>At a SeaWing enclave, on the outskirts of the Kingdom of the Sea_
Cuttlefish, Clam, and Oyster peeked their heads into Mako’s cave. Normally, they would only be here when they were required to attend her lessons and study.
While the case could be argued that was still the case in this given scenario, the dragonets were here on their own volition.
[“No one’s here.”] Clam dimly flashed.
[“Of course no-one’s here, you dolt. Mako went to the Summer Palace with Father.”] Oyster flashed back.
Cuttlefish didn’t say anything as he slowly paddled into the cave room. It was sparsely filled, the only decorations being a relatively large waterproof map of Pyrrhia and the Kingdom of the Sea that was pinned to a wall, a rack of waterproofed scrolls about as long and tall as he was against another, and a bunch of random scrolls and papers that belonged to Mako herself on a natural shelf of raised rock up against another flat-ish wall.
The three dragonets made their way over to the scroll rack. [“Okay, so we’re looking for anything Mako’s scrolls have on scavengers, right?”] Clam said.
[“Yes.”] Cuttlefish responded. [“Specifically, anything on what they’re known to build. Although any information we find could be helpful.”]
The dragonets began to search through the scrolls for anything having to do with scavengers. The rack wasn’t terribly well-organized, so they would have to individually pull each roll off and check its contents rather than looking in any specific section. Fortunately, there weren’t all that many scrolls to go through. It wouldn’t take them more than an hour to at least give every scroll on this rack a cursory glance.
Not two minutes into the search, Oyster’s scales lit up. [“Hey, guys! I found something!”]
Clam and Cuttlefish both paddled over to look at the scroll over her shoulder. It did indeed look like she found something useful.
Scavengers: Everything you need to know!
The scroll’s title was scrawled in big, dark words. Loudly advertising its contents for all to see. The ink was a weird off-bluish black, denoting it as being written in the special waterproof ink that only SeaWings use.
[“Well, let’s see what it says!”] Clam flashed.
Oyster took the scroll over to the rock shelf, and unrolled it in its entirety. It was long enough so that it spilled over the side, but it was by no means the longest scroll that any of the dragonets had ever seen.
They all crowded around the top paragraphs of the scroll, and began reading.
Scavengers are one of Pyrrhia’s most well known creatures! Every dragon has heard of them, as the animals have indeed gained some notoriety. Even you, dear reader, have almost certainly heard of them before. Perhaps you’ve even seen one, and are curious or confused enough to want to learn more!
Well, fear not, because you’ve picked up the perfect scroll! This scroll represents a comprehensive and authoritative view on everything that every dragon should know about these enigmatic creatures!
The scroll then had a sort of table of contents, which displayed a list of the scroll’s main sections. Each section pertained to a different aspect of what was known about scavengers.
Part 1: Scavengers, an introduction and overview
Part 2: Scavenger appearance
Part 3: Known habitats
Part 4: Behavior habits
Part 5: Sounds
Part 6: Weapons - metal claws
Part 7: Treasure
Part 8: Building habits
Part 9: Breeding & Pets
Part 10: Intelligence
Part 11: Impact on dragon culture
Part 12: Rumors and The Scorching
Cuttlefish’s eyes brightened. Building habits! That would be the section that would tell how scavengers were somehow able to build all those massive boat-things!
He moved further down the scroll to find that section. Part 3… Part 5… Ah, here it is! …It’s a little short… He thought, but went on to read nonetheless.
Part 8:
The only thing that scavengers are known to build are the little dens that they live in. More information on that topic can of course be found in part 3. The creatures are somewhat similar to beavers in that they use natural materials, mostly wood from trees, to build shelters for themselves across the continent. The only other things that scavengers build are the metal claws that they sometimes use to attack dragons. More information on that in part 5. Some SeaWings have reported that scavengers have on occasion been sighted in “weird, floating bowl-shaped wooden things” on the water close to shore. It stands to reason that they built those. Moons know why they would though, though. As those SeaWings also reported that the scavengers out on the water were rather easy targets.
That was it. Cuttlefish didn’t see any further information in that section. The only potential clue was the note about scavengers maybe being able to build what sounded like small boats that float? That didn’t sound anything like the hulking metal constructions that they saw the other day.
Not to mention, the scavenger boats that the SeaWings referenced in the scroll reported to have seen were also very obviously implicated to not be dangerous. The ones they saw were absolutely very dangerous.
Perhaps he ought to read other sections of the scroll, in order to get any additional information that might be written there.
He decided to simply read the whole scroll from the beginning, as it was likely that any relevant information was scattered throughout the paper, and it would take a while to sort through it anyway.
Part 1: Scavengers: An Introduction and Overview.
Scavengers are one of the most confusing creatures on this continent. Despite their notoriety, very little is actually known about them. They are known primarily for their propensity to try and steal treasure from dragons, and to be very aggressive. Nobody knows why exactly they like treasure so much, but the little thieves certainly do, and will sometimes go to rather foolhardy lengths to get it. Everyone has heard of what happened to Queen Oasis of the SandWings. scavengers snuck into the SandWing Stronghold, stole treasure, and somehow managed to kill the Queen herself when she attempted to exterminate them. Her three daughters were unable to determine who had the right to be the next queen, and therefore opted to settle that dispute by combat. The war that we fight to this day is the result of that. But this scroll isn’t about the War of SandWing succession, it’s about scavengers.
