Gary
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Rodney
Stylet soared within the cerulean blue sea known as the sky- it's gentle white-capped waves called cirrocumulus clouds stretched across its surface in wave-like patterns above his head. The scene itself was calm- but the heat was oppressive as it baked the back of the darkly colored HiveWing's back- the only respite was the feeling of the wind that glided across and beneath his scales as he flew, but even that was little less than agreeable as he bobbed and weaved through the lower cumulous clouds- avoiding flying through them due to anxiety that built when his vision was obscured by things like fog and mist. 

Strung across his chest was a leather satchel with pretty silver buckles perfectly adjusted so the bag didn't dip far from his chest as he flew - a pretty button held the piece together, and beneath the surface it sheltered a book- one that dictated thoughts that were genuinely his- and his alone - having such a thing made it easier to keep track of the world around him, what was real- what was fake- by focusing on writing, he was able to focus in on thoughts even when scenes were crowded with phantoms- something about the process eased his mind and brought relief to the tumultuous condition that rarely eased itself, even when he was alone.

He looked down- hovering closer to the earth's surface- but still a mile or so above it- his eyes scoured the valleys, meadows, and forests- all of which flashed by in an instant- for a place to rest and cool himself from the dismal condition one might liken to heat exhaustion. As he observed, he noticed a beautiful winding river and quickly wrapped back around and hovered above for a few moments to do a quick headcount of the River's shore as he drew closer.

Three Hivewings... One Leafwing... Four Silkwings, and... The peculiar sight a gorgeous dragon of reds, purples, and blues- caught him off-guard- he assumed all the dragons he was seeing- as they usually were in a rural setting- were fake, figments of his mind- memories of the dead he was forced to engorge himself with at a young age- the phantoms moved - looked like they were talking to each other, and as he drew closer or further usually faded in and out of existence to a degree- or would rapidly jump across the scene a few meters down the river. Though, this odd dragon, much like the phantom of a Leafwing, was sitting all alone- he figured no one would be out here- not in this weather, nor this time of day as the brilliantly orange sun sank into the western horizon behind him.

With that in mind- he gently descended and landed right next to the dragon, his eyes running over the derg's form as he touched down with a soft *Thud* And bent his body towards the meander of the river, splashing his face a few times with the crystalline water before shaking his head- throwing water side to side with a sigh. 

He was smaller, and his scales shades of grey and black- though not pure black. His insectoid wings were the color of garnet, opaque at their bases - and fading into translucence towards the tips. A soft, faded yellow gained saturation as it ran down his limbs all the way to the tips of his talons, and his head was a bright- fearsome red - slowly fading into his neck and body. For a Hivewing, his colors were exceedingly rare- almost as if they'd been hand selected to produce the dragon before Frosty. 

In Stylet's head he heard voices- from whispers, to laughs, to shouts, and more- it was a plague - a burden he had long gotten used to- one that only let up when he was flying, the wing that passed by his ears caused them to be muffled or completely silent. None of the voices at this time were talking directly to him-

But he still somewhat eavesdropped on their conversations - his eyes subtly flicked in the directions of newer, louder voices- but despite this he appeared completely in control of his condition for the time being as he reached a talon up to his satchel, undoing the leather binding and taking out his notebook as he sat down along the bank, he scribbled down notes about his surroundings, from the voices- to the phantoms- to the sound of the river that was filled with a choir of frogs that played to a chorus of cicada's in the hot evening air- he glanced over at the odd dragon he assumed to be just an illusion - whom was most likely looking directly at him - causing him to flinch as he silently looked at Frosty, craning his neck closer, and moving it side to side as if watching to check if the dragon before him was actually looking at *Him*- when he realized that was indeed the case- he let out a shriek- dropping him notebook on the rocky shore and fluttering a few meters back. 

"I-I'm sorry- I uh, I didn't see you there..." A nervous expression crawled across his face as he realized that it was obvious, he had been looking right at Frosty. "At first..." He quickly thought of a cover- not really wanting to tell the stranger too much- "I have a hard time seeing, so I didn't really realize you weren't a rock- not to say you're a rock, I mean- you're a really vibrant rock if you were a rock- but you're not a rock, so I'm sorry-" He chuckled nervously, rubbing the back of his head- briefly fiddling with his right horn before his eyes trailed up the shoreline and to the notebook he had dropped. "Oh! I'm Stylet by the way- it's nice to meet you!" He reflexively extended a talon- and held it there for a few long awkward seconds before realizing he wasn't close enough to shake Frosty's hand, to which he snapped his arm close to his side- and waited for confirmation that it would be okay to approach- really *Really* Wanting to get his notebook back more than anything.
Joel
*Oh lord that's literate*

I see 💀 no way I'm matching but I'll go for 4 paragraphs

I smashed my finger in my car door, will take a bit longer

Hand is currently sandwiched between frozen peas and frozen tater tots
Leslee
*Frostfire was standing at the edge of the river. Trying to catch some fish. He was having no luck with finding any goats so grabbing as much salmon as possible was probably the next best thing. He'd certainly need a lot though.. And so far he had only caught five. The fish were laying lifeless next to him in a messy pile. He sighed. He was gonna be here all night wasn't he?*

