Ash had been locked up inside of his office for 3 days now, puzzling over ancient writings. Ancient Draconic: The old language, as some people called it, was never very easy to translate. 2 versions existed: Pyrrian, which Ash specialized in, and Pantalan, which Ash understood less, but planned to improve on.
What made the work particularly fascinating was that it wasn’t in a completely different system of writing. No, instead the dialect had simply shifted so much over time that it became nothing but an unreadable stew to the average dragon. Lots of words were used back then and never now, as well as words meaning something else entirely back then.
That, as well as the combining of certain words into new words to make speaking faster, and the changing of euphemisms made translation effort necessary and difficult.
And he adored his job. Every sentence became a puzzle for him to decipher, working backwards throughout different ages of documents he could see how things changed and new words and phrases came in and out of fashion. He had learned at least 21 unique insults from just the last month that were hundreds, if not thousands of years old.
That's not even mentioning the archaeological aspect of his job.
Finding buried culture from ancient history was always exciting. A neverending mystery that can be solved forever. Right now though, he was hitting a roadblock. He was struggling with a document that was over 4000 years old. Barely a millenia past the scorching. It was one of the most ancient documents Ash had ever received. That meant a lot of researching and reading…
The ash on his forearms was starting to make the desk messy again.
There was no getting anything done if he could ruin these ancient documents with a hot spark still being on his fluff. He had never even groomed his ash coat after crawling out of the fireplace this morning, he probably looked like a sloth caught in a hurricane.
He set the scrolls down and got to work, cleaning his appearance up. It wasn’t for the sake of vanity, if his fluffy ash coat didn’t keep him warm enough… He would catch a cold, or worse. He also kinda liked how the fluff looked on him, if only because it covered up the fact he looked like an emaciated walking corpse without the fluff.
He started with his forearms. Pulling the ash up along his arms so that very little was below the elbows. That way he would be much less likely to track ash everywhere.
He did the same for his back legs although that proved quite a bit more difficult to reach. He wished his tail was a bit more flexible like a rainwings so he could more accurately scoop up the ash he couldn’t reach with his talons. He sometimes had to stretch at awkward angles. It would definitely be embarrassing if a dragon walked in on him twisted around like a pretzel.
He still couldn’t explain to the average curious dragonet why fireplace ash stuck to him the way it did. It just did. Kinda like how metal dust stuck to magnets. He could move it around on himself as he pleased and easily shake it off if he wished.
He went from his nose down to his tail, smoothing and fluffing the Ash as necessary. Making sure he had a nice even coating from snout to tail. He kept some extra ash on the tip of his tail. A trick he learned was to treat his tail like a broom when walking behind himself. If any bits of ash flaked off he could simply collect them with his tail as he walked.
As a result, the tip of his tail was extra fluffy and dirty with a darker color. He hated being a burden, even for something as inconsequential as a bit of mess. Once he was satisfied with his effort, he went back to the desk and picked up the scroll to get back to work… The scroll was shuttering in his unsteady talon…
“Ugh, I'm shivering again…” He thought. “Where did I put the coal?”
He searched and grabbed his personal supply bag, picked out 2 smaller pieces and popped them into his mouth. Crunching between his teeth and set to work again. Tying the rest around his neck for safekeeping. It would take a while but those rocks would warm him up from the inside.
Knock knock knock
Moons he wasn’t going to get anything done today was he…
“Hey uh, Professor Ash?”
Ash recognised the voice as one of the teachers at Jade mountain, like himself. An icewing named Cryo, his assistant teacher at Jade mountain. She was white with a slight tinge of green. Most likely because she was local to the southeastern section of the icewing kingdom. Where some very determined pine tree’s managed to live.
“Yes, Cryo? Do you need something?” Ash replied. Putting the finishing touches of the ash around his face and eyes.
“Yea uh… Your sister is here.” Cryo reported.
”Today? Already!“ Ash’s heart leapt with excitement.
I’ll be out in just a moment” He shouted, putting away the scrolls and placing some of them into a satchel he hurriedly hopped out of his office.
“Good afternoon sir, your sister is waiting at the courtyard” Cryo greeted.
“Thank you for telling me Cryo… Oh would you mind if you took these scrolls back to Starflight?” Ash asked while passing the satchel to her.
“I’m going to be traveling soon and these scrolls aren’t what I need anyways right now” He explained.
“Sure thing professor” Cryo acknowledged.
