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Description

The large shape of a Skywing circlet above the Aether Canyon as dawn approached. “Where is this cave supposed to be”, Vulcan muttered as he made another round above the canyon. Following the map, it should be around there. He landed on one of the ridges and pulled out the map Small Scale had drawn. Following the map, the entrance was supposed to be where he stood. He looked down, over the ridge to see if there was ledge beneath him. Sure enough there was one, hidden by the shadow, the rising sun threw onto it. “Well then”, he muttered, rolling the map back together and sticking it back into his harness. Then he just dropped down, only absorbing the fall with a wingbeat or two. “Finally found it”, he heard a certain someone behind him. He turned quickly around to see Small Scale, sitting in front of the cave entrance. “Three moons, what are you carrying there on your back?” “Hm? Oh, just some things I need for this.”

The Skywing wore a reinforced leather harness with a net under his belly, pouches attached to his sides and additional ways to add more things onto his back or his sides. It was something most aerial merchants used to increase their carrying capacity while also being able to distribute the wight. He had commissioned his’ to aid him during his move from the Sky Kingdom. Currently he carried two long, yet flat wooden crates on his back for the coal, a pickaxe, two long ropes, a fully equipped climbing gear, supplies including food and water for a week, a blanket, and a specially made lamp, that could be mounted onto one of two spots on his shoulders, one on the left and one on the right. It could withstand rain and wind, so the merchants used them to get through the night and bad weather. He had a second one, but that was disassembled on his workbench back in his house, so one day he could figure out how to reproduce them.

In comparison, Small Scale had only a wooden plate and some sheets of paper on her. “Why would you need all this stuff?” “For the expedition. These are all things my brothers and I did not bring on past trips and we regretted it at some point.” Small Scale just snorted and observed him while he moved over to the cave’s entrance. As he looked into the dark maw, he wondered what could be down there, forgetting the original goal of the expedition for a moment. “You know, if you’ve suddenly developed second thoughts about this, I would tell no one if you chicken out”, Small Scale said. He shot her a disapproving look, not only for the insult but also for ruining the moment. As an answer he took one of the coals for the little lamp on his shoulder, kindled it in his fire and then stuck it in there. Then he took the first step into the cave. “I’m taking the front, so I can trample you over, if I deem it necessary to sacrifice you to the cave gods, in order to save my scales”, he replied, without looking at her. The only response he heard was an angry growl, but also talon steps behind him.

“Have you ever been in a cave, or a mine in particular, like really deep in”, he asked. His head darted from one side of the cave to another, vigilantly watching for anything suspicious “A couple of times actually. Why”, she answered dismissibly, as if she wasn’t to fond of another dragon lecturing her about exploration. “A little heads up, even if you don’t wand to hear it. We are going into a potential mine, meaning I will most likely harvest the first coal vein I see, or everything else that is valuable. It might can happen that, during the harvesting, potentially flammable gas leaks out. So do not, under any circumstances, ignite something while I’m swinging the pickaxe. Also if that is the case, the flame of my lamp will grow weaker, due to the shortage of air. I want you to keep an eye on it as well, even though I will most likely shout something like ‘Gas’ or so.” “Yeah sure, what ever.”

From that point on they ventured deep into the cave. For half an hour they wandered in complete silence. The tunnel led them deeper and deeper into the earth, but he had not found any traces that there could be coal in here. “I’ll make a stop”, Small Scale said to his surprise. “Why?” “Because I need to map the cave. It will only take a minute or two.” She then proceeded to drop down and pull out her writing board and put a white scroll onto it. “Ok, I will go a bit further down, maybe I can find a vein.” “Yeah yeah.” From the looks of it he could have probably said that he was going to murder or abandon her here and it wouldn’t have changed the response of hers. He sighed, which also went without much notice and then continued down the tunnel. His head was buzzing with activity. Primarily, he still searched for the coke. Aside from that however a lot of questions formed in his head. For example, how deep they were in total, how deep the cave was at the end and he imagined all the different things he could find down here.

It was like the time they had explored the old Seawing summer palace. Back then his brothers and him had trying to locate it for days, and finally found it on their last day, before departure. The Kingdom of the Sea. When had he seen the Island palace the last time? Eleven years ago? He really could pay it another visit, but on the other claw he had to start working before he could think about holidays. So he shoved the ideas aside to focus on the cave. The Skywing noticed a dark line in the wall, a coal vein! Vulcan quickly unplugged the little lamp and the pickaxe and started hammering down on the black stones. Soon he had loosened parts of it, and sure enough it was coal. He checked the little pieces, in the light of his lamp, but couldn’t quit identify if they were coke or just black coal. Without igniting it, there was only one other way to determine. That was the part he hated most about being a blacksmith, the “quality control” of the coal. He led the piece of coal he hold in his claw to his mouth and then took a little bite from it, tasted it and spit it out again. It was like biting into wood, and tasted like a claw of sand and mud and clay. That was a mostly reliable way to determine the single components of the coal, even if it was an unpleasant one. Sure enough, it was a vein of coke.

With that he dropped down the wooden crates and started mining. After a few minutes the blacksmith had filled one of the two crates, with the second one being half full. Then suddenly the little flame in the lamp began to flicker. Vulcan froze in his movement and shouted up the tunnel, so Small Scales could get up and leave. He extinguished the little flame in the lamp and packed up his stuff in total darkness. This wasn’t so much the problem, due to past experiences, (even though he had never mined coal during such an exploration) but something was off. At first he couldn't quite put his claw on it, but then he noticed a dull shine, slowly getting brighter. His head shot towards its source. What he saw, was a short Nightwing, carrying a candle in one claw. Either instinct or the panic took over, as he lunged towards her, but mid way, an explosion shook the cave they where in. The blast threw him into the opposing wall, while his vision faded out.

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Everything hurt. His entire left side screamed from being thrown against the stone. His right side was better. He was used to heat, but the blast had at least dislocated his wing. Vulcan couldn't see and all he heard was a ringing, but he could feel the ground shaking, and that was never a good sign. He opened his eyes. The pitch black of the cave was soon replaced by the bright shine of his fire. Rocks fell down from the celling. He had to move, but where? Which one was the way out? He looked around to find anything he could use to orientate, but there was nothing. Both ways looked the same and because of the shaking. He wasn’t even sure if either the ground was shaking or if there was something not right with his head, possibly even both. Then he remembered that he hadn’t been alone. As quick as he could he searched for Small Scale. The little Nightwing was the one who had dragged him into this mess, but now she was the best ticket out of there. For a second time he looked up both tunnels, intensifying the light of his flames, to a point where he almost felt the heat burning his throat, but he had to keep it up. He noticed a little sparkle and upon closer inspection he could make out the outlines of a dragon.

