Here Be Dragons

Tide chirrups and spreads his wings happily at the sight of food spread across the grass. He slithers over and gulps down a few fish. Then he takes one gingerly in his jaws and sets it near Luna, giving a soft grunt before retreating a short distance to eat some more of his own fish.

Triston watches from nearby with a small smile. It fades slightly, though, as he realizes he's eventually going to have to explain to Tide why they have to leave the group. He can already tell it's going to be hard. He's never seen Tide get so invested in another dragon so quickly before.

Then Lambi brings up the island he'd mentioned earlier and Triston pales in shock. There'd been no buildup or anything. Lambi must be braver than he thought if he can just approach his mother with such a drastic suggestion out of nowhere. Despite what Lambi's told him, Triston himself is mildly terrified of the woman.

He clears his throat and stands a little closer to Tide. While his food is already starting to cook, his stomach is in knots, and he's not sure if he can eat much. But he can't let on his nervous he is. He takes a bite and swallows. "It's a large underground cavern system on an island," he explains. "The main cavern - Skull Cavern - lets out right at the beach. I think it might be a good spot to set up a permanent dragon rescue."
 
Luna looked up when tide slithered over, surprised to see him offer her a fish. She rumbled happily in thanks as she ate the fish. The light fury wasn't really hungry so she ate the fish pretty calmly. After awhile she found one of her favorite fish and moved to slide it over to Tide. Lambi saw that and couldn't help smiling, knowing the dragon was happy to have someone to share fish with. He noticed Triston's slight look of terror when he suddenly brought up the island and he felt a bit bad. The other wasn't the best with bringing things up carefully. Plus his mother didn't like beating around the bush, she would rather you come right out with it.

As Triston explained more about the other, she stared at him trying to get a read on him. "Hmph..."she finally responded,"We can look at it tomorrow if you're not busy. See if it's as good of a fit as my little lamb thinks." Lambis's face immediately red as he looked down a bit,"You don't have to call me that in front of other people..." His mother did smile a little,"Do you know where his name comes from, Lambi?" the poor boy looked mortified,"It means little lamb and that's always what I've called him, though he seems embarrassed now that I'm saying it in front of somewhere else for the first time." Lambi stayed quiet as his meat finished cooking and he started eating to avoid talking too much.
 
"It's . . . it's a good name," Triston says softly in spite of himself. "He really is gentle." Then he gets ahold of himself and shakes his head, crossing his arms. "Not that I know him well yet or anything."

Tide flaps his wings in delight and gulps the fish down. Then he slithers over to Triston and playfully swats him with a wing.

"Okay, okay!" Triston says, laughing and petting Tide's nose. He glances back at Lambi's mom and clears his throat. "We're not busy tomorrow. We can meet you both here in the morning, if that sounds good. And thank you for dinner," he adds. He finishes off his meal and tosses the bone to Tide before climbing onto the dragon's back. "Did you both need anything else before we headed out?"
 
Lambi wanted to crawl into a hole and hide, and his mom was absolutely loving every second of it. She could tell her son was fond of Triston, happy to have someone he could talk to for the first time. "I knew he'd be a kind soul...I wanted his name to match that,"Luna had finished eating and moved stand next to her rider noticing his cheeks were red. Seeing Tide get excited he couldn't help laughing, the tide glider sure was a happy dragon and seeing that made his mom trust Triston a bit more. "Ah no I don't think we need anything, thanks again for being willing to show us the island!" he waved the pair off as they left. He would've offered them to spend the night here but he didn't think Triston would be up for it.

The next morning he was up early, checking on all the dragons. Mimi was much happier now that she had the egg and it made him smile. His job was to get his mom's dragon ready to go, since they were a bit grumpy in the morning. "Ohhhkay come on get up," he was immediately met with a loud grumble and he sighed,"Ok, you know either way you'll have to get up eventually Grim, either you get up now or you wait for mom to come out." The dragon seemed to debate for a second before coming out of his stable. He was a massive dragon, a silver phantom, and his appearance seemed to matched his riders perfectly with looks that could kill.
 
((Oooh Silver phantoms are so cool!))

Likewise, Triston hadn't even considered the fact that Lambi and his mother might allow him to stay the night. He and Tide are already used to finding shelter for the night, and he figures this night is no different. The pair eventually finds an old hollow tree log and spends the night there.

The next morning, Triston and Tide arrive at Lambi's side a few minutes after he manages to wake Grim up. Triston slides off of Tide's side and chuckles. "Are you sure your mother isn't part silver phantom?" he asks. "The resemblance is uncanny." He hesitates a moment, and then reaches into his pack and pulls out some flame grilled fish and wild berries. "Uh . . . I wasn't sure if you and your mother had eaten breakfast yet. We brought food if you're hungry."

