The room of howling winds was insane. Asimona couldn't remember if she had been there before - if she had, she certainly didn't remember how strong the winds were. But instead of struggling through the howling winds, she actually found it strangely freeing. Her body was built to weather storms and snows and it felt absolutely amazing to finally be able to put her strength to the test. IT was difficult to fly, yes, but she didn't have a lot of trouble. Her huge wings were strong enough to fight the winds and her long tail acted as a perfect rudder, swinging around to keep her balanced.

It took her a little while to remember why she was here. Naskital needed tools and her ice magic obviously wasn't strong enough to make the tools he needed. She had heard the rumors of a blacksmith in the tunnel and Artume had mentioned it as well. As she flew through, she opened her jaws and bellowed as loud as possible - "BLACKSMITH!! I REQUIRE YOUR ASSISTANCE!" She tried to back up the noise with magic, but nothing came to her throat so she decided to settle on simply the loud roaring noise.

"Can you hear their voice?"
"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

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notes:

The gauntlets were cooling and Glory was enjoying the significantly cooler airs of the outside of his cave. The heat still rained down on his back from where is cave was but it felt nice to roost in a makeshift nest on the ledge in the winds after a busy day of work. He was tired after all the work he'd done but they were finally completed! He could deliver them to Eythan once they were fully cooled and sharpened.

He was jerked out of his thoughts by a sudden roaring noise calling his name. He snapped his eyes open and stood. Was that Dread calling for him? No, the voice was more feminine. But it was definitely something large. He opened his wings and took off, riding the winds of Monoceros until the silver dragon was in sight.

He stopped dead in the air for a second, nearly falling where he was. He had thought that Dread was the only dragon in the caves, but apparently he was wrong. He wondered, for a moment, if they had happened to meet. But the odds of that were too big - they probably didn't even know of each others' existence.

But that was another matter. She was looking for him and he would answer the call. "Dragon! I am the blacksmith, Glory! What is it you require from me!"

He was lying in his den, head on tail, curled over his treasure--when he heard it. His head came up so fast that he managed to bang it into the low ledge, and a guttural snarl of pain escaped him--then he quickly stood, hauling himself up to peer down from the edge.

Somewhere far off, he could hear shouting--but the roar struck at his core the way nothing else had, triggering instincts to chase and fight. The spines along his back and neck all rose. It was--was that a dragon?! Another dragon? Some thin part of him--the intelligent sentient being part--was excited. The bestial "dragon" part, though, was immediately furious that another dragon would dare set foot in his cave! --And it was calling for Glory, he realized.

This, more than his territorial savagery, drove him to hurriedly scramble off his ledge, falling not-at-all-gracefully into the open air below. Wings billowed out and caught him, and he winged his way as fast as he could toward the call, and toward Glory's cave.

As he came he roared, a loud, draconic bellow with no words, and a clear declaration that this place was his. "Plays nice with others" would definitely not be marked on his card with Naskital, this year.

He spotted the silver-white dragon circling at almost his height, and swerved up to circle above, roaring another challenge. It was more slender than he was--lithe, and graceful, and much prettier. He was immediately jealous.

Dread didn't speak yet, though, instead circling to see what would happen, what this stranger was doing here and what it wanted. His tail drifted along behind him, its stone-barbed point lashing as a rudder to control his movements, and his head tilted so that he could keep one ember eye on the proceedings.

Asimona turned at the sound of another voice. An eagle, golden as the lights, was flying her way. She turned her whole body around to face him, positioning herself so that she could comfortably stay in the same spot to talk to him. "Hello, my name is Asimona! I've come to ask your help with-"

Her words cut out at the sound of a tremendous roaring and she nearly fell out of the air. She quickly regained her balance and snapped her head up towards where a dark shape was coming closer. A dragon? Her eyes were not tricking her. It was a dark-winged dragon soaring from the sky, gliding in circles around above the two of them. For a second, Asimona didn't know how to react. While she was happy to know there was another dragon besides her three hallucinations, she felt fear as well - that roar was not friendly.