In order to first understand scavengers, we have to understand the principal point of Dragon history, The Scorching. It is said that, before The Scorching, scavengers were the dominant species on the continent. It is said that they were everywhere, and had managed to kill the dragons that existed a lot more often. Sources disagree heavily on what actually happened during that time, as there is very little information that survives from then. More on that topic later.
Part 2: Scavenger appearance
Scavengers are lanky, ape-like creatures that walk along on two legs. They almost exclusively stick to the ground, but can rarely be seen going up into trees for various reasons. They have two arms that end with weird-looking claw-less paws that hang down from their shoulders, as they walk completely upright. When standing, scavengers have an appearance that is somewhat similar to the posture of a meerkat that is scanning the area around its burrow for predators. The difference is that scavengers look like that at all times. The only times they have been observed to walk on all fours like normal creatures is when they are either looking desperately for something on the ground, or are cripplingly weak. Whichever the case, they are not known to be able to move very quickly in this configuration.
Another well-known feature about scavengers is that they are almost hairless excluding a patch of fur on the tops of their heads. No one knows why this is the case. A scavenger's skin is usually light brown in color, somewhat similar to the underscales of some MudWings. However, it can also be noted that there have been rumors of scavengers with a ghostly white appearance in some areas. These sightings are exceptionally few and far between, and are unreliable.
It is also known that scavengers always wear strange coverings on their bodies, usually made of a kind of fabric. No live scavenger has ever been seen without those coverings on, to my knowledge. It is entirely unknown why the strange creatures always wear these coverings.
Part 3: Known habitats
Scavengers are not known to have any specific habitat, as they have been seen living in places all over the continent. Even on occasion in the Ice Kingdom. There are even old rumors of scavengers living in the Rainforest Kingdom, but they are sparse and unreliable at best. The only continuous factor that pertains to where scavengers live is that they always tend to live together in small dens, known to you most likely as a scavenger den, in seemingly random places across Pyrrhia. The dens they build are made from wood, similar to beavers. They are very much flammable.
It is unknown what sort of things scavengers do within these dens, and there are few who actually care enough even to ask, much less investigate it themselves. Those who do attempt to investigate or to hunt the dens will find that the scavengers that live there will defend their dens fiercely, and often with their lives. It is generally considered inadvisable to venture near one of these dens unless you are ready for a fight. (Albeit, not a very hard one)
It should also be noted that many scavenger dens are camouflaged from the air by foliage and other things.
Part 4: Behavior habits
While there is plenty known about what scavengers do, very little is known about why. It is widely known that scavengers are attracted to treasure, and some say metal in general, but we don’t know why.
We know that scavengers always live in dens, but we don’t know why. Asking around various scavenger experts across different tribes, the only conclusion that I could reach is that the only ones that know why scavengers do what they do are probably scavengers.
What we do know is that scavengers are very aggressive, and will invariably either attack or flee from any dragon that approaches them. We also know that they seem to be social, as they are rarely seen alone. It is also known that most of what scavengers do is inexplicable and strange.
A decent rule of claw to follow is this: If you come across a scavenger in the wild, it will most likely flee as soon as it notices your presence. If you encounter scavengers nearby one of their dens, or if you have treasure on you, it will attack you.*
It is also unclear as to what instincts govern scavenger behavior, or even if there are any instincts whatsoever, as scavengers have been noted to disregard instincts even as basic as that of survival. On top of generally acting erratically and illogically compared to other animals.
*It should also be noted that adult scavengers, particularly males, will attack a dragon if their mate or cubs are nearby, which has been discovered to be often the case when a scavenger attacks dragons out in the wild.
Part 5: Sounds
Scavengers are rather noisy creatures when they aren't trying to hide. They have been noted to produce lots of rapid chittering and chirping noises, similar to a mouse or bird, with each other or sometimes towards dragons. The noises they make are not very loud, but can be easily discerned if you listen for them. The sounds are utterly incomprehensible. It had been rumored that these noises may possibly be a form of communication, but no reasonable evidence to back up such a claim has been discovered by dragons to memory.
Nonetheless, it is true that scavengers are very ‘chatty.’ They make much more noise than other creatures of their size, or any other creature I’ve heard of, for that matter.
Part 6: Weapons - metal claws
It is well known that scavengers often wield sharp metal things. It is also known that the creatures possess no real natural weapons of any kind. They have no claws, and their teeth are useless in a fight. Thus, it has been determined by dragons that are experts in the field that scavengers are in fact helpless without the fake metal claw things they use.
The sharp metal things used by scavengers usually come in two forms: The first, and better known, is a sort of long shiny metal claw either made from a brownish, copper-colored metal, or a shinier silver colored metal. It has been noted that the silver colored metals seem to be stronger than the copper colored ones. The other, and more common, type of sharp thing found is a small bit of very sharp metal on a long stick. Scavengers will use this weapon to stab things, or they will sometimes throw them.
