Here Be Dragons

Triston huffs and tries to shield his head with his arms as it starts to downpour, but he gets soaked through in moments. "Guess it was a faster stormfront than I realized. But don't worry, Tide will keep the rain off us with his wings, and then we can dry off a bit," he promises.

He stuffs the bag of bugs into his satchel and picks up his pace at first. Then his boots squelch in and out of the mud, and he grimaces. "Watch your step," he warns. "It's already getting slippery. We'd better go slow so we don't end up slamming face first into a river rock. Good news is, we're just a few minutes away from our dragons."
 
Lambi looked up as the first raindrops fell, thinking nothing of it. Until the absolute downpour was hitting them full force. "Well...we can mark rainstorms as a definite thing to plan for when building," he noted with a small laugh. The pink hair boy was pretty wet as they continued on, his own boots getting stuck in the mud. "Who would've thought a few minutes could feel like forever," he was already not looking forward to cleaning his boots. As they walked they did go slow but as a certain point the mud by the river was alot more slick than anywhere else. Before he even knew what was happening Lambi's next foot didn't find solid ground. Slipping and pulling the poor boy straight into the river, quickly pulling him under with the rainstorm making the river worse. He struggled as he tried to move but found himself unable to, starting to panic as he desperately tried to go upwards.
 
Triston struggles forward through the mud. It's getting harder to move as the mud gets more and more slippery, and he's already tiring himself out trying not to fall. He scoffs and rolls his eyes. "Pfff. We might as well swim upstream at this point, Lambi. It'll be faster," he jokes.

There's no reply. And come to think of it, Triston can't hear the boy's footfalls, either.

He turns sharply and glances around. "Lambi?" he calls out. "Lambi, where'd you - oh, by the stars," he mutters when he catches sight of Lambi's footprints sliding into the river. There's no sign of the boy himself. Triston's concern turns to full blown panic.

He takes only a few moments to figure out where exactly in the river Lambi is. Then he kicks off his boots and dives in with a splash, stroking forward with the current to try and catch up to the boy. He's desperately hoping Lambi's still holding his breath as he scans the river bed to find him.
 
Lambi tried not to panic as the river kept sweeping him away. But it was a little hard not to, everytime he managed to get above the water to breath he was met by the buckets of rain. Managing to get his head above the water again he desperately called out for Triston,"T-Triston!" As the river kept carrying him he tried to grab anything he could. Eventually something quite literally hit him, it was a log. The boy instinctively grabbed the log and used it to keep himself above the water. He was at a loss for where he was, his eyes had water in them, he was wet and cold and he could figure out how to get out of the water. If he let go of this log he was surely screwed. The other was scared as he tried to look around for Triston on the shore.
 
But by that point, Triston's nowhere near the shore. He swims up and breaks the surface to take a breath of air. He's relieved to hear Lambi's voice only a short distance away. He pushes off of a nearby rock, stroking toward him as fast as he can. "I'm coming! Just hang on!" he calls.

He finally manages to catch up to the log and grabs one of the branches attached to it. Then he takes a deep breath and dives underwater, letting himself sink so he can reach the bottom of the river. He tugs the log with him to the edge of the shore, wedges it into place between two large rocks, and pops back up above water.

Unlike Lambi, Triston seems only slightly inconvenienced at the whole ordeal. He wraps his arms around the other boy and carefully backs out of the river, moving slowly to avoid slipping in the mud. Only once he's on stable ground does he lay Lambi in a patch of soft grass and kneel beside him. He tosses water out of his hair and looks Lambi over. "You okay? Storm caught you by surprise, huh? Those currents can be nasty if you're not used to them."
 