Without a second thought he ran up to the shape. She just laid there, with out any reaction to the debris falling onto her. He scooped small Nightwing up and threw her on his back. He then tried to limp further into that direction, in hope that it would lead to the surface. A sudden rumble left him frozen in place, as he could hear it, even over the ringing in his head, right above him. He turned immediately and ran as fast as he could. With a loud roar the celling came down behind him, pushing up a huge dust cloud, while the shock threw him off his feet. He could feel how the weight of Small Scale glided of his back and onto the stone in front of him. The rumbling ebbed out, and now he again was alone with the ringing in his ears. It appeared to be mostly on right side, what only made sense, since that side had been exposed to the explosion. Hopefully that wouldn’t be permanent. Vulcan looked over his sides, a few burns, some bruises luckily nothing to serious. Except for his wing. He knew what to do, and he also knew he wouldn’t like it. The skywing sighed while he headed over to one of the walls, pressed the joint of his wing against a relatively even area and pushed. Pain once again rushed through him, but vanished as quick as it had come up. After a few seconds, he tested his wing again. It was still painful to move, but usable. Next he checked up on his stuff. The entire right side of the harness had scorch marks, but since it was made to be resilient, it was fine. The blanket under his belly was glowing on some spots, something he quickly put an end to.

The only thing that got really damaged was the lamp. It was on his left shoulder, and had been crushed when the explosion had thrown him against the wall. “Great”, he mumbled, while trying to salvage it as good as possible. The best thing he could do was a somewhat bent together thing that could hold a piece of coal. It was beyond a stage where it could be repaired, but for now, it would do. Even if it couldn’t focus the light. Placing a new piece in it and setting it on fire, he looked over the Nightwing. She appeared to have been thrown against a wall as well. From a wound on her head trickled a small stream of blood down the Nightwings scales. Aside from that she appeared to be good. The black scales and low light made it however hard to spot injuries. Vulcan debated on what to do with her. He could try to wake Small Scale, but then she would be up again, and for some reason Vulcan expected her to blow them up a second time. On the other claw however he couldn’t leave her behind, and also was not too fond of carrying the Nightwing around, no matter how small she was. With a sigh he decided to wake her, but how? The easiest way would be with the water, but he had no idea how long he would be down here, meaning it had to be done the old fashion way.

He began to poke her in the side, increasing the intensity of it. When that did not help he shook. Eventually she showed signs of waking up so he increased his efforts. “Hey, wake up”, Vulcan tried, while poking her with the back of his claw. Suddenly Small Scale’s eye where open and her claw shot in the direction of Vulcan’s face. He jumped back and put his left wing between the two of them. Pain shot through his entire side, as he did that. Apparently he had some more injuries he hadn’t known about. “You are awake”, he asked the Nightwing teeth clenched. Small Scale scrambled to her feet, looking somewhat confused, sacred and about to murder him. “What happened”, she demanded. As she looked around, she noticed that one side of the cave was collapsed. The fear part in her expression quickly gained presence while she slowly processed what she saw. “You want to know what happened? Fine, I tell you. YOU ignited leaking gas which then exploded in my face and collapsed the celling, cutting us off from the surface.”

With a bit of satisfaction he observed as Small Scale’s face went to complete horror, while pushing aside the fact that he was stuck down there as well. Slowly she sat down, again looking around, as if she hoped that an exit would appear suddenly. “This can’t be”, she said in a low voice. “No no no n...” “Are you done yet”, he interrupted her sharply in the roughest tone he could muster. She stared at him with wide eyes and then cried: “How can you stay so clam? We are going to...” He interrupted her again and barked: “If yes, you can get on your tiny feet and start being useful for once. I only have limited resources and I will not wast it on a wailing dragon, well half of a dragon at least.” Vulcan tried use every insult he could think of in order to get her mad. It wouldn’t help him so much as her, but a mad dragons was way more likely to survive this situation then a depressed one, and he really needed that Nightwing or otherwise he feared to go down a similar spiral of anxiety. It really didn’t looked good for them, but he wasn’t going to admit that, as long as he was with someone.

“What is your problem”, she shouted at him crying. “That did not work”, he observed, so he changed the tone. “Oh my problem is that I’m stuck in a cave with a Nightwing that is almost useless by herself, but I can’t leave her behind, because people will ask questions why she did not return when I did, and now get off your butt and make yourself useful, or I am going to throw you down this star forsaken tunnel, so I don’t have to check if its a dead end myself!” Vulcan roared into her face, with much more passion then intended. Small Scale went pale, backing away from the looming Skywing who followed her steps. Admittedly that had been a bit harsh, but as he had spoken it came to his mind who brought him into this mess. And it felt so good just to scream at her to vent his anger. When he had her cornered completely he growled lowly: “So?” She just looked at him, her brain apparently not able to process what to do. “Did I went to far?” The question popped up in his head. At the same time however he reminded him about how important it was to pull this through.

“Are you going to be useful by yourself or do I need to help with that?” A few glimpses of confusion broke through the fear that dominated most of her expression. She slowly nodded. Vulcan in return, just scowled at her, so she quickly added: “I’ll be useful by myself.” “Good. Now get moving. You take the lead, so I can throw you, if you start wailing again.” She again stared at him, shocked. Then the Nightwing stated to move mechanically around the Skywing, that still stood right in front of her and Vulcan followed every movement she made. Once she had passed him, he turned around. The light of his broken lamp illuminated only a small portion of the way, while the rest was covered in darkness and shadows. “Well then, into the deep.”

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They quickly discovered that the cave was no dead end, at least as far as they could tell. For half an hour the walked in silence. Small Scale hadn’t dared to speak and Vulcan needed to keep up the image of an angry Skywing. If not, he feared that Small Scale would go right back into another panic attack and since she did not like him anyway, he didn’t saw a reason to change his ways. That would probably be the easiest challenge to encounter down there. Half of the tribe was described to be big, red and grumpy-looking, and the other half being big, orange and grumpy-looking and ten years of Sky Kingdom must have been good for something after all. It would just be a very quiet trip. He sighed silently and looked ahead. Beyond the shine of the light he could only see the pitch black darkness of the tunnel. A cold shiver run over his back. Surrounded by tons of stone and darkness, that was no place where a Skywing should die, or any dragon for the matter.

