CorvusFossil

2024/02/20 02:11] winterorwhiteout: Thunder split the sky, jolting Bombay awake. Rain was spilling into her make shift shelter, she stood and shoved the peg back into the wooden sail pole that she set up her station on. The ship rocked back and fourth, she wasn't even sure how she managed to doze off She tried to scan the deck and further out into the ocean, but the rain was like a loud gray wall in her vison. Letting nothing through, She sighed. who knew watching for whale poachers would include so much awful weather..wait thats actually such a stupid thought of course it would include bad weather Bombay your on the ocean!- She sat down, resting her legs from all the standing they were doing, she had to be ready and quick incase of poachers, after all. 135/1400 [2024/02/20 13:18] ecluckthegoldenturkey: Lanternfly stood close to the center of the little boat, her claws sinking into the slick wood in an attempt to grip at least something. She wasn't going to bother with an attempted shelter like Bombay had, but still was not happy about the current conditions. At all. The hivewing buzzed her wings rapidly in an attempt to flick some of the water off her body, but really she knew it was in vain. Lanternfly was standing on a boat in the middle of the ocean while a storm raged above.... and below. Waves crashed against the sides of the ship again and again, threatening to pull the full thing under. She cringed a little bit at each thoom which reverberated throughout the ship, usually followed by the creek of wood trying to work itself apart. "Why did we decide to do this in a boat again? We're dragons, we can fly you know." She roared, struggling to make her voice heard above the howling wind and thundering downpour. "And if anybody here gets blown off the ship, I will help search for you but I will not be happy about it." She turned slightly to give Bombay a glare, "But this does not apply to your little shelter there, if that blows off it's gone. You hear me?" A particularly strong gust of wind jerked Lanternfly to the side, and she had to divert all her attention to not falling over and/or getting blown away directly after giving her warning. She couldn't help but be reminded of the night she arrived on mezzo with her soon-to-be mentor, and how much she really did not want to repeat that again. Turning towards the vast ocean again, Lanternfly tried her best to squint into the darkness of the storm, but she could barely see a few meters past the edge of the ship. "Nautical, was it?" She asked, turning towards the seawing hybrid, "Did you inherit any of that darkvision from your seawing side? I'm having some trouble seeing anything in this storm." She gestured towards the sky and, as if right on cue, a bolt of lightning flicked through the air. illuminating the surroundings for just a moment. It revealed nothing of interest, of course, but it was sort of nice to know the rest of the worst still existed. Lanternfly had volunteered for the mission thinking it would be nice and easy, just scaring away some poachers to save an endangered species of whale. It was supposed to be a way to stretch her wings and get off the island for a bit, but of course nothing was that simple. Of course a storm would blow in, despite it being the middle of winter. At least any poachers should theoretically be scared off by the weather before Lanternfly had to lift a claw... Hopefully. { Words: 476/1400 } [2024/02/21 06:54] corvusfossil: The storm raged and whisked the boat across the crashing waves that turned white as they finished their motion. The sky was grey and Nautical could see lighting off into the distance. Nautical's body was coated in rain, it pelted as his scaly skin. He practically was soaking it all in, the rain dripping down his face, the occasional crash of thunder, it was all so glorious for a day to catch poachers. Nautical's whiskers blew in the stormy ocean wind. His wings were lifted slightly to catch the whisks of rain that would dance onto the undersides. "Mm? Yes, I did in fact. Quite a good thing to have. I'd light my scales for you but I'd worry about the poachers." Nautical said loudly to fight the storm. "I can steer the ship from underneath if need be," Nautical nodded, his webbed talons gripping into the wood. Nautical looked like he was in his element, his tall, large figure standing strong against the stormy winds. His alligator like tail planted firmly behind him allowing him to stand. "I'd like to see the whales after this storm clams, such beautiful creatures," Nautical smiled. [WORDS: 193/1400] [2024/02/21 13:46] winterorwhiteout: She attempted to glare at lanternfly, but it probably wasn't obvious in the pelting rain "we chose a boat because of this very fear!" She waved a Talon at the angry sky "if we got stuck in this flying we would have been doomed, we should retreat to the cabin soon if it gets worst!" She grumbled, rolling her eyes"im not gonna risk my life for a sun bleached bit of fabric don't worry!" She dug her claws into the wood as another large gust of wind and rain whistled by. well, I certainly wasn't expecting this as a first misson, while it is exciting it's also very...wet she thought, as a bit of wet slimy..something hit the side of her face "UGH! Good clearsight how did this even get out of the ocean!" She took the slimy