*It can also be noted that some scavengers have been rumored to use a kind of sharp-projectile weapon on occasion, particularly when near their dens. These projectile throwing weapons have been described as a kind of long, curved stick and a string. How exactly scavengers can get a curved stick and a string to launch things at dragons is unknown to this writer, however.
Part 7: Treasure
Easily the most famous aspect of scavengers is their attraction to treasure. It is unknown why scavengers like treasure so much, but it has been theorized that it has to do with its shininess, as scavengers have been noted to also be often seen with other shiny metals that are clearly not treasure. I have also heard from a couple of dragons that scavengers actually tend to go after those metals more than they do real treasure.
I will say, on a personal note, that this dragon does not understand why scavengers would also be attracted to non-treasure metals. I, like all other dragons, can of course understand to an extent one why would like treasure, but why would one go to such lengths to acquire metal that is clearly not treasure?
Part 8: Building habits
The only thing that scavengers are known to build are the little dens that they live in. More information on that topic can of course be found in part 4. Scavengers are somewhat similar to beavers in that they use natural materials, mostly wood from trees, to build shelters for themselves across the continent. The only other things that scavengers build are the metal claws that they sometimes use to attack dragons. More information on that in part 5. Some SeaWings have reported that scavengers have on occasion been sighted in “weird, floating bowl-shaped wooden things” on the water close to shore. It stands to reason that they built those. Moons know why they would though, though. Those SeaWings also reported that the scavengers out on the water were rather easy targets.
Part 9: Breeding & Pets
I am yet to hear of any scavenger farming venture being successful. The creatures have a very long breeding cycle, at least 16-18 years before they are mature enough to produce offspring. Even then, it takes a little less than an entire year for a female scavenger to actually give birth to a cub (No, scavengers do not lay eggs). It should also be said that, even if one is patient enough to wait that long, the odds of you actually being able to even get the scavengers to breed in the first place, much less keep them alive for that entire span of time, are very low.
On top of that, an alarming number of scavengers in environments such as that have been known to self-terminate for whatever reason. No one is certain why.
That said, if one wants to keep a scavenger as a pet, it has been done before. Though I personally would advise against it. The things have been known to make very poor pets, for a number of reasons. Here are a few:
-Scavengers are very high-maintenance.
-Scavengers are very spirited creatures, and often maintain their aggression long after they’ve been captured
-It will likely attack you
-It will try to escape constantly
-Other dragons will almost certainly eat it. It’s not a matter of if, but when (In my experience)
-If no dragons kill it, it will probably kill itself eventually*
*As mentioned before, scavengers that have been in the presence of dragons for extended periods of time, whether as a pet or livestock, have been known to self-terminate. There is no leading consensus as to why. One theory suggested that scavengers associate dragons with death, and if they are near dragons for a long time but aren’t killed by them, then it will just do the job themselves. I have yet to encounter a more plausible theory.
Part 10: Intelligence
A talonful of dragons I’ve spoken with theorize that there is more to scavengers than we know. Usually, that statement is then followed up by a proclamation declaring scavengers being clever or even somewhat intelligent. While I would grant that scavengers are almost certainly smarter than your average rodent, from all my observations I would not deign to call them intelligent, or even particularly clever. Sure, they can use weapons that aren’t natural, but how could they be intelligent?
Even a bear has the sense to flee when a dragon is approaching its den. Why would scavengers even dare to face a dragon, something it could not hope to surmount, and inevitably die, unless there’s truly little going on in that little head of theirs?
Part 11: Impact on dragon culture
Despite their weakness, it is safe to say that scavengers, to their credit, have had a noticeable impact on dragon culture. Scavengers are one of the most well known animals out there. I would safely say that every dragon alive has at least heard of them once. Everyone is aware of their treasure-thieving reputation, and of their feistiness.
However, certainly the biggest impact scavengers have had on dragon culture is on dragon cuisine. Scavenger is considered a delicacy across the continent, even in the Kingdom of the Sea. The diminutive creatures are often served at important ceremonial banquets and dinners.
Many cooking recipes have been spawned from preparing their flesh, containing all manners of portions and cooking styles! Cooking styles such as frying, smoking, boiling, steaming, grilling and traditional cooking are all encompassed! Not to mention, there are yet more ways of preparation. Including pulled, steak, ribs, legs, and countless more! Tenderized scavenger meat is a very popular snack in particular, and scavenger veal has always fetched a high price.
It is even rumored that the very first recipes ever were created for cooking scavengers!
Part 12: Rumors and The Scorching
Much of what is known about scavengers is surrounded by rumors. I suppose that would be inevitable, given how much is simultaneously known and unknown about the creatures. I have addressed some of the more prominent rumors already, but there are a few more that are worth referencing.
One of the more prominent allegations that you may hear about scavengers are the supposed weapons that have been noted to be present in and around their largest dens. Some dragons have told of large spears being thrown via unknown means at them when trying to hunt near the dens. While I personally have never seen any device that should be capable of that, I have heard enough corroborating information from enough dragons to at least take the claim seriously. Any dragons going near a large scavenger den to hunt ought to do so with due caution.
Regarding The Scorching, it is said that scavengers were somehow the dominant species on the continent before us dragons banded together to exterminate the majority of them in an event known as The Scorching. Stories about what things were like before the Scorching vary wildly. It is incredibly difficult for even the most dedicated of historians to form the beginnings of a cohesive narrative.
