the bitter taste illuminates

In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, baby

To some, perhaps the Crust is a lonely, desolate place. To Aithne, however, it is strangely beautiful. She doesn't like it quite as much as the Burrows, with its twisting, turning passageways and its myriad hidden caverns, but there's something to be said for getting out and breathing the air - even on days like today, when ash obscures the sky.

It's worth noting that Aithne is not lost, thank you very much. She is simply enjoying the sights. Not, of course, that one can see much through the murky clouds of dust that billow across the lava plains.

The girl sits by a sluggish lava flow, legs crossed beneath her as she sets various shiny stones out in front of her. Some are dark - obsidian and the like - while others are colorful, gemstones she found in the Burrows or just pretty rocks that seemed like they needed a home. She's like a crow, the way she collects sparklies, and since she can't admire the great expanse of the Crust, her baubles will have to do for now.

In the middle of the night, in my dreams
I know I'm gonna be with you, so I take my time

Aithne

Maea

Beware the darkness of dragons,
Beware the stalker of dreams,

Her world was beautiful from above. What amounted to an overbaked cupcake with a charcoal crust from below turned spectacular when seen from high above. The winding rivers and lakes of lava glowed against the dark rock, and from the many active volcanoes, fireworks in the form of eruptions could be seen flaring and disappating through the haze.
Coasting lazily on the updraft provided by superheated thermals, a dragon circled one rising plume of ash. Drawn in by the colorful flashes of lightning it created, she played tag with the discharges and dreamed of commanding them one day. What pleasure it would bring her to carry lightning in the palm of her hand again. What interest it could add to her experiments with glass - to let go entirely the element of control that she craved yet needed to step away from.

Inspired, she abandoned her flight and lowered down through the smoke and ash towards the Crust. Finding sand specifically would be difficult in this part of the island, but there was no shortage of rocks to test her breath upon. Swooping down low over a cooling trickle of magma, she didn't notice the girl seated by its banks, and plunged unceremoniously into it when she landed; with the result that a verita le flash flood of the dense materia came surging downstream.

Beware the talons of power and fire,
Beware one who is not what she seems.

In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, baby

The girl sits with her rocks, arranging them and admiring them, every now and then holding one up to the hazy sun to see how it shines in the light. It's probably silly - her parents certainly would have scolded her, had they been around to see her hobbies now - but it brings Aithne joy and brightens her day, and really, that's all that matters anymore. Finding happiness and sowing seeds of chaos - two things that often seem to coincide for Aithne.

Unfortunately, she is not prepared for what comes next, but is it not entropy in its finest form to have a shadow coast by overhead, to hear a low whump of something landing nearby, and to screech angrily as a sudden surge of magma sweeps away the very treasures that Aithne has worked so hard to claim?

Bounding to her feet, the girl rounds on whatever has caused her misfortune with a snarl of rage, fully intending to shift into a fyrhund and challenge it - but then she sees the great black dragon and blinks, awed in spite of herself. In the end, she stands frozen, hands clenched at her sides, simply staring at the creature that has send her collection sliding into oblivion.

In the middle of the night, in my dreams
I know I'm gonna be with you, so I take my time

Aithne

Maea

Beware the darkness of dragons,
Beware the stalker of dreams,

Wading from the molten stream, she flicked lava off her feet like it was water she had stepped in. Paying no heed to the hissing little girl, the pearlescent white of the dragon's eyes was scanning the area, assessing the potentials hidden in geology - adding another area to the growing list of things she wished to study - and with her long tail carried daintily aloft like a highborn lady with a skirt she padded over to a crumble of rock that looked older than the solidified lava.
Placing a heavy paw against it, she began to press down, listening as rocks cracked and groaned beneath her weight. Cracks spiderwebbed across the surface, then with a rumble the rock started to come apart. Rubble tumbled onto the ground in chunks as a cloud of dust rose into the air. What had been hidden beneath layers of feldspar and graystone was layers upon layers of quarz; white quartz and rose hued quartz, some clear as ice while other chunks were laced through with streaks of gold.

Settling down onto her stomach with the lazy ease of a predator at rest, dexterous digits on the front paws - long and elegant and tipped in sharp talons - began sorting through the pile of rubble for the clear bits. Large wings spread wide over the ground, one of them nearly knocking over the girl as it stretched; looking for all the world like a sunbather on the beach, only... you know. Dragon. Black as ink, scales shimmering like an oilspill in the light.

Beware the talons of power and fire,
Beware one who is not what she seems.

