Swifttalon

Swifttalon had set out with high hopes on his search and was somewhat disappointed to find that his charge seemed to be a small Fae that had washed up on the shores of the Tsunami Flats. "I've trained for most of my life to be the hero I always wanted to be! How can the Tidelord give me this?!" he exclaimed miserably. For all his bravado, Swifttalon was by nature a gentle dragon and he carefully nudged the tiny creature he had been so decisively drawn to. It emitted a shrill keening sound and then sat up, looking around in obvious confusion. "I mean you no harm" he said gently. "Are you lost? I can carry you back to your colony if you can tell me where it is." "That's it! " he thought excitedly. "This fae isn't my charge! Maybe my charge is to rescue dragons in distress!"

"My name is Swifttalon" he said proudly. "I would be honored to help reunite you with your family". He waited expectantly for a grateful response and instead got a somewhat puzzled stare. The euphoria of being a rescuer was rapidly giving way to a rising panic that he would spend the rest of his life with a mute fae. "I am called Taw" the fae said carefully, as if she were talking to a scared animal. "I am not lost, I am looking for a new place to start a colony. I think you will do nicely as a member. You will have to sleep on the beach though. I do not think I can make an abode large enough for you on the cliff." "NO! I mean, thank you" he sputtered, "but, you see, I'm on my search, so I really can't stay here in a fae colony. I'm not a fae after all. Er, not that there's anything wrong with being a fae, or course", he added hastily.

Swifttalon was silently praying to the Tidelord to send the fae away, but the Tidelord wasn't listening. The fae seemed to be, however as she sat staring at him silently. "I will stay here, but you may go. I do not require your aid." With that, the little fae jumped into the air and then plunged downwards into a tidepool. Sighing heavily, Swifttalon delicately fished her out of the pool and set her down on the beach. "I will start tomorrow" she declared before collapsing into a heap. Morosely, Swifttalon settled down beside her and carefully covered her with part of one massive wing. "A fae" he muttered. "What am I supposed to do with a fae?".

Six years later, Swifttalon still wasn't sure what to do with a fae, but he and Taw worked well together and were the founders of a large and growing clan along the shores of the sea. "You are content?" asked Taw from a perch on his shoulder. "Yes, I think I really am" he replied in amusement.