Fledgling Wilderness Survival Expedition by Oridian

Fledgling Wilderness Survival Expedition

Oridian, Adolescent, Adventure, Character Development, Cute, Dragon, Dragoness, Drake, Female, Friendship, Infatuation, Kissing, Love, M/F, Male, Male/Female, Non-Anthro, Paws, Relationships, Romance, Straight, Tail, Tailplay, Teenager, Teenagers, Wings, Young Love, Young Romance, airship, crush, expedition, friends, hunter, independence

#6 of Breakhorn (Series)

Along with their peers, two young dragons ride an airship as they set out on a survival expedition in the wilderness, seeking adventure, excitement, and independence. Maybe romance too, if they can figure that out.

This story is part of a series. You don't really need to have read any of the previous chapters, but it might be helpful to have at least read the one directly previous, which was Hunting Partners. Up to you though.

"You just be safe, alright? Come back in one piece," said the drakka.

"Don't worry about me. I'll be fine," Nerlin insisted as his mother pulled him into a hug, wrapping her wings around him.

"Yes, of course, of course. You're all big and grown up now!" His mother released the hug and licked Nerlin's neck affectionately.

The young dragon leaned away slightly, feeling embarrassed by the gesture. He rubbed the spot on his red scales where his mother had licked him. "Don't lick me in front of the others! I'm not a hatchling who can't groom himself."

His father chuckled and also licked Nerlin on his neck. "You haven't been a hatchling for years, and now you are almost old enough to not be a fledgling, but you're still our son. Now and forever. Take care of yourself."

"I will," Nerlin assured him.

"Yes, take care of yourself. Be safe and don't let anything happen to you. Don't eat anything that looks poisonous. And make sure you're careful when you're landing. Oh, you're all grown up, but I still remember when you were so small--just an egg I could hold with one paw!" His mother licked Nerlin on the neck again, then she sniffed and blinked her eyes a few times. "Sorry, I think I'm getting a bit emotional. I guess you should go join your friends now, it looks like they're all assembling. Go on, but just be safe, son! Fly safe!"

"I will. I'll be back in a week, and you won't ever realize I'm gone." Nerlin stood up, and after one final glance back at his parents, he headed towards where all the other young dragons where gathered nearer the airship. He had already registered his attendance with the master hunters and collected his expedition map, so he didn't need to join the queue.

About seventy fledglings were going for this wilderness survival expedition, and perhaps about three-quarters of that number had already arrived at the airship docks. The meeting point was inside one of the hangars--an immense, enclosed, rectangular space with metals walls a grand distance apart. This was by far the single biggest room Nerlin had ever been in, and the whole area was so large there would easily enough open space for numerous dragons to spread their wings and fly about. Bright lights provided illumination from the sides, lighting up the inside of the hangar and also the airship that rested in the middle of the structure.

Nerlin looked around to see if he could spot his expedition partner, a fledgling named Pyxis, but it didn't look like she had arrived yet. So instead he headed closer to the airship and stopped just a short distance away from its massive metallic hull. Four huge mooring clamps were anchored into opposite sides of the hangar (two on each side) which formed a supporting platform on which the airship rested.

Even though airships were a common sight flying through the city's airspace, seeing one up close made Nerlin realize just how big they really were. The airship absolutely dwarfed him, and yet although it was easily capable of carrying seventy fledgling hunters along with the overseeing master hunters and assorted crew, this particular craft was far from the biggest airship made by dragons. It was a roughly cigar-shaped ellipsoid, with short fins protruding from various points of its angular metal hull, and a smaller flattened top deck with a railing and an enclosed bridge.

Nerlin could see the large indentations that marked the location of the airship's thrusters, where immensely powerful energies were channelled to defy gravity. This was the craft that would fly the young hunters out of the city, travelling for two days and two nights before they were left in the wilderness to make their way home by their own wings.

The airship was painted with a slightly weathered coat of white paint, but it did have a green and blue stripe running across the exact middle between its top and bottom halves. This particular airship was named_Majestic_, with that name also painted on the side of the metallic hull.

Nerlin's flight harness was laden with survival equipment including a groundsheet, sleeping bag, altimeter, and all other sorts of useful things. He needed to be able to fly long distance comfortably, so his harness pouches weren't excessive heavy. Nevertheless, since he didn't need to be carrying all the weight while he was waiting, he pulled the quick release straps and let his harness drop to the floor around his paws.

This airship hangar was connected end-to-end with several other hangars which held airships of their own, but all the other hangars were darkened and quiet. This was the only hangar that showed any signs of activity, with the fledglings assembling for their expedition and crew members preparing the craft for flight. A technician was working on the underside of_Majestic_, standing up on his hindlegs and tail to access a panel that had been opened up. Nerlin couldn't tell what the drake was doing, but suddenly one of the manoeuvring thrusters let out a soft hissing sound and released a small cloud of wispy coolant gas. "Tss, tss, tss, psssst!" Nerlin felt his internal sense of navigation wobble as the thruster briefly altered the local magnetic field, before shutting down again.