“I don’t want to die down here.” He shook him self vigorously in an attempted to scurry away those thoughts. He had to stay on top on and suppress his fear, as good as he could. “Pull yourself together Vulcan. If you go crazy now, none of you will survive”, the Skywing tried to motivate himself. It did not work as good as he had hoped. A rising surge of panic took over his mind. A voice of doubt whispered to him, persuading him, to just lay down and accept his fate. “It would be so much easier to give up, wouldn’t it? I do not have enough food and water for the both of us. My reserves will be emptied in a few days. I could either do it with my claws or with one of the bolts from the climbing gear. Maybe sharpen it a bit so it penetrates the scales easier. Or maybe we find a way down, so I would technically die flying….”

“Are.. are you ok?” Small Scale’s voice pulled him away from his suicidal thoughts. His mind was still a mess. More then enough of his thoughts still considered the easy way out. So he tried to anchor all of his thoughts around the one thing that was not cave, what would be Small Scale. Heat build up in him immediately. He thought about how he could stand in his forge by now, working and creating. Instead however he was stuck in this star forsaken cave and all because this little Nightwing wouldn’t listen to him. “I’m fine”, he growled while he let himself fill with anger and rage. Nothing he would do normally, but this was not a normal situation and every other emotion was now better then anxiety. Then he just stomped off, to reduce the chance of him smashing her head against another very hard object. He did that to his brothers when they angered him too much. Difference there of cause was one, they were family and two, they were around his size. “Wait”, he could hear her saying. Vulcan turned around and snapped: “What is it?” Small Scale made a step back, as and then asked carefully: “Do you... do you have anything for my head injury?”

He snapped out of his thoughts. His left claw reached for a pouch in his flank where he usually stored medical supplies in, however all he could feel the empty pouches. “Oh crap.” He couldn’t remember packing those back home. Strangely enough the small Nightwing snickered at this.
“So among all the things you carry, there is not a single bandages?”
“No. Apparently not. Usually I bring everything one could need.”
“Yeah I see that.”
“Well I don’t see you having brought anything useful along.”
She wanted to argue back but Vulcan had turned already and stomped down the cave. After this neither of them spoke much. Small Scale tried a few times. The tunnel lead them ever so deeper into the Islands heart, winding its way through the stone, so much so that he had already lost track on which direction they were walking.

The flame on his shoulder projected long shadows onto the rough surface of the tunnel walls. From time to time he changed the piece of coal. It was the only way to keep track on how much time had passed already. One piece equalled roughly half an hour and the light of the sixth piece just started to fade, with no end, or a way to the surface for the matter, in sight. They made a short break, ate a bit and drank something. Vulcan was fairly resourceful considering that subject, and only shared a small amount of supplies with Small Scale, who looked fairly disappointed at the tiny amount of food he gave her. They ate and rested without saying much, and went on there way again soon after. An hour and a half later they came to a little junction. A few tunnels lead into different directions, but none appeared to lead to the surface. Vulcan stood in the junction and tired to look into each of them, but the light of the flame did not reach far. He sat down tired and somewhat helpless, while staring at one.

“Now what? Which way is the best? Think Vulcan, you must come up with..” “Seeing anything?” He jerked away as suddenly Small Scale was next to him, who in response looked surprised at him. When had she moved? How hadn’t he noticed? Then again, maybe his paranoia would sit this one out, but he wouldn’t have reacted like this if that was the case. It felt really stupid to jerk away from a dragon he probably could just throw down into the tunnel if necessary.“Ah.. no, I can’t see much further then the light goes.” She looked down the tunnel he looked into and then asked: “Really?” She thoughtfully she looked first at him and then down the tunnel again. “Can I have some coal?” Slowly he reached for the pocket he had the coals in and gave her all 3 pieces that where still left in there. Surprised he turned his head, when his claw reached it’s empty bottom. All he saw was a little coal gravel, another victim to the explosion. At this point he was actually surprised that his harness was still intact, while a few things that had been in the pouches had taken more damage.

“Here, what are you going to do with them?” She smirked and turned to the tunnels again. Then she lit up the coals and threw each of them down a different tunnel. They flew about twenty meters, illuminating everything along the way, before splitting into a pieces when hitting the ground. It appeared that all of them lead further down, with one visibly ending as the coal hit the it’s wall. It never reached his mind that he could do that with the coal. “Nothing unexpected, but still not a pleasant confirmation”, she sighted and turned “What?” “I never thought of that as a possibility.” “Really? Didn’t you claimed to be an explorer yourself?” “Yes, but my brothers and I always had the lamps and actually, we weren’t to fond of caves since we are Skywings. Also there was that incident at the Pantala sinkhole, which wasn’t helpful with that either.” “Ok, now I’m curious, what incident, and what has that to do with you being a Skywing?” Vulcan smiled, remembering the adventures he had with his brothers, completely forgetting the part were he needed to be a terrifying Skywing.

“I’m going to answer that backwards, because in that order, its more convenient. Most of the tribe wouldn’t admit it, but all Skywings have at least some level of claustrophobia. We carry that name for more then one reason.” He tried to spread his wings in an attempted to prove his point, but bolts of pain flashed through both of them and force a painful growl out of him, what made Small Scale laugh. “Yeah yeah, enjoy my pain and suffering, but don’t complain if you throw you into that tunnel. Anyway, the sinkhole incident was us basically jumping down that sinkhole. The problem with that would be, that it isn’t wide enough for us Skywings to open our wings to there full wingspan, as well as it is a natural reaction to so, when suddenly the ground appears in front of one. I broke my left arm on that, Victor injured his leg, and Val broke his wing. Needless to...” At this point the Nightwing interrupted him, asking: “By the way, I thing you never introduced yourself to me.” He opened his maw, wanting to argue that he had, but he couldn’t remember doing so.

