An Important Talk[Closed: Artemise, possibly Wolf and Zaroc]

It was unexpected, to say the least.

Roughly two months had passed, and her job was already a hassle. Virgo was frequently being rushed from meeting to meeting. There was a lot that had to be done. And the worst part was, Virgo hardly had a say in the matter. It was most Avalanche that was directing the show. Or rather, it had been. But recently, Virgo had started to take control of the scene. She still didn't like being in control of all this power, but she also didn't like being someone else's puppet. And her mother would agree with her on this.

Preparations were already being made for training. What kind of training, you ask? Well, training for soldiers, of course. Well, sort of. Virgo had a faint outline of a plan, but she needed to get some things organized first. Such as change ranks, and do all that good stuff. Avalanche was already helping her chose a Army General to help her with combat related stuff. You know, things leaders should help out with.

And now she had an important meeting with Artemise. She was suppose to meet her semi goddess and discuss some new plans, alongside her two advisers, Zaroc and Wolf. Avalanche was going to be late, so they had some time of peace to discuss things before he arrived.

Virgo would quickly approach the large doors, accompanied by Scotia and Windfell. She ordered the two royal guards to wait outside, and to only let in Wolf, Zaroc, Artemise, or Avalanche. She would give brief descriptions of each dragon to the guards, before walking inside. She wasn't quite sure if Artemise or anyone had arrived yet, so she would just have to wait and see.

[I'll assume that Virgo is waiting in her private chambers.]

As she strode through the massive doors of the IceWing palace, which swung open under her touch, the Semi-Goddess wondered why Virgo had summoned her. Maybe she wanted to discuss some plans with her. Maybe she wanted to get to know her better. Maybe-- Oh, whatever, she was going to know soon anyway. Artemise gave a curt nod to the stoic guards stationed at their posts, who bowed as she entered their line of vision. She slowed her pace to gaze around at the castle, and she smiled at its splendour.

Impressive, as it should be. Tapestries hung everywhere, and they were beautiful, displaying the elegance and dignity of IceWings. Some even displayed Snowy Mountains with dragons circling its peak. Of course, that was impossible; Snowy Mountains was a beast of a mountain which could not be climbed, but nevertheless, the tapestry was beautiful.

Returning her attention to where she was going, she swerved aside, narrowly avoiding an IceWing roaming through the castle. She muttered a quick apology, embarrassed, but all embarrassment was wiped away when a glittering ice-blue statue caught her eye. She slowed down to look at it. The statue was an regal female dragon, but Artemise did not recognise her. Artemise's eyes travelled down, resting on a few words inscribed into the ice. Trinyah. So Trinyah looked like this? One of the former IceWing Queens. Were there any other statues of former Queens?

But she couldn't linger here any longer; what if she was late? After a while of walking, sge stopped outside the large doors of Virgo's private chambers. The guards standing outside Virgo's room lowered their upper body in a bow, before straightening and knocking on Virgo's doors. Then they opened it, letting Artemise enter.

Upon entering the room, Artemise herself sketched a bow so deep that her snout brushed the floor. "Your Majesty," she murmured, before rising up and offering a warm smile at Virgo. She had to look down at Virgo, for she was much taller than the wolf hybrid, but it made her slightly uncomfortable. She should not be looking down like this at the Queen...

Virgo was waiting in her chamber, casually playing with a small, round, ice ball, when she heard footsteps. She quickly hid the ball, and straightened up, watching as Artemise would emerge from the door, her large body just barely walking through the door normally. Everything here was so huge, but some of the stuff had been redecorated to accomadate for her small size. After all, she was about the same size as Trinyah, so they just took the stuff from that queen's old supplies, or what was left of them, and refurnished the place entirely.

She lifted her head as Artemise bowed, a small smile cracking itself onto her lips. The Semi seemed quite easy to talk to. Though, now that they were alone, and Avalanche said he would be at least thirty minutes late, she was beginning to grow a bit nervous. But her plans still stuck nonetheless. She would see them out through and through, and not back down for anyone. Of course, that was easier said than done.

Dipping her head to the semi goddess in greeting, Virgo's smile would widen, "Hello Artemise! It's nice to see you. How are you doing?" she would ask with a tilt of her head. Virgo certainly wasn't one to dive straight into business. That wasn't like her. She'd get her semi comfortable before they started becoming serious about things.