In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, baby

There is something to be said for youthful naivete and an unhealthy lack of fear. Aithne does not run screaming from the sight of the dragon, not even as the great beast lumbers from the lava and nearly whacks the girl upside the head with one massive, leathery wing. No, she stands and watches, curious and intrigued, as the dragon seems to search the nearby rocks. Where she might have expected a bloodthirsty beast that might turn upon her to sate its appetite, this dragon seems... intelligent. It walks over to a specific rock, tail held daintily aloft, and presses down on the boulder with a giant foot -

And the rock crumbles as easily as if it were sand, revealing a pile of beautiful crystals in its center.

Aithne gasps, her hands flying to cover her mouth as her tail lashes behind her. She wonders, however briefly and impossibly, if she can entice the dragon to leave. Maybe if she waits long enough, she can pick through the remnants of the quartz left behind. She sees one particular clump, rose-hued and as big as her head - and practically squeals with glee at the thought of taking it with her. She may not have anywhere to put it, but that hardly seems to matter at the moment.

With another glance at the dragon, Aithne settles, cross-legged, onto the ground to wait.

In the middle of the night, in my dreams
I know I'm gonna be with you, so I take my time

Aithne

Maea

Beware the darkness of dragons,
Beware the stalker of dreams,

Sensing the intense regard like a finger poking her shoulder, the dragon looked up from her sorting annd slowly scanned the surroundings. As moon-pearl eyes fell upon the sight of the girl  so close to her, crosslegged and clinging to a threadbare patience from the looks of it, she huffed a puff of hot air from slitted nostrils. Amused, and perhaps feeling slightly bad for not realizing someone else had been so close, Maea folded the wing closest to the girl against her side. Rolling slightly to the side, it was a subtle invitation, or perhaps a dare; to come closer, and see the treasures from up close.

Coiling her tail languidly, the great dragon turned her attention back to the rocks and assessed the progress she'd made. Experimentally she crushed some of the quartz into gravel, then down into sand; not as difficult or tedious as she would have thought, but time consuming all the same. No matter; she was in no hurry. And thr monotonous task let her watch bthe girl from the periphery of her vision, to see what she might be up to.

Beware the talons of power and fire,
Beware one who is not what she seems.

In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, baby

The dragon, it seems, has finally noticed that Aithne is near, and the girl watches with an eager sort of interest as the creature huffs hot air from its nostrils before folding a wing against its side. Well, at least it doesn't seem inclined to eat her. That would be truly unfortunate. Soren would never forgive her if she was killed by a dragon not even a year after their escape from Stormbreak.

If anything, it seems like the dragon is almost daring her to come closer. And Aithne has never been one to back down from a challenge. Baring her fangs in a grin, she rises fluidly to her feet and saunters a few steps closer, one eye on the dragon and the other on its hoard of gemstones. If the massive beast tries to make a meal of her, she'll flee - or try to - but as long as it seems content to live in harmony with the girl, she's rather inclined to test its limits.

As the dragon begins to crush the crystals into smaller and smaller pieces, Aithne frowns at it. "You're ruining them!" she informs it, darting forward to scoop up one particularly pretty crystal that she's pretty sure will fit in her pocket. "Leave some for the rest of us, at least!"

In the middle of the night, in my dreams
I know I'm gonna be with you, so I take my time

Aithne

Maea

Beware the darkness of dragons,
Beware the stalker of dreams,

A pale eye, milky white and without a clear pupil, turned upon the girl at the protest. Following her path to snatch up a chunk of crystal, the dragon assessed the request and the pulverised gems beneath her paws. Noticing a pink piece of quartz she flicked it towards the girl with a clawed digit, then sent her a piece of crystal clear as water with a swirl of gold coiling through the center, and some other bits that did not fit her needs. There. That was sharing, right?

And so she went back to her grinding. It went easier now that the chunks grated on one another. When she had generated a pile of glistening sand, the dragon stood up and drew in a deep breath. Within her expanded ribcage a fire was kindled, that turned into an inferno as it roared out through her open maw. Directed at the quartz sand, it began to glow, then melt, then bubbled as it was subjected to temperatures hotter than any clay kiln could achieve. Changing the properties of stone, turning them into glass.

The fire died down, and while the matter was still molten and bubbling, the dragon scooped it up in heat resistant paws and began to knead it, back and forth, stretching and folding like a sugar master in a candy shop. Now, what should she make with it...

Beware the talons of power and fire,
Beware one who is not what she seems.

In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, baby

The dragon, it seems, is in a sharing mood; at Aithne's outcry, the great beast flicks her a piece of rose quartz and then something that the girl can't quite identify, but is pretty all the same. She snatches them up, cradling them against her chest as though afraid that the dragon will change its mind and try to get them back.