“My name is Vulcan”, he said bowing a little.
“Vulcan?” Small Scale laughed and then continued: “Your parents weren’t really creative when giving you names, were they?”
“Oh we don’t mind. I think our parents are somehow related to Spitfire, but I’m not quit sure how. Anyway it is needless to say, that we were stuck down there. We had no climbing gear what so ever, and eventually had to be rescued by a group of Silkwings."
“Interesting. Anyway, what are we going to do now? Do you maybe have a coal left?”
The Skywing nodded and tried to reach to the boxes of coke, but another flash of pain shot through his back, quickly stopping his attempt. “Stars. Small Scale can you maybe help to get that thing of my back? Just unlock the two metal beams and then pull it out.” He laid down, so she could reach it better, but still got a disproving look.

“I thought those were for your forge”, she mentioned as she began to free them. “Yes, but if they help us out of here we might as well use them.” “Fair enough.” Eventually she pulled it free. Vulcan stored coal from there in the pockets that were empty and then she helped him to put it back where it had been before. They threw another piece into the fourth tunnel. It smashed at a steep cave wall, lighting up the celling for a moment, except there hadn’t been one. “A way up”, both said excited as they moved into this same tunnel. They discovered that there was another way tunnel leading into this one, about twenty meters (60ish feet (screw you imperial scum)) above them. “This looks promising”, Small Scale said, as she looked up and tired to climb the ledge above them. It was clear that she would not climb up there without help, or at least some advice. He opened his mouth, but before he could say something she cut him off: “Don’t, I want can do this on my own.” With that she reached for a rock and pushed herself up.

Her left claw soon shot up to another ledge that promised her stability and after that she raised set her first foot and then her second. At the start it looked very good. She climbed about one third of the way without a problem. After that however she managed to do get herself stuck. A dragon with a normal body would have no problem reaching for another safe hold, she however could not. Small Scale tried to reach for another one that was barley out of her reach, but Vulcan stopped her. “Unless you want to jump, you will land down here, if you reach for that one.” “Didn’t I said I could do this on my own?” “You did, and I let you do, but I won’t carry you if you break your legs.” She sighed disappointed, but asked: “So where should I go next?” “Well, if you don’t want to leap over there, then better jump down again and try again. This time, you maybe want to stick more to the left.” Hearing that she snorted angrily and tried to reach for various stones and ledges, but she had managed to navigate herself into a dead end. Finally she dropped back down and began anew. It took her some time but she did it. He followed her and climbed the wall in one fluent movement, like a snake slithering up a sand dune. “Show off”, he could hear Small Scale say, but didn’t pressed the issue. The Skywing looked into the tunnel that laid in front of them. “Seeing anything” he asked her. “Rocks, Stones, a few pebbles. No sign of a way to the top though. However, I think it goes further up.” “Lets hope its not a dead end.” Vulcan made the first step towards their new destination, with her closing the distance soon after.

The tunnel went further up, ever so slightly, and their hopes rose. Five hours went past, without any new discovery, occasionally they had to climb another wall, some where higher. Both of them had tried to keep track of the altitude they have went up again, but were fairly certain that they had no clue. The exhaustion from the day long trip grew only worse. As a blacksmith, Vulcan was no stranger to physical exhaustion and there for did not struggle with it as bad as other dragoons may would have. Considering Small Scale how ever he wasn’t sure how much longer she would make it. To her credit, she had not complained once, but he could not believe that she could go for much longer.
“Where do you thing this leads?”
“No idea, but we are definitely not in the area of the canyon any more.”
“Really, how do you know?”

Small Scale stopped and looked at disappointed at him: “You’re kidding me, right? How could you not notice?” The Nightwing gestured around them. At first he didn’t got what she meant, then however he noticed that the walls had a dark greyish tone, instead of the yellow and orange sandstone the caves had been where they had started their journey. “Is that slate?” “I’m not an expert, but would say yes.” “So its possible that we have wandered into the crystal mountains”, Vulcan figured. Small Scale nodded and then said: “If we are lucky, this tunnel leads to the surface, what would mean that they are all connected. Uh, that’s exiting. What if the whole island is connected with a system of caves?” “Then I would like to find the nearest exit right around this corner over there.” She laughed and nodded in agreement. Of cause, the tunnel did not end there, but it was a nice thought he could hang on to. He shouldn’t get his hopes to high though. Ahead of them was darkness. It did not bug him yet, but he knew, he would have a hard time pulling himself together when he would wake up without any light. That was a thing he didn’t looked forward to. Last time he had woken up in similar conditions, he had punched his brother in the face. A sudden movement from Small Scale pulled his attention back to the Nightwing. She had her head stretched forward, trying to see something in the distance. Immediately his senses snapped back into action. Without even thinking about it he drew his wings tight to his body, so they wouldn’t get in the way, while the rest of him lowered down, ready to jump at anything that would hiding out of his sight.

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Word count: 5476 (minus a few for 'Screw you imperial scum' side coment (hehe))

DS count(storry): 69 + how much you give me out of pitty.

Drawing (or what it is supposed to be): 2 Halfbody's (2x 14DS) + lineless (2x14DS) + shaded to the best of my knowledge and abilitys (probably nothing) + a background of debatable complexity (srsly I'm not sure how to classify this. Like, it looks cleaner then the one I did for my piece with Fulcrum, though that one was arguably more complex with the few details I had thrown in. I also don't want to land on r/delusionalartists, so medium maybe? (10DS)) + some one elses character, Small Scale owned by FireBlaze9552 (+2DS as this is not vacation related) = 68 DS

Total: 137

Someone pleas double check that. Its five in the morning and I can't art.

(Skip this part if you are not interested on my thoughts regarding the drawing \/)

Ok, part two of the story, with the first drawing I ever (mostly) did on a pc. As with most of the stuff there are a few things wrong with it, though in general I am happy with the result.

At the beginning they were supposed to look at each other, from one side of the pic to the other, with the background being a yellow orange rock with a hole in it. (If I still have the sketch on my pc I link it here: Sketch )

The plan was to draw the dragons outlines with a pencil (since I only have a mouse to paint, and didn’t thought I could do it without tracing lines spoiler, I still cant)), scan the thing and then colour it on the computer. Basically the best out of two worlds….

Yeah, half way through the phase of looking at it and realising that the original idea looked pretty fucking stupid, I got a little bit more ambitions (for my artistic standards).

Also, for no particular reason, my head plays either the Main Theme from PMD 1 or Great Canyon from the same game when I look at it.

