a collection of tales [[ chronocompass writing ]]

There was something very frustrating about being the lesser-known, less accomplished younger brother. Ashgar heard so much on the Tsotska island about Teeba. It was Teeba this and Teeba that, oh look he got another dragon and wow did you hear he met the metal ancestor? Whenever Teeba-ei came by to visit, he would get many young dragon riders asking for advice that he willingly and warmly gave. When Ashgar went into town, he’d be lucky if he got more than a few friendly ‘hellos’.

Ash thought about this more often than he’d care to admit. And then, he felt bad that he felt bad about the whole thing. It was an endless cycle that kept him up at night, only broken when he remembered that, quite obviously, Teeba had issues, too. Ashgar’s brother would confide in him, sometimes, about how he kept picking up eggs, taking in familiars, and welcoming new outcasts into his home because he felt like whatever he did wasn’t good enough. If Teeba himself, the golden brother, didn’t think he had done enough, what was Ashgar doing thinking so negatively about the two of them?

He came to the conclusion, one night, that perhaps he was doing them both a disservice. From that point on, when Teeba came by, he was the kindest he could be, and when Teeba was gone, he worked with his dragons to be great in his own way. One day, he and his team of dragons would be the best salvagers on the Tsotska isles.

- - - -

Tidehopper was always the first one awake. Ashgar sometimes shared dreams with his dragons - Maristella in particular - but Tide never showed up in them. He therefore had to wonder if she ever slept.

On this particular morning he slowly awoke to the feeling of Varen lying on his chest, Maristella’s tail flicking across his face, and the sounds of Mitra and Tide chattering about some random thing outside the cabin. With a grumble, Ash swatted Stella’s tail aside, picked Varen up and gave him his own spot on the small bed, and swung his feet over the side. The wood below his claws was creaky as always - though perhaps an annoying sound, it gave him a lot of comfort. Like the sun rising or Varen being cold, it was a constant that he took a moment to appreciate.

After checking that both the indoor dragons were still fast asleep, he crept across the squeaky floor, swung a cloak over his shoulders, and opened the similarly loud door. Tide’s long face and Mitra’s three eyes turned to face him as he stepped outside into the cold.

“I heard you both out here. What’s up?” Ash asked. He leaned up against the wood and crossed his arms, trying to keep all the warmth close to himself.

“Tide heard a rumor,” Mitra’s low voice rumbled, and Tide nodded along to the statement eagerly.

“Treasures in the northern sea! I heard some dragons in the hatchery talking about a shiny rock they saw below the waves on the top side of the island! You think we could go visit?” Tidehopper is just about hopping up and down in excitement, very true to her name.

Ashgar might have just woken up, but he isn’t one to pass up an opportunity to dive beneath the waves. “Of course! We’ll have to fly over there, so I hope you’re ready for that. I can get the salvaging gear, if you two can wake up Varen and Stella.”

Tide doesn’t even say anything, she slithers in the window. Mitra sighs and shambles towards the door. As Ash comes back inside himself, he’s a witness to Tide tickling Stella with her own tail to attempt to awake her from dreams, and has to crack a smile. 

By the time he’s gathered all they’ll need for the trip, Varen had gotten up with much grumbling and complaining, and Maristella was cheerily conversing with Tide as Mitra had been just previously. “Come on then,” Ash interrupted. “We’re wasting precious daylight and there’s treasures to be uncovered, right?”

The group flew across the island to their destination - Ashgar atop Maristella, Varen on Mitra’s back, and Tide running ahead. Or, flying, as it were. Tide’s flight always looked more like an over - excited rabbit running in the air. It looked hilarious, so it was good that Tide didn’t care about looking silly or not.

The flight over the volcano was always the best part of a trip across the island. Ash found himself staring down into the depths of the giant, flaming mountain, wondering how the massive dragon keeping everyone safe was doing. Some nights, when he had trouble sleeping, he and Tide would head on up here themselves and he would just talk to the lava for hours. There wasn’t quite time for that now, but he knew he’d be back later.

All too quickly, it seemed, the group reached the north end of Tsotska De La Mer. Mitra picked up on this thought and commented, “At least home doesn’t take that long to travel across, even if it means less of it. Imagine wandering across the Bestia lands!”

Ashgar hummed in quiet agreement. He knew what seemed like every inch of this island. With all the raids one might have thought he’d up and left by now, but this place was blissfully familiar - just like so many of the other things in his life. Maristella touched down upon the stony shores and Ash was quick to hop off and head down towards the water.

“Looks like it’s frozen over,” Varen commented from Mitra’s back. He didn’t look like he wanted to move any time soon. “Still. Odd year, isn’t it?” Although only Stella and Tide had more than a year’s worth of their own memories - all the others had hatched for him years after these first two - he had shared his own experiences of life with them. They had seen the ice of past times in his mind, and this was not the usual by any means.

