The den had been left empty for a long time. Weeks, maybe months. Long enough that any scent within was faded and nearly gone. With it's destruction on behalf of Dread, the dragon who'd resided there had fled, leaving it in fear of her safety.

Burned, alone, and desperate, she'd dragged her solid nest to a new den and hung her gems up as best she could, though the one she truly loved was cracked, the enchantment upon it faded. It sang quietly, but it hadn't been enough to drive her to keep going.

The pink chrysalis lay at the very back of this new den, hidden beneath the roots of the tree it was underneath. It was dark and dank and there was dried blood on the floor from old wounds, wounds that wouldn't heal due to her delaying her chrysalis like a fool. She'd hoped her mate would come to her, but by the time nothingness came, he hadn't.

Inside of the gemstone her silhouette could be seen, her body pressed against the sides as she slept, wings held close and claws tucked in. No details could be seen, so no one outside could tell that the burns across her body were deep and scarring. Even worse were the ones across her face, the ones that left the sensitive skin numb and painful to touch. The skin that let her get around using her sense of touch. She was very nearly crippled by her injuries.

She waited. Endlessly she waited, waiting for someone to come, waiting for the sound of wings. Either her nest would be engulfed by flames or her chrysalis would be rapped upon by gentle talons, her mate begging her return. But no matter her fate, she would wait.

@Electrum

Electrum

The lapis dragon had spent the last few cycles away from his home- if he could call it that. He'd been gone to collect trinkets, to hunt for the child he'd sown in his nest, and had come back to ruin and coal. Only returning to retrieve Telesto and then, assuming the worst, he'd spent a good while sharpening his skills and tempering his rage and need for revenge. Who would dare attack someone, in their own home?

He'd finally asked his child to accompany him home, to see what he could salvage, only partially confident that he wouldn't crumble inside until the pair of them were absolutely, for sure, out of anger.

Silver and blue, gold and flashing gems, the pair mike quite the striking sight returning to the pillars in the bay, like they'd been designed with the cave in mind. Flashy, bright, water and heat loving, very much tropical.

Electrum manages to land against a wall, needing to remember how to grip the walls correctly in order to make his way back inside... but the evidence of a new den distracted him... gave him some concern. So, he makes his way over to warn whomever this other is about the monster that lurked in Leo, and ... maybe invite them along with the pair somewhere safe.

Until the color tickles a sense of familiarity he'd tried to bury with his grief... and he finally speaks, for the first time he'd entered Leo. "This... is the same color as Haven's gem..." Finally looks around, recognizing more and more, with hope and rage both burning up his throat- but could it be...?

"Haven..." he lays a hand against the chrysalis, wondering if he's just seeing things in the familiarity of the shape within. "Telesto, come here please- this might be her, she might be alive!"


@Telesto

@Haven

They'd only had a brief glimpse of Leo, of home, on the day they hatched, before being ushered out of the cave. It'd felt like home, more than the frigid water of Polaris's river or even the vastness of Fornax. She didn't know why he refused to return, other than there was something with fire that'd attack and even them. But sometimes, when he was asleep and she was sure he wouldn't notice, she used the underwater tunnels to slip back into Leo. With all the confidence of a rebellious teenager they'd swim deep in Leo's water, certain that whatever the fire-beast may be, it couldn't get them here.

So when he asked them to accompany him home- a home he'd seemed to fearful of until now- she didn't hesitate in saying yes. Out of love, of course, but secondarily a morbid sort of curiosity. They had grown out of their grandiose sense of 'dragons pride', but they couldn't help but feel formidable flying alongside their father. Surely whatever the beast was- whatever had killed Haven- wouldn't dare to fight TWO dragons at once?

Lacking the ability to climb to walls like their father, Telesto lands heavily in the entrance of the den, peering around Electrum to catch glimpse of the glimmer of pink inside. At first, it registered as little more than a pretty hunk of gemstone, but then Electrum finally spoke, and "Haven? But you told me she died!" Three eyes, accustomed to the darkness of the ocean's depths, peered into the shadows as Telesto stepped forward. Taking in the weight of the situation, of this realization, and having no idea what to do with it. "I- what do we do? If this is her?" She looked up to Electrum for guidance, because caves knows she had no idea what to do or how to react.