Description

The large shape of a Skywing circlet above the Aether Canyon as dawn approached. “Where is this cave supposed to be”, Vulcan muttered as he made another round above the canyon. Following the map, it should be around there. He landed on one of the ridges and pulled out the map Small Scale had drawn. Following the map, the entrance was supposed to be where he stood. He looked down, over the ridge to see if there was ledge beneath him. Sure enough there was one, hidden by the shadow, the rising sun threw onto it. “Well then”, he muttered, rolling the map back together and sticking it back into his harness. Then he just dropped down, only absorbing the fall with a wingbeat or two. “Finally found it”, he heard a certain someone behind him. He turned quickly around to see Small Scale, sitting in front of the cave entrance. “Three moons, what are you carrying there on your back?” “Hm? Oh, just some things I need for this.”

The Skywing wore a reinforced leather harness with a net under his belly, pouches attached to his sides and additional ways to add more things onto his back or his sides. It was something most aerial merchants used to increase their carrying capacity while also being able to distribute the wight. He had commissioned his’ to aid him during his move from the Sky Kingdom. Currently he carried two long, yet flat wooden crates on his back for the coal, a pickaxe, two long ropes, a fully equipped climbing gear, supplies including food and water for a week, a blanket, and a specially made lamp, that could be mounted onto one of two spots on his shoulders, one on the left and one on the right. It could withstand rain and wind, so the merchants used them to get through the night and bad weather. He had a second one, but that was disassembled on his workbench back in his house, so one day he could figure out how to reproduce them.

In comparison, Small Scale had only a wooden plate and some sheets of paper on her. “Why would you need all this stuff?” “For the expedition. These are all things my brothers and I did not bring on past trips and we regretted it at some point.” Small Scale just snorted and observed him while he moved over to the cave’s entrance. As he looked into the dark maw, he wondered what could be down there, forgetting the original goal of the expedition for a moment. “You know, if you’ve suddenly developed second thoughts about this, I would tell no one if you chicken out”, Small Scale said. He shot her a disapproving look, not only for the insult but also for ruining the moment. As an answer he took one of the coals for the little lamp on his shoulder, kindled it in his fire and then stuck it in there. Then he took the first step into the cave. “I’m taking the front, so I can trample you over, if I deem it necessary to sacrifice you to the cave gods, in order to save my scales”, he replied, without looking at her. The only response he heard was an angry growl, but also talon steps behind him.

“Have you ever been in a cave, or a mine in particular, like really deep in”, he asked. His head darted from one side of the cave to another, vigilantly watching for anything suspicious “A couple of times actually. Why”, she answered dismissibly, as if she wasn’t to fond of another dragon lecturing her about exploration. “A little heads up, even if you don’t wand to hear it. We are going into a potential mine, meaning I will most likely harvest the first coal vein I see, or everything else that is valuable. It might can happen that, during the harvesting, potentially flammable gas leaks out. So do not, under any circumstances, ignite something while I’m swinging the pickaxe. Also if that is the case, the flame of my lamp will grow weaker, due to the shortage of air. I want you to keep an eye on it as well, even though I will most likely shout something like ‘Gas’ or so.” “Yeah sure, what ever.”

From that point on they ventured deep into the cave. For half an hour they wandered in complete silence. The tunnel led them deeper and deeper into the earth, but he had not found any traces that there could be coal in here. “I’ll make a stop”, Small Scale said to his surprise. “Why?” “Because I need to map the cave. It will only take a minute or two.” She then proceeded to drop down and pull out her writing board and put a white scroll onto it. “Ok, I will go a bit further down, maybe I can find a vein.” “Yeah yeah.” From the looks of it he could have probably said that he was going to murder or abandon her here and it wouldn’t have changed the response of hers. He sighed, which also went without much notice and then continued down the tunnel. His head was buzzing with activity. Primarily, he still searched for the coke. Aside from that however a lot of questions formed in his head. For example, how deep they were in total, how deep the cave was at the end and he imagined all the different things he could find down here.

It was like the time they had explored the old Seawing summer palace. Back then his brothers and him had trying to locate it for days, and finally found it on their last day, before departure. The Kingdom of the Sea. When had he seen the Island palace the last time? Eleven years ago? He really could pay it another visit, but on the other claw he had to start working before he could think about holidays. So he shoved the ideas aside to focus on the cave. The Skywing noticed a dark line in the wall, a coal vein! Vulcan quickly unplugged the little lamp and the pickaxe and started hammering down on the black stones. Soon he had loosened parts of it, and sure enough it was coal. He checked the little pieces, in the light of his lamp, but couldn’t quit identify if they were coke or just black coal. Without igniting it, there was only one other way to determine. That was the part he hated most about being a blacksmith, the “quality control” of the coal. He led the piece of coal he hold in his claw to his mouth and then took a little bite from it, tasted it and spit it out again. It was like biting into wood, and tasted like a claw of sand and mud and clay. That was a mostly reliable way to determine the single components of the coal, even if it was an unpleasant one. Sure enough, it was a vein of coke.

With that he dropped down the wooden crates and started mining. After a few minutes the blacksmith had filled one of the two crates, with the second one being half full. Then suddenly the little flame in the lamp began to flicker. Vulcan froze in his movement and shouted up the tunnel, so Small Scales could get up and leave. He extinguished the little flame in the lamp and packed up his stuff in total darkness. This wasn’t so much the problem, due to past experiences, (even though he had never mined coal during such an exploration) but something was off. At first he couldn't quite put his claw on it, but then he noticed a dull shine, slowly getting brighter. His head shot towards its source. What he saw, was a short Nightwing, carrying a candle in one claw. Either instinct or the panic took over, as he lunged towards her, but mid way, an explosion shook the cave they where in. The blast threw him into the opposing wall, while his vision faded out.

____________________

Everything hurt. His entire left side screamed from being thrown against the stone. His right side was better. He was used to heat, but the blast had at least dislocated his wing. Vulcan couldn't see and all he heard was a ringing, but he could feel the ground shaking, and that was never a good sign. He opened his eyes. The pitch black of the cave was soon replaced by the bright shine of his fire. Rocks fell down from the celling. He had to move, but where? Which one was the way out? He looked around to find anything he could use to orientate, but there was nothing. Both ways looked the same and because of the shaking. He wasn’t even sure if either the ground was shaking or if there was something not right with his head, possibly even both. Then he remembered that he hadn’t been alone. As quick as he could he searched for Small Scale. The little Nightwing was the one who had dragged him into this mess, but now she was the best ticket out of there. For a second time he looked up both tunnels, intensifying the light of his flames, to a point where he almost felt the heat burning his throat, but he had to keep it up. He noticed a little sparkle and upon closer inspection he could make out the outlines of a dragon.

