#yophiel

[astrocomiical]

nothing like some religious oc angst to start off a tumblr with

[dustyzippo]

clothing swap

[tindiflightrising]

Skye and Chloe

Skye has always known that they would be called to serve the Gladekeeper, but they wanted this duty to mean something if they had the choice. Glademother would not have had Skye born knowing if She’d meant for them to just pass into Her care immediately, they know that. So they train with the senior dragons and wait.

Last of three to leave the nest, Chloe has taken to wandering around the Shrieking Wilds alone, a dangerous proposition even for an Imperial. Without warning, the young dragon is sucked into a mud bog, gone before she can even cry out. She will go to the Gladekeeper, then, unnoticed and forgotten.

Skye is the only one at the entrance of the lair when Eha swoops in, wings flaring in distress. “I hear a mind in extreme distress, Skye!” she says. “Who’s on patrol?”

“Yophiel,” Skye says, the Skydancer’s anxiety passing to them as well, causing the Spiral to twist around, wings fluttering as they sound the alert.

Yophiel’s arrival is prompt. “What is it?” the Wildclaw asks, goggles pushed back so they can see his face.

“I hear a mind in despair, nearby,” Eha says. “I think we can still save her.”

“Rescue it is,” Yophiel says immediately. “Cullen and Isaura are in the Kelp Beds, so it’ll be the three of us, since it’s urgent. Let me get some of my tools, in case she’s trapped somewhere we can’t easily reach.”

“Good idea,” Skye agrees, turning agitated loops above the two older dragons. “Eha, where is she?”

“Northeast,” Eha says, fidgeting with her toes in the soft dirt. “Hurry, Yophiel!” Before the Wildclaw returns, the spirit healer gasps. “She’s sinking! She’s… Skye, we need to go now!”

“All right, but let me leave a note for Yophiel in case we need rescuing,” Skye replies, trying not to get caught up in Eha’s panic. “Calm down, Eha. We won’t reach her at all if you’re not calm enough to find her.”

The young Imperial has given up struggling. Her wings are coated in the sticky, clinging mud, and she can’t get any closer to the edge of the mud pit. She wishes she’d gotten a chance to apologize to her mother for not listening about sinking mud pits. Only her head is still fully clear of the sucking ooze, and she spots a bright flash of blue and green. Too late, she thinks.

Skye arrives just ahead of Eha. “There!” they shout at the Skydancer. “I see blue!”

“Grab those vines and drop one down,” Eha says, worrying at her claws. “If we can just hold onto her until Yophiel gets here and comes up with something clever…”

Skye agrees wholeheartedly and dives into the heavy trees to find a suitable vine. Dropping it down, they call, “Catch!” They can’t remember the young one’s name. Does she have one yet?

The Imperial lifts her head. “With what?”

“Your mouth for now,” Eha retorts. “We’ll get you out of there, but you have to help.” She’s almost as large as the not-yet-grown Imperial, and between her and Skye’s almost negligible weight, they manage to anchor the young one against the sucking of the mud.

Yophiel arrives and takes in the situation at a glance. “Move your wings very slowly,” he instructs the Imperial. “Let the mud fill in the spot where you’ve just left before moving further. I’ll get the pulleys set up.”

Anyone who has never seen the engineer work before would be surprised at how quickly he gets everything set up, first hammering a peg deep into the ground and looping the end of the vine the other two are holding through. “Let go… carefully,” Yophiel says, watching his peg. When it bends but doesn’t give, he nods in satisfaction and finishes with the pulleys. “Keep moving, youngster.”

“I can’t…” the Imperial says weakly, fluttering her newly freed wings desperately. “I’m so tired.”

Skye darts in and uses their claws to start digging at the mud, instructing the much-larger dragon on which way to move her limbs as they free them. The Imperial’s head is sinking and she almost gives into panic until Skye gets up underneath her, pushing her chin up with their small body. Suddenly, with a wet gloop, some of the mud sucks back in rapidly, engulfing the Spiral. “Skye!” the Imperial cries, fishing her tiny rescuer out.

The damage is done, though; Skye was startled enough that they inhaled, sticky mud coating their breathing tubes. “It’s all right,” they say to the Imperial. “Let’s get out of the mud.”

Yophiel and Eha tug the two back to solid ground, the Wildclaw ignoring the Skydancer’s protests that they should move faster. “I don’t want to strain the equipment or the girl’s neck, Eha,” the engineer replies. “You should have purchase with your front claws now, child.” Someone who knew the lavender dragon well would have known he was upset by his expression, but his claws and his tone are steady on the vine, towing with all of his strength.

As they get the two mud-covered dragons onto the firm earth, a smell like spring flowers wafts through the air. ËSkye,Ë a resonant voice says softly, and the Imperial sets the small dragon down, their bright clothes and scales almost completely obscured by dark mud. ☼This is why I wanted you to join Me,☼ the Gladekeeper says, nothing more than a voice on the wind and a feeling of green. ☼Your selfless heart and the bond you represent are much needed at My side.☼

All of the dragons bow except Skye, who is too exhausted. Instead, they smile up at the Imperial, who is weeping. “It’s all right, Chloe,” they say, suddenly knowing her name. “I’ve always been meant for this.”

“It’s still my fault you have to go now,” she sobs, dropping her muzzle to nose gently at the Spiral. “If I hadn’t left the path, you never would have had to rescue me.”

“I wanted it to mean something when I went,” Skye says, nuzzling back. “Saving someone is the best thing I could do, so thank you for letting me save you.” The Gladekeeper’s breeze blows through again and Skye flutters upright, their wings strong again. “Goodbye, everyone. Tell my parents that I chose this.”

“That never works,” Yophiel says under his breath, then nuzzles his descendant.

Skye gives their great-grandfather a Spiral’s impish grin. “Perhaps Glademother will let me tell them in person before I go? That would be best.” Waving one more time, the Spiral vanishes in the direction of the lair.

When the three returned to the lair, they were greeted by Xandra, Aphrodisia, and Iona, Skye’s mother. “I’m so sorry!” Chloe wailed at her, flinging herself (carefully) down in front of the blue Spiral.

Iona blinked. “I always knew Skye would go to the Glademother, Chloe,” she says gently, coiling around the Imperial in a Spiral hug. “They told me this when they were barely hatched. They also told me that they were looking forward to seeing their sister, so don’t be sad.”

“So they did come by to say goodbye, then,” Yophiel says with a chuckle, joining them after reporting to Xandra. “That’s just like Skye to remember to tell you where they were going,” he tells Iona, his granddaughter. “I’m sure the Glademother enjoys their company immensely.”

“Come home and get cleaned up,” Aphrodisia says to her daughter, calling thanks over her shoulder to Yophiel and Eha, who both nod back.

The two older dragons stare out over the jungle. “Did you know?” Yophiel asks quietly.

“That Skye was fated? No. Their mother never told me,” Eha says, the first words she’s spoken since they’d pulled Chloe free. “They seem satisfied with their destiny, though.”

“A life for a life,” Yophiel said, shaking his head. “I’ll put a fence around that mudhole so we won’t have to do this again.”

As Chloe settled into her nest to sleep, she heard Skye’s voice. “Don’t you dare be sad about this, Chloe. I’m having so much fun with the Glademother! I’ll be keeping an eye on you, so don’t let yourself go into a sulk or I’ll bother you until you come out of it!”

Chloe snorts. “How like a Spiral to threaten to be annoying even after joining the Gladekeeper,” she says, but she’s smiling. “I’ll hold you to that, Skye.”

{Yophiel and Eha, if you want to see them. Please tell me if I screwed up Skye’s dialogue attribution or anything; they are gender neutral. Feel free to ramble at me here or find Tindi11 on FR!}

[purgatorybookseries]

[purgatorybookseries]

[purgatorybookseries]