Pumpkin

Uh-oh, looks like this bright orange noodle wandered a little too far from her lair (EnglishRose, 306426), and now she's off to see the world! If ever you feel the urge to exalt, she'd really appreciate it if you could just return her home instead, or to the 'Dragons Off To See The World' thread, here. She is an old dragon who loves to travel the world, but she does have a loving and active lair to come home to.




Owners I've Had:
35128 - morningstar1 - (inactive)
5457 - Lae
35128 - morningstar1 (she forgot to pack a lunch so swung back to her old clan before going off again!)
63662 - Littleleopard
62987 - Varified
98047 - Egg
14197 - BlackBlack (2/1) + (2/5 -- lol welcome back Pumpkin)
6613 - Sayna
306426 - EnglishRose - (new home lair)
206951 - Zeno123
483003 - MapleMatcha
12962 - Zikul
437722 - grxndsxn
457490 - ReginaChaos
402332 - BlueStopSigns
125046 - ClockworkEclipse
424401 - ghostlyplants
441788 - KittyandCat
192638 - rhapsodicDream
475171 - mintea00

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. This dragon embarked on a trip across Sorneith during Brightshine Jubilee 2020 from June 21 to June 27. She is one of many who are traveling to various lairs and clans in the hopes of spreading love and joy to those they encounter. When it's over, they'll be able to look back at the adventures they had and dragons they met and remember the journey they went on. ____________________________________________ coding // graphics

Pumpkin is an aged and well-seasoned traveler. After losing her old clan she happened upon a new one that welcomed her with open arms. She felt happy in her new home lair and thought she may retire here for good, but it only took a month of her staying in one place to get the travel bug again. So off she went to visit even more clans. After yet more traveling Pumpkin stopped back home to check-in with her clanmates, which is where she heard about some light dragons needing help delivering bright flowers across Sornieth. Since she'd been all over the world in her long life she felt this job was perfect for her.

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Pumpkin's second stop was a small cave in the Fortress of Ends. She arrived right as the Clan's Matriarch was calling everydragon for lunch. During lunch she talked with Finch, the group's budding Clothier. Finch told her of his new passtime of designing outfits.

Pumpkin saw this as the perfect opportunity to continue her quest of sharing sunflowers with Sornieth's Dragons.

The result was a charming little anklet; a simple black band with a sunflower attached. Finch made sure that Pumpkin had one of her own to wear as she continued her travels.


After some time, Pumpkin found herself wandering the Rotrock Rim. She'd been to the Plaguelands before, but this particular patch of deadwood seemed almost... sinister. She couldn't quite place it. Were those the growls of animals, or something more? She didn't know, really. All she knew was that, whatever it was, it was stalking her, and had been for a while. She was almost positive it was about to pounce on her when a voice called out to her.

"Hey, you! Spiral! Get over here!" Pumpkin was more than eager to follow the voice, and when she rounded one of the trees, she spotted a small, pale-yellow Fae with sandy wings glowering at her with ruby-red eyes. The Fae let out a little huff, and while her voice was monotone, Pumpkin swore she could hear a grouchy edge to it.

"Good, you've got some sense in you. Most drakes don't." she snapped, flicking her tail around a little vial. She tossed it to the Spiral, who fumbled to catch it without breaking it on the oddly lifelike ground of the Plaguebringer's domain. "Since my apprentice is out gathering her herbs, I've been struggling to pull together my remedies. Need those small, nimble fingers to actually put the ingredients in properly, but of course our remaining leader is being lazy when it comes to her job. Paying me back for all those years I hounded her for taking her wing out of it's sling early."

As the Fae grumbled on about her stubborn clanmates, and in turn revealing how stubborn she actually was to keep her clanmates in check, she handed off different dried herbs, chemicals, and odd powders for Pumpkin to put in different vials and jugs. Which she did without hesitation. The Fae obviously knew her craft, and was gathering as she went about the sickly clearing. Finally, she stops, frowning at the last vial. It looked like it was missing something, but she didn't know what. The Fae, who revealed herself to be an old girl named Lushbane earlier, was glaring daggers at the vial.

