Sometimes, Wyvern seriously questioned her mother's judgement in moving to Monoceros. Hot, out of the way, and loud -- Dread and the pair's children must have been rather important to her, to uproot her life and live in such an unpleasant place. Unpleasant to Wyvern, anyway -- although she couldn't deny that the ever-growing family was... nice.

Regardless though, any journey out of Monoceros required passage through Orion. Wyvern couldn't lie; she liked Orion. She'd been here briefly during the Olympics when she was younger, watching her mother compete, but the stars had fascinated her. Little specks of glowing stones in the sky -- Wyvern had gone to investigate them once or twice, but there wasn't all that much to grab on to and she'd been much more concerned with staying near her mother, anyway.

She'd been on her way to Pisces, but the dragon had gotten distracted by them again. Now, she was perched on top of one of the houses (she was pretty sure this one was unoccupied, but it was so hard to tell these days) and staring up at them. Distantly, Wyvern wished she had some way to capture this image in a way more refined than memory -- maybe someone would invent one, someday.


@james

James had woken up at the sound of claws on a roof, and slowly made his way out of his house, eyes still crusted with sleep, his eyes scrunched. He was barely awake as he stumbled out into the road between the houses, looking up at Wyvern and shaking his head out.

"... Hello?", he asked, yawning widely, "Um, not to be rude or anything, but that's my roof you're on. Uh... that one over there is unoccupied if you still want to perch somewhere."

The pegasus lifted a wing and pointed to a house across the lane, yawning again before shaking himself out and pushing some feathers into place. He looked up at Wyvern and squinted, eyes narrowing.

"Are you a dragon? Or a bird?", he asked, head tilted.

@Wyvern

Disturbing Wyvern from her stargazing was the sound of hooves and then a voice calling out to her. She blinked owlishly down at him. "My sincerest apologies! I assumed it was unoccupied." Wyvern hopped down onto the ground and straightened up into a very birdlike posture, smoothing down her feathers and making a gesture rather like a bow. He was an interesting animal -- a horse, she guessed, but with elegant feathers over the majority of his body. Striking colors contrasted the black -- Wyvern was impressed.

She cleared her throat. "Ah, I am a bit of both. My mother, a dragon, found a lost stone that had once belonged to a bird and revived it. My name is Wyvern; I am terribly sorry that I disturbed you. I was distracted by the ceiling. I am just about every time I pass through here, really."


@james

James admired Wyvern's feathers too, for they contrasted his. They, unlike his, were cool tones of white and blues, whereas his were purples and pinks.

His eyes drifted up to the ceiling and he nodded, "Ah, makes sense. If you're not from around here, they are quite the marvel. Even if you do, actually."

The pegasus arched his head in a bow back to Wyvern, duplicating the respectful greeting, "It's lovely to meet you, Wyvern. I'm James! I was a horse- I had no wings only a month ago, and no feathers at all. I was just simply a horse, and then I went to sleep in my chrysalis for a while after a horrible injury and was reborn as this!"

James flapped his wings gently and marveled at Wyvern's again, "Yours are very beautiful, like snow and ice."

@Wyvern

"James," she repeated, to make sure she was saying it correctly and to feel how it fit in her mouth. The news of such a change wasn't anything new; Wyvern had entered her own chrysalis hoping a change would be undergone, and one had, in a way. Not physically, certainly, but emotionally at least. "That is quite a marvel," she admitted. "I hope that you feel better now." Then, something occurred to her. "... Has anyone taught you how to fly, James? Or is that knowledge that you've found innately?" It was very nearly an offer.

At the compliment, she bowed slightly. "That is a wonderful compliment; I am a dragon of the cold. I'm quite fond of your feathers as well; the contrast between colors is lovely."


@james

James flapped his wings proudly, "Ah- I taught myself! Or rather, I learned from the birds. I traveled to Eridanus to study how they flew, and to find a bird with similar wings to mine. I studied it and attempted to mimic how it moved, and after a while I figured it out."

He cantered off a few steps and took flight, circling around and alighting on a roof, hoofs firm on the stone, "I feel wonderful now, like I've been freed."

The stallion jumped down and alighted softly, cooing in awe, "Really? Like Carja? I don't mean to compare, my apologies. I and my daughter met her only a few days ago, she seemed very nice. Are you of the dragon thunder there, or are you solitary?"

@Wyvern

Her eyes lit up. This creature knew her niece? How lovely -- it seemed like she had quite a lot of friends. "Oh, Carja is my niece! Very similar in our abilities, though I'm incapable of producing water." She made a gesture with one of her wings in an attempt to cool the air around them, but her magic didn't work with her so she did her best to play it off and kept talking.

"Yes, I am a part of the Monoceros thunder; I am the firstborn of Asimona." The title felt a bit awkward on her tongue. For so many cycles, she had rejected it. Not that she'd been awake for most of them, but still. "A rather new addition to the thunder, however; I was in chrysalis myself for quite some time, though not due to any physical injury."


@james

"Oh! I know Asimona- not personally, she too was at the Olympics," he said, and smiled gently, fluffing his feathers, "You can come inside, if you wish. I was just resting, so you're not interrupting much. My daughter is off somewhere, probably getting into trouble."

James rolled his eyes fondly and gently lead Wyvern into the house, which had a larger doorway (probably to fit James' larger girth). He set himself down on a pile of furs and sighed happily, getting himself comfortable.

"Why were you in your chrysalis, if I'm allowed to ask?", he said, crossing his front legs over each other.

@Wyvern

Wyvern headed inside and arranged her large body to take up as little space as possible. It was rather difficult, being somewhere in the neighborhood of sixteen feet long, but with her wings tucked in and her head pulled back she could seem relatively small. James's question, though, was a bit of a sore spot. Still, it wasn't like this was a secret. Hiding her problems would do her no good. "I'd left home," she admitted. "I had a falling-out with my mother, but I soon found that I could not take care of myself. I'd never been alone before, and melancholy took me. I ended up going to chrysalis, hoping that I would awaken changed. I did, in a way -- though not physically. I emerged recently, with my personality having changed somewhat with my new maturity."

She absentmindedly began to preen her feathers, straightening them out. She found a stiff, out-of-place feather and frowned as much as a bird could, yanking it out. The quill broke brittle, and she smoothed her beak over the spot. "It seems I may be molting soon," she mused, nodding at the elegant, dark blue feather. "You can keep that, if you'd like; I have plenty."


@james

James listened silently, not interjecting with anything until Wyvern was well and truly finished. He stood up and made his way to a stash of fruit, gently rolling one over and plucking one up for himself.

"I never really had a parent, so I cannot say I know how you feel," he said slowly, "But it sounds like you've been through a lot. Have you since reconciled?"

He took the feather and stashed it away for later to gift to his daughter.

"Thank you," he said in response, "We don't know each other well, yet, but you can stay here for a bit if you wish. I have food and water if you're in need of either."

@Wyvern