Baeris clutched the fur cloak around her slender arms, shivering madly.
"I swear Dulath, if you've brought me out here to show me anything less than 'astonishing' I'm going to have your wings clipped..."
"You would do no such thing to me, my rider," the greeny-golden tiny dragoness sang, "Because you would feel every tiny snip." That was true of course, but more to the point, Dulath trotted up over a white-covered rise in the otherwise unimpressively snowy terrain. At the top of the rise, however, she opened her wings and prevented Baeris from viewing whatever it was on the other side. "And I think astonishing would be an understatement. Don't you?"
When she folded her wing back down, Baeris could see several moving objects. Dragons, certainly. But here? In this snowy land where the Den had stuck itself?
"Dulath they're more dragons. For us to take care of?"
"I do believe they can take care of themselves." Dulath intoned. "But they would like to be included in the ranks of our unbondeds, if they may."
"And how would they know where to find us?" Baeris asked, and Dulath was unashamed.
"Why, I found them, I asked them. Of course."
"Of course," Baeris said. She began to walk down to the slight depression where the dragons stood. Yet she paused - one of them was so big that she thought her eyes were playing tricks on her. Plus it had a distinctly ancient look to it - a dinosaur? In the snow? Wasn't that a little odd?
Well he thinks you're ill equipped to argue, being one to wear another's skin over your own, Dulath provided an interface when the Sebian spoke in his huge rumbling voice.
"Can he fly?" Baeris asked, doubtful.
Of course he can. All Sebians can.
"Well this I have to see," Baeris said with a smile. She'd lived among dragon kind for what amounted to lifetimes, and yet had never seen such a creature get off the ground without some kind of magical assistance. But sure enough, the great red and green lifted his huge wings into the sky and pushed off the ground - causing a tummult of snow to cover everything near.
There he goes, Dulath snorted. He'll come back, probably with something for he and the others to eat.
"Others... Oh - oh no you have got to be kidding me," Baeris said when she spied one particular 'other'. "Dulath, you actually allowed this... creature... to come here?"
Of course I did! Dulath twittered, and watched as the little Xeno flitter settled on her shoulder. Isn't he adorable?
"That's ... not the word I was thinking but ... if you think it's going to be safe, won't lay any improper eggs in the hatchery, then I'll let you keep it." Baeris watched warily, but the flighted Xeno did nothing untoward. Yet.
When the other winter dragon inhabitant of the Healing Den's snowy nether-dimension arrived, she had a very familiar look to her. "That's a Vella Crean dragon, I think," she said.
Very possibly, but oh look, she's got a beautiful marking!
Baeris looked at the large snowflake that was on her flank, and said, "I smell Shy's hand in this, but she can stay anyway. You remind her that he's not welcome anywhere on my territory, Dulath."
The greeny-gold tittered and went off to join the larger holly colored dragoness, waiting for their Sebian companion to arrive as well.
***
Thanks to Naeodin, Knux and Xalia for their beautiful contributions to the Winter Gather 2004!
"It happened again, didn't it?" Baeris asked. The winter trips that she took just to remind her what 'weather' was like, sometimes to Ryslen and sometimes just to anywhere with a good winter snowfall, brought her now back to the world where the last year's dragons still rested. She looked around and saw a gorgeous blue-colored and snowflake marked type that she'd never seen before.
That dragon turned to look at her, then shapeshifted into a pale skinned human. "This is a reasonable place to reside, do you own it? Are we intruding?"
Baeris shook her head, a bit stunned. "I ... no I don't own it exactly, it just exists. And I suppose you're welcome to live here, if ... you want to."
He nodded, "I would like that. If you have need of ice magics, just call on me." He then shapeshifted into a female elf, "I can handle it."
Baeris didn't even bother blinking. Her eyes would never forgive her for remaining as wide as they were, but she didn't close them. Not even when a brightly yellow-white marked female dragon came bounding along all full of cheer and singing songs. She had hooved feet and had somehow gotten tangled up in bright holiday lights.
How they were connected to a power source and blinking like that was waaaay beyond what Baeris wanted to speculate. It was the season for magic, she supposed...
Dulath chuckled, and that was all the warning Baeris got before she was pounced upon by not one but two furry little creatures!
Well one wasn't so little - she faintly recognized the breed as a Terigon, it was all snowy white and as he jumped out of the pile of snow they'd hidden under, he giggled "gotcha!"
And was echoed by a smaller, higher-pitched voice, "gotcha!!" Baeris felt her toes being nibbled, and as she looked (prone, all but stuffed below the surface of the snow) she saw a shimmering silvery-ice shaded gryphonlet.
The terigon and gryphon did a chorus of Jingle Bells, aided by Chris the larger dragoness, ran through the snow with a newly driven fall (probably brought by Noel, right? Baeris sighed and grinned), and apparently exchanged gifts with the prior inhabitants.
"Well that ... is interesting. We'll have to come back here in summer to see if they're miserable or what." Baeris said.
"Do not be mean, they can produce snow and I do not think this planet even stops being cold." Dulath reminded her rider.
from Samber http://www.geocities.com/mintlilly/
name: Noel-Ginebra
gender: Male
breed: Shroud Dragon
parentage: Unknown
abilities (racial): Flight, Concealment, Human Form, Vocal Speech, Telepathy, Suggestion, Fiery Breath (gaseous).
abilities (specific): Summon Ice Starm, Create Ice, Shape Ice, Elfshape (female)
notes: Shroud Dragons are created when human mages are killed in particularly nasty ways, such as poisoning or suicide. The mage, rather than dying, becomes a dragon. Some are good, some are evil, and some are in between. They do not retain memories of their human lives, but may take on the form that they had in their former lives at will. Dragon size varies by mage strength.
from Rachael http://www.tsotm.org
Name: White Christmas (Chris)
Size (at shoulder): 11'2"
Length: 18'4"
Gender: Female
from Phe URL: http://xenoqueen.deviant-uprising.com/AbstractDestiny/
winter-ijeroi.gif
Name: Ijeroi
Gender: Male
Size: 3'6" to shoulder, 8'0" nose to tailtip
Abilities: Telepathy. Teleportation. Verbal Speech.
from Myrror gryphon whorling