friends, even if that might've, been what Dr. Cass told you. There's something important that requires me, you see. And, even if it might not quite require you... Tell me, Ardour, how would you feel about a trip to the Rainforest Kingdom, hopefully barely a week or two?"
The SkyWing dragonet stared at her for a few moments, fully processing what had just been said. It was the winter holidays - she was home from Jade Mountain for about 5 weeks, of course that was why she was here in Erne. She hadn't been home for a full week yet, that left enough time for a trip lasting barely two weeks. And the Rainforest Kingdom... of course, she wouldn't have to pay, especially not if Cass was the one taking her there, being about a year away from adulthood. Presumably her mother would be notified, but really Ardour didn't care whether she gave permission or not. But there was one matter left.
"Why? I mean, for what reason, and why bring me? Isn't the new Queen still wary?" Civet seemed ready to answer the first two questions, but flattened her ears slightly at the third. Cass, however, was unaffected, and ready to explain.
"Recently, the Museum received a fascinating letter from a RainWing within the Kingdom. A RainWing that can read and write, in fact, an interesting thing to learn that that's possible! The letter - I have it in my bag here-" He pulled out a rolled-up scroll with another piece of paper tied to it. "- it explains something she saw there, in one of the deeper parts of the Rainforest. A creature, rather like a snake, and, in fact, the child of two snakes. But could it be called a snake? Can it, strictly, be called a snake? It came from a place of a wrong feeling! A spot of deep, ancient animus, seeping into the environment even what might have been millennia after its creator! It has implications! Implications on our relationship, that link between the birds, the lizards, and the dragons! This snake! This SNAKE! Has FEATHERS!" And, with a flourish, he removed the piece of paper from the string tying it to the scroll, handing it to Ardour.
She held it in her claws, staring at it. It was several drawings, sketches, of, yes, what seemed to be a snake with feathers. A rattlesnake, to be precise - Ardour wasn't a herpetologist, but there seemed to be something like the rattlesnake's rattle on the tip of its tail. It seemed to possess a crest, a ruff perhaps, of feathers, all around its head, which then continued down its back. It also had many, smaller feathers, covering much of where the scales on its body would have been. Yep, a snake with feathers. Cass handed her the letter as well, and she examined it. Handwritten, and mostly about this feathery snake. One particular thing stood out to her, though. ...it was, curiously, arboreal, resting upon a branch to gaze down upon me us. Just above it, in a gap in the leaves, though, we saw a most curious thing. The pale light of Rosatrill, located just above its head. We are not accustomed to superstition like our cousins, but I do believe that thing must have been a god deity a thing unexplainable to a logical mind...
After looking back at the drawings to study them further, she placed the pieces of paper back into Cass's claws.
"So?" he prompted, as he rolled the letter back up.
"How do you know it's real? This RainWing, she could have been lying, right?" Civet pinned her ears back, but Cass seemed again unaffected.
"More important, successful scientific expeditions have been launched on less evidence, Ardour. Though they could have been from something else, she sent some feathers-" He waved a few ragged, rose-coloured feathers in the air, as Civet rolled her eyes. "-and, overall, I believe that, given how little we know about the depths of the Rainforest Kingdom...even if we don't find our feathered snake, there will always be something more to see. This is our journey. We will travel to the Rainforest by flight, taking rests when needed, keeping along the mountains. Once in the Kingdom, we will travel to where the sender of this message, Spix, lives, and find where she found the feathery snake. And then, we can search. We will be travelling with a few others, including a group who are searching for something similar - traces of animus magic or artefacts. If we find this snake, we will achieve both goals, kill two bats with one stone! We do not...strictly have permission. However, money and shadows go a long way, mm?" He finally took a breath, and added, "I am offering this to you, Ardour, because I think it would be a fun experience! I know you're intrigued by animus magic. Your mother will know when you're leaving. She trusts me, Ardour, and I won't explain exactly the goal of this trip to her, if you don't want her to know."
Ardour considered it for a while, making a quiet, thinking hum, looking back at the feathers Cass was holding several times. And then she nodded.
"When will we be leaving?"
"After the last person has been offered this chance, which will be tomorrow, so um, day after tomorrow, perhaps," Civet said, seeming relieved that the conversation had gone well.
"Okay. I'll go."
The two smiled at Ardour, leaving her feeling somewhat as if she had just made a decision that would affect more than she had thought. Well, why not do something new? And if they did actually find something...well.
== 3 - Meeting at the Flutter Statue ==
Now for a different setting.