Personally, I find it very difficult to imagine a world ruled by scavengers rather than dragons. Partially because there is simply no way in which scavengers would ever be able to organize themselves like we have to be able to do that. But also because, how could one imagine a world where scavengers are more than just common prey as they are? Even if their numbers were increased tenfold, they are just too weak and puny to be able to actually fight against us with any degree of success other than the occasional freak accident like with Queen Oasis.
If you want more information, or a deeper dive into the intricacies of scavenger-based dishes, or an overview of the historical role of them in royal banquets, or even a list of relatively well-known scavenger-Dragon battles, you can find them in some of my other published works!
Cuttlefish looked up from the bottom of the scroll, and to the other two dragonets. Clam appeared to still be reading his own section of the scroll, while Oyster had moved back to the scroll rack to search for anything else.
That was it? He thought to himself.
There wasn’t anything in there that would explain what they saw! The only clues were the offtalon mentions of scavengers being known to use some kind of projectile weapon, which sounded nothing like the streams of fire and explosions that Cuttlefish saw at the den.
The only other clue was the tiny boat-sounding things that were also mentioned. The things that he and the others had seen most certainly were not tiny, and they were not made of wood.
It sounded like the dragon that wrote that scroll had no idea of anything like the massive boats those scavengers had existing, so was it even possible that the scavengers built the things? But if they didn’t, then who did?
The only others that could have built them were dragons. If dragons were able to build constructs such as those weaponized boats, everyone would have been hearing a lot more of them for a long time.
In fact… Cuttlefish couldn’t even remember reading about something new being invented by dragons in… well, ever.
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Well, if no one else knows anything about these things, then I’ll guess we’ll just have to write the scroll on them ourselves. He thought with a small amount of dragonet-like eagerness rising up within him.
[“I can’t find anything else scavenger-related here.”] Oyster said. [“That scroll seems to be everything Mako has on scavengers.”]
[“Well, there’s nothing in here that has anything to do with the weird monsters we found!”] Clam flashed in.
[“How about we go find another one of them ourselves, and be the ones to write about these new things.”] Cuttlefish flashed to the two of them.
Both Clam and Oyster looked skeptical. [“Uh, Cuttlefish, don’t you remember what happened to those NightWings who went close to said things?”] Oyster said. Clam nodded his agreement.
[“We don’t need to go near those ones.”] Cuttlefish shook his head. [“Remember the one that was traveling underwater? Remember how the scavengers on it just stared at us without trying to attack us? We could just go find that one ourselves.”]
[“What if it attacks us this time?”] Clam flashed.
[“Then we can just dive underwater. Those weapons looked like they could only attack things in the air.”]
Both the siblings drifted silently, considering his proposition. Cuttlefish hoped that they would agree, as he didn’t like the idea of going out on his own into the blue to find something that could in fact be dangerous.
He was also a little excited about maybe-potentially getting to see the scavengers using those light-flashing and fabric-waving patterns that he had seen yesterday.
It was for that reason that he was also a little disappointed that they would probably not be able to go near the big group of things safely for a while. It was rather unlikely that the scavengers on a boat-thing that was probably by itself would be using those signals.
[“Alright, we can go try to find the underwater-boat-thing.”] Cuttlefish was surprised to see that it was Clam that flashed that. Oyster nodded her agreement.
Cuttlefish gave them both a grin, and they set off. Following in the direction the underwater-boat-thing was most likely to have gone.
***
>On the docks, Safe Harbor._
Captain Drake winced as an M3 half-track was lowered from the transport ship SS Stephen R. Malroy onto the pier she was moored to with a heavy thud. He didn’t know if the local’s port structure could handle that kind of stress.
The officer directing the offloading operation clearly had the same idea, judging by his irate shouting towards the crane operators aboard the ship.
He watched as the lightly armored vehicle was quickly unlatched from the palette it was on, and some other impromptu longshoremen started pouring gasoline from an ad-hoc reservoir made from a bunch of jerry cans that had also been offloaded onto the pier into the vehicle. After it had been sufficiently fueled, an Army driver jumped into its seat and started up the engine.
The half-track then slowly trundled its way down the pier, and onto the shore proper. It joined up with the growing procession of US Army personnel who were making their way off the troopships SS Robert Eden and SS William A. Graham, which were both moored to the other pier. The two ships had about a battalion of US Army soldiers between them.
It's a good thing that pier can take that truck’s weight, because that certainly ain’t the heaviest thing we got in store.
Captain Drake had suggested to the battalion’s Lieutenant Colonel, one LTC Stuart Speirs, that they set up a Forward Operating Base, usually better known as a tent city or a FOB, just outside the area that was considered the limits of the local town, which Robert now knew was called Safe Harbor. He knew the town’s name because he had just been told it by the leader of the town, who was something approximating a lord or mayor.
He had suggested setting up the tent city for a couple of reasons. The first was that the process of setting it up, and simply having it there, will give the Army grunts something to do, and somewhere to rest that wasn’t the troopship they had been on all this time.
