Gausik

Dad is on a quest to find love

It was dead silent in the barracks of the Galestorm Flyers; for once the electricians had ceased their endless building in the lair. The Mirror Hunting Pack had abandoned their usual den, instead electing to sleep in the center of the weapons room in a large pile, much to the chagrin of Alaric.

“Tarien.” The breathy sound barely stirred the air, but the aforementioned dragon did not stir from her sleep.

“Tarien.” The whispered hiss broke the silence again and Tarien’s frills twitched in annoyance. Perhaps she could ignore her packmate a little longer.

“Tarien I know you’re awake, don’t ignore me.”

With a sigh, the smallest of the Mirrors stirred from her place at the top of the pile, shifting herself on the backs of her clanmates. Asryn grunted in his sleep and Iotama murmured quietly, but both settled back down after a moment. However, Tarien could see the waves of heat billowing off of Ethior, signaling that he was indeed awake. Settling closer to his head, Tarien pillowed her muzzle on her paws and glared down at the dark Mirror.

“What in the name of the Stormcatcher do you want Ethior?” Tarien didn’t try to hide the malice slipping into her voice, though she was careful to keep it down. Waking Asryn was a danger she was not in the mood to face at too-early-o’ clock.

“Do you believe in true love?” Ethior whispered in response, and Tarien snorted at the ridiculous question. When Ethior didn’t laugh in return, Tarien blinked; so he was serious…

“What, you mean you and your stupidly obvious massive crush on I-”

“Shut!! Shut!!” Ethior half yelped frantically, his frills pressing close to the side of his head as a note of panic entered his voice, “Don’t you say it out loud, he could hear!”

“You know he doesn’t come inside the lair, even at night,” Tarien drawled, an amused smirk gracing her lips, “Stop being so paranoid. For someone so smooth during the day, you are a bumbling idiot at night.”

“Shut up,” Ethior grumbled, smacking Tarien lightly with the tip of his tail, “I don’t want that getting out. He doesn’t need to know.”

“Ah, so your true love doesn’t need to know that you love him? Sound logic there, Ethior.”

Ethior growled lowly, his four eyes narrowing, “He isn’t my true love--”

“And the Shade is a wonderful being.”

“--so he doesn’t need to know,” Ethior continued, not acknowledging Tarien’s patented sarcasm. “Besides, he’s not into guys, I don’t need to ruin our friendship by bringing my traitorous heart into this. Why are we even talking about him? That’s not what I was asking about in the first place! Do you believe in true love?”

“Ethior, you are delusional if you think he’s not your true love,” Tarien said, shaking her head, “I know true love is a thing, and it’s right in front of you, you absolute buffoon.”

“I already said, he’s not my true love! I don’t know who is, but I’ll find it! Er, them. I’ll find the-”

“Ethior…” The low snarl came from behind Tarien, and the small Mirror had to restrain herself to stop from leaping off the pile in surprise. “If you do not shut up this very moment, I will make sure you never find your ‘true love’. It is far too late to be up talking, so. Be. Quiet.” Asryn punctuated each of his final words with a quick thump of his hind legs to Ethior’s side. The charcoal grey mirror fell silent in response, the only noise a slight grunt as Tarien shifted back to her original position.

The blue and grey dragoness drifted off back to sleep, though the thought of Ethior’s romantic troubles still nibbled at the back of her mind. However, it was far too dark out to deal with the charcoal-grey huntsman’s doubts and idiot plans, so she let it slip from her mind.

Ethior, however, could not. His mind spun round and round in circles. He wasn’t in love with him, was he? It was just a crush! He couldn’t be in love. He wouldn’t be in love. He didn’t have time for that. Besides, it was rather pitiful to fall in love with a dragon that was most decidedly not into guys. So. That was that. He wasn’t in love. Not true love. It was just a crush.

A crush that was content to crush his entire heart and lungs into his body and spontaneously explode him. That sort of crush.

Ethior sighed softly, closing his eyes as he tried to settle in. The familiar weight of Iotama covered his hind legs, and Tarien’s warm body was just above him. He tried his best to focus on those feelings, trying to ground himself in the darkness, but his mind had other plans. As he slid down the twisting slope of sleep, Ethior quietly cursed the existence of crushes, promising he would find his true love.