As Nerlin was watching the airship, he suddenly found himself distracted by something far more interesting--Pyxis had arrived. Though she entered through the small doorway at the far side of the hangar, Nerlin could recognize his hunting partner from afar by her blue scales. Pyxis was followed by two other dragons with scales of light brown scales who looked very much like her. She must have spotted Nerlin, for she pointed a paw right at him.

In a whirling flash of colour and magic, the three dragons disappeared and instantly reappeared next to Nerlin. Teleportation was a rare type of magic to have, but in a city of so many dragons, it wasn't unusual to see it. Nerlin felt the air briefly crackling with arcane energy, but that faded away quickly.

"Hi, Nerlin!" chirped Pyxis, and just seeing her smile made Nerlin smile back. She followed this greeting by trotting over and giving him a quick hug with her wing, as well as lightly nuzzling his neck in a way which made his heartrate pick up. "Am I late?" she asked, looking around the hangar.

"Hi, Pyxis. No, you're not late at all." Nerlin glanced towards the two other dragons who had arrived with Pyxis. Both of them had light brown scales and neck frills just like Pyxis, though they looked slightly older and were completely identical to each other. They were presumably her brothers--Pyxis had told him before that she had two older brothers, but she had never mentioned that they were twins.

"Drak Tasilus is taking attendance over there and issuing out the maps," Nerlin continued, "You should go register. It's a quick process." He stood up to walk her over, but Pyxis shook her head and gestured for him to remain seated.

"It's ok, I'll go register and you guys can just wait here." Pyxis pulled the release catches on her own flight harness and let her gear drop to the ground next to Nerlin's. "These are my brothers, by the way. That one's Maltus, and the other one's Fadris," she said, pointing at one brown-scaled drake then the other. She stepped over and out of her harness and shook herself, making her scales rustle. "Watch over my stuff. I'll be right back."

Pyxis trotted off towards the master hunters, leaving Nerlin alone with her two brothers. Both of the brothers really looked completely identical, and despite some subtle staring, Nerlin couldn't find any obvious physical trait to distinguish the two. They were both the same size, of roughly the same build, and still young as far as dragons went--but definitely a few years into adulthood proper, unlike Nerlin and Pyxis, who were riding that fuzzy boundary between immature fledgling and mature adult.

"So you're our sister's expedition partner, Nerlin," said the twin on the left, Maltus.

Nerlin inclined his head in a short bow. "That's my name," he replied.

Fadris--the other twin--smiled warmly and his neck frill perked up, although Maltus didn't. "It's nice to meet you. Pyxis speaks highly of you. She's told us stories about how you're a good hunter, and that you two even hunted down a breakhorn together just two weeks ago."

"We did! We worked together to bring it down," said Nerlin.

"That sounds fun. I never got to hunt breakhorns during my training hunts, but I don't think I'd have succeeded anyway." Fadris gestured towards Nerlin's flight harness, at one specific pouch that was different from all the others. "Is that a healing crystal? May I see it?" inquired the drake.

"Oh, yes it is. Sure..." Nerlin reached over to the pouch and lifted open the flap. Unlike all the other pouches, this pouch had a partial back so that the healing crystal it stored would be in direct contact with his scales while he was wearing his harness. The idea behind this was that the healing crystal would be able to automatically release its stored magic if Nerlin got injured, even if he was somehow rendered unconscious or too wounded to open the pouch.

Fadris plucked the paw-sized lump of crystal out of its pouch and examined it closely. Metallic foil was partially wrapped around the gemstone, so it could be handled without immediately discharging the stored healing magic. But now Fadris peeled back the foil and held the crystal firmly--the contact should have caused the crystal to begin pumping out its magic into his body, but the inverse occurred. Small sparks of light seemed to jump from his paw onto the crystal he was holding, sinking deep into the gemstone. "Let me just top this off for you."

"You're a healer?" asked Nerlin, although he realized he was stating the obvious. Clearly Fadris was using healing magic.

"Not yet. I'm still in residential training. But if you asked me that question two months later, the answer would be yes," said the brown-scaled drake, as he poured energy into the gemstone.

Nerlin nodded his head, feeling a sense of respect develop for Fadris (or soon to be Dr Fadris?). Healers were highly regarded in Avaeria because their magic literally saved lives. "Is... Are you also a healer?" Nerlin asked, turning to the other twin.

Maltus shook his head. "No, I'm a displacer. I work as a grey."

Nerlin nodded again, more slowly this time. "Right. You teleported here..." he said, recalling the way the three dragons had suddenly crossed the hangar in a flash of magic. Displacers were dragons whose magic allowed them to teleport around, and being a "grey" meant someone who worked in the city's Enforcement Division, nicknamed for their characteristic high-visibility grey and white striped harnesses. One twin was a doctor, while the other was an enforcer. Pyxis had interesting siblings.