It was night in Hookshore. But night doesn't mean dark, and it certainly doesn't mean quiet.
In this case, however, Owl was relatively alone in the park. The trees were whispering, as is normal of windy weather, and there was a steady drizzle of rain. The IceWing curled up closer on the simple bench they were sat on, and raised one turquoise wing over their head. Not that it made much difference as to whether or not the rest of their scales got soaked - they were just annoyed at the rain getting into their eyes. They took in the scene around them again.
Nothing much yet. There were a few streetlamps around, this being one of the less wild parks around, and these provided most of the light for them to see by. Directly across from them, surrounded by a ring of pale blue flowers, was a metal statue. A dragon of ambiguous tribe, reaching upwards with closed eyes, wings outstretched. Moths, carved out of the wings or perches upon various places on the dragon itself. The Flutter Statue. They had no idea who had sculpted it, or who it was based on, but it had to be said, it was quite a nice statue.
They briefly glanced back around the area again, before turning their gaze to the sky for a moment - two moons were slightly visible behind a layer of cloud, the third barely a faint glow - and looking back around again. Damn, was he really not going to show up? Maybe he wasn't aware of just how much it p###ed them off to be left out in the rain at a time when they should have been curled up asleep in a warm nest. Maybe he was just running late. They scratched the painted wood of the bench with one dulled claw, and went again over what they would say. Add a subtle threat in there, maybe, possibly even a blatant threat, if he didn't appear in the next-
Oh, there he was.
The crimson SkyWing hurried up to the bench, holding his wings above his head as he went. Neither of them wanted to stay out here in the rain for too long, and both of them knew that. Lammergeier scrambled onto the bench with a look at Owl that suggested that, even if a dragon like him would never admit it, he was very sorry, and please don't reveal what happened in the palace in 5011 to anyone. They just moved their tail to make space for him, and decided that they wouldn't reveal said event from 5011...yet.
"Late," was all they said, staring at him with what was dangerously close to becoming a genuine, joking smile.
"Yes. Aware of that. Ran into that bone-faced priestess-"
"Skink Basking?"
"Yes. Skink. Ran into her. She pointed out that I, well, owed her a favour. Rightfully." He looked down at his claws - still large and sharp, but trimmed since Owl last saw him.
"Oh? What did she do for you?"
"Not the point." His ears had turned red, they noticed. Like that, then, was it?
"Well? What did you do in return?"
"Told her I'd settle it next time I came here again. She...didn't appreciate that, but accepted some money for now."
Owl just sighed, but did actually smile at him, before replying, "How much did you give?"
"30 notes. She wanted more, though."
Owl shifted slightly, watching him curiously. Lammergeier also shifted position, though more nervously. The lamplight caught his eyes, glittering and golden, and he scratched at a patch of broken scales on his neck. They just said, "Lucky of you to have met her specifically. And not, say... Ginger." Those were the right words to push a button. He made a worried hissing sound, and glanced about.
"Is she-?"
"No. She left the city a few days ago, in fact. Lucky of you to have missed her, hey? But we're not here to talk about your thousands of debts." They leaned closer, suddenly composed and businesslike. "I received your letter, as you can see. Frigate's pigeons are skilled. You had information for me, mhm? Museum wanted to keep a secret, yes, we both know that. Lucky of you to have gotten here so fast by wing alone, considering what you were going to tell me. I noticed you didn't put it in the letter. Wanted to tell me face-to-face, why?"
He rearranged himself again, and replied, "Because I'm nervous about the curators, that's all. I know they wouldn't hesitate to snatch pigeons, I know they've done it before. Hell! I'm already on the bad side of Cassiterite! I'm sure he won't hesitate to get rid of me."
"Lammergeier, he's an ornithologist who'd cry if his teabag was left in the cup for too long."
"You don't believe me."
"Well," they shook the droplets off one wing, "I believe the pigeon-stealing has been done before. But Cass, even if he keeps grudges, is just a museum curator. I believe you on what you said about the Museum's secrets, but I'm not sure if Cass would even recognise me. Wait, no, he met me once a long time ago and when he met me again a second time he recognised me in an instant before I even opened my mouth. But nevertheless! You could have saved yourself the energy. But anyway, we're both here now, mhm?"
He flopped slightly, breaking the stare for a moment, before looking back at them again.