In the morning, that is.
Ethior was the first up the next morning, already disentangling himself from the mess of limbs they had made. His sleep was fitful at best, and his piercing yellow eyes were running red with lack of sleep. Before any of his packmates really had a chance to register what was going on, Ethior enacted the plan he had conjured up from his sleep-deprived state between fits of dreams.

As quietly as possible, Ethior slipped from the room and grabbed a slip of paper from the parchment books located around the lair. Scribbling a hasty message, Ethior darted to where Alaric was sure to be sleeping, placing the note before their protector before silently leaving. He ducked out of the Galestorm Flyer’s lair before most of the dragons were up, only encountering the stumbling form of Serezha who was too busy muttering to a bird skull to notice him.

His feet hit the warm sands of the desert, and Ethior was off. Running like only Mirrors were made to do, he mentally mapped his course to the nearest town. True love was waiting there, he was sure of it!
By the time Asryn, Tarien, and Iotama had woken up enough and struggled out of the tangled limbs they slept in, Ethior’s place next to them was cold. Blearily, the trio blinked at each other, before Asryn silent stood and stumbled out of the room, Iotama following with Tarien clinging to their leg. Her belly dragged along the floor, but she seemed too tired to care.

“Hunters,” Alaric greeted, his voice deep and rumbling. The starry guardian had a vaguely amused look on his face as he gazed at the stumbling trio, Tarien still refusing to stand. “It always shocks me that such wild dragons are so thoroughly not morning birds.”

“If it’s too early,” Tarien began in a grumble, then paused, “...it’s too early.” She finished lamely.

“Well said, Tarien,” Iotama muttered, shaking their packmate off their leg. They yawned, stretched luxuriously, then looked around curiously for the first time. “Ethior around?”

Alaric shook his head, handing Asryn a note silently. The parchment was badly torn, and Asryn spent several long moments squinting at the scribbles on the page before thrusting it towards Iotama. The Hunter smirked in amusement, but took the paper and deciphered the writing.

“‘Gone to find true love, be back soon’” They read carefully, then frowned and put the note on Tarien’s head, “What in the name of the Eleven does that mean?”

“It means he’s being an idiot again,” Asryn said readily, “He was up far too late moaning about true love and how he needs to find it.”

“But isn’t Iolite at the clan today? Why has he left the lair then?” Iotama said, looking around with their heat vision. Ethior’s heat signature clearly left the lair, but not in the direction of Iolite’s open home.

“He’s convinced Iolite would hate him if he said anything,” Tarien piped up, yawning and leaning into Iotama. They sighed dramatically, shaking their head and pulling Tarien onto their back. “Sometimes I wonder why we keep that idiot around.”

From there, the discussion settled into a long debate on why Ethior was still around, which Alaric listened to with amusement. Still, he kept silent in the debate as to what Ethior’s plan was this time. He trusted his charges as much as he trusted Plague and Nature not to fight, but he had learned long ago not to interfere with their lives. It was rather like trying to herd River Flights, leaving him breathless on the ground, annoyed, and always trampled. He had faith Ethior would figure this out, he just hoped without breaking anything too badly.

---

Ethior ran as quickly as he could, his scales gaining a film of sand as he kicked up dust. He wasn’t sure how long the rest of his pack would leave him on his own, so he hoped to make to town before they could find him. In all likelihood, they wouldn’t be able to actually stop him, but he still didn’t want to listen to their nagging and long explanations on why his plan was a stupid one. He knew it was stupid. He was stupid.

It wasn’t long before the bustling town came into sight. It was nestled in a dip in the desert, centered around an old oasis that had been there for centuries before them. The buildings were mostly short, stocky creations, made of mud-bricks instead of the usual industrial-strength metallic sheets. If Ethior remembered correctly, the founder of this town was actually a light dragon by blood, and when they came to build in the desert, they didn’t quite get the whole “lightning makes the world go round” idea of the Shifting Expanse. It was an oddity in the world of massive electric spires and reactors, to say the least, but it was nice. And busy, which is exactly what Ethior needed.

Slowing to a walk, Ethior entered the town and ducked into the water bar to catch his breath, quenching his thirst at the same time. Now that he was here, he wasn’t exactly sure what he intended to do. He knew he could just flirt his way to someone's heart--he’d done it before on accident--but that wasn’t true love exactly. So how would this work? Should he just wait around until someone catches his eyes? Will true love just walk into his life like in those melodramatic romance stories?