Ash was a few steps down before he realized he was forgetting something.“Oh Cryo, I almost forgot to tell you. The voice training is going really well. You are nailing it."
“Oh thank you!” A sudden grin splitting her face.
“No problem, don’t let anybody tell you otherwise!” Ash called back, as he moved as fast as he could without causing a mess along the hallway.
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Ember was sitting waiting around in the courtyard, humming The Dragonets are Coming to herself while she waited on Ash coming out. She couldn't get the song out of her head despite how annoying it was.
She wished that she could just walk in and see Ash… but that probably wasn’t the greatest idea. She had inherited her mother’s physique and stood on equal footing with some of the bigger mudwings. Walking around in narrow hallways in a school full of dragonets was just asking for an accident to happen. Peril may be able to do it as she was on the smaller side, but Ember sure couldn’t.
“Moons I hope he’s actually been taking care of himself” Ember worried.
“Ember!”
The sound of that familiar voice made her heart jump for joy!
There he was! And he looked… Ok, but he was shivering a little.
“Ash! Oh MOONS! It has been too long. Are you cold?” She immediately began to fuss.
“Well I just took some coal so I should be…” Ash began to reply but was cut off.
"Too bad you're getting a hug anyways!” Ember proclaimed and with that he grabbed him and pulled him tight into a warm squeeze.
She was warmer than any fireplace and Ash was one of the only dragons she could even touch without bursting into flames. Iif she was being honest with herself. She probably needed the hug more than he did.
“Ember, what are you doing here?” Ash could only squeak from the strength of Ember’s embrace. “Isn’t the wedding for that blacksmith friend of yours supposed to be a week from now? We aren’t supposed to be leaving for another 3 days?”
“Well yeah, but I wanted to see you today. It has been too long” Ember answered.
“Ember it's only been like a month and a half” Ash said while halfhearted trying to wiggle out of Ember’s arms and wings.
“Doesn’t matter,” Ember replied stubbornly.
“We are both fully grown adults, and we agreed to both try to be more independent,” Ash said.
“Doesn’t matter” Ember repeated, still binding Ash tightly.
“…Are you going to let me go?” Ash asked after an extended silence.
“That depends on Ash…” Ember said as a concerned scowl Ember's face.
”Tell me, did you eat today?” Ember asked.
“I uh had some coal” Ash replied, trying to hide the guilt from his voice and face.
“Coal doesn’t count. Its a rock, not food.” Ember continued to interrogate.
“Moons! Did you eat anything yesterday?” She exclaimed.
“I had some tea and… some…” Ash tried and failed to appease Ember.
Ember let Ash go and immediately grabbed him by the talon and started hauling him around. She was quite a bit bigger than Ash, and was very well muscled. He couldn’t do a thing to stop her.
“We are getting you food” Ember stated without any room for argument. Ash was starting to laugh at this point. His wonderful wheezing laugh.
“Ember! Ember, please I'm not hungry” Ash pleaded..
“You are NEVER hungry and you constantly starve yourself because of that!” Ember said
“Ember… Please Lunch is already over at this point.” Ash said, trying to stop his sister.
“I’m not asking Ash. We are getting food” Ember said with finality.
Ash made one final bid for freedom saying “Haha Ok… ok,, fine can you just let me go?”
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“No, Ash I will never ever let you go until I know you are ok. Not ever."
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“Are you done stuffing me with food yet?” Ash groaned.
Ember had dragged Ash into the nearly empty cafeteria. The way in had a large enough hall that Ember was comfortable walking directly in. After telling Clay, who was about to leave, that Ash had not eaten anything today, Clay, mortified, directed them to where they could find something to eat and right now they were sitting together.
“That depends, are you going to eat every day from now on?” Ember reprimanded.
“Yes please, at this point you're going to make me sick, you better be careful if you plan on hugging me again” Ash was legitimately nauseous.
“Ok then fine… I’ll let you off the hook this time” She said with a caring smile. Ash sighed and knew that she was just worried for him. He returned the smile.
“So seriously, what are you doing here?” Ash asked, trying to distract himself from his nausea.
“Oh I sent the parts of the armor I’m wearing into the rainforest here, and just wanted to give myself extra time to fix anything if it broke along the way.”
“Oh yea!” Ash nodded affirmatively, ”I remember you telling me about that, the armor based off of that lava suit that one nightwing made… Uh…”
Ash tried his absolute hardest to recall the name but nothing showed up in his head.
