By the time Pyrite and Jade arrived and knew what was going on, the situation had almost gotten out of hand. Aether—poor Aether—was ready to disintegrate into a million mist pieces, she was so exhausted.
Lotus apologized many times for causing all the ruckus, which led to Razortail pointing out that it was someone’s birthday.
“Oh yeah!” Lotus cried, looking around again. “Who was it again?”
Alex grinned. “Me and Turquoise are fourteen today.”
“OH MY CLAWS!!!” Lotus squealed. “That’s amazing! We should celebrate!”
“We don’t need to celebrate,” Turquoise said. “Not really.” She reached to the ground next to where she was sleeping and picked up her helmet, which she’d been calling Max. She put it on.
“HALOOO!” The enthusiastic greeting Turquoise received made her grin. It was like this every day, but she never got tired of it.
Hey, Max. The helmet didn't seem bothered by the name, either.
Over the past few weeks, Turquoise and Max had gotten to know each other better. Max could now transmit positive feelings and emotions to Turquoise to keep her on track, along with words and advice. Turquoise, in return, seemed to be able to read Max’s emotions. She knew that he was sad and lonely, and liked Turquoise with a burning passion.
“It’s your birthday, I happened to hear,” Max said. “You know, when I was a young piece of headgear, turning fourteen was a big deal.”
Turquoise sent grateful vibes to Max.
Her mind registered the fact that her friends were still talking. “...I’m fifteen,” Andy was saying. “I guess I never asked how old you guys are.”
“We were born on different months of the same year,” Turquoise explained. “Jade was born first, on the eleventh day of the seventh month. Pyrite was born next, on the eleventh day of the eighth month. Then it was Alex and I, and then Sapphire.”
“That’s interesting,” Pathtalon said. “An odd coincidence.”
“Indeed,” Max said to Turquoise. “Quite the odd coincidence.”
Turquoise had no idea what that meant.
“Well, now that we’re all awake—and sane again—why don’t we start flying?” Jade suggested with a slight chuckle.
Everyone groaned.
Jade raised his arms in submission. “Or we could rest for half an hour and celebrate a birthday.” He frowned. “Or is it two birthdays?”
“Does it matter?” Razortail snorted.
Turquoise still didn’t know what to think of the BloodDragon. Ever since they’d left the forest, he’d been acting subdued and a little bit grumpy towards everyone except Lotus. Max had advised that Turquoise give the dragon some space when she’d told him about Razortail’s little voodoo-magic episode. Turquoise had no complaints about that.
The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.
“I have an idea!” Shadowstar said. “Why don’t we swim in a lake? I think there’s one nearby!”
The group had taken a slight detour towards their destination. Instead of cutting through the PhantomDragon Kingdom and the Barren Wasteland, they had decided to take a riskier route and follow Volcano Ridge until reaching the Tiberia River, where they had switched northwards. No one wanted to get involved in the Barren Wasteland again, no matter how big the detour.
“YEEAAH!!” Aether, Alex, Alastor, and Turquoise all shouted in unison.
“I guess that’s decided,” Razortail muttered.
***********
They all had an enjoyable experience at the lake, considering the none of them had washed in a month. Turquoise’s skin never felt so amazing.
“You just lost your healthy coat of dirt,” Alex tsked. “It made you look more pretty.”
“Says the person in blue underwear.” Turquoise splashed water up his nose.
“Are you still swimming?” Sapphire called from the shore. She had neglected to join the others, not willing to take off her pants or jacket. The water was chilling, but it wasn’t that cold.
“We’re having a splash!” Alex called back, grinning wickedly. Turquoise groaned at his slick pun. “Why don’t you join us?”
“No thank you.” Sapphire turned back to her sketchbook.
Alex silently swam to the shore and crossed over to where she was. Turquoise was about to warn her, but in one swift movement, Alex pushed her in the lake, holding the sketchbook out of the water so that it didn’t get wet.
Sapphire emerged, sputtering. “Hey! What was that for?” Turquoise swam over. She could tell that Sapphire wasn’t really angry. In fact, she started to giggle.
“You needed it,” Alex remarked. He offered her his hand so she could climb out and remove some of her sopping wet clothes. She didn’t want to take her shirt off, though. Turquoise wondered why.
“Hey!” Lotus popped up next to all of them. “Oh! Sapphire’s joining! Come play splash tag with us!”
All dragons loved tag. It was something about chasing each other and pouncing on others that gave them satisfaction, but most dragons (even grown ones) wouldn’t resist to a game of tag.
“Alastor!” Alex, who was still on shore, walked up to the little fox. “Will you join us?”
Alastor roused from his nap. “Sure.”
They both went to the sandy beachhead and began making their way to the waves. Alex jumped in, then turned to Alastor.
Alastor placed on paw in th water, then gasped and fell in.
“Alastor!” Alex cried, swimming to where the fox had submerged. Then something astounding happened. When Alex reached the spot, a giant fish leapt out of the water. It had the same colors as Alastor’s coat. It swam up to Alex’s side.
“Alastor?” Alex asked incredulously.
“Um.” It was Alastor’s voice, all right. Turquoise swam back over and saw that the fish had the fox’s unique eyes, too. “Help?”
“What happened?” Jade and Pyrite swam over, along with Sapphire and Andy.
“Alastor turned into a fish,” Turquoise explained.
“Alastor...what?” Jade furrowed his brow. “A fish?”
“It’s not like I wanted to!” the fish wailed.
“You’ll be better at splash tag, though,” Alex reassured. That seemed to make Alastor feel better.
“What’s taking so long?” Now all the dragons were swimming over. Lotus had Lily attached to her with a long, braided string and some driftwood secured under her arms.
“Is that a fish?” Shadowstar asked.
“An Alastor fish?” CloudWing added, raising an eyebrow.
“NOT a tasty fish,” Aether remarked fiercely. She’s somehow kept all her mist, even under the water. It was like all the water near her turned to steam and fog as soon as it touched her scales.
“A fast fish, though!” Alastor dove under the water and reappeared by Lotus’s side instantly, bopping her back with his tail and the disappearing back under.
“OH YOUR ON!” Lotus bellowed, floundering after the giggling fish. “GET BACK HERE, YOU GOOBER! YOU’RE NOT GETTING AWAY WITH THAT!”
Alex grinned and splashed Sapphire. She splashed back, and soon everyone began splashing each other. The laughter echoed off of the water.
Turquoise looked at her friends in turn. Maybe this wasn’t such a bad birthday after all.