"What about you, Nerlin? Have you given any thought to your career? Any idea what you want to do?" Fadris asked.

"Not really," replied Nerlin. This was a question that he was increasingly being asked by his parents and relatives now that he was coming of age. "It'll depend on what sort of affinity I turn out to have. Once I know what type of magic I can use, I'll have a better idea of my career options. I did pretty well with my standard examinations so it shouldn't be a problem getting into most categories of advanced vocational training whenever I get my magic."

"You ever think about being a doctor?" Fadris suggested.

Nerlin shrugged uncertainly, but he had considered this option before. "If I turn out to have healing magic like you do, then sure I would. But if I didn't have the affinity, then I'm not sure I could make it as a medic. I'm not_that_ clever. Also I've heard that it's really stressful to work in the medical centre." This was actually something he'd heard from Pyxis, and now Nerlin could guess who she'd heard it from.

Fadris's neck frill rose upwards and he smiled again. "You heard right. It's definitely challenging work, but it's also very meaningful. Give it some consideration, and feel free to come to me if you ever want to ask questions about work and life in the medical centre."

Maltus nudged his brother, then turned his gaze towards Nerlin. "Alright, enough small talk. So Nerlin, please do enlighten us--what exactly are your intentions regarding our sister?"

Nerlin was left speechless for a few seconds. "I, uh, what?"

"You know what I mean," Maltus said, fixing Nerlin with a cold gaze.

"Not...really...?" Nerlin said slowly. "Intentions? I don't have any intentions, I think? What does that mean?"

"Bahaha! Really now?" Maltus guffawed and turned to his brother. "He says he has no intentions. Do you believe him?"

Fadris shrugged his shoulders, making his wings bob up and down. "It's theoretically possible that their friendship is entirely platonic, and maybe they genuinely are only partnered up because they're really good at hunting together."

"Maybe, but I doubt it. For that to work, both of them would have to feel absolutely no physical attraction to each other, and that's obviously not the case. Did you see the way she hugged him?"

"Oh, I saw it," Fadris agreed. "That neck nuzzle was a bit too friendly for a casual friendship."

"Damn right." Maltus turned back to Nerlin, who was increasingly getting the feeling he was being interrogated. "But_maybe_ your desires really are completely innocent, and_maybe_ nothing will happen between you two while you're all alone on the expedition, with no one watching or telling you what you can or cannot do. Maybe you and Pyxis are just friends, after all."

If there was a correct response to make, Nerlin wasn't sure what it was. "We_are_ friends...?" he tried.

Fadris gave him a friendly smile and nodded. "For now. But who knows what could happen? You'll both be adults soon."

Maltus smiled as well, but his expression showed a few too many teeth. He leaned closer to Nerlin and spoke in a softer tone that was all the more threatening. "And let me warn you, Nerlin. If you bully, coerce, or even put so much as a_scratch_ on our sister, I will find you and turn you inside out. Be on your best behaviour. I'm just saying."

"I... okay. I'll keep that in mind," Nerlin replied, but the idea seemed alien to him. Why would they think he wanted to hurt Pyxis?

"And do have a good trip! Have fun, enjoy your freedom, and most importantly, take good care of Pyxis, on this expedition and otherwise. Be responsible," Fadris added cheerfully. Finishing his work with the healing crystal, he wrapped the gemstone back in its protective foil and gave it back to Nerlin, who then returned it to the appropriate pouch on his flight harness.

Just in time, Pyxis scampered back up to the trio. She was carrying a rolled up map in her mouth, which she dropped onto her harness before nodding at her expedition partner and her brothers. "Hey, I'm back! Did I miss anything interesting?" asked the blue-scaled fledgling.

"No, we've been chatting," said Maltus. He opened a wing and patted Nerlin on his back in a jovial manner. "Just getting to know Nerlin over here. We're such good friends already, aren't we?"

"Um," said Nerlin, feeling a bit intimidated.

Fadris smiled amusedly, as if they were sharing a joke. "You know how it is. It's always good to make friends."

Pyxis nodded. "Oh, that's good! Anyway, the master hunters just said that they're going to begin boarding. Sun's almost up and we're going to go." She packed the map into her flight harness, and then she stepped into her gear and began putting it on. She ducked her neck through and under the primary weave so that the flight harness's weight was resting on her shoulders and back, and then she reattached the quick release clasps and pulled the straps to tighten them. Standing up, she slipped her wings through the side loops before furling them up again. When Pyxis glanced back, her neck frill drooped slightly in embarrassment when she saw that Nerlin was still standing there and watching her. "Don't just stare at me! Gear up."

"Right. Uh, sorry." Nerlin went to his own harness and began putting it on. His flight harness had a slightly different design from Pyxis's, but the basic idea was the same--a weave of straps and belts that went over his body, attached onto which were various pouches to carry equipment whilst he was walking or flying. Nerlin had only managed to reattach one of his harness straps before Pyxis finished. She walked over and began to help him adjust the rest of his straps, tightening the harness around his body so it wouldn't shake or come loose in flight. "Thanks."