"Now, this is supposed to calm a frightened herbivore, but I never did get the recipe. That one darned line got me every time..." Pumpkin, curious, asked what line she meant. Lushbane sighed before she replied. "The last thing to add, not a leaf or twig, but a seed of light that follows the day wherever it goes. Only that will quell a frightened drake's woes." Pumpkin brightened at that, recalling her original mission. Soon enough, she pulled out one of her Sunflowers she was out delivering, causing Lushbane to freeze as realization dawned on her.

"Of course! The seeds of a sunflower! They turn to follow the sun to soak in it's rays as the days go by! They don't tend to grow well here. No wonder I didn't think of it before!" She shook out a few seeds, then put one into the vial. With a bright flash of light, the potion settled into a golden tone. The Fae's frills fluttered happily as she danced about. Finally, she settled by Pumpkin. "You should be proud of yourself! Even my apprentice, Voiken, couldn't piece that one together, and she's a Nature dragon! She was practically raised in a garden!" The old girl chuckled a bit before giving Pumpkin a curious look. "...Perhaps there's a calling for herbology in your heart somewhere... Could you help me make some more of these? I know quite a few plant-eating clanmates who're worried right now that could benefit from this."

Of course, Pumpkin complied. By the end of the day, she had a new kit with little potions made not only by the sunflowers she delivered to the Wanderers here in the Scarred Waste, but also other rare plants and ingredients Lushbane had accumulated over the years. She left with a spring in her step as she wondered where her journey would take her next, and what trials it may bring.





Pumpkin found herself in the driftwood drag of the shadow flight next. It was early morning, and as the sun rose, she saw an imp stretching. As the large dragon’s wings reflected light her and there, she noticed the visitor. Finishing her stretch and letting out a yawn, she trudged over to Pumpkin. Tipping her head curiously, she asked the older dragon, “Who are you?” The skydancer smiled; she’d heard the question a million times before on her various travels. “I’m Pumpkin, a traveler.” “Oh,” the imperial said, taking a moment to process this. She had a quiet voice and a young, curious glow in her eyes, though it was obvious she’d shaken innocence and naivety a long time ago. “I suppose it’s alright you stay,” she said carefully. “Some of my clanmantes told me we’d been having visitors.” As Pumpkin pondered how the imp hadn’t managed to notice any of these visitors, her mind flicked back to the present as dragons began to wake in the clearing in front of her. They didn’t seem to notice, and those who did didn’t seem to care, about the spiral. The imperial had begun to walk away, as if having lost interest in the stranger, but Pumpkin called out. “Wait! You haven’t told me your name-”

Stopping, as if surprised, she looked over her shoulder. “It’s Nymph.” Pumpkin took this chance to catch up to her not-so-welcoming welcomer. “Where are you going?” She asked, trying to start up a friendly conversation. Nymph started at her for a moment, as if contemplating her answer. “I’m going to get something to eat. Would you like to join me?” The last part felt forced, but Pumpkin couldn’t imagine saying no. She knew meeting this young, dis-trustful imp had to mean something. “Sure!”

The clan had a variety of food available, likely due to their variety of clan mates. “Choose what you want,” Nymph said. “Everyone’s to polite to say anything if you take what they wanted.” For a moment, this caught Pumpkin off guard, but when she saw Nymph’s smirk as she dug into some unidentifiable piece of meat, she knew it was meant to. After they’d both finished their food, they began to walk, not knowing what to do next.

As they walked circles around the clan’s lair, Pumpkin noticed something; quite a few of it’s residents wore various flowers on their wings. Pumpkin could see Nymph eye them as they walked past, and it got her thinking. “Y’know...” she said casually. “I’ve been spreading sunflowers this time around. I could, oh, I don’t know, weave some together for your wings, if you like?” Nymph stopped dead in her tracks, and met the spiral’s eyes. “What?” “I mean, I was just offering, if you don’t want-“ The I p stopped her, nodding furiously. “Yes. Yes, I want it.” So the two stopped, and sat, and began weaving the stems of several sunflowers together. When they’d finished their work, she looked up at Nymph. Stand up and spread your wings, so I can get it on. Nymph was silent, and still. “Nymph?” “Not here.” Nymph responded, guiding Pumpkin into a cave-like overhang.