Lambi struggled to hold onto the log as it was slippery from being in the water. He was scared especially when he didn't see Triston on the sure. The shorter boy started to panic until he heard that familiar voice again. "Triston!"he called out again as he looks around to try and find the other. It was then that he saw the other grab onto part of the log. Not knowing what he was going to do the other held onto the log more firmly as it started to move. Eventually the log was wedged between two large rocks but Lambi was petrified to move in case he was pulled away again. When Triston came to him and wrapped his arms around him, Lambi instinctively hugged him impossibly tight. Once he was set down again the other was clearly distraught over being in the water. Shaking like a leaf and still coughing from inhaling so much water. "I-I can't *cough* s-swim," he managed to get out with a shaky voice. That was by far the worst experience he had ever had and now his nose, throat and everything hurt.
 
"You . . . you can't?" Triston stammers in surprise. He'd assumed everyone on the island could swim; they were surrounded by water, after all. His gaze softens, and he pulls Lambi into a hug. "Well, don't worry. Tide and I will keep you safe. We practically live in the water." He smiles and tilts his head. "For now, how about we all go back to Capper's house for some warm tea and blankets? Can't have you getting sick. Your mother would kill me," he adds with a chuckle.

He makes up his mind right there that he's going to teach Lambi how to swim. But he knows that if he offers right now, right after he'd nearly drowned, Lambi might not let him. It'll be far better to let him relax first.
 
Lambi immediately felt embarrassed after admitting he couldn't swim. It was pretty embarrassing living literally surrounded by water and not knowing how to swim. But until now the boy had never had a reason to learn, worse case scenario Luna would save him if he fell near water. When he was suddenly pulled into a hug he was surprised but couldn't help hugging back. "Pretty embarrassing to be the only viking who can't swim huh?" he mumbled before hearing the suggestion to get back to cappers and get warmed up. He was immediately reminded how he was shaking like a leaf, not only from the scare but also the cold. "Oh...that's probably a good idea," he reluctantly pulled out of the hug and went to try and stand up. Almost immediately he stumbled, failing to get up. Apparently the unexpected water trip had really taken the energy out of his legs entirely.
 
Triston ruffles his hair and scoffs. "Yeah, maybe a little. But I won't tell anyone," he adds with a grin. The smile drops off his face when Lambi crashes to the ground. "Oh, for the love of - here, don't try to walk. Give me your arm," he says, his tone immediately more serious.

He loops Lambi's arm over his shoulder to help the boy stand up. His eyes flick fervently across Lambi's body as he searches for injuries. "I need you to try and put weight on your legs. Tell me if anything hurts."

While Lambi's doing that, Triston puts the fingers of his free hand to his mouth and whistles sharply. It's only a few moments before Tide comes skimming down the river. The dragon slithers up through the mud, chuffing and curling up beside the pair.
 
Lambi was beyond glad the other wouldn't tell anyone that he couldn't swim. Well not that there was anyone else to tell except capper but he still didn't want anyone else to find out he couldn't swim. When he failed to stand up he felt even more embarrassed than before. "S-sorry...apparently my legs weren't ready for the standing up part yet," he leaned against Triston as the other helped him up. He was still shaky but as the adrenaline came down he was able to process what was happening more in his body. "Ah OK," he carefully put some weight on each leg. It was fine until. He tried out his right leg and immediately winced,"O-ok my right ankle is a bit sore..." He admitted before looking up to see both their dragons running to them. Luna immediately narrowed her eyes at Triston before realizing he wa s helping her owner.
 
"I'm guessing it's sprained," Triston says gently. He doesn't even notice Luna glare at him; he's mostly concerned with helping Lambi. "You'd better not walk on it too much. Let's get you onto Luna and then get you sitting down somewhere at Capper's." He carefully helps the boy onto his dragon.

Then he jumps onto Tide's back and smiles. "Think of this as payback for the arrow. We'll help you get back on your feet, I promise." The pair lead the way to Capper's house, and by dragon, it only takes a few minutes.

Capper is pulling several loaves of bread out of the oven by the time Triston helps Lambi into the home. "Well!" he says, chuckling as they step inside. "Storm too much for ye, eh?" Then he notices that Lambi's leaning on Triston for support, and the smile drops off his face as he hurries over. "Lad, are ye hurt?"