kelp off of her snout with a disgusted look and just set it down, knowing if she through it off again it would just do the same exact thing. good clearsight this better clear soon 313/1400 [2024/02/22 14:45] ecluckthegoldenturkey: Lanternfly couldn't stop the sharp exhale of laughter she let out when the kelp smacked into Bombay's face, though it was hardly audible above the roar of the storm. The silkwing was clearly frustrated at her, which was sort of fair, but it wasn't her fault that the storm had blown in. At least Bombay was intelligent enough to let go of the tent if it were to start to blow away, which apparently wasn't a guarantee based on some other dragons she knew. While Lanternfly, and probably Bombay too, were miserable and wet in the storm, she was fairly impressed to see how... confident Nautical was in the face of the driving rain. Being a seawing hybrid probably helped, she figured, but Nautical was clearly enjoying it somehow. "I don't think steering the ship from below will be necessary, or effective. If the storms gets bad enough that we can't make it go the direction we want then flying is probably the better option." Lanternflys wings buzzed again, she really didn't like just sitting there on a ship where she could barely see anything just waiting for something to happen. "As for the poachers- Would they not be scared off if they saw your glow scales from afar? I was told they would most likely just avoid all conflict." Just as she was finishing the thought staring pointlessly out at the waves, a crack of lightning flew through the air accompanied by something smacking Lanternfly in the face. Poachers! They must have snuck up under the water to launch and Ambush! she thought, whirling around to face the foe. The rain had gotten into her eyes, in the darkness of the storm all she could see was a blurry shape on the deck. In a bit of a panic, Lanternfly plunged her tail stinger into the enemy so they would be paralyzed and unable to fight back. After a moment, it stopped moving for long enough to let Lanternfly relax. Shaking her head to get the water out of her eyes, she squinted to get a better look at the dragon.... except it wasn't a dragon. She had just stabbed a large sized fish, which had apparently been blown out of the water by the storm and into her face... Lanternfly didn't know how to react, three moons she was stupid. The hivewing just stood there, the fish still skewered in the end of her tail, as if she was the one who had just been paralyzed and not the fish. She was never going to live this down, if it got out. { Words: 910/1400 } [2024/02/24 03:14] corvusfossil: Nautical braved the storm as any sea dragon would. His face curled into a grin, his eyes narrowing as the rain hit his face. Nautical chuckled lightly at the two Pantalans. He knew he shouldn't but, he found it rather funny. The hybrid enjoyed the thrill of the storm, the boat rocking under his talons, the lighting CRASHING against the furious waves. "Mm? Perhaps I will put on a little light show then," Nautical responded. His scales lit up one by one, a soft, sea-foam green illuminating the rain covered boat. Scales on his face illuminated his green eyes, making them almost glow. He had glow scales that lined his arms and legs, leaving the rest to travel up his shoulder and to the arm of his wing. "Lass?" Nautical asked, seeing the hivewing suddenly startle. Thankfully, it was only a fish. "Ah, keen eye," he nodded. Nautical made his way to the edge of the boat and peered out at the waters and into the ocean. Nautical was rather hopeful to see one of the whales. His heavy body stood stiffly in the storm. He was unmoving from his position. But, the soft glow of his scales seemed to make the storm lot more eerie than one would wish. [WORDS: 403/1400] [2024/02/24 03:14] corvusfossil: [2024/02/24 16:10] winterorwhiteout: Bombay jumped and flipped around, ready to help defend with lanternfly- but she noticed the fish on the end of lanterns tail, she sighed. She stepped towards the light of the seawing hybird,her wings flicking water off of them as another bolt of lighting lit up the surrounding sea. "We are probably getting out of the brunt of the storm soon! Just another 30 minutes to a hour most likely." She called, flicking water off her wings. She watched the seawing hybird, seeing how steadfast and in his element he was, it truly was incredible. What was a bit more incredible in her eyes, is the rain seemed to have slowed a little, her prediction was hopefully right-withen the hour they should be fine. "Hopefully we can see some of those whales we are meant to protect soon!" She grumbled |454/1400| [2024/02/25 12:36] ecluckthegoldenturkey: Lanternfly sheepishly grabbed the fish from her tail, the paralysis venom in her tail had certainly done its work. The hivewing tossed it overboard, the fish certainly wasn't good to eat and she didn't want to chance anybody testing that. Judging by the other two's reactions, they probably weren't going to go around telling everybody about 'that one time Lanternfly stabbed a fish' which was a relief... but you never know. She sighed, what was done was done and now it was out of her control. Lanternfly was busy trying to deal with The Fish when Nautical began to light up his glowscales, but they certainly were a welcome change. If the