"They found something in the Rainforest. Well, not the Museum. Um. A RainWing in contact with the Museum. I hear him repeating it a lot - the need to keep it from those in charge, for some reason, but still repeating it to anyone who asks. A feathered rattlesnake. Spawned from or twisted by magic. Implications, he keeps on saying. Likes that word a lot? Either way, he's taking a group to the Rainforest Kingdom soon, to search for this feathered snake. And other traces of animus magic." He fell silent again. They tilted their head slightly.
"And you want me to do...what about it?"
"You like secrets, Owl, I know you do. And a secret journey with a secret goal gives rise to... more secrets. Even greater than the original secrets." Echoing their words, was he? Well.
"Okay. Okay. Convincing, Lammergeier, very convincing. Are you planning on joining me? We can take Lacquer, too. I'm sure he would love to." Lammergeier was plainly trying to stop himself from grimacing at the very mention of Lacquer. They had no idea what was going on between the two, further than a past relationship gone wrong, but it was incredibly amusing.
"Fine. Yes. I'd like to see what it's about, if we can."
"Settled. Shake... claws?"
"Shake claws...mh."
The two reached out and shook paws. Both felt slightly silly, but, well, it was what was normal when making deals, probably? They then just sat there, staring at each other slightly awkwardly. The two were friends, of course, and had been for a long time, but it had been a while since they'd last talked face to face. Owl shook the droplets from their body, ignoring the way Lammergeier held up a paw and flinched from the sudden water in his face.
"I understand your love for secrecy, but how would you feel about being secretive in a caf- no those are all closed at this time... -hmm... the Tall Kestrel?"
"Banned from there."
"Oh, for... euh. Alright. Going back home, then?"
"Owl. I live in Erne. I'm not flying straight back there at an hour past midnight."
Owl huffed, rubbing at their eyes.
"Fine, fine. Sleep at mine. But you're picking all the fleas out of the bedding tomorrow."
They slithered off the bench, stretching their limbs out, and set off in the direction they'd come from as Lammergeier followed. The IceWing just ignored his mutters of, "I only had fleas once...", and smiled to themselves. Depending on who they ran into, this trip could turn out to be very profitable indeed, and either way, in a place as wild as the Rainforest, there was always something new to discover. Granted, any RainWings had probably found it first, but who would care about them? And Owl may not have been much of a herpetologist, but if they could 'prove' to the world that they had found and verified the existence of such a strange new beast first... how intriguing! And, of course, there was always the chance to find something new on an important figure like Cass. Nobody could pass up an opportunity for some blackmail. Well, Owl couldn't, at least.
They continued through the park, through the streets, and even up to their house, lost in their thoughts. Life was all about opportunities, after all. Why not take this one?
A feathered serpent...hm! Probably fake. Probably great. Either way, there was a new group ready to search for the thing.
== 4 - A Moment of Birdwatching at Lake Nymph ==
A craze for ornithology seemed to have sweeped the scientific community recently. Ibis themself was more interested by bugs, but when a neighbour had gifted them a birdwatching guide to see if they would find more use of it, how could they refuse? Lake Nymph was, well, a lake full of nymphs. In the arthropod sense. But maybe that was why birds seemed so fond of it.
The MudWing adjusted their position, lying on the shore. It was still dark, the sunlight barely lighting up the sky, let alone the ground. The sky was turning bluer every minute, they thought, the stars fading. Perfect time for birds. The dawn choir was loud in the wide, wide, cloudless silence. But Ibis wasn't there for the songbirds. Even if that was what the guide was about...
Coots and moorhens were calmly sailing on the lake, dark shapes barely visible against the similarly-dark water. There was some sudden movement, and Ibis's interest was piqued, focusing on that spot. Ah, yep - a couple of coots were having a skirmish, lashing out at each other with beaks and front claws. But it was over as soon as it began, and the lake settled into calmness once more. There was a duck call, somewhere distant - the lake was very large - but no ducks to be seen. Birds circled above. Seagulls. One laughed, and other followed. Ibis supposed the lake must have been what attracted them, given the distinct lack of a sea in the middle of the Sky Kingdom.
They settled into their place, watching and listening to the world. A flock of geese flew overhead, honking, to alight over on the other side of the lake. The world was beautiful. Her skies, her shadows, endless. The blue of the sky at once draws one in and belittles all. The aether is endless, the blue, the green, the black. The pale specks of the sky glimmer in such hope, yet the sky is so numb, and silence deafens, crushes, softens you. He is endless, the aether does not care, neither can barely consider caring for you, about you, too far and cold. But the life persists. The prey and the predator and the small green grass and the sailing honking goose and the little emerald bugs. A whole buzzing melody. And the world and the aether and the nourishing sunlight and your very eyes and the aether and the and. The. And. An...