"It's his ankle," Triston says, guiding Lambi to a chair.

"It is, eh? All right, lad. Pant leg up. Let's have a look," Capper says, kneeling near the boy.

Tide has plenty of shelter from the rain in the dragon tent if he wants, but since he's a water dragon, he decides instead to lay right next to the tent and soak himself. He fumbles happily and wriggles in the grass to get more comfortable.
 
Lambi was immediately not looking forward to telling his mother if it was sprained. But on the bright side he could tell her Triston rescued him so brownie points for him. "Probably a good idea...not that I can do much walking on it," he winced everytime he tried to put much weight on it but Luna hurried over to make it easier for him to get on. He was a bit sad to leave the other's arms but held onto Luna as they made their way back to capper's house. Hearing the other's comment did make him laugh despite the pain. "I guess that's fair, better this than an arrow I'll say," he teased before they were back at capper's. The shorter boy was still a bit nervous around capper so he was glad to need go stick close to Triston as they made it inside. He could see capper's concern when he came in, grateful he had help getting to the chair. Once he was sat down he carefully rolled his pants leg up, it was harder to do with wet clothing. "I think I've only sprained it," he was pretty much praying it was just a sprain. Even wet the ankle was already starting to swell from whatever trauma it had. And outside Luna was pacing quietly in the dragon tent before sitting down with a huff, not liking not knowing what was happening with her rider.
 
Capper examines Lambi's ankle very gently, not touching it unless he has to. Finally he nods and sighs in relief. "Yer lucky, lad. It ain't even sprained. It's only got a bad bruise on one side." He stands up and pats Lambi's shoulder. "All ye need is some ice on there for a few hours and you'll be good to go, eh? Let me get you some."

"Ice?" Triston repeats. "Where are we going to get ice in the middle of - "

Capper grins and pulls open a small metal chest. The inside is full of shimmering ice. He grabs a nearby pick, chops some off, wraps it in a cloth, and hands it to Lambi to use for his ankle. "When yer friends with a Snow Burrower, ye get ice year round."

Triston's eyes go wide. "You're friends with a Snow Burrower? H - how? Can we meet them?"

Tide glances over at Luna; he can tell she's nervous. So he lifts his head and gives a soft rumble, telling her to follow him. He leads her to a window where she can see the kitchen and her rider, and then he lifts a wing over her to keep the rain off.

((I made up the Snow Burrower, it's not a real dragon XD))
 
(😂 I almost Googled that too 😂)

Lambi winced a little bit as he examined the ankle but he was quite gentle. When he said it wasn't sprained he immediately sighed in relief. "That's good...im sure my mother would ban me from coming back if it was," he was really grateful that he could tell her it was only bruised. And probably leave out the part where he fell in the river. Which reminded him of his second problem, the fact he was soaking wet. Already he felt a little bit sniffly but he shook it off as getting water up his nose. "A snow burrower?" he had only seen a few of those and usually couldn't get close as they tended to be shy. Once he handed him the ice he thanked him before carefully resting it against his ankle. Lambi kind of missed the other's hug now that he had felt it, it was comforting especially after nearly drowning.

Luna heard tide rumble looking up at him before quickly following him. Seeing her rider inside safe and sound, the light fury was immediately relieved. Noticing she wasn't getting wet she looked up to see the other's wing. Smiling she rumbled happily, sticking close to the other under his wing.
 
"'Course you can meet 'im. But first we've gotta get ye dried off, lad. Can't have ye catching a cold," Capper points out. He shuffles out of the room and returns with clothes that actually look to be Lambi's size. "Here, go on an' change into these."

"Where'd you get clothes this size?" Triston asks.

Capper's expression sours slightly. ". . . Me son," he says softly.