hybrid had been in his element before, now it looked as if Nautical had spent his whole life in storms just like this. The soft green-blue lit up their environment very nicely, lighting up the nearby waves and causing each raindrop to appear to have its own tiny light. Nautical himself almost seemed ghostly, as if some apparition had landed upon the boat from the haunted "Thank you." Lanternfly nodded at Nautical, his simple act of providing some light really did help. "Good observation, Bombay." Lanternfly agreed, looking a little closer the raindrops did appear to become less frequent. The wind, too, seemed to be roaring a little less loudly, and she hadn't seen a bolt of lightning in a little bit. "I hope it breaks up sooner rather than later, though, it's hard to do any of our jobs in this." {Words: 1164/1400} [2024/02/28 04:52] corvusfossil: Nautical walked with a casual sway across the boat, making his way to check the different sides of the boats. He peered down into the water with almost a child-like wonder. He was by far to excited to see the whales, but Nautical was sure to keep his exicment under wraps as not to make a bad impression. He was in a serious enviroment right now, they had to be watching for poachers. The little light he produced followed him like a ghost, grasping onto his scales for safety. "Of course," Nautical said as he tipped his head. "It likely will break soon. The water has calmed a bit, doesn't look as it was before." Nautical agreed. The hyrbid simply wanted to dive down into the depths to see what was under them. But once more, he'd likely upset the alliancers. Nautical was only really here to assist with his skill in Marine Biology. Nautical oftne kept track of the creatures that would migrate to and fro. Overtime he had made a system of sorts, but the seasons too definetly helped in that aspect. But, he would simply love to study the whales as they passed Mezzo. Whales had and alaways been one of his favorite creatures. When he slept within the depths of the ocean, lodged under a rock, the whale song would put him to sleep. [WORDS 631/1400] [2024/02/28 14:21] winterorwhiteout: She flicked more water off her wings as she went back to watching for poachers, up, down, left-atleast the boat let her rest her wings, but her limbs would most likely be soar the next day. She turned, trying to see over the edge-nautical was right, the ocean was noticeably calmer aswell as the sky, the thunder rolled in the distance and she sighed. Finally some sun soon. She tried hard not to start daydreaming, but it was hard not to. She thought about when she was a young dragonet, and she was outside with her mum gardening in the greenhouse. It had started to rain hard, and the rain sounded like metal bits hitting the roof of the greenhouse. She remembered being amazed, how loud the glass made it, and how when they where done they had to sprint to their house, and inside her dad was waiting, he had just bought honey drops for them. She snapped out of the memory when she got salt water in her eye-she hissed, wiping it out. great way to interrupt good memories ocean. she thought. She looked over the side and gasped-a whale! A whale was swimming beside them "you two! Look!" She pointed, the grand beast was the size of the boat, she smiled Maybe this was worth it. |673/1400| [2024/02/28 18:45] ecluckthegoldenturkey: Whales. Lanternfly stood at the edge of the boat once again, having forgotten all about the incident with the fish in the face of this magnificent creature. Being illuminated by only the light of glowscales and distorted through the surface of the water and now dwindling raindrops, it looked like something out of a legend. She couldn't imagine how somebody, even a poacher, could bring themselves to hunt beautiful creatures to the brink of extinction. While so far the mission had been kind of a mess on Lanternfly's end, she understood now what could have been lost without any interference from the alliance. "...Wow..." A long moment of silence. "Well I'm glad to see we're in the right place." she hesitated for another moment, "Ah- Nautical- Would you like to dive down to investigate further? I understand you're a marine biologist and this seems like it would be an interesting opportunity for you. Bombay and I have our own job -make sure poachers don't pick off the last of these whales- but assuming you can breath underwater you could learn a lot." A part of Lanternfly envied Nautical, he was obviously very passionate about his subject of choice and had just been given an amazing opportunity. Lanternfly herself was very interested in bugs and insects of all kinds, but was too embarrassed to really dive deeper into the subject... To be given the chance to see some rare endangered species of bug up close would have been amazing, even if she wasn't particularly knowledgeable on the subject. She sighed softly, it was an amazing enough opportunity to help these endangered whales. It felt selfish, wishing for her own secret interest to be brought into the spotlight. {Words: 1450/1400} [2024/02/29 16:17] winterorwhiteout: [2024/02/29 18:58] corvusfossil: The storm came and went and the sun finally arose. The warmth was wonderful after a cold rain. Nautical had his talons over the edge, the webbing between his claws showing. Nautical leaned over, feeling