With a sigh, Ethior ducked out of the water bar, passing a couple of gold coins to the wind-ruffled fae by the door. Entering the throng of dragons in the street, Ethior settled on heading to the market. If all else failed, he could at least pick up a few things for his pack while he was here.

“Mornin’ Ethior!” A far--too-excited voice called out from quite literally just behind his ear, causing Ethior to yelp and whirl, prepared to smack the offending dragon in the face.

The purple spiral before him was too quick, jerking back with a hearty laugh. Malphorite grinned down at him, twirling her white rose between her claws before placing it in her hat. Ethior frowned as he noticed said that had somehow collected more feathers; it now looked more feathers than hat. The spiral twisted herself around, settling so she curled around his chest and lay her head on his, her purple coat tangling in his legs. Ethior sighed, but relented, turning to awkwardly shuffle towards the market before greeting her properly.

“Hello, Malphorite, didn’t know you were in town today,” Ethior tried to keep his voice passive, but he knew his annoyance slipped into his tone.

“Oh, I’m always around. Say, have you heard of the new market opening up not far from here?” Malphorite twisted around, trying to look Ethior in the eye but only succeeding in bonking her head on a passing imperial.

“If it’s a black market, I’m not interested,” Ethior said flatly, “Your plans tend to end with people being arrested or injured in one way or another.”

“I never said it was a plan! Besides, it’s not a black market,” Malphorite harumphed, tapping Ethior’s nose several times, “I’d call it more of a… grey market.”

“Still not interested, I have things to do Malphorite.”

“Oh, like find true love?”

Ethior paused, turning to face the spiral on his shoulder. He tried his best to look serious, but the strange innkeeper had twisted her head around so it was now upside down, placing her feather hat on her chin and her glasses hanging off her nose. A soft snort escaped his maw, but he quickly regained his composure.

“How in the name of the Shade do you know about that,” Ethior hissed, malice creeping into his voice, “I only spoke to Tarien about it, so only my pack and Alaric would know!”

“Oh my dear, sweet Ethior, that’s exactly how I know,” Malphorite chuckled, twisting herself off of Ethior and landing before him, “Iolite is much faster than you, and he came into town earlier to speak with me on behalf of Midnight. That’s why I was out of my inn and saw you, wandering around hoping to run into the love of your life.”

Ethior’s eyes widened, a flash of panic ripping through his chest at the thought of Iolite speaking with Tarien about his plan. She wouldn’t have said anything, right? It wasn’t even true! He didn’t like Iolite, not romantically. She couldn’t have…

“Oh, there she is!” Malphorite’s chipper words sliced through the swirling panic of Ethior’s mind, and he turned to look where the spiral was pointing. Standing perfectly still was a guardian, massive and coated in black sparkling scales. Off-white bone patterns marred the sleek surface, and dull orange eyes gazed forward. Ethior suppressed a shiver of awe at the sheer power this dragoness radiated--or perhaps it was a scare factor he was feeling.

“That’s DRONE,” Malphorite said, quite literally shouting her name and making Ethior startle yet again, “She’s one of the Hivemind.”

“Hivemind?” Ethior said, his interest now peaked, “What’s that?”

“Oh, you’ll see,” Malphorite said, ducking away with a wink of her swirled eyes. Ethior frowned, watching the spiral weave between the crowd for a moment longer before turning to find this DRONE again. He couldn’t suppress the yelp of surprise when he immediately faced a large, sleek black chest before him. DRONE looked down at him, her eyes steady and unblinking, then dipped her head to sniff him. Unsure of what exactly was going on, Ethior stood still, sighing in relief when the dragoness finally withdrew.

“You are my mission,” DRONE said, her voice reminding Ethior eerily of a fae’s--monotone, unexpressive, “I require offspring.”

Ethior blinked a few times, trying to let his poor, sleep-deprived brain catch up. Was she propositioning him? Must be, that’s how true love works, right?

“Well, sweetheart,” Ethior began, slipping back into his flirtatious role with ease as he leaned forward to nudge her shoulder, “I think we could make that happen for sure. My clan always welcomes a new member, particularly those who one of us love. Come on, you can meet the Galestorm Flyers.”

DRONE was asleep now, settled just outside of the nest with almost frighteningly stillness. The meeting had gone well, though the entirety of his pack looked a little concerned for his sanity and safety. Elspeth had almost kicked the new guardian out of the clan, but Nantis had talked his mate down and DRONE was allowed to stay. Now Ethior was here, watching his singular egg silently. Idly, he was startled by how… alone he felt. There were other nests, other dragons, and his mate here, but he felt strangely empty. Like the day he left his birth pack behind.

