Rebuilding a Future [Private Kelarth/Wake]

Yalaruh couldn’t remember how long she’d been visiting these SkyWing ruins. These homes, that she once could visit in comfort, now torn apart, shattered, abandoned. She supposed she had seen them since she was a hatchling, but the first time she remembered actually going inside was… well, shortly after becoming a trainee, she thought, perhaps.

She could still remember that day so well. The pride on her dad’s face. Anila had been there as well. Oh, how vivid her excitement still wrung in her mind. Her father had taken her here, this sacred place, to learn about the Dragon gods. She could even recount the conversation itself, almost as clear as if it had happened yesterday. How could she not? It was one of the last times she had seen her father or adoptive mother.

”Yalaruh, do you see that?” the mighty SkyWing king asked, pointing to a statue of a massive, eastern style dragon, with beautifully decorated horns, and wings that shone like the sun.

“Yeah. Who is that?” Yalaruh asked, her tail wagging an excitement.

“This is the great god of fortune, Kelarth. To some he is even the god of balance. Karma, perhaps. He gives to some, and takes from others, as is the course of nature. He brings us fortune, and is the harborer of luck.” Tion explained, looking up wistfully at the statue, “The gods are great beasts. We owe them our lives. They are infinitely powerful, and yet,” he paused.

“The gods also need our help. They gather their strength from our commitment. We must pray, follow them, to give them power. After all, a ruler is only as strong as the people they govern.”

“Wooah…” Yalaruh said, with eyes wide, as she stared up at the statue. Smiling, she looked over at Tion, “Daddy, I want to help the gods!”

Tion chuckled, stroking her back, “Perhaps one day, dearest. Perhaps one day….

And ever since then, Yalaruh had not seen her father. Nor Anila. It almost seemed as if everything Yalaruh had ever known had been stripped, taken from her by some unknown force. But still… she had never forgotten this place. Even know, as it lay in ruins, she came to this mighty temple, to pray to a god she didn’t even know if he was real.

Tion had told her Anila, her mother, had been a goddess. What was Yalaruh to believe, when such a figure simply vanished from her life. Had it been a lie? Any other sane dragon would have said yes. But… Yalaruh felt different. It was almost as if she remembered something, of when she was young. A blurry, yet firm image, just out of reach enough to not see the details, but close enough to tell it’s real.

She was a silly dragon. Perhaps she was still holding onto delusions because she was desperate. But… even if the gods weren’t real, this place, this temple, it still held value to her.

She may be young, she may be reckless, she may have no clue what she was doing or why, but she would remain firm. She would follow the wishes of her father.

Which is why, alone, in the ruins of a SkyWIng temple to the god of fortune, did she pray, tears streaming down her cheeks.

She prayed for a sign. World, let her know that her travels and dedication weren’t for nothing.

Wake flew through the skies of Skywing territory. He hated being in the tribal region, but the wyvern had his reasons for being there. Ever since he had met Kelarth in the flesh, the small dragon had tried to serve him as best he could, but he ran into one issue. He honestly didn’t know how. It wasn’t really his fault. He was a Rogue after all. The only way he learned something was finding it or being taught it by his family or willing dragons. Recently though, he heard of somewhere he could learn. A place with a Prophet of Kelarth still living.

It was this hope that led Wake to brave the dangers of the trip to find this place. Maybe he could learn what to do. Perhaps he could even learn how to contact Kelarth himself! Either way, this would at least be helpful.

The hybrid wyvern soon came upon a building that looked like a temple of sorts. With that, Wake walked in, soon becoming awed by the sights. It was beautiful inside, despite what the monsters had done. For a moment the wyvern forgot why he was there. He just looked st everything. One think caught his attention though. An old statue of a familiar figure. Kelarth. It was broken, most likely from when the beasts invaded the city. He just looked at it before accidentally jamming his foot into a piece of the statue. ”Agh!”