*Frostfire paused as he had heard the odd loud buzzing of Stylet's wings. He hadn't ever heard anything like it before. He glanced around the area. Trying to spot the source of the quickly approaching noise. He laid eyes on the hivewing after they landed. Frostfire looked puzzled. He had never seen or heard of a hivewing before. The dragons appearance was fascinating and also a bit unnerving to Frosty.* 

*He watched as the hivewing looked around at things that weren't there. That confused him more. What was the other dragon seeing that Frosty wasn't? He looked where Stylet looked. He saw nothing but empty forest. Then the hivewing got up close to him. He stared. Not saying anything yet. He had no idea what to say.. Frosty was far too socially awkward to deal with this.* 

*He jumped slightly when the hivewing shrieked and fluttered back. He stepped back a bit himself. The hivewing most certainly did see him.. He saw his eyes on him for a moment. And it wasn't just an 'I'm looking at a rock look.' The hivewing had clearly been looking him up and down. Frosty decided not to comment on that though. He had bigger fish to fry..* 

*Finally he cleared his throat in preparation to speak. This would probably be the first time he was ever having a real conversation with anybody. Frosty didn't get out much...* "Uhm... It's alright." *He finally said after an eternity of silence.* "Hello.. I'm Frostfire." *Was this how dragons normally interacted? He had no idea what that thing Stylet was doing with his arm was. Frosty traced the hivewings gaze and spotted the notebook. He reached out to grab it and held

It out for the hivewing.* "Here you go.."
Rodney
Stylet flinched a bit when he saw Frostfire take hold of his notebook- something scratched at the back of his brain that made him instantly paranoid of any stranger- no matter how kind their gesture appeared on the surface. At the same time- an echoing laughter filled his head, making him even more anxious as he subtly gritted his teeth with a slight cringe that faded a bit as the overbearingly loud laughing slowly died down.

He refocused himself, and shuffled forward- somewhat awkwardly- showing immediate signs of how cautious and generally untrusting he was of the world around him- as he got close enough- he reached the extra distance to gently take his notebook back with an awkward smile and chuckle. The Hivewing flipped through the pages- his eyes skittering about between different stimuli- the book, and Frostfire as he made it to the next blank page and began writing- a small smile building on his face as he did. "Oh- I'm sorry- that was probably a bit much for you- uh, sorry- I don't really get out much..." He looked to the side nervously- it was true- he had only recently been given the greenlight to explore Pyhrria by himself- 

"Th-thanks for getting my notebook for me- it's really important! I can't really-" He scribbed something down before continuing. "Uhm, really do much without it- ehe." Stylet's eyes looked towards the shoreline at the small pile of fish with curiosity. "I can move upstream just from here and-" He shook his head and placed a talon on his face. "I mean- do you maybe need some help? I know a trick that'll s-save you a lot of time..." He flinched again as a vision of a large dragon taking off just behind Frostfire filled his senses- "Ehe... Sorry..."
Leslee
*The hivewing's panicked rambling made Frosty uneasy. Though- he wasn't scared of the hivewing. Just of what the hivewing could be scared of. He turned his head and looked behind himself when he saw Stylet stare at something. When Frosty saw nothing he frowned and looked back at Stylet.* "Is something wrong?" *The hybrids tone made that sound more threatening than it really was. It was a genuine question- but his deep voice made him sound more assertive than he meant to be.* 

*He took a deep breath. Trying to keep himself calm. Other dragons freaking out made him freak out.* "Just uhm.. Talk a bit slower. You're going a million miles a minute." *He looked toward his pathetic pile and then back at Stylet.* "You have a trick? I'd like to hear it." *He nodded. He was hungry. And despite being fairly used to starving for long periods of time.. Thanks to Flurry... He preferred eating when he was hungry. It gave him more energy and will to keep going.* 

*Frosty had a few burning questions he was too socially inept to avoid asking. He didn't know what was normal to say or not. So he decided to say what came to mind and clean up whatever mess came from it later.* "What... Tribe are you?" *He asked curiously.* "I've never seen anything like you... Though that's not saying much since I really only lived around icewings." *He stated. Keeping an eye on Stylet.*
Rodney
Stylet sort of blushed- an odd shade of green rushing to his cheeks, partially in part due to the Scream of Turpitude, a variant of the Breath of Evil - that had been placed in his body and was the key for- well- all of his symptoms. The dragons made a weary sigh- it wasn't exactly something they liked talking about, and they were still getting used to talking about it openly with other dragons- in his old home before the Rainforest Kingdom- he was conditioned to *Never* Openly speak about it with the residents of the makeshift hive, otherwise- he was *Punished*. "Yeah... I mean- no! Everything's okay- I'm just- it's a long story, I don't want to bug you with it, but you don't have anything to worry about- it's just- me." He chuckled nervously again with a somewhat forced, but cheerful looking smile. 