Though, more likely, Virgo was just doing this to relieve the stress she was beginning to feel. She really hoped her mother, or even Zaroc, would arrive to help her.

Zaroc strode quickly through the large halls of the palace, wings tucked into his sides as he dipped his head to one of the guards in the hallway. He walked quickly, baring managing to avoid hitting things as he went around corners, tail sweeping from side to side as he quickly made his way to the doors of Virgo's private chambers. He noticed two guards outside and spoke. "Zaroc, one of the royal advisors," he said, hoping Virgo had told them what he looked like. After a tiny nod of approval, one of the guards knocked, before opening the door. Zaroc uttered a 'thank you' and nodded to them, before entering slowly, his haunch brushing against the frame as he went inside despite his vigilance of passing through it. Why had Virgo summoned him? He was curious and eager to find out.

Turning, he closed it behind him before raising his eyes to the dragons in the room. There was Virgo and Artemise. "Artemise, Virgo," He greeted them respectfully, and bowed, his snout almost touching the ground, before he raised his head and stood up straight. He then awaited a command from Virgo or an invitation to sit, perhaps a question. He stood respectfully, head lowered slightly as he focused on the two females in front of him. "How are you faring, Artemise and Virgo?" he asked after a moment.
He was the most submissive one in the room, with his entire body lowered slightly in respect for Virgo.

(I'm going to assume this takes place after Ivory Tides so he calls her Virgo now? xD)

"I'm doing perfectly fine, Your Majesty," Artemise responded. "The IceWings are becoming more active recently, thanks to you. I'm really grateful for that; the IceWings used to be so dull and boring that I was tempted to go rogue." She frowned, but it was only a few seconds before she was smiling again. "You became Queen at the perfect time." Taking a step back, she said, "Do excuse me for a moment, Your Majesty," before turning away and making a turquoise gift box materialise in front of her and drop to the polished floors. The dragoness picked it up and turned back to Virgo, offering the gift to her Queen with an outstretched paw. Virgo was about to find out that there was a small necklace inside. It was made out of auzorite, the substance the castle had been made out of, and what would rest on Virgo's chest would be a snowflake with intricate designs. It would represent the IceWings.

"This may seem sudden, but..." she trailed off as paws thudding against the floor caught her attention. Artemise turned her head to see Zaroc. "Zaroc," she greeted. At his question about how she was faring, she replied, "I've been doing fine. Congratulations on becoming Royal Advisor." Watching him bow, as deeply as she did earlier, she wondered why he addressed the Queen as just "Virgo" instead of "Your Majesty".

Zaroc smiled at Artemise's words and chuckled. "Thank you, Artemise. It was quite a shock. I was sure the higher rankers didn't even know I existed. Avalanche chose me, didn't he? Or am I mistaken?" His eyes darted around, searching for the exceptionally eccentric male, but didn't see him. Glancing around, his mouth twitched down in a 'huh' expression. "Speaking of which, where is he? I expected him to be here first," he asked, before looking at Artemise. He still hadn't forgotten the day she'd helped to treat his wound. Things like that certainly didn't go unnoticed by ol' Zaroc over here.

Virgo blinked, a blush appearing on her face at Artemise's words, though her fur and her size made it difficult to see. She would crane her neck up respectfully to look at Artemise's face. She responded happily, her tail wagging as Arty talked. "Thank you, Artemise! I am honored! Though, I have to admit, most of it was Avalanche's doing. He knows much more about that kind of stuff than I do. I'm glad you stayed here, Arty! I'm sure you're making a great semi goddess."

A curious expression overtook her joyous one as Artemise excused herself, turning away so that Virgo couldn't see what she was doing. Her curiosity was replaced by excitement, however, when Artemise turned back around, holding a small, beautifully decorated box. Virgo's tail wagged harder, as she picked the box up, and began to tear away at the wrapping, only to find a beautiful necklace inside.

"Wow! Arte, you shouldn't have! This is so beautiful!" Virgo said in amazement. Soon enough, Zaroc walked in, and Virgo had to take her eyes off the present for a moment. "Good evening, Zaroc! It's nice to see you. Yeah, that was Avy, and he's at a conference with some new trainees right now." she would explain.

