Gretel followed the birds to a wooded area outlining a prairie. Its grass was tall and flowery, and the young wyvern’s hot pink eyes caught sight of water reflecting beneath them. A wet prairie? The white-and-purple wyvern silenced herself as she descended to get a better view of the woodlands through the trees. Aside from the migrating birds chirping noisily as they roosted, everything seemed quiet.
Too quiet, Gretel realized suspiciously. She remembered how her visit to the volcanic island had gone just months ago; what appeared to be such a desolate place had turned out to be inhabited by many different types of dragons. She narrowed her keen eyes, focusing more to detect any traces of unnatural movement instead.
The seven-month-old wyvern cautiously circled the island from above, scouting the grass, trees, and shorelines from a distance that only wind types' eyes could see clearly at. Then she spotted movement and hovered, focusing intently.
The movement had been from a very young, tangerine-colored revealer hatchling falling over. The tiny thing must only be a month old, at most; Gretel wanted to go down there and check if it was okay, but she knew better than to risk showing herself.
That's when an impulse overcame her; Gretel suddenly found herself diving into the trees and landing before the baby revealer. “You alright?” Wait–why did I do that?! I'm so stupid! What if its parents are nearby and they try to kill me?! Then she remembered what Efron had told her about his kind’s natural gemstones being active by default when they're young, and she took notice of the three gems on the tangerine hatchling's forehead, a bigger one between her eyes, and three on the back of her neck and tail. Oh… I'm not stupid; I guess this little one revealed me just now.
Just as Gretel calmed down and tried to use her own willpower to overcome the reveal, which Efron had also helped train her to do when she had asked him to during her recovery, the wyvern cried out from literal shock; electricity through the small puddle of water she had landed in coursed through her body for just two seconds that seemed to last an eternity.
Frightened, she took flight as soon as she was mobile. But instead of fleeing like she planned to, that reveal ability caused her to act on her impulsive desire to find out who attacked her.
It turned out to be a turquoise electric dragon, whose yellow-green eyes glared up at her. The curly-tufted tip of his very long tail was twitching with agitation, and for several moments, the two just stared each other down. Gretel awkwardly looked between him and the revealer hatchling, then once again used her willpower to overcome her reveal and fly out of his sight.
What was that about? she couldn't help wondering. If he was a predator, surely he'd do more to hunt me down than just a tiny shock… And he didn't target the hatchling, either; she would have been easier prey for him than me. Gretel once again circled the island. There was no trace of other revealers, but she did catch sight of other differently-colored electric types foraging around the forest or playing in the waters of the field. One spotted her, but fled instead of attacking.
It doesn't seem to have any other predators… And if electric types are more common here, they wouldn't stand a chance against Efron. This place does seem to be an ideal for retreat for both of us.
The white-and-purple wind type found herself back at the area with the baby revealer. Curiosity got the better of her and she silenced herself to land on a tree top, hidden from sight and peering down at the scene.
“You're alright… The scary wyvern is gone. She won't hurt you,” the turquoise electric type was stating as a matter of fact, helping the tangerine hatchling to her feet.
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The little revealer's red eyes looked up at him as if trying to understand his words through his tone and facial expression. Electric dragons in general had shapely muzzles with long, fang-like maxillas and no teeth; only the corners of their mouths emoted the way other dragon types’ did. But even still, despite his neutral frown, his eyes were narrowed with calm concern, and his clawed hand gently patted the hatchling's head.
The revealer smiled and hugged him, gripping the long yellow-green curly mane falling over his neck, and nuzzling her tiny muzzle into his matching-colored ventral scales.
Gretel had to use a lot of self-control to avoid landing and starting a conversation with him, to not act on her curiosity as to why a solitary electric type would care for a revealer; and why a social revealer hatchling would be alone so far from the plateau island Efron’s family had left.
She shook her head. It's not my business. As long as I don't antagonize anyone, I'm sure this place will be safe. But there is one way to make sure of that.
The white-and-purple siren left the tree and glided on a summoned tailwind to land in the middle of the prairie. Then she opened her mouth and improvised a song. Similar to her call for help on the crescent island when she'd been injured months ago, Gretel alternated between two notes: a neutral middle pitch to represent the safety of her environment, and then rising it into a higher pitch questioningly, and she kept her volume only loud enough for the inhabitants of the island to hear.
She glanced around, seeing a ton of electric types peeking at her from within the surrounding tall grass; their fur blended pretty well with the texture of their environment, and if Gretel weren't a wind type, she wouldn't have been able to see them at all. Still, she waited, but nobody made a move. A few of them resumed playing or left the area when they realized she wasn't seeking them out.
Toward the shore she saw a dark brown fully grown water dragon resting in the nearby mud that almost concealed him. His light blue eyes were watching her a bit curiously, but when she met his gaze, he tensed and looked toward the forest.
Gretel followed his line of sight with her own to see the turquoise electric type glaring back at her. She couldn't tell if he was suspicious or seething. They once again stared each other down until the little revealer peeked out from behind him and he tore his attention away from Gretel to usher the hatchling back to the safety of the trees.
He still isn't attacking me. I don't think I have to worry about him. She looked back at the water dragon, then gulped fearfully when he stood up and spread the large fins on his back, flicking the mud off to reveal they were tipped with a pale grassy green color. Even though water dragons didn't get much taller than six feet on all fours, she could tell from his more sluggish movements that he was an older adult, perhaps pushing twenty years old.
“Hey, little lady. You're looking for a retreat, I'll bet,” he greeted her with a toothy grin.
Gretel cautiously retreated a step from him at the sight of his fangs.
“My name’s Clay. You're more than welcome to stay here,” he assured her, “but I would recommend keeping your distance from those two in particular. Ever since that little revealer was abandoned here, she's been unintentionally causing a lot of drama with whoever goes in range of her gems. Ga–err, I mean, the turquoise dragon with her can also be overprotective of her, so I'd avoid him too if you don't wanna get zapped.”
Abandoned? she thought sympathetically. "I'm Gretel. This place looks safe enough to me, but, uh… How would everyone react to another revealer staying here too?”
“Depends. How old are they? Are they friendly?”
“He's two years old, and he's my friend; like me, he’s just looking for a safe place to live…”
Clay seemed thoughtful for a moment. “Hm. Two-year-old revealers can control their gemstones, right? As long as he doesn't purposely stir up drama with his reveals, I'd reckon we'd all get along.”
Gretel let out a relieved sigh. “So nobody would care if I claim this land as a retreat for me and him?”
“Nah. Go for it.”
The siren grinned, then centered herself and improvised another song: two neutral middle tones, the first clear, the other growly and possessive, repeated a few times and projected as far into the skies as she could with her volume control.
She waited a few minutes; that brown wind dragon from before passed overhead, his gaze focused on the source of the song somewhat curiously before he continued on his way. Gretel smiled, then took flight back to Efron. We did it…!