Drake of course knew the stories about what grunts tended to get up to when they were bored, and figured it would probably be best to get them off that ship as soon as possible, lest something eventually get permanently damaged.
Having that tent city set would also allow more sailors granted shore leave to have somewhere to go, at least for the time being.
The other reason he wanted to offload the Army troops, and have them set up shop here was that Captain Drake did not honestly think they were going anywhere anytime soon.
They were clearly on an entirely different world, with a completely different landmass, that had three moons orbiting above it and dragons on it.
They had no contact with anyone back home, no way to get back as far as he could tell. They were stranded here.
While Drake knew that many other sailors held out hope that they would be able to return eventually, probably through the same method they had arrived here, Drake was not so sure.
He was thinking from the perspective that they may be stuck here permanently, and that made this town they had found their best hope at survival. Therefore, it was probably in their best interest to help the locals out in any way that they can, and in doing so hopefully jumpstart their industrial development so that they could be entirely self-sufficient.
Drake rubbed his forehead with exhaustion. He wasn’t cut out for this kind of long-term decision making. He was a Destroyer Captain, running convoy escorts in the North Atlantic. If you want a long-term strategic mind, you should go talk to an Admiral, or a politician.
But there was no Admiral here. No command structure. Nothing. He was the senior most commanding officer in the entire convoy right now, so the responsibility was his.
He hated that.
In fact, he even feared it a little.
But he wouldn’t let that stop him. There were people that relied on him, a lot of people that needed him to keep his head so they could keep their own. Nothing about how he felt about the situation would change that. He would assume the yoke of this responsibility, for the sake of his men.
They were stuck here, and needed to make the best out of a terrible situation, and hopefully not lose it in the process.
That led to the third reason why Drake had suggested setting up the FOB, because it would simply give them something to do and think about. If the sailors and soldiers were allowed to wallow in their own reveries for too long, it is likely that the realization that we were all trapped on an alien world with no clear way back, no way to see our families, friends or homes ever again would sink in. Despair would take hold.
Robert knew, because he was waging war against himself to keep the cold dread from taking him. And he didn’t even have a wife or children to never go back to. He knew many of his subordinates did.
The stop-gap that was work would not last forever, obviously. Robert just hoped that, by the time it did take hold, the blow would be tempered somewhat.
He also knew that he wasn’t fooling anyone. He could see it in their eyes, in the thousand-yard stares that sometimes crossed their faces as they worked. They all knew what situation they were in, and they were all also doing what they could to distract them for as long as possible.
It was actually rather strange to watch, if one thought about it. All those people, hundreds of them, all trying to stave off a pain they know is coming, that is already here, by keeping themselves busy.
Robert shook himself, and looked back to the local townspeople that had gathered to watch, in order to distract himself. The celebrations from yesterday had ebbed, and now many of them were just standing and staring with awed expressions at the large procession of uniformed soldiers marching and at the few vehicles carrying supplies uphill along with them. A few of them were tentatively walking up and clearly trying to ask questions, though the troops obviously couldn’t understand them.
I really hope we can overcome this language barrier soon. Robert thought to himself. He really wanted to get a tour of the town from one Mayor Talem, who had just walked off, in order to get an idea of its actual size, population, and resource situation.
He could tell from where he was that the town had nowhere near enough houses to shelter the sailors, but that was to be expected. It was also a problem that could be remedied, as they all could just build more housing and barracks and whatnot else.
Perhaps a more pressing matter was the food situation. It was unlikely that this small town had enough farming infrastructure to feed everyone. In fact, it was almost impossible. That was a problem that would need to be fixed soon, as the provisions that they had with them on the convoy ships would not last forever.
Between each ship’s provisions, and the various foodstuffs they had with them on the transport ships, which wasn’t a lot, they had maybe two months at best on their own. They would need to ramp up the local’s agricultural production significantly before then.
Fortunately, Robert had an idea on how to do that.
But that would come later. In order to even get to that level of cooperation, they would need to learn each other’s languages. The upcoming interpreters from the convoy and their local counterparts were doing their best, and had made rather amazing progress so far.
But goodness, they certainly couldn’t go fast enough.
Impatience wouldn’t get them anywhere. Until they learn each other’s languages, all everyone else can do is wait. That, and set up a land base. And keep their anti-aircraft guns at ready.
Which reminded him…
Drake had no idea what to think of what Petty Officer Olson had told him.
According to him, they had found a giant piece of parchment rolled into a scroll, with a shape of the same continent that the locals had shown him and some writing in a language that was clearly and massively different from the local’s written language on one of the giant black dragons that had been shot up.
He said that he thought it was a written language of dragons. What were they supposed to do with that information? It wasn’t as though they could read what the scroll said. They were having enough of a hard time trying to learn the local human language!
Moreover, that they had found a scroll on a dragon, a scroll that was likely written by a dragon, it stands to reason that the dragon was smart enough to be able to write. It was sapient.
Which also of course meant that the dragons they fragged could think. While that certainly made it more of a shame, Drake wasn’t going to let himself lose sleep over it. They were still enemy combatants, after all.
Even then, being torn asunder by flak and autocannon fire isn’t exactly an enviable way to go.
There were plenty of human pilots that could attest to that.