Artemise heard Virgo exclaim and she smiled as Virgo praised and thanked her. She lowered her head so that it was level with Virgo's, and whispered into Virgo's ear: "No problem. I figured that giving you a gift would be the most appropriate greeting. Saying hi isn't enough for me." She gave Virgo a cheerful wink before raising her head again. Then, in response to the dragon Zaroc mentioned, she turned her head to look at him, and said, "Avalanche?" That...royal advisor who had so rudely insulted the Goddess of The Elements? She was glad he was not here. "Anyway...." She shifted her head so that she was once again looking at the Queen. "What did you summon us for, Your Majesty?"

To discuss important things, perhaps.

Zaroc's intelligent gaze fell to the necklace Virgo had in her grasp, and his eyes widened. Did Artemise get that for her? His brain echoed his inner questions numbly. He gave Artemise a questioning, but admiring look, before shifting his gaze to Virgo, fixing his pale eyes on the wolf hybrid in front of him.

As Virgo spoke, Zaroc dipped his head in acknowledgement. "Ah, of course. I should have known." He immediately felt bad for not getting himself updates on the current events in the tribe. If there were new trainees, of course Avalanche would be there. Silly him. Or maybe he was just putting too much pressure on himself, he didn't know. Either way, Zaroc made a mental note to keep more up to date on the tribe in the future.

Hearing Artemise's voice, Zaroc turned his head and blinked in surprise, tilting his head at the rather enchanting dragoness in front of him. "Why, yes," he replied, brow furrowing slightly in confusion. "Is something wrong?" Concern filled his gaze and he wondered immediately what had happened.

Then Artemise reminded him of why they were hear, and he quickly composed himself. "Oh yes, what do you need, Virgo?" he asked, looking at his queen. He still felt a bit odd, calling her Virgo, but she had requested he call her Virgo. And after all, her wish was his command.

As he awaited Virgo's answer, Zaroc's tail slid around to curl around his legs in his attempt to take up as little space was possible. He didn't want to appear arrogant by stretching himself out or, god forbid, intimidating.

Virgo was too enamored by the necklace, she nearly had forgotten that she had something important she was suppose to be doing, causing her to blush a little bit, quickly putting the necklace on around her neck, after struggling a little bit, then turning back towards the expecting Artemise and Zaroc. It was rather... intimidating, standing under the gaze of dragons that were nearly five times her size, in Artemise's case being eight times. They were really.... tall, and terrifying. She had hated it when Artemise and Leo had started fighting, and she hoped she never had to deal with that again.

Straightening up some, attempting to gain some confidence back from her embarrassing stumble over her words and forgetting their purpose here. She had to come up with a plan. The IceWings were in dissarray, and someone needed to set them straight. That was why she had called this meeting. Especially to get her Semi more focused. She thought this was a pretty good plan. She hoped... her mother would arrive soon. She really wanted to run these ideas by her.

Nonetheless, without her or not, these advisers would help her greatly. Swallowing her nerves down, she would begin, standing up on her hind legs, front paws placed on her desk made of ice, so she could try to be a little taller than she already was, by about five or ten feet, maybe. The beautiful icy necklace sparkled around her fluffy neck. Then she spoke.

"Ah! Yes, the reason I called you. Well, um, you see, the IceWings have been in a lot of political anarchy lately, you know? Like, how badly a shape the kingdom dove into after Crystal and uh, Lynx, and how Apolis tried to bring it back up, but that failed? Well.." Virgo would stop for a moment, making sure she had their attention, before continuing, "uh, well, I have decided to start getting some things done around here. First off, we're going to start setting up more defined borders. I also want to start having designating training days for young soldiers, and tap into our special sources of aurozite to use for housing and weapons. I've.... uh... been told that we need to start passing safety laws for the people, and organize special hunting parties and benefits for them, in order to gain their trust, you know? Expand our art, architecture, food, stuff like that."

This was just the beginning. While it was true, Avalanche was the one helping her with most of this planning, she was beginning to get some idea of what they needed to do. One of the main things they needed to do was give to the people. After the people's trust was gained, they could start rebuilding their military. Then they could span their empire beyond the cold mountains.

Zaroc saw Virgo's cheeks go a bit red, and he smiled. He wondered what it was like, to be in her claws. To be so young and have a rank most dragons would kill for, and to now stand before the two dragons who wanted to help her the most, and propose ideas that could fail or succeed.

