a collection of tales [[ chronocompass writing ]]

Though the winter was essentially over in the part of the world where Salvus resided, a light blanket of snow had chosen to descend anyway. The town was covered in a lovely layer of white - a magnificent banner of bright frost to cheer up those dwelling there. Fox had chosen to come outside his den that day to admire the snow for what, he had to assume, would be one of the last snow before spring truly set in and the flowers started blooming. At the moment, he sat on the roof of the building where Teeba dwelled, and, further below, that Fox did, too. Gemma, the dragon whom the roof usually belonged to, was not happy with this development.

"This is my roof, you interloper. Get off," she growled at the fox cub as he moved some of the snow aside to make a patch for him to rest in. Fox merely flashed the robotic dragon a cheerful smile and pulled out his knitting tools. Recently there had been several new arrivals to Salvus, and Fox wanted to keep up on his lovely tradition of making everyone a celebratory scarf. As he began to weave green and blue thread together, he heard several more voices from below. He and Gemma looked below them to see Teeba and a trio of dragons approaching.

"Everything okay up there, Fox? Gemma?" Teeba called up at them. He was carrying a bucket of steaming water. How odd, Fox thought.

"This fool thinks that he can take over *my* roof. Tell him to get off," Gemma snapped, mechanical jaw closing with a loud and annoyed crack. Teeba merely shrugged in response.

"Fox can stay up there if he wants. I think it's cute he's trying to be friendly with you," Teeba ended up admitting. Gemma laughed at that, a series of monotonous sounds.

Fox, while continuing his knitting, tried to remember who the three dragons with Teeba were. There were so many these days, one could easily mix them all up. But these three, all carrying buckets of warm water just at Teeba was - Fox knew these three. The smallest, a rabbit - like creature named Jack, set aside his bucket and began to dig through the snow and make a hole in the ground. What was all of this about? He sent a questioning glance to Blunder, the russet dragon of passion and energy, who thankfully understood what he was trying to say.

Blunder grinned widely and said, "We're making a hot tub! You know how there's those hot springs of water that show up every so often? Well I thought it would be a cool idea to make our own! Neat, huh?"

"You could try to at least help, Blunder, dear," Saffron sighed. She, too, was helping to dig up the hole. In fact, she had summoned some spokes of metal that were currently flying through the air, throwing dirt out of the hole at a record pace. "Really, you have the energy of a small toddler but the work ethic of a retired snail."

Gemma, from the roof, huffed and flicked her tail at Fox to try and get him to move. The furry guy chose to not budge. Her fur ticked his nose.

Teeba oversaw the digging of the hole with excitement. "Jack, how deep do you think this should be?"

"Deep enough to stand in, I'd say. We're not doing this halfway, after all." The small rabbit hopped deeper into the hole and started digging faster. Luckily the airborne metal shovels stayed far away from him.

Fox figured they'd be going at it for a while, and went back to his knitting. So many new faces meant so many new scarves! Or at least, that's what he'd been thinking. As the digging continued, Fox enjoyed the idle conversation around him. He mostly tuned it out until he was mentioned by name. Er, sort of by name.

"Foxling! You toil away at that creation with all the might of two hundred and a half badgers! I am quite impressed!" Saffron was standing in the middle of a substantial hole and shouting up at him. Fox gave her a friendly nod and a smile, and then a thumbs up when he saw the progress on the hole. It was really coming along! He chose not to think too long on how there could be only half of a badger. He'd heard weirder things in the last few days.

Gemma was, predictably, not impressed by anyone involved in either project. "Your knitting is only decent and so is this odd hole. Won't fit me, though," she sighed.

Fox had already made Gemma several scarves, and he had seen her wearing them on various occasions. So he knew she liked them more than she was willing to admit. The thought warmed his heart, and made him continue to smile as the hole was completed by Blunder hopping in, declaring it good, and hopping out again.

"Water time, then!" cried Teeba, and the buckets of warm water were poured into the deep and wide hole. The chill of the earth and the snow meant that the water was quickly getting colder, but thankfully, there was a solution to that. Blunder jumped into the water and with a flourish of flames, became a pool heater all on his own.

Jack waved a paw towards Gemma and Fox to beckon them over. "Maybe come down and check it out, eh? We've got enough space for all." Gemma sighed, but willingly wriggled off of her treasured roof and alighted at the edge of the hot spring. She dipped one claw in, and then another.

"Not bad at all. Perfect temperature, actually," Gemma said, the rare sound of peace in her voice. Fox carefully climbed down, far slower than he would have liked to, and hopped in, clothes and all, after he put his knitting to the side. It was warm indeed, and was such a good feeling on a cold day. Teeba joined them next, Jack jumped into his arms, and Saffron came in last, the water splashing around her.

"I have such good ideas, guys," Blunder announced with a pleased expression on his face, as fire quietly flickered around him. "You all should listen to me more."

Saffron smiled and contemplated the idea. "Well, the water is already flowing into the earth, like pasta into the mouth of a pasta lover. But this was a very good idea. Perhaps we should make a more permanent version? One that sparkles and shines."

"If you put glitter in the hot tub, I will object harshly," Gemma interjected. "Last time there were little golden sparklies stuck to my scales for a week."

Teeba laughed, a good sound that made Fox feel welcome. This was his family... and even if his own dragons were away on adventures at the moment, he was happy just being with some of the people he knew. Here they all were, sitting in a hot tub because they could. Fox smiled at all of the others in the little hot spring circle, and most of them smiled back. Gemma just grimaced. But really, that was almost as good.