Without a second thought he ran up to the shape. She just laid there, with out any reaction to the debris falling onto her. He scooped small Nightwing up and threw her on his back. He then tried to limp further into that direction, in hope that it would lead to the surface. A sudden rumble left him frozen in place, as he could hear it, even over the ringing in his head, right above him. He turned immediately and ran as fast as he could. With a loud roar the celling came down behind him, pushing up a huge dust cloud, while the shock threw him off his feet. He could feel how the weight of Small Scale glided of his back and onto the stone in front of him. The rumbling ebbed out, and now he again was alone with the ringing in his ears. It appeared to be mostly on right side, what only made sense, since that side had been exposed to the explosion. Hopefully that wouldn’t be permanent. Vulcan looked over his sides, a few burns, some bruises luckily nothing to serious. Except for his wing. He knew what to do, and he also knew he wouldn’t like it. The skywing sighed while he headed over to one of the walls, pressed the joint of his wing against a relatively even area and pushed. Pain once again rushed through him, but vanished as quick as it had come up. After a few seconds, he tested his wing again. It was still painful to move, but usable. Next he checked up on his stuff. The entire right side of the harness had scorch marks, but since it was made to be resilient, it was fine. The blanket under his belly was glowing on some spots, something he quickly put an end to.

The only thing that got really damaged was the lamp. It was on his left shoulder, and had been crushed when the explosion had thrown him against the wall. “Great”, he mumbled, while trying to salvage it as good as possible. The best thing he could do was a somewhat bent together thing that could hold a piece of coal. It was beyond a stage where it could be repaired, but for now, it would do. Even if it couldn’t focus the light. Placing a new piece in it and setting it on fire, he looked over the Nightwing. She appeared to have been thrown against a wall as well. From a wound on her head trickled a small stream of blood down the Nightwings scales. Aside from that she appeared to be good. The black scales and low light made it however hard to spot injuries. Vulcan debated on what to do with her. He could try to wake Small Scale, but then she would be up again, and for some reason Vulcan expected her to blow them up a second time. On the other claw however he couldn’t leave her behind, and also was not too fond of carrying the Nightwing around, no matter how small she was. With a sigh he decided to wake her, but how? The easiest way would be with the water, but he had no idea how long he would be down here, meaning it had to be done the old fashion way.

He began to poke her in the side, increasing the intensity of it. When that did not help he shook. Eventually she showed signs of waking up so he increased his efforts. “Hey, wake up”, Vulcan tried, while poking her with the back of his claw. Suddenly Small Scale’s eye where open and her claw shot in the direction of Vulcan’s face. He jumped back and put his left wing between the two of them. Pain shot through his entire side, as he did that. Apparently he had some more injuries he hadn’t known about. “You are awake”, he asked the Nightwing teeth clenched. Small Scale scrambled to her feet, looking somewhat confused, sacred and about to murder him. “What happened”, she demanded. As she looked around, she noticed that one side of the cave was collapsed. The fear part in her expression quickly gained presence while she slowly processed what she saw. “You want to know what happened? Fine, I tell you. YOU ignited leaking gas which then exploded in my face and collapsed the celling, cutting us off from the surface.”

With a bit of satisfaction he observed as Small Scale’s face went to complete horror, while pushing aside the fact that he was stuck down there as well. Slowly she sat down, again looking around, as if she hoped that an exit would appear suddenly. “This can’t be”, she said in a low voice. “No no no n...” “Are you done yet”, he interrupted her sharply in the roughest tone he could muster. She stared at him with wide eyes and then cried: “How can you stay so clam? We are going to...” He interrupted her again and barked: “If yes, you can get on your tiny feet and start being useful for once. I only have limited resources and I will not wast it on a wailing dragon, well half of a dragon at least.” Vulcan tried use every insult he could think of in order to get her mad. It wouldn’t help him so much as her, but a mad dragons was way more likely to survive this situation then a depressed one, and he really needed that Nightwing or otherwise he feared to go down a similar spiral of anxiety. It really didn’t looked good for them, but he wasn’t going to admit that, as long as he was with someone.

“What is your problem”, she shouted at him crying. “That did not work”, he observed, so he changed the tone. “Oh my problem is that I’m stuck in a cave with a Nightwing that is almost useless by herself, but I can’t leave her behind, because people will ask questions why she did not return when I did, and now get off your butt and make yourself useful, or I am going to throw you down this star forsaken tunnel, so I don’t have to check if its a dead end myself!” Vulcan roared into her face, with much more passion then intended. Small Scale went pale, backing away from the looming Skywing who followed her steps. Admittedly that had been a bit harsh, but as he had spoken it came to his mind who brought him into this mess. And it felt so good just to scream at her to vent his anger. When he had her cornered completely he growled lowly: “So?” She just looked at him, her brain apparently not able to process what to do. “Did I went to far?” The question popped up in his head. At the same time however he reminded him about how important it was to pull this through.

“Are you going to be useful by yourself or do I need to help with that?” A few glimpses of confusion broke through the fear that dominated most of her expression. She slowly nodded. Vulcan in return, just scowled at her, so she quickly added: “I’ll be useful by myself.” “Good. Now get moving. You take the lead, so I can throw you, if you start wailing again.” She again stared at him, shocked. Then the Nightwing stated to move mechanically around the Skywing, that still stood right in front of her and Vulcan followed every movement she made. Once she had passed him, he turned around. The light of his broken lamp illuminated only a small portion of the way, while the rest was covered in darkness and shadows. “Well then, into the deep.”

____________________

They quickly discovered that the cave was no dead end, at least as far as they could tell. For half an hour the walked in silence. Small Scale hadn’t dared to speak and Vulcan needed to keep up the image of an angry Skywing. If not, he feared that Small Scale would go right back into another panic attack and since she did not like him anyway, he didn’t saw a reason to change his ways. That would probably be the easiest challenge to encounter down there. Half of the tribe was described to be big, red and grumpy-looking, and the other half being big, orange and grumpy-looking and ten years of Sky Kingdom must have been good for something after all. It would just be a very quiet trip. He sighed silently and looked ahead. Beyond the shine of the light he could only see the pitch black darkness of the tunnel. A cold shiver run over his back. Surrounded by tons of stone and darkness, that was no place where a Skywing should die, or any dragon for the matter.