"S-sorry again-" He gave a pained look, and wrote something down in the notebook, his eyes seemed to retract the words he wrote as he spoke- eyes darting from the page and then back to Frostfire. "Yes, it's kind of like cheating." His voice was almost robotic as he read the lines- which must've been his self-imposed script to keep his speech understandable to other dragons. "It's a trick only I can do, but you can watch." He continued, peeling his eyes from the paper and smiling cheerfully at Frostfire with a sense of childlike glee.

As Frosty asked, he gave a reassuring smile, and scribbled some more- occasionally his ears flicking in all directions as he ignored sounds and sights in his peripheral vision. "I'm a Hivewing. My tribe comes from a place called Pantala, but I was born here. Pantala is a faraway continent to the west and across the sea from the Ice Kingdom." He paused for a moment- and continued writing for a few more moments before speaking. "I have not seen anything like you either!" His voice curved in an uncomfortably sharp manner as he read his own exclamation mark at the end. "You're wonderful and so unique, I was surprised you were real." He seemed to backpedal and looked up nervously while trying to quietly scribble that out as if it'd undo what he had said. "You're like a temperature gradient- hot, warm, cold- If I had to guess- you have predominantly Icewing heritage." He placed his pencil at his side to suggest he was finished speaking for the time being so Frosty could respond.
Leslee
"I'm not in a rush. But if you don't want to tell me you don't have to." *He thought Stylet's mannerisms were weird. Though.. He also thought he was one to talk. Maybe this was completely normal. He has literally zero clue. Maybe he should carry around a journal and hold onto it like it's a priceless artifact like Stylet did. He then paused. Thinking for a moment.*,

"Oh yeah- the other continent. I've really only heard of the uh.. Butterfly ones." *He explained. Trying to ignore all the weirdness surrounding Stylet and the journal.* "Is it some special.. Uh- hive... Wing.. Power?" *He was trying to memorize the name of the tribe. His mind was always so cluttered he needed to try extra hard to retain information completely.* 

"Yeah.. I'm a hybrid." *He said before staying quiet. He had... Never really been complimented like that before. Or.. Complimented at all... He wasn't sure how to take it. What to say. How to feel. Frosty's brain just short circuited for a minute as he tried to compute the nice words. He eventually realized he was silently staring awkwardly and suddenly spoke.* 

"...Thanks?" *He phrases that as a semi question. Utterly unable to just take a compliment. He sighed.* "I'm skywing icewing." *He looked down at his scales. He got a lot of stares in the ice kingdom. He always assumed people thought he was freaky. Guess not everybody? He felt the need to compliment Stylet back as a sort of equivalent exchange.* "Your wings are.. Interesting." *That's the best he could do. Not because there wasn't things about Stylet to compliment him- but because Frosty just didn't know how to come across as friendly.*
Rodney
The Hivewing kind of recoiled a bit- drawing into himself - in the Rainforest Kingdom- he had never really been pressed about his condition after a certain point- it reminded him of when he was first admitted, which was painfully nostalgic in the worst way possible. He scribbled a bit - figuring he doesn't really have nothing to lose from being truthful and at least giving the stranger some kind of insight- a few long moments passed before he read off of the pages once more. "Y-yes, there are Silkwings and Leafwings too- as for how I act... It's part of my condition. I've been working really hard on getting better- but it is still difficult for me. Sometimes I hear, see, smell, and feel things that aren't actually there- and it can be hard to discern illusion from reality." He blushed a bit brighter as he read his own notes- he was unsure how information like that would come off to Frostfire- deep down, even though this dragon was a stranger- he feared rejection for something out of his control.

While Stylet had a somewhat difficult past concerning a prejudice upbringing- with the help of his doctors, he was able to see other dragons from each tribe- and including hybrids, as beautifully unique creatures- and to judge a dragon not by their scales, but by what was underneath them. Frosty's silence made him nervous, but he kept the smile as his new friend continued- quickly scribbling something down, his reading skills somewhat improving as the environment around them got quieter- and thus it was easier to think - there were now only two other dragons in the distance - and he could only faintly hear some kind of quiet conversation.

"Skywing and Icewing, that's really interesting! It makes sense since the two kingdoms aren't very far from each other." He seemed to take Frosty's 'interesting' as a compliment- especially since he had previously used the word as well to describe Frosty. "Thank you! I had actually never seen another dragons' wings for most of my life- so seeing wings like yours used to be very new to me. My papa taught me not to like other dragons that were unique- but- he is... Gone now, and I am allowed to form my own opinions! And I think you are wonderful so far." He beamed- his tail almost wagging behind him like a puppy- which seemed to remind him of something as he did a bit more writing and nodded. "Follow me!" 

He pushed off of the ground and into the sky, and flew quickly over the center of the river- did some scouting and adjusted his position based on the silhouette of fish beneath the surface of the water- with that, he hovered downward- being able to play in place like an insect and maneuver with ease just as much. A large and sharp barb extended from his tail like a hidden blade and dipped into the water- a few moments went by, and the stinger retracted as if it had never been there in the first place- and within seconds fish popped up left, right and center- one... Two... Five... Ten... Thirty... He had used his venom to paralyze the fish in the stream- causing them to go belly up, making them easy for Frosty to swoop in and grab them by the armful.