Zaroc watched as Virgo began her proposals, standing on her hind legs and placing her paws on the desk. Hopefully, when she reached her adult size, she wouldn't feel the need to make herself bigger. A queen had to have full confidence in her appearance. Or maybe he was wrong, he wasn't too sure.

He listened intently to Virgo, eyes trained on her face, taking in all the information. Immediately, he began to brainstorm, lowering his gaze for a moment as a look of concentration came onto his face.

After a minute of silence from him, he raised his eyes again and spoke. "Forgive me if I say something wrong, as my ideas are very loose and I need to look into them. But, I have a few ideas and words for your ideas, Virgo."

Okay, show time.

"Since not much was written about the Aurozite, at least in the scrolls I've read, I am unsure if we've found a way to combat this problem. If I am not mistaken, the first Icewings that discovered that they were unable to carry it for reasons unknown."

"Another thing that troubles me is how dangerous these weapons could be. It would be a new step in military weaponry, and if it fell into the wrong claws.. We need to make sure the Aurozite is used sparingly, if you ask me. The other tribes could become antsy, since they could potentially view it as an 'unfair advantage.' So it's best to restrict this type of power to a trustworthy source for now. As for housing, I'm unsure of what to say to that."

"As for safety laws, yes, they are a must. We cannot afford to endanger the lives of young ones or inexperienced tribe members. I propose that we perhaps 'restrict' certain parts of the territory to untrained dragons? Such as the Frozen Highland? The border that connects the NightWing territory to our territory could be looked into as well, as the snow there is quite acidic, and I don't know about you, but I don't like the idea of someone touching that stuff if we don't know much about it. Again, very undeveloped ideas I am proposing, and I could be wrong."

Zaroc looked at Artemise, realising how much he had been talking. "My apologies, Artemise, I lost track of myself there. I tend to speak too much," he chuckled at the last part, before nodding to her and then remaining silent, awaiting to see if she had any ideas.

Artemise couldn't help a chuckle as she watched Virgo place her front paws on an ice desk, in an attempt to seem bigger. Hopefully she would grow taller one day. But her thoughts of heights drifted away as Virgo began speaking, and she listened attentively, her attentive expression changing to one of dismay when Virgo spoke the word "political anarchy".

Heck. She was so, so dead. When it came to coming up with ideas that would have a huge effect on others, she would be no help, for she was not innovative enough to come up with a good idea. Artemise fumbled around in her brain desperately, hoping to find an idea. Her attention was pulled back to Zaroc, though, when he started speaking. She stared at him when he went on and on, amazed at how much he knew.

And how little I know.

She kicked the thought away, and kept on bobbing her head up and down in nods of agreement, though she had no clue whether his suggestions were worth nodding at or not. While he spoke, she continued groping around in her empty brain for something that could help.

Her mental claws closed around an idea, and words burst out of her maw as soon as Zaroc was done with his "speech". "I don't know if this will help or not, but I can help with the training," she said, trying not to show her worry at the possibility of having her idea scoffed at show in her voice. "I can train the soldiers, if you like. I promise that they will be trained hard. And as for the aurozite issue... I don't think you need to worry so much about that. I can...uhh, conjure up weapons..." Oh god. This was coming out all wrong. Resisting the urge to cover her face with her paws, she gritted her teeth and tried not to look like she was going to die of embarrassment.

Artemise began to speak, suggesting she assist with the training. Zaroc nodded and smiled, showing he agreed with her. Artemise was a very powerful dragoness, and clearly an experienced fighter. When she stammered and lost track of herself, Zaroc jumped in to try and help her.

"Actually, Artemise, that's not a bad idea," he then looked at Virgo. "While magic is not as reliable as wit, speed or strength, learning to conjure a weapon to defend oneself can save someone's life. She has a point. If we are to improve our military quality, we need our soldiers to learn all of the defenses for all types of situations."

Then, Zaroc got an idea.

"About the art and architecture.." he paused, glancing at his two fellow dragons with hesitation in his eyes. "You're both probably going to think me mad, but.. We could ask the Ebonwings about their art and architecture. As far as they know, they live for their visual displays, and I'm sure they'd be happy to lend us a few tips. Of course, we should not directly steal their designs, but manipulate them into our own, original design." The words just tumbled out of his mouth before he could stop them.