“I don’t want to die down here.” He shook him self vigorously in an attempted to scurry away those thoughts. He had to stay on top on and suppress his fear, as good as he could. “Pull yourself together Vulcan. If you go crazy now, none of you will survive”, the Skywing tried to motivate himself. It did not work as good as he had hoped. A rising surge of panic took over his mind. A voice of doubt whispered to him, persuading him, to just lay down and accept his fate. “It would be so much easier to give up, wouldn’t it? I do not have enough food and water for the both of us. My reserves will be emptied in a few days. I could either do it with my claws or with one of the bolts from the climbing gear. Maybe sharpen it a bit so it penetrates the scales easier. Or maybe we find a way down, so I would technically die flying….”

“Are.. are you ok?” Small Scale’s voice pulled him away from his suicidal thoughts. His mind was still a mess. More then enough of his thoughts still considered the easy way out. So he tried to anchor all of his thoughts around the one thing that was not cave, what would be Small Scale. Heat build up in him immediately. He thought about how he could stand in his forge by now, working and creating. Instead however he was stuck in this star forsaken cave and all because this little Nightwing wouldn’t listen to him. “I’m fine”, he growled while he let himself fill with anger and rage. Nothing he would do normally, but this was not a normal situation and every other emotion was now better then anxiety. Then he just stomped off, to reduce the chance of him smashing her head against another very hard object. He did that to his brothers when they angered him too much. Difference there of cause was one, they were family and two, they were around his size. “Wait”, he could hear her saying. Vulcan turned around and snapped: “What is it?” Small Scale made a step back, as and then asked carefully: “Do you... do you have anything for my head injury?”

He snapped out of his thoughts. His left claw reached for a pouch in his flank where he usually stored medical supplies in, however all he could feel the empty pouches. “Oh crap.” He couldn’t remember packing those back home. Strangely enough the small Nightwing snickered at this.
“So among all the things you carry, there is not a single bandages?”
“No. Apparently not. Usually I bring everything one could need.”
“Yeah I see that.”
“Well I don’t see you having brought anything useful along.”
She wanted to argue back but Vulcan had turned already and stomped down the cave. After this neither of them spoke much. Small Scale tried a few times. The tunnel lead them ever so deeper into the Islands heart, winding its way through the stone, so much so that he had already lost track on which direction they were walking.

The flame on his shoulder projected long shadows onto the rough surface of the tunnel walls. From time to time he changed the piece of coal. It was the only way to keep track on how much time had passed already. One piece equalled roughly half an hour and the light of the sixth piece just started to fade, with no end, or a way to the surface for the matter, in sight. They made a short break, ate a bit and drank something. Vulcan was fairly resourceful considering that subject, and only shared a small amount of supplies with Small Scale, who looked fairly disappointed at the tiny amount of food he gave her. They ate and rested without saying much, and went on there way again soon after. An hour and a half later they came to a little junction. A few tunnels lead into different directions, but none appeared to lead to the surface. Vulcan stood in the junction and tired to look into each of them, but the light of the flame did not reach far. He sat down tired and somewhat helpless, while staring at one.

“Now what? Which way is the best? Think Vulcan, you must come up with..” “Seeing anything?” He jerked away as suddenly Small Scale was next to him, who in response looked surprised at him. When had she moved? How hadn’t he noticed? Then again, maybe his paranoia would sit this one out, but he wouldn’t have reacted like this if that was the case. It felt really stupid to jerk away from a dragon he probably could just throw down into the tunnel if necessary.“Ah.. no, I can’t see much further then the light goes.” She looked down the tunnel he looked into and then asked: “Really?” She thoughtfully she looked first at him and then down the tunnel again. “Can I have some coal?” Slowly he reached for the pocket he had the coals in and gave her all 3 pieces that where still left in there. Surprised he turned his head, when his claw reached it’s empty bottom. All he saw was a little coal gravel, another victim to the explosion. At this point he was actually surprised that his harness was still intact, while a few things that had been in the pouches had taken more damage.

“Here, what are you going to do with them?” She smirked and turned to the tunnels again. Then she lit up the coals and threw each of them down a different tunnel. They flew about twenty meters, illuminating everything along the way, before splitting into a pieces when hitting the ground. It appeared that all of them lead further down, with one visibly ending as the coal hit the it’s wall. It never reached his mind that he could do that with the coal. “Nothing unexpected, but still not a pleasant confirmation”, she sighted and turned “What?” “I never thought of that as a possibility.” “Really? Didn’t you claimed to be an explorer yourself?” “Yes, but my brothers and I always had the lamps and actually, we weren’t to fond of caves since we are Skywings. Also there was that incident at the Pantala sinkhole, which wasn’t helpful with that either.” “Ok, now I’m curious, what incident, and what has that to do with you being a Skywing?” Vulcan smiled, remembering the adventures he had with his brothers, completely forgetting the part were he needed to be a terrifying Skywing.

“I’m going to answer that backwards, because in that order, its more convenient. Most of the tribe wouldn’t admit it, but all Skywings have at least some level of claustrophobia. We carry that name for more then one reason.” He tried to spread his wings in an attempted to prove his point, but bolts of pain flashed through both of them and force a painful growl out of him, what made Small Scale laugh. “Yeah yeah, enjoy my pain and suffering, but don’t complain if you throw you into that tunnel. Anyway, the sinkhole incident was us basically jumping down that sinkhole. The problem with that would be, that it isn’t wide enough for us Skywings to open our wings to there full wingspan, as well as it is a natural reaction to so, when suddenly the ground appears in front of one. I broke my left arm on that, Victor injured his leg, and Val broke his wing. Needless to...” At this point the Nightwing interrupted him, asking: “By the way, I thing you never introduced yourself to me.” He opened his maw, wanting to argue that he had, but he couldn’t remember doing so.