"No problem." Pyxis pulled the final buckle, which went around Nerlin's torso, and then they were both ready to go. She turned to her brothers and reared up on her hindlegs to pull them both into a hug with each wing. "I guess this is goodbye. I'll miss you guys."

"Guess so. See you in a few days. Try not to die," said Maltus.

"I'll miss you too," said Fadris, (or was it the other way around?). Nerlin felt a bit guilty for already getting the twins mixed up after only a few minutes. He could remember that Fadris was supposed to be the doctor while Maltus was the enforcer, but physically they appeared totally identical.

Pyxis hugged her brothers affectionately, then she pulled away and turned back to Nerlin. "Alright, let's go! This is... this is really happening, isn't it?"

"It is. Are you feeling excited?" Nerlin said, as they both started walking towards the airship's boarding ramp, which had now lowered from the front of the airship. Other fledglings were already beginning to board, climbing up the ramp in neat pairs as directed by the master hunters and the airship's crew.

"I don't know. I'm excited, but also nervous? Really, really, nervous!" Pyxis admitted.

"I know what you mean, but we'll be fine. They do this every year. We can look over the maps once we're on-board and settled in."

"I'm just... really glad that I'm going with you instead of someone else," Pyxis said.

"Yeah, me too. I mean that I'm glad to be going with you, not that I'm glad to be going with myself," Nerlin replied.

Pyxis grinned and bumped her shoulder against Nerlin's. "And to think that just those few weeks ago, I wasn't sure if I even wanted to go. But now? Now it's all so exciting and new, and I don't know how I was so unsure about the expedition. I hope things go well..."

"It'll be lots of fun just to be on our own--no parents, no clan, not even any master hunters to tell us what to do. We can just fly wherever we want and do whatever we please." Nerlin stopped himself and glanced back over his shoulder. Pyxis's brothers were watching from a distance. Fadris raised a wing and waved at them, but Maltus just glared. "In a, um, an entirely wholesome, virtuous, and consensual manner, of course," Nerlin added.

Pyxis sighed, and she let her frill droop against her neck. "Did my brothers really do the whole,'we're so overprotective, don't you touch our little sister' speech to you?"

"Um, yes. The nice one helped me top up my healing crystal, but the scary one told me I'd better not hurt you," said Nerlin.

"Sorry! Maltus said that he was going to tell you off, but I didn't he would actually follow through. I_told_them that you were my friend and not some random stranger! If you can't even trust schoolmates who you've known for years, who can you trust?" Pyxis shook her head in irritation. "Did he take out his wing-pennants and threaten to arrest you?"

"No, he only threatened to turn me inside out. I suppose they just want you to stay safe."

"I know! But I...argh. Sorry about that. I told him not to, but Maltus is just... You know he's an enforcer, right? He's seen some bad people do bad things, and now he always sees the worst in people. It's not a healthy mindset! He acts as if every person is secretly going to be some sort of psychopath or criminal! And Fadris is the opposite--he's a healer, so he always want to fix people and make them well, and he always sees the best in people. Between the two of them it sort of balances out." Pyxis glanced to her expedition partner. "It's not like I can't protect myself anyway. I've already beaten you in a fight once."

"That's true," Nerlin agreed.

"So I don't need to be treated like some hatchling! Sooner or later I'll have my magic, and then I won't be a fledging anymore. We're both legally adult age, even if it doesn't count until we can actually use our magic," muttered Pyxis. For now she was still a fledgling, but the whole point of this expedition was to learn to be independent.

"Not quite yet," Nerlin said, "My hatchday isn't till later in the year."

"Oh, really? When is it?"

"Just after the Festival of Stars, around the solstice."

"I'll remember that," Pyxis said. "Anyway, the point is that they don't get to tell me what to do! We're both almost adults and we_could_... Well, not that to say that we're actually going to... I'm not saying that... Although if it... uh... Theoretically, I... Legally it's..." She snapped her mouth shut as she lost her train of thought. "Where was I going with this sentence?"

"I have no idea," Nerlin admitted, grinning as Pyxis got flustered again.

"Never mind then. Well...let's focus on the expedition!" she said, raising her voice to speak over the noisy chatter of the other assembled fledglings.

By now the two fledglings had reached the crowd, which was thinning out as most of the other young dragons boarded the airship. One of the master hunters was attempting to shepherd all the crowding fledglings into some level of order. "Let me say it again! If you haven't signed attendance and collected your map, go do that_before_ you board. Everyone else, line up with your expedition partner. If you don't already have a partner, come to the table and we'll pair you up," she announced.