“You hoping for a boy or girl?” The voice startled Ethior, and he looked around. No new dragon had entered, so who had spoken? Was he so sleep deprived he was going insane like Serezha?

“Yo, Ethior, the console you fool.”

Ethior looked over at the screen he rarely paid attention to, grinning as he saw the face of Iolite. They had installed the communications system a few weeks ago, letting Iolite greet the dragons inside the lair without actually entering the enclosed space and sending himself into a panic. It was nice to hear his voice, even if it was distorted by speakers.

“Doesn’t really matter, I’m sure they’ll be wonderful regardless,” Ethior spoke softly, looking fondly down at his egg. In truth, he wasn’t sure how he felt about having a child, but it couldn’t be that bad, could it?
“That’s fair,” Iolite said simply, “I’m happy for you.”

“Thank you, I love DRONE,” Ethior said on instinct, although the words sounded hollow to his ears. Orlena, who was settled on a nest of her own, looked knowingly over at him, and he cursed the skydancer’s affinity for emotions.

“Indeed,” Though he said it with a smile, Ethior thought Iolite looked… sad. He wasn’t sure why, but it ripped a tear in his chest. They looked at each other through the screen for a moment longer, then Iolite sighed and looked away, his calm exterior returning, “I must go, I have news to carry.”

“Swift travels, my friend,” Ethior bid Iolite farewell before the screen flickered to black. He knew Orlena was watching him, knew something was wrong, wrong with him and wrong with the world. Still, he pushed it away, locked it in a hole he would never open in his chest, then climbed into the nest. Curling carefully around his egg, Ethior let his mind descend into sleep.

His mind was just as lonely as his heart.

---

“So I may have made a mistake.”

The deep and knowing chuckle from beside Ethior should have been an insulting barb to the Huntsman, but he had long accepted everyone in his pack knew he was often mistaken. Iolite of all of them knew exactly how often he was an absolute idiot, having run more than one apology letter for Ethior. This time, however, there would be no letter.

“Who did you anger this time, Ethior?” Iolite asked, continuing to slowly walk through the desert, “Foreign prince? A hoard of Coatl hatchlings? The Plaguebringer?”

“Very funny, but that was one time and it was a complete accident,” Ethior snarked, flicking his tail at Iolite, “No one is annoyed with me this time. I just… I shouldn’t have listened to Malphorite, they don’t give great advice.”

“There’s a reason I avoid their inn when I go into town,” Iolite hummed in response, “Maybe I can give you better advice?”

Ethior sighed, offering Iolite a shrug. In some ways, it felt like a betrayal to be speaking of his problem to those not involved, so Ethior did what he did best. Stalled.

Quickening his pace to a run, Ethior sped over the desert sands, Iolite soon matching him step for step. The pair quickly reached Iolite’s open home, tucking themselves into the carved divet. The storm that always raged outside was quieter here, and both mirrors felt themselves relax in the relative silence. Iolite shrugged off his messenger bags and flopped on his pile of blankets that served as his bed. Ethior settled himself more slowly, reaching down to pick at a scrap of paper.

“It’s DRONE,” Ethior began slowly, refusing to look up, “She’s nice enough, but she’s not particularly social I guess. For the past week, all she’s done is stuck by the nest, which isn’t a bad thing necessarily, but she won’t even speak with me. When she does, it sounds like she’s reading a script, almost fae-like. Its… creepy, to say the least. It’s almost as if my egg--our egg--is some sort of mission or prize. I… I don’t know how to feel about that. Maybe I made a mistake? Did I put too much in this?”

“Talk to her.”

Ethior whipped his head around, staring at Iolite with wide eyes. Iolite, on the other hand, looked the epitome of calm, his face a perfect picture of relaxation.

“Typically, if one has a problem in a relationship, one talks about it,” Iolite elaborated, “If it turns out she’s in this for prodigy, maybe you should reconsider what you want out of this. You’re looking for love, so be willing to work for it.”