The God of Fortune stared at a single viewing portal. In it, Kelarth saw the ruins of what were once temples and shrines to the gods. They had fallen all at once with the monsters' rampage across the world. It seemed belief in the gods had gone with them. Only the EarthWing King still followed the deities, even the one who had abandoned the world. Kelarth could only dream of having a Prophet that would be as devoted to him as the EarthWing was to Astral. He would have to meet this demigod one day. But for today, Kelarth sought a mortal of his own to call prophet. The potential of having one came to him when he watched Astral's. Kelarth's viewing portal took back his attention. Within one of his ruined temples were two Dragons. The one that intrigued him most was the SkyWing that cried and prayed. Kelarth raised a paw to the portal. A second, smaller one appeared alongside. In it, brief images of the SkyWing's life passed one after the next. A low, thoughtful growl rumbled in the God of Fortune's throat as he watched the images then turned his immortal gaze back to the first portal.

As Yalaruh whispered incoherent words, she was suddenly interrupted by the sound of flapping wings, followed by the sound of a dragon yelping out in pain. Immediately, she tensed up, her frill shivering, as she jerked towards the source of the noise, away from the ruined temple statue.

It seemed that she was not alone, for several yards away from her was another dragon, a wyvern, who looked like he had just stubbed his wing or foot on a piece of the broken statue. Immediately, Yalaruh tensed up. Who was this stranger? They looked vaguely SkyWing, but she couldn’t really tell, and what would they be doing all the way out here, in the middle of nowhere. Not to mention they certainly didn’t smell like a SkyWing or LightWing… so… was it possible they were a rogue?

Based on the dragon’s behavior, it didn’t look like he had spotted her quite yet, which was incredibly lucky on her part. But now, she felt it futile to try to hide.

Looking over the dragon quickly, it seemed like he was only slightly taller than she was, they might even be the same height. But nonetheless, Yalaruh immediately dashed over to a more concealed part of the temple, behind a large pillar, and shrunk down, unsure of what this stranger’s intentions were.

Meanwhile, as she stared over at him, unsure if he has spotted her or not, her body would vibrate and tingle with electricity, cautious.

Wake used his wing claw to examine his foot. Nothing looked damaged, it just hurt like heck! It was then that he heard something. His ears picked up on another creature moving in the temple. The wyvern’s head darted in that direction, his horns frilled out. He didn’t know who was there, but he knew he heard something.

By Kelarth he hoped he had some good luck. Maybe this dragon was the one he was looking for Wake looked around for a moment before he walked towards where the noise was. He then called out. ”Hello! Who’s there?”

Yalaruh wasn't going to lie, she was surprised the stranger hadn't spotted her In fact, it seemed as if he had been more or less oblivious, and only thought he had seen someone, which was surprising since Yalaruh was about the same size as him, and had been almost directly in front of him. Oh well. Perhaps he had been awed by the temple's majesty?

Nonetheless, this dragon didn't exhibit any aggressive behavior, and when he called out who was there, Yalaruh was tempted to answer. Not only that, but this dragon looked SkyWing. Perhaps a former tribe member? Yalaruh couldn't tell. She didn't think she'd ever seen him around before. Very odd.

She swallowed. If she called out, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to keep her location a secret, and he'd find her. But at the same time, if he was hostile, wouldn't he have been more carefully observant coming into this sacred sanctuary.

Placing her cards on the table, Yalaruh tentatively poked her head out from her hiding place, "Hello? Who are you?" she asked.

Wake heard the voice and immediately turned his head to face it. There was definitely a bit of worry in the voice, and it sounded like a dragoness. He figures it only made sense with all the monsters around, and the fact that he was a Rogue. Wake was about to speak, but he stopped.

Should he say why he was here? For all he knew this was just some random dragon using the place as shelter. Then again, this could be the one he was looking for. Gah! What should he do? The wyvern decided to cut his losses, and tell the scared dragoness everything. ”I’m Wake. I didn’t mean to scare ya. I was just hoping to find someone who could teach me about Kelarth.”

"Ah, I thought you looked familiar." Kelarth said thoughtfully into the portal he was viewing. He had met the Wyvern twice before during his visits to the mortal realm. Was it by his own design that he should see this particular mortal again? It certainly wasn't coincidence, given Wake was looking to learn about the God of Fortune. Well who better to take him under their wing but the god himself? Kelarth plucked two gold feathers from his wings. He then blew them into the viewing portal.