"Map, check. Expedition partner, check," Nerlin muttered. He and Pyxis joined the queue to board, and within a few minutes they were walking up the ramp. Just before he embarked onto the airship, Nerlin turned back and raised a wing to wave at his mother and father, who will still waiting at the side with all the other people who had come to see the fledglings off on their expedition. "Those are my parents," he explained, when Pyxis looked to see who he was waving at.

Pyxis also paused to wave farewell to her brothers. "My parents said goodbye at home. They're very busy with work."

With that final gesture, the two fledglings boarded the airship and prepared to embark on their adventure.

The first impression of the inside of the airship was chaos, barely controlled. There was a dull humming noise reverberating from somewhere deep within the airship, and numerous fledglings were loudly chattering and squeezing past each other near the entranceway. Near the boarding ramp was a circular stairway that led to other decks, and a well-lit corridor stretched all the way to the rear of the airship, with numerous doors alternating on both sides. Right at the end, a second circular stairway also led to the upper decks.

"Welcome aboard Majestic! Don't just stand around!" ordered a drake wearing a flight harness coloured with a green and blue stripe. He was colour coordinated with the airship's outer paint job, making him part of the aircrew. "Find yourself a cabin and stay there! Four dragons to a single cabin! We'll go round to take your names just before take-off. Let me repeat--find a cabin and_stay_ in it. All the cabins are equal, so don't be picky. Two pairs, four dragons per cabin. Go!"

"Where should we go? Any preference?" Nerlin asked his expedition partner.

"He said all the cabins are equal. Anywhere works, I guess?" Pyxis thought about climbing the circular stairway, but instead she decided to just head down the corridor.

To the left and right, cabin doors were open and they could see their fellow fledglings settling in and choosing rooms. Before either of them could decide on a room, the decision was made for them when a familiar orange-scaled fledgling came running down the circular stairway at the end of the corridor. "Is that...?" Nerlin started to ask.

"I believe it is," agreed Pyxis.

"Oh, hey! There you are!" Jarzyl spotted the two of them and her neck frill immediately perked up. She sprinted towards them, grinning cheerfully at her friends. "Glad to see--"

"NO RUNNING IN THE CORRIDORS!!" ordered the drake who had given them instructions, his voice echoing down the corridor from behind them.

Jarzyl's neck frill drooped flat, and she hurriedly slowed her run into a brisk walk. "Ok, sorry! Sorry!" She walked up to Pyxis and Nerlin and gestured for them to follow her. "Glad to see you made it! You guys don't have a room, right? Come on, come on! We've got the best cabin. Let's share! I've always wanted to have roommates." She turned tail and headed back up the stairway.

"I guess that makes it easier. We could just trust Jarzyl to have found the best cabin," Nerlin said.

"We'll see," Pyxis replied. The two fledglings headed up the stairs, following their friend.

The room that Jarzyl had already chosen was a cabin on the upper deck, all the way at the front of the airship. As she explained it while they were climbing the stairs, there were eleven cabins on each of the three decks, and ten of those cabins were arranged in pairs around the centre corridor that ran from the fore to the aft of the airship. However, the final cabin on each deck was right at the front (where the airship narrowed to a pointy, aerodynamic shape) and so it wasn't squeezed side by side like all the other cabins.

Jarzyl pushed open the door and Pyxis stuck her head into the cabin. "This is the same size as all the other cabins. Hi Caden," Pyxis said, nodding at the dark green fledgling who was already lying on one of the lower bunk beds and reading a book.

"Hey Pyx, Nerlin," Caden replied, briefly glancing up from her book to acknowledge the two new arrivals.

"It is bigger!" Jarzyl insisted. She ignored the ladder attached to the bunk bed and sprung directly up onto the top bed. "There's so much space! You can even open up your wings." Turning around, she sat down on all four paws and grinned, her tail sliding from right to left in excitement.

Pyxis turned around and went to peek into another nearby cabin, which was already fully occupied. "No, it's the same size. Maybe the walls are curved so it feels a bit bigger."

Jarzyl remained enthused despite Pyxis's doubt. "Well there's also the view! Check it--the windows face forwards_and_ both sides! We can see everywhere!"

"Ok, yes. That part is definitely better. We'll take it," Pyxis agreed, entering the room and looking around. It had a simple layout; the cabin was shaped like a trapezium, with large angled windows on both the left, right, and front side providing a good view of the outside of the airship. Two bunk beds were placed on separate sides of the room, with four individual metal lockers that would be just about big enough to fit a flight harness laden with gear. Jarzyl and Caden had already taken off their flight harnesses and placed them in their respective lockers--Caden had detached all the pouches from her harness to pack them neatly into her locker, whereas Jarzyl had gone for the_stuff it till it fits_ approach and pushed her whole harness (with pouches all still attached) into her own locker.

Nerlin entered the cabin and tugged on the bed frame experimentally. The furniture was all wielded or bolted onto the walls, presumably so that it wouldn't come loose even if the airship hit turbulence. "Which bunk do you want? Upper or lower?" he asked.