Tide ruffles his wings before folding them. Then he trots up to Grim, chuffing in a friendly tone to say hello. He seems far more eager than Triston to make friends.
 
(aren't they!? They're like super ghostly and just oooooooo)

Lambi sighed as grim just looked at him, knowing he didn't want to move another step. "Grim. If you take forever I'm going to bring the baby dragons over here," the giant dragon huffed before fully leaving his stable just in time for Tide to land. Immediately he met them with narrowed eyes, watching their every move. Hearing Triston he couldn't help chuckling a bit. "You know sometimes I wonder, those two are identical sometimes I swear..."he moved to get the phantom's saddle all situated on him for his mom(really gonna need to name her lol). When he pulled out the food Luna was immediately right there behind him smelling it. "If I don't take you up on that offer I'm sure Luna will bite me," he laughed as he finished up his saddle before going over to him. Grim looked at tide as the dragon made his way over to him, pulling his head back a bit unsure.

"Grim, you know to play nice," the dragon immediately turned his head to watch his riding come over to join them. She let Triston and Lambi share the food while she hopped on Grim's back to wait for them. Once he was done Lambi hurried over to Luna,"Thanks for the food! I haven't had grilled fish in ages!" Since the dragons like their fish raw it almost never made it to the firepit. Seeing everyone situated the two waited for Triston to take off first before following him. Seeing as he was the only one that knew about the island Lambi stayed back this time instead of flying ahead.
 
Grim pulls back, so Tide mirrors his movements and slithers backward, flicking his fins back. He finally decides Grim just doesn't care for him as much and wanders off to play with Luna instead.

A short while later, Triston and Tide are leading the way to Skull Cavern. Tide dips in and out of the water, occasionally splashing Triston and getting the boy to laugh. The group travels about one hour all told before Triston clicks his tongue and has Tide hover above their destination. "We're here."

Slate grey slopes and mountains have chipped off into a very realistic skull shape. The two holes that form the eyes are large enough for dragons to get into, but they're too far off the ground and too far below the cliff for humans to safely climb in.

Triston grins and tosses his head. He whistles, urging Tide into the main cavern. Sunlight spills in behind them. There's a large saltwater pool in most of the cavern, along with some wet sand. "This part fills up pretty high at high tide," Triston explains. "Just about up to the eyes. But the dragons will know that instinctively." He points at a variety of tunnels and slightly smaller caverns. "Those are the rest of the caverns and tunnels. I have no idea what's in those. Can't be anything bad, though - they've never made Tide nervous."
 
Luna watched as tide came over to her, laughing as she lightly smacked him with her wing. Grim was a difficult dragon to play with, he mostly just wanted to be left alone. And in flight he was the same way, flying calmly through the sky while Luna messed around a bit. The light fury liked to fly high and then back low again. Eventually they reached the island, it was a pretty short trip so not too bad. The two followed tide down into the main cavern, already liking the look of it.

"Oh wow...its like a network of caverns," he landed and hopped off Luna to let her look around too. His mother got off too to look around, Grim sticking close to her. Seeing as he didn't know what was in those caves she nonchalantly started walking down one of them to check it out, dragon right by her side. Lambi was still checking out the main cavern with Triston. "Maybe you can help us with our dragon rescue island," he said half joking and half hoping the other would stick around.
 
Most of the caverns and tunnels that Grim and his rider visit are empty, though a few have rats scurrying around. Moss grows on some of the walls. There are occasional freshwater rivers and pools scattered throughout them as well.

Back in the main cave, Triston almost can't believe his ears. Was Lambi asking him to stay? He hugs Tide's head and pets the dragon's nose, swallowing. "I . . . well, I'd like to," he says at last. "But I don't think your mother would want me around." He chuckles quietly and hops up onto Tide's back, averting his gaze as he clears his throat. ". . . It was really nice to meet you, though. Maybe we'll see you all around sometime?" he asks softly.

He's not sure why there's a pang in his chest. He knew he'd have to leave at some point, so why is he so upset about it?

Tide huffs and cranes his neck around, grabbing Triston by his shirt and setting him back on the sand.

"Tide, no!" Triston protests, trying to climb back on but getting blocked by the dragon's wings. "Come on, we have to get going. Let me on!"
 
Grim was unphazed by the rats and continued on with his rider. She had a paper out and was mapping the caverns as she went. Back in the main Lambi and Luna were watching the pair, hoping they would stay. At the mention of his mom he laughed a little,"My mom doesn't hate you she's just not sure how to really approach people without death glaring them." To be honest Lambi would probably be the one on this island most of the time, with his mom on the one back at the village. That way they could have double the room and the more sick and injured dragons could stay with her. But as Triston hops onto Tide the other realizes he was going to leave and felt a bit...sad. It had been a very long time since he had any other than Luna he could call his friend. "Oh um...ok yeah maybe we will see you around..."he conceded but Luna wasn't happy.