But then, as he turned, she saw his tail and something surfaced in her memory. Something from long ago. Another dragon, a young one, a tiny one. With the same barbed gem tail. But this couldn't be Dread...

But it could. Dragons got big, as she did. They were both adults now, she shouldn't have expected him to be young forever. As she watched him fly she became more certain and her heart both chilled and warmed. It was a strange feeling, to be afraid of an old friend but also to be happy that they were meeting again.

"Dread!" She called up to him, not daring to go any closer. "It's me! Asimona! Do you remember me?"

"Can you hear their voice?"
"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

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notes:

The roaring startled Glory as well but he didn't lose his spot in the sky. He merely turned up to the circling dragon with mild annoyance. This was a customer, after all, come to request his work! How rude and disrespectful of Dread to interrupt their conversation.

He opened his beak to reprimand him when Asimona spoke first. And boy was he surprised! "What? Do you know each other?" His wide eyes flitted from Dread to Asimona and back again. He would have thought that the odds of two dragons meeting were too big, considering the size of the caves, much less a second time! And to meet here, in Monoceros! What a coincedence that Asimona required his work, him, a friend of Dread, and for Dread to hear the roar!

It was all a little funny to him and Glory chuckled with amusement. "Dread! She came to ask me to make something I think! Like that weird hybrid Eythan a while ago! That's funny that you two know each other!"

@Dread

Dread circled, still, not responding at first to Asimona's voice. He was thinking, deeply--remembering. Just-... not very well. He had some vague memory of a warm place--heat, and damp air--and a distant roof studded with bright lights, a roof he'd tried to reach, over an ocean of crashing waves.

He watched the slender, silver dragon suspiciously, and folded his wings, banking down to land. If Glory said she could be trusted, then that was fine--... But...

He rocked back, wings putting up dust as his thick hind legs punched against the sandy rock. His whole body then pitched back forward as he landed on his wings, and arched his neck back to eye over Asimona.

A faint memory hit him of ice--a sculpture--a... shiny.

"SHINIES," he barked suddenly, his roar a genuine bellow now, rather than a screech. He then shook himself, blinking, as if trying to recall the details. He looked to Glory, staring, thinking--here to ask for something to be made? But she was in his cave! She was-...

He looked sharply back to Asimona, ready to be angry all over again, but memory again flickered dimly in his mind.

...She had made him shinies. She'd been the first one to be kind to him--and suddenly the remembrance of company filled him with delight. He remembered being achingly lonely--and then having this silver dragon appear, and give him company! But--now this was his cave, and-...

Territorial anger and friendly recognition battled in him, a moment, before he settled for actually trying to speak like a normal Gembound. His voice now held deeply bass notes, rather than the screams of only a couple of cycles ago, but it was still harmlessly childlike, in its own way. "Asimona! I remember." Ember eyes travelled over her form, trying to recall all the details, but some were simply lost to time. His mind was not, after all, so sharp as some.

"Ice-dragon! And shinies." He shook himself, all traces of hostility gone, his spines all rattling and then settling back down along his neck and back.

Dread then proceeded to simply stand there, watching, staring--not saying a further word. He seemed content to merely observe, unaware that his intrusion might be seen as an interruption.

@Asimona

Asimona watched the dragon as he stared and thought. It was almost funny, whatever gears in his head were almost visibly working overtime trying to remember her. For a moment there, she thought she had lost the fight for Dread's memory but then he snapped back. The words he roared made all of the chill go away and she sighed with relief. She carefully let herself float closer to Dread and held out a claw. Water collected in her palm and, within a few seconds, there was a small, glassy ice orb. She wasn't feeling up to making it more complicated for now, but set it down in front of the dragon. "It will melt soon, unfortunately, but this is for you. It's not quite an ice dragon, but it's still ice."