Was it a bad idea? He wasn't sure. The Ebonwings were very secretive and unlikely to share much, according to the most recent scrolls he'd discovered. But, he had proposed his idea, and it was now the time for the other two to give their opinions.

When Zaroc picked up from where she'd trailed off, she shot him a look of relief, making a mental note to give him a huge hug later on. Her look of relief was quickly replaced by confusion, though, when Zaroc mentioned the conjuring part. "No, Zaroc, I didn't mean it that way. The conjuring ability that I have is one of my...semi abilities, if you could call it that. My point is that I could conjure up the necessary things, and we wouldn't have to worry about our supply of Auzorite," she said when Zaroc was done with his suggestion.

"But your idea about visiting the EbonWings is something I support, Artemise went on. From what I've read from the scrolls I've borrowed from the library, the EbonWings have amazing art and architecture. I'd love to visit them! Besides, I've always wanted to meet Tenebris." She glanced at Virgo, waiting for her opinion. Would Virgo agree? Or would she be against the idea? Then her gaze travelled to Zaroc. He seemed so focused. Virgo would not regret promoting him to Royal Advisor. As the thoughts crossed her mind, a new idea accompanied it too. "We could make an alliance with the EbonWings!"

Virgo blinked, as the two began to voice their opinions. It was rather.... surprising, actually. They had such good ideas! Especially Zaroc. But their ideas were all equally amazing. At least, in Virgo's opinion. She would sit back, listening to the two talk about all the cool things that they could do, offering their constructive criticism and critique, and just providing a generally good atmosphere to the whole situation. It made Virgo a little jealous, actually, and some of the stuff they said made her want to smack her head, and be like 'idiot! you should have thought of that!' but she stayed quiet. Mostly out of respect for Zaroc and Artemise.

Then Artemise and Zaroc brought up something rather interesting. The EbonWings. Virgo knew very little about the EbonWings, other than that they had recently popped up out of nowhere, and that was only because of what Avalanche had told her. She hadn't even known they had existed before she became queen, but apparently they had been around for about fifteen to twenty years, give or take a few. She listened, enamored, by the idea of talking to another tribe on business like this. Artemise even suggesting becoming allies with them.

After she was sure they had expressed their ideas, Virgo would start up again, raising her body once more so that she could be noticed, and not looked down on. "I'd like to say, I really like all of your ideas! And yeah, I suppose I agree about aurozite. We do know very little about it. Perhaps we could get some scholars to study it more, so that we can better adapt it to things like that. As for the training, I think we definitely could use some training! Thanks for that, Artemise! I would love to learn magic! It would definitely be a useful advantage to our tribe!

And that brings me to our next subject. EbonWings. I know very little about them. Sorry about that. But from what I do know, they sound pretty cool! I'd have to learn more about them before something as drastic as an alliance, though. Hey, you guys seem to know about the EbonWings! What are they all about?" Virgo asked, genuinely curious. They apparently were good at art and architecture, so that was cool.

Artemise's eyes, both a hue of midnight blue, swiveled over to look at Virgo as the Queen finally started speaking. About time. So many suggestions had been voiced out, and Virgo's opinion was definitely needed. Artemise beamed at Virgo's approval that she become a trainer for the soldiers, but she suddenly found herself trying not to facepalm herself when Virgo mentioned magic. "No, Your Majesty. I didn't mean it that way," Artemise said with a sigh when Virgo was done. "I cannot teach you how to conjure. I can only teach magic wielders how to use their magic wisely, but not how to..." She struggled for an appropriate word. "...manifest it, if that's the right word." Artemise then proceeded to answer Virgo's question about the EbonWings.

"And now, about the EbonWings. From the scrolls I've read, their art is extremely unique. In fact, there is some EbonWing art in the scrolls that have information about all Tribes. Their art fascinates me more than their architecture. They have come up with ways to use normal, everyday things as a tool for painting, and they have created seriously awesome art. With the everyday things they are using as a tool, they have a huge variety of shapes they can use for painting instead of the usual stroke of a tail."