That’s where she spread her wings. On the underside of one, a large, long scar was visible. As Pumpkin put on the sunflowers, trying not to be impolite, she couldn’t help but ask a question or two. “Is that why you get up so early? You certainly don’t seem like a morning bird.” Nymph nodded. A few more moments of silence, besides the sounds of plant shifting over wing, before Pumpkin asked another question. “How did it happen?” “A particularly nasty visitor we had a year or two ago. Now the clan always warns me when travelers come through, so I can stay here all day.” Her short, simple response made Pumpkin understand everything. Why she was so distrustful. Why she’d merely been told, and didn’t see for herself, recent visitors. “I’m sorry,” Pumpkin said “I must of made you so uncomfortable.” Nymph smiled. “Yeah, a little bit. But you changed how I look at travelers. You were different.” Just as she finished tying the sunflowers down, movement could be heard outside.

The day had slipped by so quickly. It was dark now, with a full moon overhead. Pumpkin turned to look at Nymph. “It’s time I go.” She didn’t argue with the statement, only saying, “May you have safe travels.” Pumpkin nodded. “And may we meet again.” As Pumpkin flew away, she knew Nymph would not easily be forgotten.

When Pumpkin arrived at Starscatter Temple, she was greeted with open arms. It seemed the scholars here were rather isolated folk, and they relished the opportunity to host dragons during Brightshine Jubilee. Though, her arrival was a bit awkward, punctuated with a Wildclaw (a shadow dragon, interestingly enough), abruptly putting down the harp he had been playing to exclaim, "Wait, you managed to actually find your way here without getting lost?!" To which Pumpkin puffed out her chest and shared a very, very abbreviated history of her travels.

Other than that, the day had been mostly normal. The clan's hatchlings had given her a crown woven from some bright orange flowers they found, before flying off and giggling. Sonder, who was apparently an artist, asked her permission to be added to the many, many, many murals he had painted on the cliffs alongside the temple, which Pumpkin agreed to - after all, who wouldn't want to be immortalized? After that, she had been whisked away by the clan leader, Flux, who wanted to hear of any and all adventures she had when traveling. And, well, she had a lot of adventures.

By the time she was finished telling of her adventures (during which her new Fae companion barely spoke, so busy was he taking notes on what she said), it had grown dark out. Over the hours, other members of the clan had joined the pair, and it this point Pumpkin had a veritable entourage. She looked up, surprised at how late the evening had gotten.

"Oh, where are my manners?!" she exclaimed. "Here I've just been yammering away about myself and my experiences without letting you get a word in edgewise!"

"No, no," replied Flux, finally looking up from his notes, "it's been a pleasure listening to you! We all used to travel together, in search of adventure and mystery, but eventually we found these ruins and... they've been home ever since."

"Do you miss it?" Pumpkin blurted out.

"All the time," Flux replied, a nostalgic expression settling onto his face. "But, we could always leave. We have the freedom to, technically. But, while we - I - miss the open road... I think I would miss this place more. It's nice to have found peace and quiet, for once."

The Fae blinked once, twice, as though he had just awoken from a trance. "But enough about that! I believe it's time for supper, no? We've been trying to have a special meal each night of the Jubilee, and tonight is no exception! Shall we?"

Just then, someone's stomach growled; whose was hard to say, what with the amount of dragons packed in the room. Pumpkin let out a bright peal of laughter and said, "Yeah, I think we could all use some food!"

Together, they all moved to the courtyard, which was illuminated by odd, floating lights that Pumpkin had never seen before. The other dragons didn't seem off-put by them, though, so she assumed it must be some sort of special decoration.

As they ate, Pumpkin looked at them all, laughing, smiling, singing (in the case of the Wildclaw from earlier, who seemed to be serenading the Nocturne next to him), and generally enjoying the evening. She felt a small pang of sadness in her heart.

Yes, she loved the open road, but... she loved her home, and her family, too.

"I'll see them soon enough," she thought to herself, smiled, and joined the others in a rousing folksong.
After the sun set, Pumpkin began the slow journey home. She smiled as she took a glance back at the meadows; the sunflowers, still swaying with the gentle summer breeze, glowed with a deep bronze hue. This was a journey she would never forget.

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