The dragon walked over right as Tide took him off his back. She rumbled at him unhappily as she sat down next to Tide. "Luna? Come on you can't block him from getting on," Lambi sighed but the light fury was adament on staying where she was. He felt a bit bad for the dragon too knowing she was happy to finally have a friend after so many years.
 
Triston stares as he realizes there's not one, but two dragons trying to stop him from leaving. He glances back and forth between them before heaving a deep sigh. Then he glances up at Lambi, rubbing his arm. "Are you sure your mother won't mind if I stay?" he asks at last.

Tide roars in delight and gives Triston a big lick, drenching half the boy in saliva.

"Aaugh! Tide!" Triston protests, laughing and shaking the spit off. "You're welcome. You don't have to lick me." He rolls his eyes when the dragon licks him again in response. "Anyway, it's not up to me. We'll have to wait and see what your mother says, Lambi. But . . . I really would like to stay," he admits at last.
 
Everytime Triston tried to get to Tide Luna would literally move to block him. Lambi sighed as he wasn't sure how to get the two dragons to give in. If he didn't want to stay he couldn't make him. But he looked at the other confused when he asked if his mother wouldn't mind. "She won't mind! I mean to be fair she'll be more happy tide is sticking around but she'll get more comfortable around you over time!" he was getting excited thinking the other was planning to stay. Seeing Tide excited Luna hopped back and forth a bit also excited as she moved back over to Lambi. He was a tiny bit nervous to ask his mkm but he was sure it would be alright.

"I'm sure she will be fine with it, she'll mostly be at the other island anyway," he was smiling when suddenly Grim and his mother came back. Immediately both of them caught on something was happening and looked to Lambi. "U-um I was wondering if Tide could stay with us and help with this island and stuff," he smiled knowing his mom was more likely to be nice if she saw it was something he really wanted. Looking back at Triston she narrowed her eyes before sighing. "Seems as though you've won over my son, if he trusts you then I'll trust you," she smiled but it was an extremely slight smile,"But if you hurt any of the dragons or my son, intentionally or unintentionally, I let Grim take you all the way above the clouds and drop you. Understood?" Lambi immediately looked a bit 0.0 at his mom before laughing to try and ease the nervousness. "So uhhh looks like we got alot of work to do on this island," he continued his awkward chuckle as he left the cave to look for a place to set his book down and start drawing out plans.
 
"You think so?" Triston asks, his gaze finally flicking up to meet Lambi's fully. He smiles and starts unstrapping Tide's saddle so the dragon can relax, and he sets the saddle aside on a large rock.

Tide roars happily and bounces in and out of the nearby water with a splash; he knows the action means Triston's made up his mind to stay for a long time. Then Lambi's mom returns. Tide slithers out of the water and coils around Triston protectively. It's not as though he thinks the woman would hurt his rider, but he can tell Triston's nervous around her, and he wants him to feel safe.

Triston flinches and gulps at the woman's description. "U - understood," he says with a shaky nod. It's the unintentionally part that has him worried; he gets himself injured more often than he'd like as it is. He'll have to be extra careful not to let anyone else get hurt.

He glances over his shoulder at Lambi's mother as he follows Lambi outside with Tide slithering at his heels. It's only once they're out in the open air of the beach that he relaxes a bit. "Yeah, no kidding. Maybe we should make a list. Let's see . . . we'll want some kind of human shelter, for us and any castaways that wash up here . . . definitely some nests in the caverns . . . oh! And maybe a lookout tower of some kind. One on each point of the island. Anything else to start?"
 
Luna was making a cute smile, well the best dragons could smile but it was still cute. She could tell her rider was happy and it had been a long time since either of them had a friend. Which was a big factor of why his mom was more accepting towards Triston than to other people. It was difficult for her to adjust to other people, she didn't trust others. Since she was outcast by her own village, people she considered friends and family, she lost trust in most other people she met, other than Lambi of course. "Lambi trusts you and your dragon likes you. So I will do my best to trust you," she let the two walk off as she and Grim went back to exploring the cavern to make sure it was absolutely safe.

Once outside Lambi sat down alongside Luna, pulling his sketchbook out of her saddle. He was finding a free page when he heard tide and Triston behind him. "My mom won't actually hurt you-hopefully-she's just not used to trusting people, so her method is threatening people so they won't betray her," he tried to reassure him,"Believe it or not, threatening you means she likes you. If she didn't she would just attack you straight off." He quickly started jotting down everything Triston listed off for what they would need. "Ahh so human shelter, lookout towers, nests...we can definitely have the nests be in the cavern I'm sure the dragons would love that! Probably should make an area to work on our saddles and such and things we need to help dragons that are injured. Definitely going to have to fully map out the place to figure out where everything should go but once it's done it'll be amazing!"
 