...
.....
"Mnsnsnnnnnmm....mm...uhnm?"
Ibis had barely realised they were falling asleep before they fell into that darkness. Focusing too much on their own thoughts, they supposed. They drew their paws away from where they'd slipped into the cold waters and reflected on those thoughts that they could remember. As is normal for half-dreaming minds, they had been thinking utter nonsense, thinking at the time that it made perfect sense. The cold water had woken them up, though, as had, perhaps, the embarassment at their half-asleep thoughts. The sun was higher now, the world slightly brighter. Also, their limbs were stiff. They looked out across the faintly shimmering waters, and gasped silently, trying to stay still.
There were swans on the lake. Pale beasts with graceful, curving necks, strong wings folded up carefully. They'd heard that a swan's wings could actually break a fully-grown dragon's front legs, but they had no intention of testing that. Besides, the swans would probably just try to bite, instead. Now, that, Ibis had personally seen. Those teeth were not just for show. Well, really, they were for holding on to prey, if Ibis recalled correctly, but they were just as good for drawing blood from a careless dragon.
These swans, however, seemed to have no intention of attacking Ibis, thank all three moons. The birds had seen them, of course, but they seemed to be ignoring them. And, now, a curious thing seemed to be happening - a pair of swans were twisting together, moving heads up and down in unison. At first, Ibis had thought they were about to fight, before their mind woke up more and they realised what they were seeing. A mating dance? Had to be. The two great birds really did seem to be dancing. What were the chances that they'd wake up from their unplanned nap at the right moment to see this?
After a very short while of this, the two seemed to finish their dance, and-
"WHAT THE HELL," was one of two things that came to their mind to say, the other going against their personal rules of no swearing. Something misty had burst out from the water, causing a flurry of anger and white feathers, though the only thing that disturbed the water was the swans' movements. A dragon! An IceWing had sprung forth, and was diving towards the birds, into them? All was silent again except for the furious pale birds, disrupted from their romance, before the IceWing flew up from the waters again. They were laughing, too - and then the mysterious dragon stopped once more, diving back down.
On the third flight upwards, Ibis was watching closely, standing ready to step closer. As the IceWing sailed upwards once more, they recognised them- her.
"That's what you get up to in your free time?" they called out, making Dawn stop abruptly. The ghost, for that was exactly what she was, paused in mid-air in a way that normal dragons could never, hanging there as the swans tried, in vain, to attack her tail. She looked strange, of course - the light caught her in a way that it shouldn't have, and, as ghosts were usually described, she was almost made of smoke. Glowing eyes that shone no light on anything caught Ibis's, and the 4-years-dead IceWing seemed distinctly... embarrassed.
"Yes," was all she said, in a voice that echoed in itself all at the same time. Ibis sat back, feeling as if she should be taking notes. Well, this couldn't have been just them seeing things that weren't there, because the swans had clearly seen her, too. So, yes, that made this right here a genuine ghost.
"You didn't seem like, uh. The sort."
"Sometimes it's lonely. Sometimes I sit alone. Sometimes I get bored of that. So I annoy the birds." Dawn was now standing on the water, having the same strange visual qualities as a full moon does through a layer of cloud.
Ibis narrowed her eyes, opened their mouth, closed it, blinked a couple of times, rubbed their eyes, still there, and, at last, opened their mouth again. And shut it again. They could only find it in them to say, "I just wasn't expecting this."
"Nobody does. I was never expecting you, either. So, well. Keep silent, and I won't disturb your birdwatching." The pale ghost winked, and slipped beneath the waves.
The MudWing stood up, stretching out all four legs. Why did this always happen to them? Try out art, end up being sold paint so poisonous you can't even stand in the same room as it without being slowly contaminated. (They'd gotten better.) Go out into the woods, find a beast that should not exist, and yet has, thanks to a handy thing known as animus magic. (They ran away.) Visit a nearby city, end up nearly robbed. (They didn't even have any money on them to take.) And, now. Try birdwatching, and what did they get? An encounter with a lake ghost who for some reason didn't want them to talk about their experience with her.
Ibis let out a frustrated groan, and started walking away from the lakeshore, back in the direction of their home. Forced to stick with entomology, then.
== 5 - ==
Category:Content (Chipper the Crow)
Category:Fanfictions
Category:Fanfictions (Fanon)
Category:Fanfictions (Incomplete)