@Haven @Electrum

From within, her dreams shifted. No longer did she dream of soft sand and the feeling of Electrum's scales, but of his voice. He shouted her name, calling for her. For a moment she ached to slip back into her dreams, but her heart yanked her out faster than she could react, and then she was falling.

Haven shifted within her chrysalis, pushing and writhing suddenly, breathing in liquid and thrashing about in her confines. She snapped her limbs apart and the egg broke, sending her crashing to the ground in a mangled heap.

Her head hit the dirt in front of Electrum, her chest heaving as he hacked and coughed, curling in on herself as she let out a pained whimper. Her breaths were shallow as she came to, finally fazing back into the world.

"... Electrum?", she rasped, voice harsh with a lack of use, but the worst thing was her face.

The skin upon it and down her neck, shoulders, and wings were bubbled and raw. Aggravated by the fall, some parts were bleeding, and it was clear she was struggling to make her way around, her clicks giving her a sense of where things were but nothing as specific as her touch had once given her. Ever so slowly she stood, nostrils flaring, limbs shaking.

"Wh-where have you been?", she wailed, "I-I was here a-and I waited for so long-"

Why hadn't Electrum come? Was she not a good enough mate? Had her weakness driven him off? Of course it had, Dread had attacked their nest while she was right there to protect it and she couldn't even do that.

@Electrum

Electrum

He can't articulate anything clearly- stuttering and at a loss for words with the nauseating tumult of hope, fear, regret, and guilt galivanting around in his chest and mind. Thoughts are a mishmash of words, or all the emotions he can name and more, and he's not proud that all he can get out for his child is a broken, "It's, if it's... oh caves I left her here, will she- We can try again, right..." as he almost flutters around the chrysalis, and he glances back at Telesto's heavy landing - still present enough to check on her, ensure she was alright.

Sudden movement has him nearly leap back, and he places himself between whomever might come out - still beating back the hope that it's her - and he can't help the groan that tears out when he realizes it is her, and her once familiar face is scarred, her shoulders and neck... "Haven," he nearly sobs as he leans forward, one step at a time and long neck unfolding and waiting to see if she's angry at him, his fins flat and wings laying against the floor of the cave as he waits to see what she does, and his first brush against her forepaw is enough to start the tears flowing from his eyes. "Oh, I'm so sorry, Haven I-, he croaks, stepping closer and sniffling, "I came back and you were gone I thought you were dead..."

@Telesto

Her father never acted like this. He always seemed calm- at least, whenever she spoke to him, anyways. If the gravity of the situation hadn't sunk in before, then it sure did now. That something that he'd thought been lost forever turned up so suddenly, like a shell washed up on shore.

The sudden movement, the sudden cracking and crashing made Telesto jump, one foot nearly slipping off the edge of the den's entrance. The dragon- Haven that tumbled out looked like the stories Electrum had told her, except it didn't. He never mentioned the scars. She thought, Did the fire-beast do all that? The raw, bubbled flesh sure looked like how she'd imagine burn scars to look.

She felt almost unwelcome, awkwardly standing on the outskirts. She should probably do something, anything other than just standing there, but she can't come up with a single idea of what to do. She cast a glance out the den's exit- the least she could do was keep anyone else from intruding. She felt like she should be crying, like they both were. Would that make it better? Having any sort of reaction at all? Or was it better to just let them have their moment?

@Haven

Haven whined and lunged forward, clumsily tucking herself in Electrum's front, burying herself in his wings. She sobbed into his shoulder, so happy to see him and yet...

"I protected our den!", she said, "A-against that monster, that horrible beast of a dragon! He thinks Leo is his but it is not! He burned me! He ripped apart our d-den as I tried to protect our ch-child but I couldn't-"

She tucked her face in the other's front and hid, trying to make herself as small as possible. She couldn't bear being alone.

"... I waited," she said softly, "I begged for you to come. I-I wish I didn't need too b-but I'm too weak. I'm sorry."

She was so ashamed of herself. For not protecting their home, for leaving.

Haven drew away and slumped over to her most prized possession, her singing gem. It was quiet and stopped for seconds at a time, a large crack right through the center. She'd been so happy to have it and fell asleep to it many a night, but it was broken.

"He broke it," she mumbled, "It was going to be for our children. For... for you, Telesto."

She knew the child was here and she was so ashamed that she hadn't been present to watch them grow. Hunching in on herself, she withdrew, clutching the gemstone in her talons as she huddled, crying softly.

@Electrum