Then again, if those dragons were indeed sapient, then why did they try to attack the town? They clearly came with the intent to destroy.
If those dragons were just beasts, and they attacked and destroyed a town, then they’re still just beasts. Animals do as animals will do, there is no choice there. But if they could think, and therefore presumably had free will, and decided to destroy a town, then that makes them evil.
He certainly wasn’t going to let himself lose any sleep over them.
Still, it would be quite dandy if they could decipher that scroll, and possibly try to establish some sort of communication with any other dragons that are out there. If only to attempt to convince them that trying to attack this town is a bad idea.
Trying to figure that scroll out, though, would have to be a lower priority for the time being, as there were much more pressing matters to attend to.
He had to go talk with his machine shop officers.
***
>Somewhere in the Kingdom of the Sea._
Well, I probably should have expected this... Cuttlefish thought to himself.
They had been swimming for a long while now in the direction the boat-thing had gone, and hadn’t found anything. That wasn’t really a surprise, given the enormous size of even the relatively small corner of the Ocean they lived in. There was simply so much area to cover.
It made Cuttlefish wish somewhat that he had tried to organize an actual search party, but it was very unlikely that he and his friends would have been able to do so if they tried.
It wasn’t like dragons particularly liked spending an entire day combing an entire area of ocean to find something that sounds impossible, and might kill them if they do manage to find it on the request of a talonful of dragonets.
So here the three were, continuously swimming through the endless blue, not a sign of that strange boat-thing in sight.
[“We’re going to need to go back, soon.”] Oyster flashed. [“It will be getting dark in a few hours, I think.”]
Cuttlefish sighed internally. He knew she was right, but it still sunk to have been out here for so long with nothing to show for it. Especially since it had been his idea to come out here once again.
If only they could see further. Vision range was alway limited underwater, no matter how bright the sun was.
Actually, that gives me an idea…
[“Alright, we’ll head back. Just let me try something first.”] He flashed to his two friends.
Cuttlefish rapidly paddled to the water’s surface with a massive stroke of his wings, picking up as much speed as he could. He broke through with a strong flick of his entire tail, and shot out of the water and up into the air some distance. He flared his wings and began to flap with as much force as he could muster, and slowly began to climb up.
After his take-off, he looked down to see both siblings sticking their heads out of the water, watching him.
He pushed himself higher up into the air, climbing vertically. It was extremely exerting to fly like this, and he would not be able to keep it up for long. Thankfully, he shouldn’t need to.
Once he had gotten high enough, he started to survey the water with his gaze. Scanning the horizon for any sign of a rather large thing moving along the surface of the water, as that was where he remembered the boat-thing was the last time they had seen it.
There. A white trail in the distance, clearly visible against the backdrop of slowly rolling deep blue waves.
It’s a lot easier to spot these things from the air…
He slowly dove back down for the water, and performed as gentle of a landing with the water as he could manage.
Once the resulting bubble cloud had cleared, he could see Clam and Oyster both staring inquisitively at him. He addressed them:
[“I saw something over that way, I’m pretty sure it’s what we’re looking for!”] he pointed in the direction he had seen the white trail.
They both shrugged and signaled for him to lead the way, so he did.
Before long, the dragonets came into view of another of the now-familiar shadows that was one of the great objects. Like before, it was moving along in one direction, never deviating from its course. It didn’t look any different than it had before, although Cuttlefish noticed this time that most of this thing’s mass appeared to be underwater. Contrasting the many other objects near the den that had most of their size above the waterline.
He motioned for the other two to wait behind him for a moment, just as they did the first time they came across this thing, and Cuttlefish swam up and peeked his head above the water just beside the thing, continuously paddling to keep up with its momentum.
The above-water portion of the boat-thing did not look any different from last time, still the same stark grayish color all over, with the exception of the strange huge dorsal-fin-thing, which still had the strange colored shapes etched onto its side. He also noticed one of the colored fabrics hanging from a small rod that he didn’t notice before. The fabric was mostly red, and divided into four sections by black lines, with a white circle and a strange four-sided shape in the center. Cuttlefish wondered what it meant.
There was also a scavenger standing alone on top of the strange dorsal structure, staring off in another direction. Cuttlefish noticed that the scavenger was indeed wearing coverings just like the scroll had described. However, this scavenger had very pale skin, almost white. Maybe this one was super rare, like the scroll said?
The scavenger noticed his splashes, and whipped around to face him. Its eyes went wide, and Cuttlefish realized this was probably the same scavenger he had seen last time he surfaced next to this thing.
The scavenger let out a rather comical sounding yell of alarm and almost fumbled the thing it was holding, which looked to be two small cylinders stuck together, but managed to catch it before it actually fell.
Cuttlefish and the scavenger stared at one another for a few moments, neither moving. The scavenger flitted its blue-colored, surprisingly dragon-like eyes towards something that was probably near its feet. Then the creature opened its small mouth, and Cuttlefish wondered if he was going to hear the chittering noises the scroll said scavengers were known for.
"Ähhh…" Kapitän? "Die Wasserdrache ist zurück..."
Now Cuttlefish’s eyes went wide. That was not what the scroll described scavengers sounding like.
