a collection of tales [[ chronocompass writing ]]

Erden arose in the morning to the sound of rain falling down on the ocean that graced the shores of Tsotska de la Mer. It was a cheery, friendly sound, a force that called him to get out there and explore. It was time to wake up some other dragons and head off to see what was going on!

Erden hadn't moved in to Ashgar's den - he still slept in the open waters most nights. It was, however, quite simple to glide over to the open window of the wooden shack and rap a jeweled fin across the frame. "Anyone want to check out the world today? Seems nice out there." There was silence as dragons who had been asleep before woke up with grumbling and groaning. At last, however, two other dragons opened the door and walked merrily out.

"Oh no, not you," Erden sighed at the sight of Cartographer and Delta once again. He appreciated them both, of course, and was glad to know them as part of Ashgar's crew, but my goodness, it was hard to talk with these fellows. Oh well. He'd have to do his best. 

"Oh yes, it's us," Delta beamed. "Rain's not my favorite, but it's a nice change from the snow we've had for so many months." The purple dragon blinked up at the sky, and winced when a raindrop landed in his eye. Oof.

Cartographer was already walking out to the water. "Come on, then. I've mapped out the whole ocean around here but there might be something interesting around, nonetheless." As Cart walked along the stony shoreline, dotted with sand, the loyal cormorant flew across the sky and through the light shower falling down. It was as if the bird had the same idea as the dragons did - today was a day for adventure.

The trio of dragons reached the edge of the ocean and dove into the water. Erden enjoyed watching the pattern of raindrops echoing in ripples across the top of the sea. Fascinating. Cartographer didn't pay as much attention to that and went along the shore, just under the water. Perhaps the rain and the waves had brought treasures closer to shore. Delta hopped in and out of the water until his feathers were too wet to support his flight. He went deeper than either of the other two dragons and peered through the gloomy sea for anything suitably suspicious to check out.

In the end it was Cart who found the best place to check out. Some barrels, apparently thrown off a ship some time ago, had floated up to the shore. Cartographer grabbed one of them and motioned for Erden to grab the other. They brought their newfound loot up on shore, and the cormorant promptly landed on one of the barrels with a triumphant caw. Delta met up with them soon after, several clams held in his claws. "Ooh, what's in there?" Delta asked, poking at the barrels.

"We don't know. That's the point of opening them up," Erden said with a sigh. The dragon was floating next to the treasure and was quite filled with hope. Anything could be in here. He just wondered what it would actually be. Because Erden's finned hands weren't the best for opening things, especially in the rain that made everything slippery, Cartographer and Delta cracked open the barrels and uncovered the secrets inside.

It was just rocks. Erden groaned upon seeing them. Someone, some ridiculous person, had decided to take some perfectly good barrels, put them on their ship, and fill them with nothing but rocks. These weren't even particularly good rocks. They were just simple stones. Perhaps good for scrap or building a wall, but not much else. No wonder these things had fallen into the sea. 

Delta laughed uproariously. "Hah! Now that's funny. I was hoping for gold or fabric or something fancy. Ah, well! Anyone here have a rock collection?"

"Tidehopper does," Cartographer offered. He had lifted his wings to block some of the rain and was already looking through some of the rocks. "Oh, this one's purple. I like that. Do you think I could start marking down types of rocks too?" Cart tilted his head and thought for a moment. "No, that would be boring. Nowhere near as fun as maps."

"Has any joy ever graced your life?" Delta joked. "Maps are so hard to read, they confuse me more than they're fun."

Erden sighed, again. That was the wrong thing to say. He wondered how long Cart would defend himself this time. The cormorant seemed to have the best idea, which was get busy seeing what types of rocks they had found. The bird landed on the sand and began sorting through the loot. Erden wasn't quite as helpful, what with the gem covered fins, but did his best. Cartographer began talking on and on, and Erden tuned it out quite easily.

By the time he had sorted out the best stones, 10 minutes later, Cart was still talking, incredibly animated, to a Delta that clearly regretted what he had begun. Erden couldn't help but smile at the ridiculousness of it all. 

"I'll see you back home," Erden mumbled, low enough that he wasn't sure if either of the two dragons would hear him or not. Then he picked up a barrel filled with all the best stones, and he and the cormorant flew for Ashgar's shack.

Not a bad adventure.