The Tide Glider chuffs cheerfully when Luna leaned against him, halfway closing his eyes in delight. He's never been so close to another dragon for so long before.
 
Lambi kept the ice against his ankle to try and get the swelling to go down. When capper left and came back with clothes he was a bit surprised. As he looked at the clothes handed to him he heard what the other said and immediately felt guilty. "O-oh that's ok...im sure my clothes will dry off soon," he said with an apologetic smile. Even though it wasn't true, his clothes were pretty much soaked to the core but he felt bad accepting the clothes.

Luna heard the tide glider chuff and rumbled a bit in a small laugh. The water dragon was surprisingly warm for being in the rain but that made sense as they were designed to withstand the cold. The light fury stuck close to him but did move her head around occasionally to make sure she could still see Lambi.
 
Capper smiles softly, ruffling Lambi's hair before setting the dry clothes in his hands. "Nonsense. With you an' Triston, they'll finally get some use. I'm sure he wouldn't mind. Go on, there's a side room over there you can change in."

"What happened to him?" Triston asks. He settles onto a nearby chair, his eyes flicking back and forth as he studies Capper's expression. ". . . If I can ask."

"Of course ye can," Capper murmurs. He sits down himself with a groan of effort before folding his hands on the table. "This was back when I was a younger man. My son was Lambi's age. Got involved with a sinking ship." He takes a deep breath. "There's no helping these things. But I held onto his clothes afterwards. I'm not entirely sure why; guess they helped me remember."

"A sinking ship . . .?" Triston repeats. He winces and rubs the back of his neck, glancing towards the door. He and Tide had caused an entire ship of dragon hunters to sink. He's starting to wonder whether any of them actually survived.
 
Lambi felt the older man ruffle his hair and give him the clothes but he still felt unsure. "You're sure it's ok?" after getting another confirmation he set the ice down. Before starting to make his way over to the side room capper pointed out, was a bit difficult with his ankle but he managed. In the room he could still hear the conversation while he chanhed. Hearing the story his heart sank, sinking ships was actually a common but heartbreakingly common way for vikings to die. It took him a few minutes but eventually he had the clothes on and came back out of the room, trying not to put too much weight on his ankle. "Thank you again for the clothes..."he still felt bad wearing them but the other insisted it was ok.
 
"Aye, lad. I'm sure it's fine," Capper says with a warm smile. When Lambi comes out of the room a few moments later, he offers his arm to help the boy into a chair. "You know what you two need? Nice, hot bowls of stew and some bread to dunk in it."

Triston beams and hops into the chair next to Lambi. "Yes, please!" he bursts out.

Capper chuckles and heads over to the pot on the fire. It's not long before he has three bowls served at the table. He pours the rest of the pot into the dragon trough - which is soon swarmed by Tide and the three deadly Nadder babies - and then sits down beside the boys with a deep sigh. "So! How'd explorin' go today?" he asks.

"We didn't get very far," Triston admits with a chuckle. "I kept getting distracted. But we did get some stuff mapped! How'd the map turn out, Lambi?"
 
Lambi gave capper a smile when he gave him a hand back to his chair. Sitting down he immediately felt better, even more so when he heard the mention of stew. "Stew sounds amazing right now," he laughed as Triston hurried into the chair next to him. Once he had his bowl he ate it quietly but happily, the warm stew doing wonders to warm him up. Luna headed inside when tide did, to get some of the stew in the trough for them. He was eating his stew when Triston mentioned the map and immediately he froze. "The map is still in Luna's saddle!" he set his stew down carefully before looking at the window, he completely forgot he took the saddle off her so that her and tide could play. Now the saddle was designed to handle water and all that but they left it at the beach. "The rain might wash her saddle into the ocean," he looked genuinely upset at the thought. The saddle had his books of maps which were what he spent pretty much all the past few years of his life working on. Luna saw her riders panic and didn't wait for him to continue before she left the hut, trying to retrace her steps back to the beach.
 
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