as if he was leaning the whole boat to the side. "Absolutely!" Nautical smiled a big tooth grin. The hybrid quickly slipped off the boat, diving into the cool ocean waves without a splash. The waters had brightened and the ocean shined like colored glass. The light reflected and bounced off his scales, just as it did with the Whale's skin. Nautical swam under the whale. His eyes danced over the whale's large figure, its tail, its fins, it was incredible! Nautical felt his talons itch, too excited to write everything he could down about the creature. But then there it was, the sweet sound of whale calls. Nautical felt at home. He twisted his body to swim up beside the whale, keeping his distance to a tail length. The pearly eyes of the great creature were memorizing. He couldn't help but smile at it. Nautical's body moved from side to side like that of an alligator, but his movements were swift and calm. He didn't wish to startle the beautiful creature, he simply wanted to watch. One day the world will be safer he thought. He only wished this species wasn't endangered. Nautical looked up to the shape of boat, watching the two dragons peer over. His attention turned back to the whale, his gaze warm and soft. His talon floated just above the surface of the Whale's blubber, he enjoyed the closeness. But he felt a inkly of fear to touch it. Nautical rose up from the water, swimming along side the boat. "They're gorgeous!" Nautical shouted happily. "Beautiful creature, such bright eyes," he added. [WORD 933/1400] [2024/02/29 18:58] corvusfossil: [2024/02/29 20:44] winterorwhiteout: She jumped back as nautical slid off the ship and into the ocean, she watched, curious- she always wondered what being a seawing was like, being Able to enter a entire new world must be something else. She watched nautical under the waves, easy to spot from his glowscales, he seemed like one of the huge whales himself, just gracefully moving along, unaware of the evil that wanted them all dead. She turned, looking towards the sky, the sun was fighting its way through, peaking through the clouds and the rain, now almost gone. She could finally fly safely. "I'm going to stretch my wings over the ship for a second." She said, heading over to the end of the head of the ship and with a powerful lift of her wings, she took off. After two hours of non stop rain it felt amazing just to stretch her wings out, she circled the ship like a seagull, keeping a eye out of course for poachers, before she glided back down, landing with a thump on the wooden deck. "no sign of any other dragons." She reported, turning to lanternfly "we are the only ones for a long while, thankfully." After awhile she heard nautical from the water, she trotted over, leaning on the edge again. "That's great! That means they are healthy, I checked the sky and I didn't see any dragons besides us, so far they are safe." She gestured at the whales. 918/1400 [2024/03/01 00:06] corvusfossil: Nautical's body cut through the water like butter, only his wings to cause any sort of dragon. "Indeed! Lookin good," he chuckled as he looked back down at the whale. Nautical swam back under the water, enjoying the ocean going in and out of his gills. The bigwings swam deep down under the surface, only to launch himself up. Nautical jumped out of the water, twirling in the air before crashing into the calm ocean. "Join in! The water is lovely," Nautical called out. Nautical flipped on this back, his head floating just above the surface. The hybrid's tail swished behind him, his pale chest up to the sky. He enjoy this sort of carelessness. Swimming next to a giant creature? He'd do it any day. Nautical flipped back to his stomach and swam down under the Whale. He curiously inspected the Whale's stomach, checking for any injuries. Next he checked the flippers and tail. He found himself having to use more muscle when he swamp behind the creature. The hybrid rose back to the surface, his glasses askew on his face. "Whale looks healthy, not seeing any injuries, perfect shape!" He exclaimed happily. Nautical was glad to see the poachers hadn't gotten to this creature yet. "Glad nothing hasn't gotten to this beast yet. Whales are pretty hardy creatures." Nautical explained. Suddenly, he noticed the whale rising to the surface. The whale must be coming up for air. There was a spout of water that launched into the air spraying a light mist. Nautical chuckled, he loved whales dearly. He had found them to be the creatures he could never find often. When he did, he would spend the whole night and day following whatever whale he found listening to their song. [WORDS 1226/1400] [2024/03/01 00:07] corvusfossil: [2024/03/01 00:10] ecluckthegoldenturkey: ((I'm gonna fatespeaker this now so I can submit the quest and respond in the morning when I have more time! [2024/03/02 12:29] ecluckthegoldenturkey: "Join in..?" Lanternfly was delighted that the whale seemed healthy, but less enthusiastic about getting into the water. As far as she was concerned, seawater was cold and they wanted to be dry. She uncliped her cape, which she honestly regreted bringing, and set the sopping wet piece of fabric out to dry on the deck. Looking up at the sky, the storm had indeed cleared. Sunlight filtered gently through the thin layer of clouds, transferring some of that heat into the