“Well, frozen or not, the work still happens. Varen, I assume you’re staying ashore, so you’re in charge of keeping watch up above.” The thunder dragon nodded, quite happy with his role. “Everyone else, we’re finding a gap in the ice and then heading below.”

Tideopper raced out along the ice nearly before Ash was done speaking. Mitra shook Varen off, and stomped out on the ice herself, despite the slightly ominous creaking the ice gave in response. Varen landed on the rocky shore with an audible thump and a sigh. Ash offered him an apologetic smile before he and Stella headed off after the group.

- - - -

There was no special shiny treasure like Tide had been going on about the whole time. What the group did find, however, was a solid amount of good salvage. There were plenty of interesting objects that Ash knew would sell for a decent amount or be helpful for building something when cleaned. After several long hours spent beneath the waves, the group hauled their loot back to their little home. Mitra carried most of it, not minding the extra weight.

Once they had gotten back, Ashgar and his dragons all squished inside the small wood and stone house to look through their findings. Varen grew quickly attached to a couple of smooth stones, while Maristella and Mitra searched through the conglomerate of random objects for things to clean up first. Tide just bounced around and asked everyone numerous questions. Such was life. 

Ashgar didn’t usually get knocks on his door, so when, about an hour in to sorting, he heard a rapping at the wood of his abode, he picked up the rusty piece of silvence he’d been examining and leaned out his window. “Hello?”

It was his brother, of course. Ash hopped on out of the window, letting Stella know mentally who had arrived and to keep sorting, he’d be back soon. Teeba looked a bit different than usual - apart from his very weary expression and the sight of only one dragon by his side today (Otulius, of course), he was holding a very large dragon egg in his arms. “Hey there, brother! Just came from home, sorry it’s been a while. I hope you’re doing okay?”

All those old negative thoughts came back for a moment, and with a deep internal sigh Ash forced them back down. “Alright, yeah! Pretty quiet out here. We just went salvaging, the whole crew and I. Didn’t find anything stellar, but a lot of useful stuff. You?”

Teeba cracked a tired smile. “People are bringing dragon eggs to me now, you know that? Everyone knows me as the one who wouldn’t turn down a single lost soul. My little spot in the woods is turning into a small village by now. But beyond all that - I got this egg just the other day, and I know it’s not one of my elements.” The grey tsotska looked down at the egg fondly. “Actually, I was thinking it would fit great in your own little family.”

Ashgar was, of course, very taken aback. He glanced back in the window to see his little band of dragons, talking and laughing and sorting through all these random items from the sea. “I - Teeba - I appreciate the thought, really, but you have to see how cramped the cabin is already? I got two dragons this last year alone! And they can’t sleep outside, it gets cold at night.” He fidgeted the silvence piece between his claws as he spoke. 

Teeba let Ashgar go on for a bit, until at last just silence passed between the two of them. The unspoken words were understood by both - Ashgar’s quiet ‘I’m just a simple salvager, I’m not fit to keep all these dragons safe’, and Teeba’s hopeful ‘I see so much good in you even though we hardly speak, please just help’. 

At last, Ash broke the silence by reaching out and placing one hand on the egg. At once he felt some special connection that he’d felt with every egg that had turned into one of his best friends and helpers, and he smiled, thinking about them all. Mitra, with her snark and her kindness. Varen, always falling asleep in the silliest of spots. Tidehopper, never failing to bring up the mood of the whole group. And, of course, his dear Maristella, with her quiet optimism brightening his every day. Who would this newest dragon become?

“I’ll do it,” he told Teeba, and the look of absolute joy on his brother’s face was plain to see.

The two exchanged words for several more minutes, during which Ashgar received his new egg and Teeba spoke cheerfully about several new dragons he’d taken in since the last time the two had spoken. When the time came to say goodbye, Ash leaned in and gave Teeba a hug. “Thank you,” he said.

“What - what for?” 

“For being you, of course,” Ashgar said, totally fine with how sappy it sounded. Otulius stretched out his wings to wrap around them both for a moment.

It was a very nice moment. Ashgar felt that he could have stayed there forever.

- - - -

As Teeba-Ei and Otulius departed for the chronoscape, Ashgar pressed the rusted coin he’d taken from the salvage pile into Teeba’s hand. “Maybe it’ll give you good luck,” Ash suggested.

Teeba laughed warmly, and as they headed out, Ash heard Otulius say “You keep every single thing he gives you. Might be good to tell him one day, let him know how much he cares.” 

Ashgar smiled, waved as they vanished off to somewhere else, and after a moment of watching the space where they had been before, he opened up the door, and showed the new egg to his dragons, who crowded around in excitement. As he placed the egg above his fireplace and conversed with his friends, he felt that things were going to be alright.

He might not be Teeba, but then, he was doing good in his own little way, wasn’t he?