Rather than being all chirpy or chittery and high-pitched like the scroll said this scavenger sounded… harsh, barky, and hissy. Its vocal tones and pitch was much closer to what Cuttlefish normally associated with dragon speech.
Eerily close, actually.
He heard some faint clanging noises coming from below the scavenger, and another scavenger-sounding voice, which quickly became louder.
"Das schon wieder?" "Hans, ich schwöre bei Gott...”
Another scavenger head popped up, the same color as the last one, and abruptly froze when it saw him.
“Scheiße…” The new scavenger said quietly.
“Ich habe es dir gesagt!”
Cuttlefish was confused. While he had never heard scavenger noises before now, this was wildly different from what was described by the scroll that he had read, or indeed what any other dragons had said scavengers sounded like.
He could hear all sorts of nuances and enunciations within their barking sounds that made the creatures sound as if they were really talking.
If they were, he still couldn’t understand a thing they were saying.
“Was ist das, das will ich sehen!” Cuttlefish’s ears picked another scavenger voice, accompanied by a clambering sound.
A third scavenger head popped up, and looked down at him with wide eyes.
“Wow!”
Cuttlefish could hear more sounds, and more and more scavengers started to appear from within the boat-thing. Eventually, there were six of them all crowded onto the dorsal structure, all a similar pale-sandy color, all pointing at him and barking and clamoring over one another.
“Was ist es?”
“Es ist ein Wasserdrache!”
“Wo ist er hergekommen?”
“Warum starrt er uns an?”
“Ist er freundlich?”
“Oh, natürlich würde Hans das fragen…”
“Werfen wir Hans über die Seite, um zu sehen!”
“Nein danke!”
The scavenger’s barking match was concluded by all of them releasing a loud, throaty revving sound that reminded Cuttlefish somewhat of laughter. Can scavengers laugh?
The one that had first seen him, however, was looking slightly paler than before.
The scavengers all turned their attention back to him, and stared at him. As if they were waiting for him to do something.
Cuttlefish found himself oddly uncomfortable with so many dragon-like eyes trained on him, so he slowly raised a webbed talon out of the water and waved it at the group of tightly-packed creatures.
The scavengers all made rather funny sounding ‘oooooh’ noises in response. A few of them stuck one of their odd clawless paws out at him and waved it back at him.
"Hallo, Wasserdrachen!” One of them barked.
He had to say, these scavengers were pretty cute.
Cuttlefish brought his talon back and tapped it against his chin thoughtfully, considering what to do next. He had an idea he wanted to try with them.
That little talon-waving thing proved that the scavengers could respond to things that he did, and the fact that none of them seemed to be panicking or trying to flee like the scroll said they would probably meant that they weren’t very afraid of him.
He lit up the luminescent scales on his snout and on the parts of his neck and talons that were visible, giving them a steady, fairly-bright glow.
The scavengers, that Cuttlefish had noticed had been staring rather intently at him again, made more funny ‘oooooh’ sounds and other noises probably approximating surprised fascination.
Cuttlefish then started to strobe his scales in a manner similar to how he saw the other scavengers on the large boat-things blinking their strange lights at each other. The scavengers all went quiet as they continued to stare, their round eyes now looking… confused.
One of the scavengers muttered something quickly to another one, which then bobbed its head up and down in a gesture similar to a nod, and made its way over to another part of the dorsal structure.
The scavenger then placed its paws on what Cuttlefish now recognized to be another one of the light-cylinders, pointed it at him, and did something with its paws that made the cylinder light up. The scavenger then rapidly blinked the light at him, following his pattern.
Cuttlefish grinned as he and the scavenger flashed their lights nonsensically at each other. This is communication! Granted, I haven’t the slightest clue what is being communicated, but this is still totally communication I think!
The other scavengers on the structure turned their heads to shift their forward-facing gaze between Cuttlefish and the light-cylinder scavenger. A few of them appeared to be excited, by the way their eyes kind of lit up and how they lightly bounced on their feet, others just seemed confused.
“Was macht er?”
“Kennt er den Morsecode?”
“Nein natürlich nicht.”
“Er versucht offensichtlich, etwas zu tun."
"Vielleicht versucht er zu reden?”
The scavengers stopped their latest barking exchange with gasps. Cuttlefish heard two small splashes coming from behind him.
“Es gibt drei davon!”
“Meine Güte…”
“Whoa!” Cuttlefish heard Clam’s voice. “Since when did scavengers sound like that!?”
“Cuttlefish, what’s going on?”
“Be careful not to scare them!” Cuttlefish shushed them with a flick of his tail. “Check this out.” He then started to blink his luminescent scales once again, and the scavenger on the light-cylinder blinked back at him, albeit much more tentatively this time.
“...What are you doing?” Oyster said.
“Flashing a scavenger.” Cuttlefish answered with a grin.
“And they’re flashing back at you. How’d you get them to do that?” Clam said
“I didn’t. All I did was start blinking my scales at them like how I saw the scavengers on the other boat-things flashing lights at each other, and these scavengers started blinking their light at me.”
“Are you actually talking with them?” Oyster asked.
“No, not really.”
The scavengers on the boat-thing started to bark at one another again.
“Leute, hört es sich so an, als würden sie miteinander reden?”