world around it. "Well I suppose- Oh!" The whale suddenly rose to the surface, a spray of mist jetting out from the beast's blowhole. Sunlight played through the thousands of water droplets, bouncing off each one and creating... a small rainbow. "It's... Beautiful..." Lanternfly remarked. She may not be as enthusiastic about water and marine life as the seawing hybrid, but she would appreciate it just as well from on the boat. (The hivewing hadn't even been taught how to swim, she wasn't sure she could do it at all anymore) {Words: 1623/1400} [2024/03/02 13:55] winterorwhiteout: Her mouth fell open as the gorgeous creature breached for air-surprised, to say the least "incredible! How could anyone hunt these? Bastards that's what they are." She commented She watched it settle back into the water and nautical get out of the way for the beast. "I wonder if more will show up!" She called "Should be coming across more soon." She stepped back onto the deck, realizing hoe hungry she was. She walked over to a pile of barrels near the captains quarters and opened one up, revealing fruit that they brought along to eat. She grabbed a apple and sealed the lid back on, walking back over to the edge and taking a chomp out of the fruit. They continued to watch the whale in silence, it was funny, she kept being put in situations with lanternfly, yet Bombay didn't get the vibes that lanternfly liked her very much, which was fine. can't have everyone love you. she thought, nautical was very fun to watch, she had only met him a few days ago and she already liked him, his passion for sea animals was amazing to watch in action, as was any passion. She watched as a flock of seagulls flew over, looking for food most likely-maybe they could spot a school of fish on the way. wouldn't that be something, not as amazing as the whale, but something 1150/1400 [2024/03/02 19:33] corvusfossil: Nautical chuckled as the spout got the hive dragon soaked. He loved Whales, their personalities were so, so beautiful. Nautical spun onto his back in the water, facing up on the surface again. His tail swayed side to side in powerful strokes. Nautical was near the head of the whale and the creature didn't seem to mind. "Whales have been hunted for their oils and meat. I believe the oil is used for fire or creating inks," Nautical sighed. "But there are much more proficient ways to keep a flame lit and make ink within our society," Nautical noted. "I find octopus ink tends to be nicer to write with," he added. "I'd love to see a whale calf, they have such adoring personalities!" He chuckled. Nautical looked up at the sky, the ocean waves occasionally splashing over his face. He blinked and smiled up at the clear skies where the sun broke through. Although they were protecting the whales and watching for poachers... he still rather enjoyed this little trips Nautical's glow striped faded and his normal green colors shown brightly within the water. He was almost as dark in color as the whale was. "Whale song is one of my favorite things," Nautical said aloud. "As a young dragon I wished to hear them. When I moved to the sea kingdom, that wish was fulfilled. I can never get enough of their beautiful song," Nautical said. His eyes were near shut, his body sinking only slightly more into the waves. He was ever so relaxed, listening to gentle waves crash into one another. WORDS 1491/1400 [2024/03/02 20:13] winterorwhiteout: She nodded to nauticals words "I'm going to take a nap in the sleeping quarters, call me if you need me you two!" She stretched and walked over to the ship hatch, opening it up to reveal a few hammocks and bags, containing her stuff, along with lanternfly and nautical. She climbed into a bottom hammock, sighing deeply. She grabbed her sketchbook and opened it up to a random page, revealing a drawn portrait of her, her mother and father. She sighed, flipping it to a clean page, she couldn't think about them right now. She dug into her bag until she pulled out a pencil, and started to sketch a the old stories she heard of the hivemind. She did the best she could with what she could remember-fighting sleep as hard as she could as she sketched on. The fight lasted for about ten minutes before she nodded off, into a deep and restless slumber. She dreamed of this very boat, this very misson, but something felt wrong. It was cheerful at first, then it took a dark turn, lanternfly, a moment before was oddly very happy and giddy, but then she stopped. Slowly turned to Bombay and hissed loudly, stabbing her with her tail. She started to, dramatically fall into the sea, she could see nautical try and fight lantern but it didn't work, he too was stabbed. She couldn't move, couldn't breath, everything was black around her. The edges of her vison slowly faded as she tried to fight and stay alive, but it wasn't enough.. She woke up with a jolt, smacking her head onto a low beam, she breathed. "Just a dream.." she looked at her sketch book, still in hand and tore out the sketch of the white-eyed hivewing and walked over to a lit candle. She held the drawing over the flames and it burned quickly, she stomped out any embers before signing. do I not trust lanternfly? she thought "That is enough studying about the hivemind for me.."she said out loud, walking back over to her hammock and crawling back into it. 1504/1400