“Mastermind” Ember filled in.
“Yea him... Do you really think that will work?” Ash asked skeptically.
“Well my friend managed to convince Queen Glory to be able to invite me into the rainforest. Despite the no fire rules. It’d better work.” Ember replied. He noticed a bit of nervousness in Ember’s face and decided to change the subject.
“Oh that reminds me, how’s it going with… Ya know…that mudwing guy you were seeing” Ash suggested.
His sister after months of trying had eventually found someone who she thought she could be more than a casual friend with. Ember couldn’t write letters for obvious reasons. So he was curious about how it was going between those two.
“You mean Delta?” Ember replied, her tone changed at the mention of his name.
“Yea him! How’s it going? Have you met the rest of his sibling troop yet?” Ash asked.
Ember's face fell slightly, but only for a second.
After a awkward pause, Ember broke the silence
“You are terrible with the names of dragons Ash. Did you know that?” She mocked.
“Yea… Yea I know…” Ash said worry for his sister starting to bubble up from within him.
Ember lifted herself up and started to make her way towards the exit.“Come on Ash. let's go outside. It's getting stuffy here.” She said, dismissing the conversation.
Ash pushed himself up and followed Ember, Concern growing in the pit of his stomach.
“She's doing that thing where she pretends everything is fine” Ash thought.
They both padded out of the cafeteria and out onto the mountainside.
“Ember… Is everything ok?” Ash said softly when he had caught up to her.
Ember remained silent and Ash tried his luck again, “Ember if you need to talk… I’m here ok”
Ember stopped and turned her head around…“Later Ash… Just not right now.“ Ember was smiling… but Ash could tell it wasn’t genuine. It was just to make him think she was fine.
Ash and Ember found a nice spot to lounge in the beautiful summer afternoon next to the lake in Jade mountain. A couple of silkwings had made some hammocks in between the trees, and they must have made another for their hivewing friend too. There was a rainwing getting some extended suntime on a rock, shifting through vibrant colors in their dreams.. Some seawings were swimming in the lake, and Ash was pretty sure he saw Cryo with her students at one point, probably out on a field trip for the afternoon.
They made small talk but both of them felt like they were walking on eggshells.
“So… how's mom? Ash asked, trying to get the conversation going. “Is she still deployed in Pantala?”
“Yeah, and Ruby extended the olive branch tenure again so we won’t be seeing her for a while. Ember replied.
Ember made no attempts to continue the conversation. After a bit more awkward silence Ash made another attempt.
“How's the whole blacksmithing thing going? It must be amazing to be able to use your innate abilities like that. To be able to work metal like clay.”
Ember didn’t even respond that time.
“Come on, Ember. Don’t leave me like this” Ash thought
Suddenly Ember put her wing around Ash and leaned against him. Ash was barely able to hold himself up but he managed to support a fraction of her weight before she eased off. She kept her wing on him though. It was warm which felt great as the temperature was going down outside.
“Ash, I see what you are doing… I’m really grateful for that" He heard her say.
Ember looked down at Ash, her smile was genuine.
“I just needed some time to get my thoughts together… although I forgot how impatient you can be sometimes.”
A pang of guilt hit Ash. and he stammered “I’m sorry we don’t have to talk about it right now-”
“No, that's a good thing Ash. It's good that you are so eager. For… everything. Life is short, you know. It's what makes you such a good researcher. Too many dragons stop caring when it's too difficult.
“...”
After a pause, Ember spoke.“What do you think happened Ash? Give me your best guess”
“Did you break up?” Ash asked. Hoping he was wrong.
Ember chuckled cynically.“Yup. Correct.|
”The smallest bit of anger boiled up in Ash, a rare emotion for him. “But you two were doing so well together? What happened?”
“Well, it had been a while you know, and we were talking about taking our relationship further, but he insisted on me getting to know his siblings first.”
“Oh?” Ash said?
“So I went and met them… They didn’t like me very much, but I tried my best to be polite and get on their good side. You know… Everything you are supposed to do.” Ember continued.
“I was willing to make it work with Delta, and win them over. I thought he was too. He said that he would try and bring them around, but after that day. Any time we got together to date and everything. It was never his idea anymore… He stopped trying.” She was trying to sound nonchalant about it, but Ash could tell this had been eating away at her for a long time.