“Es hört sich an wie knurrende und dröhnende Geräusche.”
“Ja, aber es hört sich an, als würden sie miteinander reden.”
“Vielleicht reden sie in der Drachensprache miteinander?”
“Das ist verrückt.”
“Nun, Drachen sollten sowieso nicht existieren, also denke ich, dass alles möglich ist.”
“That is definitely not what that scroll described scavengers sounding like!” Clam said.
“It kinda sounds like they are talking to each other. They sound… freakily similar to dragons…” Oyster said, mirroring Cuttlefish’s own thoughts.
Could these scavengers be smarter than the scroll said? He thought to himself. The scroll said that scavengers could use tools and small weapons, and even build the dens they live in.
He looked over the somehow-floating metal boat-thing. These scavengers had to have built this, a giant metallic boat that could float, go underwater, and move on its own, because he was sure that dragons could not have. Scavengers also had to have built the massive boat-things around that castle-den, the ones that killed those NightWings. They also had to be smart enough to develop that system of communication of light flashes and fabric waving that he was sure that he saw, even if no one else believed him.
Actually, he might have an idea on how to get the other dragons at the enclave to believe him! And, if all goes well, hopefully help out these scavengers in the process. Because it seemed to Cuttlefish that these ones might be lost at sea.
“Let’s see if we can get these scavengers to follow us back to the enclave, so we can show everyone what we found! That’s what we set out to do in the first place, right?”
Clam and Oyster looked a bit nervous. “Are we sure that’s a good idea?” Oyster said.
Cuttlefish waved a wing towards the gaggle of scavengers atop the dorsal structure, garnering another bout of surprised noises from them. “Do these ones seem hostile? I’m sure it will be fine. All I want to do is get this boat-thing close enough so that other SeaWings can see it, too.”
Oyster still looked a bit apprehensive, but Clam now seemed to be somewhat excited by the prospect of getting to show the thing around to their neighbors. They both agreed, nonetheless.
Cuttlefish turned back to the scavengers, and made a point to swim around the slowly moving boat-thing until he was facing the direction he knew the enclave was. He made a gesture with his talon for them to follow him a few times, and hoped that they understood.
The scavengers broke into another barking and chattering match amongst each other again, which lasted a little while and seemed to get rather intense at times. Eventually, one of the scavengers barked something with a rather authoritative tone, and most of the scavengers climbed back down into the dorsal structure.
The three dragonets watched with anticipation for a time, as the boat-thing continued on its slow course without deviation and the scavengers still on top of the thing continued to watch them.
After a couple of silent moments, however, the strange boat-thing began to turn, and kept turning until it was facing the same direction Cuttlefish had signaled. Elated that they did indeed understand him, he signaled once again to follow him, and the three dragonets started to swim for the enclave. Which, fortunately, was not that far away from their current location, Cuttlefish reckoned. The scavenger boat-thing picked up speed and followed after them.
***
>On a certain island, an indeterminate time in the future._
Morion coughed as he quickly made his way through the decaying halls of the NightWing fortress. He had business to attend to, news to give, and an unpleasant royal advisor to talk to.
He turned a corner, and nearly ran into a hulking mass of pitch-black scales.
“Morion…” The hulking mass hissed. “I can tell you have something to tell me. Spit it out.”
Morion tried not to shiver. “Hello, Morrowseer.” he said with a duck of his head. “The scouting party tasked with searching that large scavenger den for the Eye did not turn up at the designated rendezvous, sir.”
The irritable NightWing’s eyes narrowed, and he let out a low hiss. “Well… Where have they gone?” he said after a few moments.
It wasn’t unheard of for NightWings sent to the mainland on missions to attempt to desert and not come back. When it did happen, it usually ended up being the subject of much attention by other NightWings that still lived on the volcanic island. The deserters were always found by search parties, and paid dearly for their crime against the rest of the tribe.
If this situation was another desertion, then it would have been the largest group to have ever attempted it in his memory.
However that’s not what Morion thought was going on.
“I think… I think they might be dead, sir. We managed to catch some wind from SeaWing officials, through our contact with Blister, that a group of SeaWings saw eight NightWings get killed while attacking a seaside scavenger den, by weapons launched from that very den.”
Morrowseer’s nostrils flared and he let out a loud snort. His massive tail lashed behind him.
“...Interesting…” He eventually muttered.
Interesting? I was expecting to be called a liar. Which, given Morrowseer, would probably entail being throttled against a wall.
“Did you glean any information pertaining to how those NightWings were killed?” Morrowseer asked.
“Er.. yes, actually. My informant mentioned the SeaWings reported seeing numerous smokey explosions appearing in the sky around the NightWings. By what manner or mechanisms these sky explosions came from is unknown, sir.”
“...This development will require… further investigation. I should probably take what you described up with Mastermind.” the massive dragons said with a near indiscernible roll of his cold, black eyes.
Despite himself, Morion found himself sympathizing with the unnerving dragon somewhat. The fortress’s resident brainiac was nothing if not a rather large pain in the tail to attempt to hold a conversation with.
The two black dragons went their separate ways, and Morion tried not to dwell on the everpresent smell of sulfur and death that hung in the smoke-filled air.