Pyxis flicked her neck frill up and down indifferently. "I'm fine with either bunk, top or bottom. You can choose."

"I'll go on top then." Nerlin started taking off his flight harness so he could pack the gear into the locker, but suddenly Caden sniggered loudly.

"Hehehe... I guess that answers the question of which of you two prefers to be the one on top, and who prefers to be the bottom," she said.

Neither Pyxis nor Nerlin understood what Caden was saying, but Jarzyl let out a bark of laughter after a few seconds. "Hah,Caden! You're not allowed to say things like that. Don't tease them!"

"Not my fault. They set it up too well. I can't miss an opportunity like that," Caden replied.

"Huh? Was that a joke? I don't get it," Nerlin said. He turned to Pyxis, but she had an equally baffled expression.

"You don't get it?" Caden put her book down with an amused smile. "Ok, you see--when you have a drake and a drakka together who like each other very much..."

"Shhh!" shushed Jarzyl. She giggled, then hurriedly unfurled a wing and used it to partially cover the bottom bunk and obscure Caden's view of the cabin. "Hehe, don't tell them! Let them stay innocent."

"What's so funny? I don't get it either. Should I have taken the top bunk? Is there something wrong with it?" Pyxis asked.

Caden nonchalantly lowered her head and rubbed her horns, running a digit over the tips. "It's not the bunks, it's your phrasing that's hilarious. But it's ok if you don't understand. Just stay innocent, Pyx. You too, Nerlin."

Pyxis stayed confused for another few seconds, but then she finally understood what they were saying. She shook her head and sighed, then turned away and busied herself in pulling the release catches of her flight harness. "That's not even clever. Try harder next time, Caden."

Nerlin was about to repeat that he still had no idea what the other three fledglings were talking about, then finally the joke clicked. Him being on top and Pyxis being below him--Caden was making a bawdy remark playing on what he'd said. "Oh, right. Haha. Very funny, or actually not that funny."

Caden went back to reading her book, but Jarzyl rolled off her bed and tumbled from the upper bunk to gracefully crash land on the floor. Jumping to her feet, she went to go help her friends unpack their equipment into their lockers. "What's that thing?" she asked, pointing at one particular small pouch which Nerlin had detached from his harness frame. This pouch had a transparent window so that the object within was visible.

"Compass." Nerlin turned the pouch to show Jarzyl the circular instrument contained within.

"A compass? As in, a _magnetic_compass? Hey, I didn't bring one of those. Was it on the packing list?" Jarzyl asked.

"It was on the packing list under optional. It's a useful thing to have while you're flying long distance," Nerlin explained. "It helps you double check your internal sense of navigation."

"Double check? Nah! That's not fun at all. I think you should just trust your instincts, not a tiny lump of metal." Jarzyl turned to her expedition partner. "Caden, did you pack a compass?"

Caden replied without looking up from her book. "I did, and you're welcome. Also, your directional instinct is terrible, Jarz. You get lost all the time."

"I do not! I am so great at directions," Jarzyl insisted, waving a paw dismissively. "Yes. Hmm. Ok, maybe I occasionally get lost, but that's just from forgetting landmarks, not from a bad internal compass," she added after some consideration.

"No, it's definitely your sense of direction. Remember the time we wanted to go to that new restaurant in sector six, but you ended up leading us all the way to sector twenty-three?" Caden nodded to Nerlin and Pyxis. "You two weren't with us, but Atlas was. We were flying in circles for a whole hour trying to find the place because we let Jarzyl lead the way and she flew on the wrong heading."

"One single case does not make a trend!" Jarzyl replied. "I apologized, and that's just one single time when I wasn't paying attention. It doesn't prove I have a bad sense of direction."

"It isn't just one single case," Caden muttered.

By now Pyxis had finished unpacking her flight harness. She closed the cabinet door, and then she went over to her bunk and pushed the empty harness frame under the bed before sitting down on top of the mattress. "I think there's a simple way we can settle this argument. Everyone close your eyes..."

"Why?" asked Jarzyl.

"Just do it. Close your eyes," Pyxis insisted. After the three other fledglings had closed their eyes, she closed her eyes as well. "Ok, now everyone point your paw directly towards north..." Pyxis raised her paw, orientating her limb to follow her internal sense of direction. "...and now open your eyes."

The four fledglings opened their eyes and looked around at each other. Nerlin, Pyxis, and Caden all had their paws pointing in the same direction, towards the airship's port side, but Jarzyl's paw was offset by an angle of about ten degrees too far left. It wasn't a huge deviation, but if you flew in the wrong direction for too long, a small mistake would multiply into a major error and you'd be lost.

Jarzyl put her paw down and flicked her neck frill. "Hm. That could just be the, uh... airship's main propulsion thrusters messing around and disrupting the local magnetic field in this one spot of the room? Or maybe I'm sensing the Avaerian field tremor?" she suggested.