As soon as the last word left Artemise's maw, she began worrying. Had she said too much? Then again, Zaroc had said even more. Trying to reassure herself with that thought, she let another idea spill out. "Maybe we can learn from them. Perhaps we could use a crystal with shapes carved in, splatter it with paint and...err, place the crystal on a blank canvas? It would leave an imprint there, right?" Hopefully it wasn't too bad an idea. To be honest, she was pretty surprised at herself. She had never been able to come up with ideas like that. Maybe it was because of Zaroc and Virgo, the way they made her feel like she had to contribute.

It was.... a start. Artemise seemed to be not very impressed with Virgo's idea of teaching magic. What was so bad about that? Wasn't magic something that could be taught to anyone? Surely they could teach more dragons how to wield magic. After all, there were very few, to none at all, magic wielders in the IceWing kingdom. In fact, the concept of using magic for battle had only come up recently, when rumors of magic wielding dragons in Oculus's court began to spread. A scary thought, indeed, due to how little most dragons actually knew about magic, and how to combat against that power.

The wolf dragon tilted her head at Artemise's words. It sounded sort of.... outlandish. It was unique and creative, though. Maybe they really did need a trip to the EbonWings. But how could they do that, exactly? Have an ambassador be sent down and study the art and techniques of the EbonWings? The wolf dragon's ears perked up at the idea. An ambassador! Of course! That could work well. She was beginning to grow excited, but she needed to retain some sense of authority. Maybe. After all, Avalanche had once told her that she would, one day, but the one calling the shots.

She would lower her head a bit at Artemise's facepalm, saying, "I didn't mean that. I meant it would be cool to teach other dragons magic. You can do that, can't you? Isn't that the unique thing that separates magic from the abilities we are born with? That it can be taught?" that was the one thing Avalanche had taught her that she remembered. Suddenly, speaking of Avalanche, there was suddenly a hurried knock on the door. Virgo perked her ears.

"Come in," she said, though she knew who it was already. No doubt, Avalanche back from his conference, or whatever it was that he attended.

As soon as the last word left her mouth, Avalanche would hurriedly rush in, quickly bowing, before presenting himself in an orderly manner, "I apologize, my Queen. I did not expect that to take as long as it did, I hope I did not miss anything important?" he said in his apologetic tone, his voice soothing like honey, but holding a slight nip to it Virgo couldn't quite place.

"No.... not much, we were simply discussing the current military power of the kingdom, and some things we could do to improve our art and architecture." at the last word, Avalanche's ears perked up. He clearly tried to hide his excitement, but to no avail, like a hatchling at a festival.

"Oh, my Grace! I am delighted to hear you speak of such things! 'Tis a shame I was unable to accompany you at that time. The barracks were being quite difficult." Avalanche commented, a slight tone to his voice that Virgo couldn't quite understand. She wasn't the best at reading him. He was a rare one, yes.

Before he could start ranting, however, Virgo gestured to the ground, "Take a seat, Avalanche," she'd say, her voice cool and collected. "Anyway, Artemise. I like your idea, it's creative and cool, I just think we need something a little more... thought out, maybe?" Virgo didn't know how to best phrase it. She wasn't good when it came to art and culture and stuff.

Artemise did not want to facepalm. It would be rude. She couldn't help it, though, but regretted her action the moment she saw Virgo lower her head slightly. Blood rushed into her cheeks as she flushed in embarrassment, and she hastened to agree with Virgo: "Oh, I see, my apologies for taking your words the wrong way. And yes, I can teach them how to wield their magic, provided I know exactly what kind of magic they have..." She trailed off as a knock sounded, and she assumed it was Avalanche. She was right, as the male rushed into the room and apologised to Virgo for his tardiness. Artemise couldn't help but direct a look of dislike towards Avalanche, for his presence brought back unpleasant memories of him lecturing her. That had happened several times, and each time he did it, her dislike for him increased more.

But for the sake of peace, she plastered a smile onto her face, and responded to Virgo, "I'll try to come up with something 'thought out'; however, you need to give me some time. I'm not really that creative, you see..." She, too, lowered her head slightly in embarrassment. "What do you think, though, Zaroc? Any other...umm, ideas?" She directed her gaze at Zaroc, who had been rather silent for quite some time now, presumably coming up with something with his brilliant mind. Save me, she silently begged. Hopefully Zaroc would have a good idea in mind.