She watched Dread for another moment before turning back to the blacksmith. She had almost forgotten what she had come for, in this sudden, unexpected meeting, but it was fairly important. "Yes, sorry, I've been sent to find some tools...a creature dropped through the roof in Pisces. The way he talked, it sounded important. I'm not sure what kind of tools he means but I'm assuming similar tools that you would have. Would you be able to make some? I'm sorry its a bit of a rush order, but we do need them done as soon as possible."

"Can you hear their voice?"
"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

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notes:

Glory watched the reunion with humor. Two dragons meeting and Dread could barely remember. If he met another golden eagle, he would be over the moon! And he'd certainly never forget it. But of course, that was just Dread, as Glory understood him. Not the sharpest when it comes to the brain but plenty of sharp when it came to teeth. And Glory had no problem with that. He was certainly his best customer, at least.

As Asimona turned to address him, finally, he gave a small nod and listened to her request. His eyes narrowed, however, as she continued, a bit of suspicion growing in his mind. Was she asking him to make tools for a new blacksmith? Or some kind of crafter that would threaten his business, slow as it was? He was the only blacksmith in the caves! Besides Gea, of course, but she was his student! If a blacksmith was worth anything, he could make his own tools.

But, then again, a blacksmith is not made by the right tools. And the way Asimona was speaking, anything would do. He made up his mind to help out, even if it meant possibly helping competition. "I have a lot of tools back at my cave that I don't use anymore. No need to make them on rush. I'm constantly upgrading my equipment but I have no need for the stuff that's left behind. I'd be happy to offer them to your friend!"

As he turned to fly back to his cave, he spotted the ice ball in front of Dread. He turned himself and flew towards the dragon, nodding towards the gift Asimona had given him. "I wouldn't recommend bringing that in the cave with you. It'll melt in seconds."

@Dread

Dread took the ice ball cautiously in his jaws--and then proceeded to stand there rather idiotically as it began to melt. It was very, very cold, and he was quite perplexed as to how to deal with this situation.

On the one hand, it was freezing, unpleasant, almost painful. On the other, it was a shiny, even if a temporary one, and he couldn't just... put it down.

With an uneasy squeak not unlike a whimper, the dragon shook himself, and then twisted as if trying to pull away from the unpleasant feeling. Which, of course, did not work, seeing as it was in his mouth.

His mild upset grew until at last, angered, he bit down--crunching the ice apart. This, though, was good! It tasted good, it was water and nice and suddenly, he was thirsty. Never mind Glory's warning; he was already chewing and swallowing the ice fragments, contentedly distracted, lapping up the water.

"Come back, when done," he said abruptly, lifting his gaze to Asimona. He hesitated, as if immediately second-guessing himself--greed lighting in his eyes as he then almost reluctantly added--"I will show you my shinies."

He made no move to follow Glory, nor Asimona. Once they left for Glory's workspace, likely he would simply let them be.

@Asimona

Asimona didn't really know what to feel when she watched Dread lean down to pick up the ice orb and just...eat it. Of course, she had given it to him to do with what he wished but she couldn't help but feel slightly insulted that he had just taken it and eaten it, right in front of her. Of course, she had to remember that Dread probably did not understand the implications of his actions. She didn't know what went on in his head - it seemed, even now, his mind was still a little less developed then others.

She nodded, trying to ignore the small twist of anger in her stomach. "I'll do that. I'll be back in a day or two to visit again." She turned to follow Glory, but then looked back at the dragon. "It was nice to see you Dread."

She turned back to the eagle and followed him to the cave that he led her to. The instant she set herself down on the ledge she knew she wouldn't be going inside. The blast of heat that met her was almost too much to bear and she was only outside. Instead, she sat herself down patiently and arched her neck down so that she could at least observe what Glory was doing.

"Can you hear their voice?"
"Find the one who'll guide you."
To the limits of your choice.

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notes: