Breath of Fresh Air

"That's it," Opal said gently. "Good food, isn't it? Only the best for the most marvelous dragon," he crooned.

Noah grinned and chuckled back. "Sure! Pancakes. Think about it. Maybe someone stirs batter with a really tight grip - maybe that means they'll have a stronger grip on the saddle. Or someone pours batter with expert precision. They'll have more precision when steering with their dragon, too!"

"Iffff you say so, lad," Grandpa Jenkins said, snorting and ruffling Noah's hair when he came over. "Personally, ah think cooking an' riding dragons are a bit different. Just a little. Good thought, though!"

Noah clicked his tongue and smirked. "I'm tellin' ya! You'll all see, sooner or later. Anyway, pancakes and flying sound great! But - oh. Sorry, Opal, I don't know if you and Tima - "

Opal smiled and waved a hand. "It's quite all right. I was going to try and teach her to write with her tail. It just - it looks so similar to a quill, and it's so limber! I think she'd be very good at it."

Axle's eyes sparkled. "Saaay. Now that's something! Opal, if you could teach her to write - and if she understands the language - why, she could be a dragon translator! Word for word! That would be remarkable!"
 
Tima gave a slightly lower pitched trill and a lift of her chin as she looked at him, as if trying to imitate the tone of his voice, pleased with his attention. Opal's voice was kind and full of praise, so unlike the ones she had grown used to. Things had been a little scary for a while, but she thought it would be all right to stay with her chosen human.

"You're pushing the psychology angle a little hard," Jasper said with a shake of his head, a faint smile at his face at Noah's enthusiasm. "Don't worry. I'll be grounded, too." Some days he would join Lily in the air, but with Nobu still healing he was keeping his feet on the ground.

"Oooh, that would be neat!" Lily said, sitting straight up in her chair with a curious expression and looking at where Tima was now looking around the room, as if realizing they had all started to look at her as well. "Do you think she's that smart?"

Nel shrugged a little, doubtful but not sure. "I've never seen a dragon like her before. I could ask Malia if maybe she has?" He had never met a dragon that was intelligent enough to understand written language.
 
Opal beamed and gently ran a hand over her smooth scales. Just when he'd lost his parents, she'd found him. Maybe, some way or another, his parents had sent her to him. In any case she was welcome company. He glanced over at the group when they started talking about her, and he smiled and gave her chin a little scritch to try and help her stay calm. "Well, I dare say she could be! She's my dragon, after all. Clearly she's intelligent."

He tilted his head and shrugged. ". . . But even if not, I think it would be fun to train her to draw with her tail, symbols or otherwise. At the very least it would be an entertaining party trick!"

Noah nodded. "Heh. Chaital would probably be smart enough to learn symbols, but her tail's nowhere near limber enough. It's more for balance, steering, and smacking stuff!" he added cheerfully.

After dinner, everyone slowly but surely went off to bed. Luckily, Opal was too exhausted to stay awake, and he passed out shortly after being shown to a bed. Noah ended up having trouble sleeping and only because he was too excited for flying training the next day.

He was the first one to finish breakfast the next morning, and he jumped up from the table and grabbed his dishes. "Okay, who's got dishes? I can collect them all so we can get flying!"

Axle chuckled and handed him his plate and cup. "You're not the only one anxious to get in the air. Just look at those windows." Chairal's eye stared expectantly through one window. And in the other was Soot's snout, sniffing curiously at the goings on in the kitchen.
 
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Tima tilted her chin up at Opal as he stroked her, cooing softly and closing her eyes at the affection. He treated her so gently, she couldn't help but relax.

Lily made a soft, thoughtful sounds at the idea of Tima drawing with her tail. "Oooh, I wonder if anyone would buy dragon drawings. . ."

After the suggestion, the idea of Tima being able to draw was all she could talk about, but she was on board with going to bed when the time came. Nel stayed awake for a little while, tending to Nobu's healing injuries with Jasper's help and making sure Opal wasn't stuck awake by himself. It was a relief that he was able to sleep, and eventually the rest of them as well.

After breakfast the next morning, Lily thought it was funny that she had the lowest level of excitement - but then, she went flying all the time. Being able to get into the air was new for Noah, and relatively new for Nel as well. Still, she was ready to bring up the energy at any time once she'd gotten some food in her stomach.

"I'll help dry!" She offered, hurrying off after Noah to bring dishes to the sink.

Nel laughed softly even as he helped them gather, but left the task for them since they seemed so eager. "Everyone's got a lot of energy this morning. It'll be nice to fly together again." He and Soot did training here and there and flew short distances to get around the large property around them, but there had been so much to do at the Dragonry after the disaster that it wasn't as much as he would have liked.
 
"Sweet! You're the best, Lily," Noah insisted, grinning at her and dunking some dishes into the soapy water that was in the sink. He glanced back at Nel and nodded excitedly. "Yeah, for sure! I'm thinking maybe we take it easy at first. Just do one loop around the whole Dragonry, see how everyone's feeling after that. Mostly Soot; I'm not sure how long of a flight he's comfortable with," he pointed out.

"Just one loop, eh?" Axle asked.

"Yeah! Then if Soot's tired, he can rest here at home for a bit and me, Infernus, Chaital, and Lily can keep going if we want," Noah explained.

Chaital huffed impatiently and blew a breath that steamed up the entire window. When that went unnoticed by Noah, she let out a low, long grumble.

Noah laughed and wiped a plate clean before handing it to Lily. "Yeah, yeah. I hear you. Relax, we're going flying soon!"

Opal chuckled and stretched, arching his back. "Mm. Well, while you're all doing that, I think Tima and I will relax outside and mess about with some drawing practice - just getting her used to the ink on her tail, you know. Jasper, what are you and your dragons doing? Resting, I hope, for Nobu's sake."
 
"I'm sure Soot will be okay," Lily said with a smile, happily drying dishes as Noah handed them off. "He's getting better with flying, and he's real excited about going too."

"We'll take it slow." Nel agreed, reassuring despite his own worries. Whenever Soot needed to stop, they would take a break and watch from the ground, or come see what Tima was working on.

Jasper shrugged when asked what he was doing, relaxing at the table for now and keeping half an eye on where Naga was chewing on a bone much closer to where Nobu rested than she would have had he not been hurt. "Not sure, really. Probably get up on the roof and make sure nothing needs to be patched or repaired. Nobu can hang out with you on the ground. I'll keep an eye on him."

The formerly energetic dragon had taken well enough to lazing around all day, though Jasper thought he was going to go stir crazy soon. Nel had told him the leg would be all right to walk on in little bursts soon, so he would start taking Nobu on mall trips when he could. For now, not quite able to get back to his own house yet, he was mostly stuck idle. Unless somewhere other than Mr. Jenkin's home needed any sort of repairs they were willing to leave to an amateur, he didn't have much to do.
 
Opal nodded, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. Jasper seemed like the type of person who always wanted some kind of project to work on. And if that was the case - "Say, after you're done checking the roof, could you help me make a pen for Tima's tail? Something she could wear so she won't have to get ink directly on her scales. You know. It might stain, and whatnot." He actually didn't mind the idea of a stained tail, as long as it didn't hurt Tima. But a wearable pen might be handy in some way or another.

"Done!" Noah announced, scrubbing off the last dish and handing it to Lily. "I'll meet you all outside. Chaital and I are just gonna saddle up and do some warm-up stretches. I promise, we'll stay here until you're all ready!" Then he gave his father a hug on the way out, patted Chaital's cheek, and raced to where the saddles were hung in the dragon shelter. "Come on, Chaital! Riding time!"

Chaital chuffed and hurried after him.

Soot chirped and tried to poke his head in the door, excitedly searching for Nel.
 
Jasper paused at the idea of a pen, eyes drifting upwards as he wandered into thought about the project. "Mm, I don't have most of my tools, and her tails so small I don't know if a custom would stay on anyway." That sort of precision smithing was something he would need his own workshop for. "But we could probably crack open a pen and attach just the nib? If we wrap the end in fabric, it shouldn't really bother her. If she likes it, we can always make something out of leather later."

Tima looked up at the sound of her name, settled peacefully in Opal's lap, and after a moment climbed her way up to wrap around his shoulders, tail draped down to his chest for balance. It was rather long for her body size, Jasper thought, so maybe she would be able to do more than other dragons could.

"No fair!" Lily cried with a laugh as he ran off, since her job unavoidably had her staying after his was done. The second she was done drying she would follow him out.

"Oh!" Nel had been tidying up the table, but when he saw Soot sticking his head into the room came over with a smile to take the dragon's head in both hands and gently urge him out. "Inside is for small dragons only, my friend," he said with a little chuckle. "Don't worry, I won't be long. I'll just get my shoes and be right out, I promise." He'd already changed before coming to breakfast, as was his habit, so he was basically ready to go.
 
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"Sounds like a wonderful idea! Thank you, Jasper," Opal replied, stroking Tima's snout gently when she got up onto his shoulder. "Would you mind terribly getting a pen and some fabric for me when you've got a spare moment? And then of course you and your dragons are welcome to relax with us if you'd like, while we see what Tima thinks of drawing."

Soot immediately rumbled happily when Nel came over. He backed up without any resistance, gave Nel a lick on his cheek, and then sat back on his haunches right outside the door. There he waited for Nel to return.

In spite of his excitement and hurry, Noah was careful when saddling Chaital up. He made sure to do every single safety check. Chaital helped, too, and pulled on a few of the straps and harnesses after Noah had just to double check them. Eventually both of them were satisfied. Noah climbed up, hooked himself to the harness, and patted Chaital's neck. "Atta girl! Now we just wait for the others, huh?"

Chaital made a guttural rumbling sound and strolled in a wide circle, stretching her wings and swishing her tail. Boy, was she ready!
 
"What am I, your butler?" Jasper said with an eyebrow raised, but was getting to his feet already anyway. "I'm sure there's something around." The dragons were fine on their own for a few minutes while he rummaged around upstairs looking for things, though Naga kept a very close eye on Opal and Tima in the meantime. When he came back downstairs, Jasper had an old pen in hand and an old rag. "It's clean, don't worry. Just old. Gimme a sec and I'll shred it." A few long strands would likely be enough.

Tima watched with interest from Opal's shoulder, trying to figure out what was going on. Was there something for her happening?

Lily was quick to follow Noah out, stopping briefly to hold her hands out for Soot and give him a little kiss before running off to where Infernus was resting and waiting to throw her arms around his neck. "Ready to fly, Fern?" She asked with a grin, and laughed when he gave her a rumble and tucked his head down against her shoulder like a horse giving a hug.

"Send Naga if you need us for anything," Nel told the others with a smile as they left, waving goodbye to the others and closing the door quietly behind himself. He chuckled softly when Soot was still so close, giving him a gentle pat on his flank as he moved towards the dragon shelter. "I'm here, I'm here. Let's get suited up."
 
Opal burst out laughing. "No, not at all! You're my friend," he announced at once. He leaned back and waited patiently in the grass, gently petting Tima and offering Naga a smile or two while Jasper was gone. "Don't worry, girls. This is meant to be fun. Hopefully it'll be fun, anyway!"

He glanced up and nodded when Jasper came back. "Thank you kindly!" Then he turned towards Tima. "Okay, this is what I'm thinking of doing. You dip your tail in ink, like this - " He dipped a finger in the ink and pulled it back out. "And then you write with it, like this!" He wrote a large "O" on the paper and glanced back up at the dragon. "Make sense? Let's have you try it with your tail while Jasper works on tearing the fabric."


Axle waved a hand and smiled. "Of course! You all have fun. Keep Noah out of trouble for me, would you?" he added with a wink before Lily went out and closed the door.

Soot chirped in surprise at Lily stretching her hands out, but he trusted her. He set his muzzle carefully in her hands and licked her nose. Then he went back to waiting for Nel, craning his neck around so he was facing the door.

And when his rider did arrive, he wriggled and rumbled excitedly, swishing his tail. He picked Nel up by his shirt and trotted him over to where his saddle was. Then he set him down in front of it and huffed.

Noah chuckled. "Damn, and I thought me and Chaital were itchin' to ride! Look at Soot. Silly boy."
 
Jasper might have smiled a little while he was leaving and his back was turned, but didn't offer any comment. When he returned he took a seat in the grass nearby with Nobu to work with a small knife he carried in his pocket and his hands to tear the rag into strips.

Tima watched, confused but curious as Opal dipped his hand in the ink and made a circle. With an intrigued little warble, she moved over to sniff at the bottle, pulling away with a little sneeze and looking at Opal again. She didn't realize what he wanted until he pointed to her tail, then looked at it for a moment and finally the bottle of ink again. After a long pause she did pull it over and, after a look to Opal for reassurance that she was doing what he wanted, dip the end of it into the ink.

After looking curiously at it she gave it a little flop onto the paper, then another, and another, leaving little splashes of ink behind. She grew more interested as it continued to happen, showing a bit of energy as she moved in little bounces closer to the paper and trilling small, joyful sounds. Was it something to play with? She'd never had toys before.

Jasper chuckled at the display from nearby, picking up the pen nib to wrap it. "I'd say she likes it."


Nel was surprised by Soot snatching him up, but other than a small sound he made in response didn't fight. He made a soft, amused huff as Soot set him down and patted the dragon's muzzle with a shake of his head. "You're learning too much from Chaital." He said with a bit of laughter in his voice, even as he turned to retrieve Soot's borrowed training saddle and start to get him dressed. "I can walk, you know, silly dragon."

It was funny, the things he picked up from her while watching. It was also, Nel had to admit, a bit funny watching small Lily lift Infernus' saddle that was basically as large as her whole body. The two were a practiced pair, though, and Infernus ducked and put his head through in practiced motion, helping her along as she got the large contraption of leather onto his back.

"Everyone's just eager!" She said with a little laugh as she started doing up buckles, quick and easy. "I'm sure they like flying together just like we do."
 
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"Awww. You have the most adorable sneeze ever," Opal said softly, leaning in to pet the dragon when she sniffed the ink a bit too closely. Then she pulled the ink well towards her and he watched in awe. She really was clever. Within a few moments, she'd dipped her tail in the ink and began flopping it onto the paper to make small splashes. Opal gasped and clapped his hands. "Yes! Very good, Tima! You've got the right idea."

If she bounced close enough to him, he smiled and ran his clean hand along her back and spines. "Yes, excellent. You'll be a wonderful writer! You're a Cutter, after all, and all the Cutter family have always been good writers," he announced with a pretend air of arrogance. But he just as quickly lost the air and broke into giggles. "Jasper, look at her! She bounces around like a little ferret. I've never seen her so excited!"


Soot let out a long, low rumble of protest. But then he blinked and glanced up when Chaital made the exact same sound. Maybe he was learning a bit too much from her, at that. But Nel didn't seem upset - more amused, and happy, so he must be pleased. Soot chirped instead and held carefully still while his rider saddled him up.

"We sure are eager!" Noah agreed, leaning forward to rub Chaital's neck. "Nel, you know the Dragonry the best. How about you and Soot lead us and set the pace?" he offered.
 
Jasper gave a soft pff at Opal's theatrics, folding his knife away and watching Tima bobble around like Nobu when he'd found a tasty treat. "You're not wrong about the ferret part. If she was wild, maybe she's never played before."

Tima looked up at Opal when he touched her, stretching her neck up towards him and giving a longer, more forceful warble in his direction like she was trying to tell him something, then went back to bouncing and wiping her tail on the paper. When there were no more marks she looked at it in confusion, then hopped back to the ink bottle and suddenly dipped both paws fully into it to bounce back to the paper and slap them around, leaving big marks behind and poking holes in it once or twice with her claws.

Even Jasper had to laugh at the way she bounced and wriggled around. "Very like a ferret. Maybe let her mess around with that a while before you try to ask for precision."


Nel laughed at the way the dragons sang back and forth, working on getting Soot's harness fully buckled and checked, then finally to start putting on his own. "The best place to fly over?" He asked, trying to think to himself. "We could go over the fields and see all the resting dragons if we're low enough. Some of them might even join, if they're feeling like some exercise." They had come to recognize already that seeing Soot meant seeing Nel, and Lily and Noah were becoming rather familiar to them to. If they were feeling playful, they might come up and fly together.
 
Opal grinned and nodded. "Indeed! That's the plan. My thought is once she associates drawing with fun and good times, we can start working on having her draw specific shapes. But at the moment things are going marvelously!" His eyes twinkled. ". . . And if that paper is still in one piece at the end, I fully intend to frame it and hang it up. It's her first work."

He looked back at the dragon and nodded. "I'm very proud of you, Tima. You a wonderful dragon and very, very good!" The ink on his own hand dried while he watched her bounce around and play with the paper, but he didn't mind. Tima was enjoying herself and enjoying drawing. That was the important part.


Noah nodded eagerly, his eyes dilating. "Ohhh. That would be so cool! We could fly with our dragons and a whole bunch of other dragons, too! Say, where's Chaital's flock at? I bet they'd fly with us, too. You know, all the smaller dragons that followed her when she lived in Upper Floaten?"

On hearing her name, Chaital tilted her head and craned her neck back slightly. Her flock. She'd checked in on them once or twice within the last few days. Some of them still flocked together, but they hadn't quite decided on a new leader yet in her absence.

Soot rumbled and playfully nudged Nel's harness. He couldn't work the buckles. But the harness meant Nel was just about ready, and they'd be flying soon.
 
Jasper raised an eyebrow at the enthusiasm with which Tima was hitting the paper with her paws, against soft grass and dirt. "'Intact' may be a strong word, but it might be salvageable." Maybe. In a couple of pieces.

When Opal spoke to her Tima looked up at him, hesitant at first and then bright and eager as she received words of praise. She gave another little bounce back over to his side and plopped her still somewhat ink-y paws against his side, giving a little rumble not unlike a cat purring as she snuggled up against him.

Jasper all but cackled at the two small, lightly inked paw prints that would be left on his shirt, even as he wrapped the pen nib in enough fabric to cushion it. "You kinda asked for that. Here, why don't you give tying this on a shot while you've got her? I don't think she'd like me touching her so much." He had punched Opal in the face in front of her, after all. Jasper wasn't under the impression she'd forgiven him yet.


"A whole formation of dragons?" Lily asked eagerly, giving a little bounce even as she hopped her way up to Infernus' back and urged him out from under the dragon saddle, turned backwards where she sat to look at them. "That would be so cool!"

Nel laughed at Soot's nudging, giving him a gentle push away so he could continue doing up buckles. "I know, I know, you want to go, but it will be faster if I do it myself. Just a minute." He only had a couple more buckles to do, and when he was sure it was done he checked on Noah and Chaital as well, then went back to Soot to get up into place. "Let's walk away from the house a little, all right? Will you be all right if more dragons come?"

Infernus gave a soft, long note over his shoulder, as if to reassure the shyer dragon that he and Chaital were still there. There would be no danger for Soot while they were around.
 
"Salvageable," Opal agreed with a chuckle. "Yeah. Yeah, I'll take salvageable." Then he burst out giggling all over again when Tima bounded up to him and pressed her tiny paws on his shirt. "Aww! Hey, maybe if her prints are visible, I can just cut this shirt up and frame that instead. Or perhaps I'll frame the shirt with the remains of the parchment. Sort of a mixed media art piece, as it were."

Then he ran his hand down Tima's back and smiled gently at Jasper. "Tell you what. Before we mess with the pen - why don't you come over and give her some pets? We'll be seeing a lot of each other the next few days. It might be a good idea to get her comfortable with you," he pointed out.


Soot swished his tail and chirped, ear fins perking towards Infernus happily. He was so excited to fly with Nel again that even the thought of more dragons joining up didn't deter him. Besides, Infernus and Chaital would be with him. He'd be plenty protected.

"All right, Chaital! You heard Nel. Let's follow him!" Noah announced. He urged Chaital forward with a slight nudge of his legs, and she started off at a slow trot before falling in behind Soot with a warm trill. Whenever Nel and Soot decided to take off, she'd be right behind them.
 
"Mixed media artpiece." Jasper repeated with a somewhat bemused smile, as if he'd never heard the term before. "I guess?" That was one way to look at it. "You could always get a stamp pad sometime and just help her press her paws down. It'd be a clearer image that way." They could work on dragon 'paintings' later on.

Tima rolled her body with the way Opal pet her, pushing up into his hand with her eyes half closed and clear content with being praised and treated so nicely.

Jasper made a not so sure sort of face, shaking his head at the idea of reaching out to touch her. "It's all right. I'll let her warm up to me for a while. Depending on personality she might not like it if I force it on her." Like cats, if was generally better to let her come to him. After they'd been around each other and he'd done nothing bad for a bit, she would probably let him get closer.

Naga, interested in whatever was happening nearby, had crept up around behind where Jasper sat to stretch her neck out and sniff at the ink from a slight distance, a curious tilt to her head but silent as if she were approaching prey. After a pause, she looked up at Jasper with an almost distressed little squawk, and he reached around to give her a couple pats on the head. "Not food, Naga. Don't touch." She huffed as if offended by the lack of snack, but at least she wasn't missing out on anything.


Nel gave Soot a few gentle pats on the shoulder and nodded his head, pulling a pair of goggles down into place as the others followed suit. "All right. Let's go have a little fun, then, okay? Take off."

He urged Soot forward with a lean, and held on tight as the dragon took a loping run forward and beat his wings to lift them into the air. Rising up towards the sky would never cease to amaze him, or at least Nel hoped it wouldn't. And when they were high enough that they could level out a little and he could turn left and right and see Infernus and Chaital flying just slightly behind them, he felt light and warm inside. Something about flying in formation made them all feel so connected.

Lily, eager to go and familiar enough with flying that she had only her tow line and her own grip strength keeping her in place, put her hands in the air as they leveled off and gave a spirited little hoop and holler as they flew, a big smile on her face. "The weather's great today!" Perfect for flying.
 
Opal chuckled. "Well, yes, I could do that. But the whole point of her playing with ink is to eventually use her tail - although, now that you mention it, involving her paws isn't a bad idea," he added thoughtfully, rolling a hand over Tima's scales.

He smiled gently when Jasper politely declined getting close to Naga. With enough time, he was sure the pair would get used to each other. "Hm, I suppose. In that case, may I see that pen tip?" He'd had great success with mirroring already for Tima. If he showed her what he wanted her to do, maybe it would be more comfortable for her to learn it.

"Tima, watch!" he announced. He tied the pen tip to his arm. Then he carefully dipped it in ink and dragged it across the paper to make a few lines. "Fascinating, right?" He untied it and held it out. "Would you like to try it on your tail?"


Spot let out a throaty warble of excitement and flared his wings. On Nel's signal, he lunged forward into the run before eventually lifting off the ground with powerful wing strokes. Then they were airborne, coasting across the skies with a gentle wind brushing through their hair and scales.

Noah smiled giddily and laughed. "Whoooo! I missed this! Way more fun flying as a group," he called out. "And yeah! The weather's great, Lily!" He leaned forward, focusing on using his core strength and gravity to stay on. While riding was fun, he used every opportunity to train to be a Dragon Rider. If anything ever happened to his arms - even his legs, for that matter - he might need to depend solely on gravity and his core to stay on. So for this ride, that was what he was using - in addition to the safety harness, of course.
 
Jasper shrugged a little, leaning back on a hand and letting Naga tuck between his arm and body as if to watch from some sort of shelter. "Tail's longer, and less sharp than her claws. I'm sure she'll learn how to use it eventually." He wasn't actually sure, but it was better to just let it happen and see where it went.

Tima looked at Opal's hand when he directed her, warbling curiously and tilting her head at it when he dipped the piece of metal in ink and used it to make lines. It made them look different than hands, and when he indicated her tail she picked it up to look at it for a moment. Eventually, she did finally set the end of it in his outstretched hand, wondering what he would do.

"Smart." Jasper said with a mildly impressed face. "She recognizes some words already at least."


Nel couldn't help but smile as they glided through the air, hearing the others voices just barely audible behind them. As Soot flew Nel stood up a bit in the saddle to see down towards the ground, seeing where the largest number of dragons were and directing Soot that way so they could see everyone from the sky.

"Everything's more fun with friends!" Lily said with a smile as they went, settling back into the saddle again to have proper form. She was supposed to be a good example, after all. If they were lucky they would even get to have more dragons join them.
 
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