“My name is Vulcan”, he said bowing a little.
“Vulcan?” Small Scale laughed and then continued: “Your parents weren’t really creative when giving you names, were they?”
“Oh we don’t mind. I think our parents are somehow related to Spitfire, but I’m not quit sure how. Anyway it is needless to say, that we were stuck down there. We had no climbing gear what so ever, and eventually had to be rescued by a group of Silkwings."
“Interesting. Anyway, what are we going to do now? Do you maybe have a coal left?”
The Skywing nodded and tried to reach to the boxes of coke, but another flash of pain shot through his back, quickly stopping his attempt. “Stars. Small Scale can you maybe help to get that thing of my back? Just unlock the two metal beams and then pull it out.” He laid down, so she could reach it better, but still got a disproving look.

“I thought those were for your forge”, she mentioned as she began to free them. “Yes, but if they help us out of here we might as well use them.” “Fair enough.” Eventually she pulled it free. Vulcan stored coal from there in the pockets that were empty and then she helped him to put it back where it had been before. They threw another piece into the fourth tunnel. It smashed at a steep cave wall, lighting up the celling for a moment, except there hadn’t been one. “A way up”, both said excited as they moved into this same tunnel. They discovered that there was another way tunnel leading into this one, about twenty meters (60ish feet (screw you imperial scum)) above them. “This looks promising”, Small Scale said, as she looked up and tired to climb the ledge above them. It was clear that she would not climb up there without help, or at least some advice. He opened his mouth, but before he could say something she cut him off: “Don’t, I want can do this on my own.” With that she reached for a rock and pushed herself up.

Her left claw soon shot up to another ledge that promised her stability and after that she raised set her first foot and then her second. At the start it looked very good. She climbed about one third of the way without a problem. After that however she managed to do get herself stuck. A dragon with a normal body would have no problem reaching for another safe hold, she however could not. Small Scale tried to reach for another one that was barley out of her reach, but Vulcan stopped her. “Unless you want to jump, you will land down here, if you reach for that one.” “Didn’t I said I could do this on my own?” “You did, and I let you do, but I won’t carry you if you break your legs.” She sighed disappointed, but asked: “So where should I go next?” “Well, if you don’t want to leap over there, then better jump down again and try again. This time, you maybe want to stick more to the left.” Hearing that she snorted angrily and tried to reach for various stones and ledges, but she had managed to navigate herself into a dead end. Finally she dropped back down and began anew. It took her some time but she did it. He followed her and climbed the wall in one fluent movement, like a snake slithering up a sand dune. “Show off”, he could hear Small Scale say, but didn’t pressed the issue. The Skywing looked into the tunnel that laid in front of them. “Seeing anything” he asked her. “Rocks, Stones, a few pebbles. No sign of a way to the top though. However, I think it goes further up.” “Lets hope its not a dead end.” Vulcan made the first step towards their new destination, with her closing the distance soon after.

The tunnel went further up, ever so slightly, and their hopes rose. Five hours went past, without any new discovery, occasionally they had to climb another wall, some where higher. Both of them had tried to keep track of the altitude they have went up again, but were fairly certain that they had no clue. The exhaustion from the day long trip grew only worse. As a blacksmith, Vulcan was no stranger to physical exhaustion and there for did not struggle with it as bad as other dragoons may would have. Considering Small Scale how ever he wasn’t sure how much longer she would make it. To her credit, she had not complained once, but he could not believe that she could go for much longer.
“Where do you thing this leads?”
“No idea, but we are definitely not in the area of the canyon any more.”
“Really, how do you know?”

Small Scale stopped and looked at disappointed at him: “You’re kidding me, right? How could you not notice?” The Nightwing gestured around them. At first he didn’t got what she meant, then however he noticed that the walls had a dark greyish tone, instead of the yellow and orange sandstone the caves had been where they had started their journey. “Is that slate?” “I’m not an expert, but would say yes.” “So its possible that we have wandered into the crystal mountains”, Vulcan figured. Small Scale nodded and then said: “If we are lucky, this tunnel leads to the surface, what would mean that they are all connected. Uh, that’s exiting. What if the whole island is connected with a system of caves?” “Then I would like to find the nearest exit right around this corner over there.” She laughed and nodded in agreement. Of cause, the tunnel did not end there, but it was a nice thought he could hang on to. He shouldn’t get his hopes to high though. Ahead of them was darkness. It did not bug him yet, but he knew, he would have a hard time pulling himself together when he would wake up without any light. That was a thing he didn’t looked forward to. Last time he had woken up in similar conditions, he had punched his brother in the face. A sudden movement from Small Scale pulled his attention back to the Nightwing. She had her head stretched forward, trying to see something in the distance. Immediately his senses snapped back into action. Without even thinking about it he drew his wings tight to his body, so they wouldn’t get in the way, while the rest of him lowered down, ready to jump at anything that would hiding out of his sight.

____________________________________________

Word count: 5476 (minus a few for 'Screw you imperial scum' side coment (hehe))

DS count(storry): 69 + how much you give me out of pitty.

Drawing (or what it is supposed to be): 2 Halfbody's (2x 14DS) + lineless (2x14DS) + shaded to the best of my knowledge and abilitys (probably nothing) + a background of debatable complexity (srsly I'm not sure how to classify this. Like, it looks cleaner then the one I did for my piece with Fulcrum, though that one was arguably more complex with the few details I had thrown in. I also don't want to land on r/delusionalartists, so medium maybe? (10DS)) + some one elses character, Small Scale owned by FireBlaze9552 (+2DS as this is not vacation related) = 68 DS

Total: 137

Someone pleas double check that. Its five in the morning and I can't art.

(Skip this part if you are not interested on my thoughts regarding the drawing \/)

Ok, part two of the story, with the first drawing I ever (mostly) did on a pc. As with most of the stuff there are a few things wrong with it, though in general I am happy with the result.

At the beginning they were supposed to look at each other, from one side of the pic to the other, with the background being a yellow orange rock with a hole in it. (If I still have the sketch on my pc I link it here: Sketch )

The plan was to draw the dragons outlines with a pencil (since I only have a mouse to paint, and didn’t thought I could do it without tracing lines spoiler, I still cant)), scan the thing and then colour it on the computer. Basically the best out of two worlds….

Yeah, half way through the phase of looking at it and realising that the original idea looked pretty fucking stupid, I got a little bit more ambitions (for my artistic standards).

Also, for no particular reason, my head plays either the Main Theme from PMD 1 or Great Canyon from the same game when I look at it.