"Don't delude yourself. I think my point has been adequately proven. Good demo, Pyx." Caden went back to reading her book.

"Fine, maybe my internal sense of direction isn't as great as yours!" Jarzyl scampered over to Caden's bunk and squeezed in beside the green-scaled fledgling. She snuggled Caden's side and leaned against her. "Good thing we fly in pairs and I've got such a_well-prepared_and responsible expedition partner who brought a compass along!"

"Oh, you know it," Caden agreed.

Suddenly there was a rap on the cabin door and then it swung open. A drakka wearing the distinctive uniform of aircrew strolled in. Attached to her flight harness was a carabiner holding dozens of keys. "Good morning! I hope you are settling into your cabin. Please give me your names." Sitting back on her haunches, the drakka took out a document folder and slapped it down on the ground. She dipped the tip of her tail in an ink pot (also taken from her harness), and gestured towards Jarzyl. "Let's start with you with the orange scales. Can I get your full name please?"

"Jarzyl Mintaka! A puppeteer, of clan Mintaka, of Avaeria, the City of Wings!" Jarzyl declared, raising her neck frill proudly.

The drakka flipped through her folder and wrote a number against one specific listing. "That's just fantastic. Green?" she asked, pointing next towards Caden.

"Caden."

"Full name please."

"Cadencial Hasilt-Taslin."

"Ah, I'm from clan Hasilt myself," noted the drakka, making a mark against Caden's name on the list. "And you, blue scales?" she asked, turning to Pyxis.

"Pyxis Regil."

"Ok. Last but not least--red?"

"Nerlin Erkotas."

"Nerlin...Ner... found it." The drakka snapped her file closed and returned it to her flight harness. "You four are all fine with sharing a cabin right? No personal vendettas or violent objections?"

"I sure hope not," Nerlin replied, and the other three fledglings gave similar statements of assent.

"Fantastic. You are now quartered in cabin one, upper deck. Here are the keys to your lockers, please don't lose them." The drakka took out the large keyring she was carrying and detached four different keys with hoops of string attached. "Each key is unique to a locker. I don't know which is which, but you can figure it out yourselves. Please,please, don't lose them. We need them back at the end of this flight."

The aircrew drakka took out two more keys which were different in design and slightly larger from the previous four. "And these two keys are for your cabin door. Keep your lockers and your room door locked when no one is here! I don't want to get complaints about lost items. It's hard enough to handle so many fledglings without you lot being dramatic and throwing around accusations of theft and trespassing."

Pyxis took the proffered keys and nodded. "Don't lose the keys. Got it."

The drakka reattached her carabiner of keys to her flight harness. "Now for orientation. This is cabin one, which happens to be about seven percent larger than all the other cabins."

"I knew it!" Jarzyl said triumphantly.

The drakka looked amused. "Don't let it get to your head. This cabin is also located the furthest distance from the mess and the washroom facilities, which are located at the rear of the vessel. Now in the very unlikely event of an evacuation, the closest exit is just outside your door and to the left. Do not leave the vessel unless a crew member tells you to do so, or if you hear an announcement from the ship's public address system, or if you hear the horn continuously for more than seven seconds. Also do not use this exit door for non-emergency purposes, as an alarm will sound on the bridge."

"You've sure got a lot of rules," Jarzyl commented.

"Welcome to life in the fleet! You haven't heard anything yet. Speaking of which--once you guys have packed your valuables into the lockers, I need you to proceed to the mess hall. It's at the rear of the vessel and down one level to mid deck. The captain is going to give a briefing. Takeoff will follow shortly and then we'll be underway to the Outer Colonies. Any questions?"

"When's breakfast?" asked Nerlin.

"We'll pass around some food during the captain's briefing, and you can have a full meal after the briefing. No other questions? Good." The drakka stood up and turned to leave. "I'll see you lot in the mess in five minutes. Do hurry. I've already given out keys to all the other cabins on this deck. And remember to lock your door!" Then she left, using her tail to pull the door shut behind her.

Jarzyl leapt to her feet and threw open her wings, although there wasn't enough space for such a gesture in the enclosed space. "This is so_a-ma-zing_! We're on a airship, and we're about to fly for the Outer Colonies! Can you guys believe we're finally on the wilderness survival expedition?! That's so grownup! FREEDOM!"

Pyxis pushed aside Jarzyl's wing where she was blocking her locker and began trying the keys to find the one which fit the lock. Once she had found the correct key, she passed the remaining three keys to Nerlin, who did the same with his own locker.

"Freedom? We haven't even left the city yet," Nerlin commented. He found the key to his locker and sealed away his belongings, and then he slipped the string loop over his neck so that the key dangled just over his chest.

Jarzyl took the remaining two locker keys, as well as one of the room keys. "But what's better than freedom? FRIENDS! You guys are the best! I love you all," she declared.

"Give me my key. And don't you dare try hugging me," Caden muttered, as Jarzyl returned to their side of the room with an ecstatic grin and wings spread.