Ethior bit his lip, turn back to the shredded paper between his paws. It made sense, truly, but he wasn’t sure what he would do if it turned out DRONE was in this for nothing more than a child. He knew he would love his child regardless of the situation between him and their mother. DRONE’s world wasn’t like the Galestorm Flyers, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to send his child into it. Maybe they could resolve this without violence…

“You really do give sage advice,” Ethior said finally, offering a smile towards Iolite who smiled back, “I’ll go talk to her. Honestly, I don’t think it’s going to work between us. Her world and mine are too different, but maybe we can end it amicably.”

Iolite smiled back, looking truly happy for once, and flicked his packmate playfully, “I have been known to pass a bit of knowledge or two down every once in a while. Now get goin’, I have some work to do.”

Ethior swatted Iolite back, nudging him gently before darting out of the room, intending to track down DRONE.
It was easy enough to find DRONE, as she never really left the hatchery at this time. Void and Abyss were tucked into their corner, asleep, while DRONE stood watching their singular egg with an intense gaze. Ethior glanced around the dimly lit lair once more, then walked up to nudge DRONE in her shoulder.

“Hey.”

“Hello.” DRONE’s polite reply was clipped as usual, and her gaze didn’t rise from the egg.

“Can we talk?” Ethior tried not to let his apprehension sink into his voice but failed.

“Are we not?” Finally, DRONE looked up, her gaze piercing and unsettling.

“I meant about us, this whole… situation between us.”

“Oh,” DRONE said softly, “Of course. What is it?”

“Well, I think I have to say something first,” Ethior took a deep breath, laying down and tucking his feet beneath him to watch their egg, “I guess, I went into town on a whim. I hadn’t slept well, I was panicked, and I felt like I-I had to be with someone. Malphorite pointed you out to me, and I latched onto that--you-- like a lifeline without thought. It… wasn’t the right idea, I didn’t think this through all the way, we haven’t established anything, and now this just feels like a relationship for the sake of a relationship. But, I need to know, why did you do this in the first place?”

DRONE was silent for a moment, staring into blank space above Ethior’s head. Ethior could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and she finally spoke.

“It was commanded of me. I must pass down the legacy,” DRONE spoke without emotion, finally looking at Ethior, “The Hive requires prodigy, so I fulfill that need.”

“So you only did this for a child?”

“Correct.”

Ethior’s blood ran cold at that statement, and he pinned his fins close to his skull. He had already made the decision, his child would not go to whatever this “Hive” was. Carefully measuring his voice, Ethior tried not to glare at DRONE and carefully wound his tail around the egg.

“Forgive me, but my child will not be joining your Hive,” Ethior watched DRONE, who made no indication of a response, “He, she, or whatever in-between will be remaining here until they find a new home where they can be themselves.”

“The requirement was to produce a child, not return one,” DRONE responded, seemingly unoffended, “There is no problem with your child remaining here. Move your wing.”

“What? Wh-” Ethior fell silent at the soft pecking noises, quickly untucking himself from around the egg.

The silvery blue shell had begun to crack, thin lines decorating the surface. Ethior crouched next to the egg, watching earnestly as the young hatchling’s nose began to peak through a slow-growing hole. He glanced over at DRONE, who was watching as unenthused as usual, then turned back to the egg. Slowly, a black scaled head poked out, a deep blue bone marking on their face. The newborn mirror clumsily yanked their limbs out of the crumbling shell, stumbling out into the carefully constructed nest with a tiny growl.

Looking up at his father, the tiny creature narrowed his eyes, snarled adorably, and nipped angrily at his toes, to which Ethior responded with a soft cooing. Distracted with his newborn son, Ethior almost didn’t notice DRONE getting up to leave.

“Hey, wait!” Ethior wasn’t exactly sure why he called out to her, but DRONE stopped regardless, “Before you go back to your Hive, what do you want to call him?”

Ethior was startled at the first semblance of emotion on DRONE, a vague look of surprise then paused to consider his question.

“Gausik.” With that single word, DRONE turned and left, leaving Ethior alone with his son.

Ethior turned back to his son--Gausik--who was now snarling and tussling with the remains of his egg. His name, an ancient word coming from freedom. Fitting, a final declaration of DRONE’s hopes for his son.

“Gausik,” the tiny mirror looked up at him, tiny face scrunched in a not-very-intimidating snarl, “It’s nice to meet you, my son.” Ethior felt his smile return.

He knew Gausik wouldn’t stick around forever--the Flyer’s were huge already, and Gausik was quite independent already--but it felt like a step in the right direction. Maybe he could do this, figure out where to go next in his quest for love.

He wouldn’t be alone forever.