Somewhat satisfied, Aithne draws back, sitting on a nearby rock to inspect her new treasures even as she keeps a watchful eye on the dragon. It grinds away at the crystals until a fine sand litters the ground, and then it draws itself up to blast the pile with dragonfire. Aithne watches with interest as the dragon begins to shape the molten crystal, molding it into something that the girl can't quite make out. This is strange behavior, indeed, and taken with all the rest of the odd things the dragon has done thus far, Aithne begins to think that this dragon is very much a person - though who or what or how, she has yet to decide.

In the middle of the night, in my dreams
I know I'm gonna be with you, so I take my time

Aithne

Maea

Beware the darkness of dragons,
Beware the stalker of dreams,

Slightly self-conscious under the scrutiny, the sragon did her best to keep focus on the glassmaking. An amateur at heart, and unaccustomed to doing such delicate work in this shape, she found it unsuitable for intricate work but amusingly satisfying when it came to large sculpting. Planting the blob of molten glass upon a rock, she began squeezing and twisting the matter, applying more heat or allowing it to cool as necessary. What emerged was a pillar that resembled ice, thin and rippling - like a sheet of cloth rippling in wind, or a river frozen in its current. The more it cooled, the better it caught the sunlight; rainbows scattered across the landscape, multifaceted light that broke and changed in hue like glitter against black rock.

When she was satisfied with the shape, the dragon settled back down again. Only droplets of glass remained on her paws now; of those she rolled a few into marbles of varying sizes, clear ones and softly pink ones, and a few that were wrapped around a speck of gold or some other fragment of gemstone unearthed from the geode. Those she extended towards the girl in the scaled palm of a paw; offering a selection like a peace offering, like a token of gratitude for the company shared.

Beware the talons of power and fire,
Beware one who is not what she seems.

In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, baby

The dragon crafts and shapes the molten crystal until Aithne can no longer discern its original form. When it finishes its work, a pillar of glass is revealed. It resembles ice, but there's something about it that ripples and undulates in a way that pure ice would never; it's beautiful, if perhaps a bit crude, and Aithne wonders what the dragon might be able to shape if it had opposable thumbs with which to work.

The girl marvels at the pillar as it casts rainbows across the dark stone of the ground, hardly noticing as the dragon rolls a few remaining droplets of crystal into marbles. Until, that is, the dragon offers them to her in a scaled paw that reaches towards Aithne with a slow deliberation that all but solidifies the idea in the girl's mind that this is no wild dragon. She eyes the selection with interest, picking out a few (or a lot) until her arms are full of crystals of varying shades. When she can carry no more, she looks up to meet the dragon's pale gaze. "Thank you," she says, her voice bright with good cheer and friendship. Then she nods towards the pillar and winks. "That's really pretty, but I like the marbles best."

In the middle of the night, in my dreams
I know I'm gonna be with you, so I take my time

Aithne

Maea

Beware the darkness of dragons,
Beware the stalker of dreams,

The girl could have taken all of the gifts and the dragon would not have minded, if the subtle amusement lined around milky eyes was any indication. Eventually even the ancient's greed was sated however, leaving the Black to stash the remaining treasures beneath her tongue for safe keeping. A gracious incline of the spike-covered head cemented the assumption that she wasn't all she seemed to be. For a while she assessed the glass sculpture, contemplating the offered critique and memorising ways to improve on it for future attempts.

Then a wide yawn exposed an impressive set of jagged teeth. Stretching herself out before rising up to stand, Maea extended her neck and gave the girl a gentle nudge with her nose; definitely friendly, and almost affectionate. This had been interesting, but the sun was getting low and she had family to return to. Perhaps some other time she would reveal herself, talk for a bit and see if this youth knew how to play with her new marbles. For now, it pleased her to remain a mystery.

Spreading her wings wide, the towering beast took off in a surge of whipping winds. For a moment her shadow swallowed up both girl and artwork; then she was gone, a speck on the horizon diminishing steadily until she disappeared behind a cloud bank.

Beware the talons of power and fire,
Beware one who is not what she seems.

In the middle of the night, in my dreams
You should see the things we do, baby

For a while, Aithne stands beside the dragon as they look at the sculpture together, the dragon's gaze assessing and the girl's curious. Then the dragon yawns, stands, and nudges Aithne with its nose, startling a laugh from the Ancient. As the dragon spreads its wings, Aithne takes a few large steps back, bracing herself against the sudden gust of wind - and then her new friend is gone, a mere speck against the sky, disappearing rapidly into the distance.

A part of the girl is disappointed that she doesn't know who the dragon is, but perhaps that is a mystery to solve another day. For now, she has stones and marbles and trinkets to take to the little cave where she's been staying, to arrange along her walls and survey how they look in firelight.

fin

In the middle of the night, in my dreams
I know I'm gonna be with you, so I take my time

Aithne