Triston raises an eyebrow as he sits down cross-cross applesauce beside Lambi. "Guess I'm lucky she likes me, then," he decides at last. He yawns and stretches his arms above his head. "So as far as mapping the caverns and things . . . we'll want some rope, probably some medical supplies - oh, and a light source when we go in there. Something more permanent than fire."

He rubs his chin thoughtfully. Then he looks at Lambi and smiles. "You know a lot of dragons. Is there anybody on your island who can glow in the dark?"

Tide slithers up and down the beach while the pair talk. The sand is fine and warm, and after swirling around in it for a while, he curls up in a ball and sighs happily as he starts to fall asleep.
 
Lambi looked at the other when he saw down before back to his book. He drew a very rough sketch of the island from what he could see when they flew in. It would give him a good idea of how to start mapping it all out. "Hm...we do need something more permanent than fire but I'm unsure what to use, I'm sure we can figure something out," when Triston asked him about dragons that could glow he immediately paused,"Well, we do have a flightmare. He's basically a walking light source everywhere he goes!" The flightmare mostly stuck to himself on the island next to there's, they tried to find him a home but he chose to stay with them.

Luna curled up around Lambi slightly as the two talked. It wasn't long before she had dozed off, letting her rider lean against her a little. "Have you ever heard of that algae that grows? Flightmares love it but it's also a decent light source. If we could find a way to use that in the caverns without taking space that could work. Maybe make some kind of containers for the algae and hang them from the roof of the caverns? "
 
"If Flightmares love it, I don't think it'll stay in the containers," Triston says with a laugh. "But it's a good idea. Tell you what. Why don't we ask the Flightmare to accompany us through the caves while we're mapping them, and then we can figure out what to use as a permanent light source afterwards?"

He hops to his feet and cracks his knuckles. "Or, we could explore the outside of the island and see if we can find anything to use. Then we wouldn't have to ask the Flightmare and we could just set up lights in the areas we've already explored." He smiles and nods. "Of course, we'd have to walk most of the way. Our dragons are sleeping."
 
Lambi laughed a bit when he pointed it out that it might not last long. "You have a point but maybe we can put them in containers that the flight ares can't get into?" he would have to sketch up some ideas for what to contain the algae in. He was still figuring out the makeshift map and how to go about it when Triston jumped up. "Hm...i think we might have to do the second option first and explore the island up here seeing as our dragons decided to take a nap,"he didn't blame them as they did fly a long way and he didn't want to wake them up.

Carefully he stood up and took his book with him. "Need to map the island anyways so this will be good to do," he figured the best place to start would be where they were since it was an edge and near the water. "How should we get started on exploring this island?" he moved over to Triston, holding his book carefully. It was a lighter book so he could carry it easily which made drawing out the island easier than having to stop to draw alot.
 
Triston ambles calmly off the beach and into the grass, limping slightly from the arrow wound in his leg. "I'm thinking we walk a straight line right down the middle. Then we'll have a rough idea of how long of a trip it is from south to north. And if there's anything dangerous, we'll probably run across that, too," he adds with a playful smirk.

He's been to the island himself a few times before and knows it's relatively safe on the whole. Still, having the entire island mapped out will make it that much safer for the dragon riders and the dragons, especially if anyone ever goes missing.

He can't help whistling softly as the pair starts off across the island. He won't admit it yet, but he's beyond happy to have found a real friend at last. It's been far too long since he's had one. "So," he says at last, "How long have you and your mother rescued dragons for? How'd you start?"

((Oh no, I just realized something! Triston was a loner . . . until he took an arrow to the knee XD))
 
(😂 arrow to the knee be forces him to make friends)

Lambi followed him down to the beach, noticing how he limped. "You sure you're ok to walk with that limp?" he figured he could maybe give the other some more medicine. "You're thinking we go straight down the middle? That could be a good start, after that maybe we can go around the outline of the island to get a map started. Probably going to need to set up some markers!" As they started walking across the island to figure out how long it took.

When he asked how long they had been rescuing dragons. "Ahh well I've been living with dragons since the day I was born, first dragon I met was Grim. And when I was a toddler my mom brought back Luna when she was a baby, after that we were inseparable," he explained as they kept going,"My mom never liked killing dragons she tried to stop the village from doing it but they called her a loon. Eventually she moved to an old house on the other side of the island when she was pregnant with me, after that the villagers all considered her an outcast and no one would speak to her. I don't even know who my father is, she would never tell me." He had tried to ask before about who his father was but she refused to answer.
 
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