Dragoncrest Cliffs deimeika, natshana, en skaifaya

Takes place the evening of June 30, 2017.

Happy National Meteor Watch Day, Drageda!

The end of the month was marked by what felt like a particularly early sunset. The sun seemed in a hurry to dip below the horizon, leaving in its wake a brilliant green flash, quick as an errant thought. The cloudless summer sky was a swirl of purples and blues; and when the waxing gibbous moon tiptoed up through the tenebrae, her light shone especially brightly.

Though the moon was still about a week shy of her full illumination, her unnatural luminescence and the pale cyan halo that appeared around her made it seem that she’d skipped ahead in the lunar cycle. Moondogs glimmered to life like a pair of symmetrical parentheses — and then, in scant trickles at first, the stars began to dance across the sky.

They came in ones and twos — trios and quartets, quintets and sextets — and then they lanced the darkness in the tens and twenties, filling the balmy summer night with kaleidoscopic light. The stelliferous light show was bound to last for a few days at least, but this was its brightest hour. The territory’s fierce, intimidating cliffs and its redwood sentinels were illuminated; and the myriad stars seemed to fall directly into the sea and the glassy lake that had swelled dangerously with the recent rains. The reflection of the meteors on the unusually calm surface of the northern sea created a mesmerizing mirror effect.

posted by coelacanth.

Thuringwethil has been spending more time on the borders than usual with the last few wolves having approached them. The sun had gone down faster than she’s used to and she glances toward the sky. A lack of concept in time would generally make it go unnoticed but a feeling keeps her on edge as she eventually retreats toward Hougeda. She doesn’t question the end of the day any more than she questions the morning but she can tell something is a little off she can’t properly place.

She breaks through the other side of the redwood forest where the lake greets her. The entrance to Hougeda is blocked from this point but she can see the worn path in the distance from months of use. To an untrained eye, it may still be hidden, but Thuringwethil makes the familiar path in the moon-illuminated night.

Something catches her attention and she glances to the sky, uncertain she saw anything at all. It isn’t until a second meteor flashes across the sky. She doesn’t have time to process it as another one breaks through the expanse to the left and she snaps her gaze to follow it until it disappears over the ocean. Having stopped in her place, she picks back up and makes another path toward a cliff instead of the cavern where she makes herself comfortable to watch them fall from the sky with wonder.

First attempt at trigedaslang and at using hover text! Slap me if I failed epicly lol

Artaax had been resting as his usual spot in the far corner of the entrance to Hougeda. He liked to sit and keep watch for anything interesting to happen - interesting usually being something he could stalk. He was a very observant boy and typically noticed something intriguing every hour or so. Tonight seemed to be a different story. That or he was simply growing up and beginning to lose his childlike fascination with every little thing that moved or made a sound or sparkled in the sun just right. In either case, he was just about ready to give in and fall asleep when the shadows shifted in the distance.

The boy's paws snapped into place beneath him. He pushed himself silently up into a crouched position. His bi-colored eyes gleamed as he watched Nomi turn away to move through the trees. He didn't notice as the stars began to streak across the sky overhead - he was too busy creeping along after the dark Heda, imagining how proud of him she would be when he took her by surprise.

When it came to that moment of truth, however, Artaax simply stood and strode slowly forward with his face upturned toward the night sky. He stopped beside her, near enough to lean into her shoulder as he gazed in awe. "Nomi, chit's gon daun?" he asked after a few seconds. There was no fear in his voice, only curiosity for this very strange, very awesome phenomenon.

There's no contractions in it but other than that, you did great!

The slight rustle behind her is all she needs to feel the shift in the area. One ear swivels back to listen, the wind blowing with the ocean spins scents in the air and at first she can’t recognize it but after a moment, she notes the smell of her pale son. Thuringwethil does not move or offer any indication she knows he is there but when he approaches and brushes against her shoulder, she glances toward him.

“Ai nou get in,” she tells him, glancing back. For a moment the sky is empty, only the stars in the distance shining and the moon high above them. Her eyes focus, unsure whether or not to expect more, but before she has the chance to do anything else, a cluster of them shoot through the sky and fizzle off in the distance. “Skaifayas?” she adds with a slight tilt. Her rear lowers to the ground, sitting close to the boy, and simply watching the phenomenon before them.

The first shooting star as it blazes brilliantly in defiance as it falls, as it dies, catches Eske’s attention and at first the Cheka can’t be sure she even saw it. Yet another falls and then more and the warrior princess is left staring at the sky in awe. She seeks a better place to watch them and when she finds one she is not surprised to see others there. Thuringwethil and Artaax speak, questioning what they are and Eske’s steps draw to a halt, not wanting to be too close and intrude upon their moment. Instead, she gives them a wide berth and gazes out at the stars as they fall. She is not beyond taking in the beauty of the world around her even if she feels certain she perhaps sees it in a different way then others. She is reminded of the first time she went to Ankyra Sound and noticed the breathtaking beauty of the illuminated waters, glowing candescent blue — a glow that had stuck to her fur when she had exited the water. This moment fills her with that same wonder and classifies it as a mystery she will never solve. “ai fig raun emo laik dragons.” Eske speaks up quietly, as to not startle the pair in the off chance they are not aware of her lingering in the background. She smiles as she says it, speaking mostly to Artaax. It seemed fitting for Artaax is a dragon child — just as Eske herself once was. She is still dragonborne just no longer bearing the title of child to weigh it down.

His ears fell as nomi admitted to not knowing what was happening to the sky. He was not used to the older wolves around him not knowing everything, his mother especially. He sensed no anxiety from Thur though, and that was enough to keep him perfectly calm as his gaze shifted from her dark face to the sky again as more bright lights swept across it into nothingness.

Artaax fell to his haunches as Thur did, eyes pointed skyward at the same angle as hers. He might have been her doppleganger in miniature were he not painted with Dio's fur. At the sound of approaching paws, his ears perked and he turned to spy Eske. His head canted at the idea she proposed as another dose of wonder was spilled into the vat. Nomi's suggestion struck him as more reasonable, and yet he couldn't help himself as the starlight glittered in his dual-toned eyes and he whispered, "Dragons?"

Her ear twitches when Eske approaches, not yet turning until she hears the girl’s voice with her suggestion. There isn’t much to back up what she says, or even what she means, but she glances up in wonder anyway. It’s enough to keep Artaax amused and asking questions, pursing what corner of knowledge he can muster from the phenomenon above them. Thuringwethil doesn’t add more to speculation so she gives Eske the chance to explain, if she has anything, and keeps steady as she sits near the edge of a cliff with her nose pointed toward the sky.