In the temple, a few feet away from where the dragons stood, a portal opened. From it came the two gold feathers. One floated to each of the mortals and hovered in the air before them. It seemed as if they were waiting for something.

Judging by the dragon’s behavior, he definitely seemed like he wasn’t hostile. This was good, and definitely did a good bit to help improve Yalaruh’s mood. The dragoness, now nearly 18, had experienced far to many savage former SkyWing allies, and bore witness to dragon on dragon violence. It was rather refreshing to see someone new. She had been stuck around the same dozen survivors for about a year and a half now, and had hardly seen any friendly faces outside of those. This one… though a stranger, seemed to emit something she couldn’t quite explain. A calming radiance, understanding perhaps, in those eyes.

She offered a weak smile, and exposed herself further. Her ears perked when the dragon said he was looking for someone to teach him about Kelarth. This was rather interesting. Yalaruh hadn’t seen many surviving dragons that still held faith, let alone rogues, as this one seemed to be. Then again, she still wasn’t sure. It was possible he was a SkyWing, she just hadn’t seen him before. Though… Yalaruh couldn’t explain this feeling. For some reason, the fact that this dragon had explicitly searched someone out, and the fact Yalaruh had happened to be here the day he had done so…. Could it be more than coincidence? Could this be the sign she was looking for?

Well, not quite yet. “Oh, well, it’s a surprise to meet you, Wake. I was just visiting this shrine a bit before heading back to my…. Never mind. I just so happen to have a little bit of limited knowledge of Kelarth… why are you trying to learn more about him?” Yalaruh asked. She was also about to ask whether Wake was a part of the SkyWings or LightWings, when all of Yalaruh’s body suddenly felt something very… strange. An aura perhaps? No… it was unlike anything she had ever experienced before.

And the tension was not for naught. Within the temple, between where the two dragons stood, a portal opened. At first, Yalaruh tensed. But… something about this portal told her it was not to be feared. It was not the same terrible portal that had released monsters to ravage the world. Its’ presence almost seemed to, well, calm her. She perked her ears a bit, examining it. Its swirling colors, illuminating with an almost heavenly air to it.

But that wasn’t the wildest thing. From the portal came two golden feathers. One floated towards Yalaruh, while the other went to Wake. Any other dragon would have been confused, but Yalaruh was merely awestruck. The feather floated in front of her, almost beckening her to do something. Slowly, she began to stretch a paw out, eyes wide, having almost forgotten about the fact Wake was still there.

“A… feather?” Was all she was able to say. Was it possible? Here, in the temple of Kelarth, from a mystical portal that glowed with godly radiance? Could it be? The fortuitous feathers of legend? Artifacts gifted by the great god himself? At least, such was how the tale her father had told her went.

Her paw touched the feather, holding it. Now… if she had been in disbelief before, this was certainly a sign that was like any other she had received. What else could it be? As she held the feather, it felt as soft as silk, as smooth as satin. It was like holding a piece of a cloud, but solid. Or well, what the idea of holding a cloud might be. She was silent, shocked, and in a state of disbelief.

Wake gave the dragoness a smile, though she still didn’t reveal her name. The wyvern did get excited when she said that she could teach him some, with his horns flairing in response. He then heard the orange ness’s question, but before he answered he felt something.

The grey dragon began to feel something. An... energy of sorts. Then, some sort of portal opened between him and the dragoness. Wake froze for a moment, not quite sure what he was looking at. It was actually kinda beautiful. But something stranger soon happen. Out of the portal came two golden feather. One floated towards him, and the other towards the dragoness.

Wake gazed at the feather floating there. It looked so familiar. He circled it curiously for a moment, trying to understand what this was. He then heard the dragoness say something about it being a feather, which was obvious, but the way she said it.... It must’ve been something from... Kelarth? That’s why it looked familiar. Wake used his wing claw to grab the feather. It felt nice in his wing, but what did it mean?