Ash nodded along. Ember was pulling Ash closer with her wing.
“Then on one of the dates we were supposed to go on. He didn’t show up… His family did instead. They told me we were breaking up. Turns out his siblings had been feeding him with horror stories about dragons like us. Calling us demons, saying we eat the souls of dragonets and all that. Old campfire stories.” She attempted to laugh, but it came out sounding hollow.
Ash exclaimed “That is horrible! Those stories are ancient and have absolutely zero merit. I haven’t found a single source in all of my studies which confirms their truth through a valid source.”
Ember laughed humorlessly.“Sure as shit was enough for Delta…
“You know…I’m not that sad about him wanting to break up. I can deal with that. We didn't have that much in common. It's just…
He never mentioned any of this!” She continued. Her frustration bleeding into her voice.
“His family told me I would have hurt him if he was honest with me. But I was never even given the CHANCE! So instead I was taken entirely by surprise when he got his family to do it in his stead.” Ember sighed
“They said some awful things too… I’m pretty sure he gave them ammunition from the stuff I privately shared with him. Personal stuff you know. It… hurt a lot more than I was willing to admit to anyone.”
“I haven’t seen him since and, yea that’s about it. This was a few weeks ago. I’m feeling better about it now. I honestly just probably dodged a ballista bolt all things considered. In the end. I’m pretty sure I came out on top.” She concluded.
Sorrow filled Ash's heart. The tone of Ember's voice was stoic and indifferent, but every once in a while it cracked, leaking her feelings through.
“Ember I am so sorry this happened to you… I mean, is there anything I can do.” he asked. Knowing it was rather futile. He didn’t know a thing about how relationships worked.
“I need you right here Ash.” Ember tucked him in with her wing. “You being here helps more than you can imagine. Like I said! This is a good thing! Because I’ve come to the realization that I should just give up and stop looking. Just like you ”
The effect this sentence had on Ash was similar to having a bucket of ice water on a grumpy rainwings head while they are sleeping.“What do you mean ‘Give up’?! I don’t want a mate because I am simply just not interested! I NEVER HAVE BEEN?!”
Ember started laughing, Ash had taken the bait. She found confused and indignant Ash to be the peak of humor, and this had been an inside joke between them for years.
After a solid minute and a half of laughter, Ember was able to calm down enough to speak.“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I couldn’t help myself.”
“You are lucky you are the only person who I would let get away with this.” Ash reprimanded with a well intentioned smirk, and flicking her ear with his claw.
“But seriously Ember, I’m sure that you will be able to find someone for you someday, you are still young” Ash reasoned.
“Well then smart guy, why don’t we do some math here.
I need to find a Mudwing who was born from a blood egg which are uncommon… Oh and they don’t keep track of which dragonets were from blood eggs when they hatch. So half the time they don’t even know and there is no guarantee that we will even like each other.” Ember started.
“Then, I need to see if they are interested in a relationship that lasts more than 1 day against their cultural predisposition. Almost all the time their siblings are enough to keep them happy.” She said holding up 1 claw.
“Then, I need to also gain the acceptance of ALL of their siblings, and the fact that the dragon who wants to love their sibling hurts them every time they touch makes that rather difficult.” Holding up 2 talons.
“Then, they need to have a relatively high pain tolerance for us to do anything other than just be friends. You know, hugging, kissing, snuggling and… other activities.” She continued on a third claw.
“Hey Peril and Clay had eggs so we know it's possible” Ash said, trying to be optimistic.
“I suppose so… although I remember you telling the burns on his belly practically announced to the entirety of Jade mountain what was going on between them. Nobody was surprised about the news that she was having eggs.” The twins chuckled for a bit.
“So Ash… Tell me what's the odds? You're the smart twin right? Am I going to manage to find someone who I can be with before I die?”
Ash pondered the question for a while. Ember was pretty sure she had stumped him, but then.
“If you give up, it is guaranteed to be zero. You are strong, smart and beautiful and the fact that you are a firescales makes it their loss that they can’t have you”
Ember chewed upon those words. Thinking…
Tendrils of steam flowed up from the corners of Ember's eyes.“You always know what to say Ash… I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have you.”
“Well Ember, you don’t ever have to think about what you would need to do. Because I promise you I will always be there for you when you need it. No matter what"
Ember sniffed, “You better keep that promise… ok Ash?” There was a profound sadness in her eyes… and Ash couldn’t figure out why.