"Oh, I am so great at respecting personal space. Here, you should take the room key too. I'd probably just end up losing it," Jarzyl said, handing the keys to Caden.

Whereas the other three fledglings hung their respective locker keys around their necks, Pyxis was wearing the stripped down frame of her flight harness with a few empty pouches mounted on.

"Why are you wearing your harness?" Nerlin asked her.

"I just wanted to bring ink and paper to the briefing, in case I need to take notes," Pyxis explained. She tapped one of the pouches where she had placed a notepad and inkpot.

Nerlin nodded. He considered wearing his own flight harness, but it was a different, less modular design which would took longer to reconfigure. It would require at least a few minutes to reattach his pouches onto the straps of his harness frame.

In comparison, Jarzyl shook her head. "What? Take notes? But we're not in school anymore! Note taking is boring. I'm going to go nude."

"Even if I don't take notes, I can also use my pouches to store food and bring some leftovers from breakfast back here," Pyxis added.

"Then again, that's a good point! Freedom, friends, food. Maybe I should wear my harness..." Jarzyl murmured. She glanced back to her locker, but her flight harness still had every single pouch attached, so she'd have to carry all the weight if she went to the mess with it. Was it worth the trouble just to be able to take a snack?

Caden just walked over to the door, leading the way out. "No time to change. Let's go! I'm hungry."

The airship's mess hall functioned like a buffet cafeteria, filled with long rectangular tables surrounded by individual floor cushions for dragons to sit on. One side of the mess held a line of food serving counters, while the opposite side had a wall of windows which provided a view of the outside.

It looked like the four fledglings were the last to arrive. All their fellow hunters were already sitting down at the tables on floor cushions, as were the dozen and a half master hunters who had their own table at one side of the room. Drak Tasilus, who was the master hunter usually in charge of their hunting group, quickly gestured for them to sit down at a free table.

As they sat down on the floor cushions, Nerlin quickly glanced around the room. There were several dragons wearing the blue-green striped flight harnesses that were reminiscent of the airship's paint stripe, indicating they were aircrew, and these dragons weren't sitting on the cushions. The drakka who had gone around passing out keys and taking attendance was here, as was the mechanic who had been working on the airship's underside earlier.

One particular drakka was wearing a pair of blue-green wing pennants (flags which were tied to her wing tips), and Nerlin guessed that she must be an officer or possibly even the captain. She certainly had the seniority to be captain. Nerlin wasn't great at estimating the ages of others, but the drakka looked to be at least past middle age, which was a hundred years old.

Nerlin turned his head to look out the large windows which covered one wall of the mess (facing the rear of the airship). On the outside, all he could see was the metallic wall of the hangar. His pocket watch was back in the cabin, but last time he'd checked the time it had been close to sunrise, though they wouldn't be able to seen the sun until they'd departed from the enclosed airship hangar.

Nerlin turned away from the window and noticed something else. One of the master hunters was reared up on his hindlegs and appeared to be counting the number of fledglings. He finished his count and nodded towards the older drakka from the aircrew, who then stood up. She walked towards the side of the room opposite the windows and reached for a control panel embedded in the wall. From her flight harness she produced a small chunk of clear rectangular crystal and inserted it into a port in the wall.

A cloud of shimmering dust exploded out of the wall, moving under the driving influence of an unseen, invisible force. The dust whirled and then flattened back onto the wall, but now it had shifted colour and formed coherent shapes. Nerlin recognized the dust cloud immediately--the wall held a light field projector, which used enchanted colour-changing dust to generate pictures or objects that seemed to rise out of the wall. A light field projector was a common appliance in the homes of many dragons, so it was no surprise that the airship contained such a system. It was a well-established use of stone magic.

Nerlin wasn't the only one to notice the colourful display; many of the young hunters stopped talking and turned to stare at the projection, but this apparently wasn't enough for the drakka with the wing pennants. She reached down to her flight harness and spoke directly into a small object which turned out to be a portable radio set. "Captain to Engineering, spool the core up to standby and strike the coils."

Suddenly the whole airship rumbled and physically shook. The dull humming that had been emanating through the craft loudened, but then it seemed to harmonize and grow smoother before quietening down to a tolerable thrum.

All the fledgling hunters stopped their chattering at this sudden change, and the captain used this sudden silence to begin her briefing. "Good morning! I am Captain Aetos, commanding officer of_Majestic_. Welcome aboard!" declared the drakka. All eyes turned to observe her, and she held everyone's attention with complete ease. "That noise you just heard was our thrusters reaching operating temperatures and entering standard mode. We are now ready for launch, but before we do that I need to give you some information. I'm sure all of you are looking forward to commencing your expedition, so the sooner I get this briefing done, the sooner we can set off. Pay attention, and if you have any questions just ask right away. I'll keep this as fast as I can."

The captain pressed a button on the side panel, and the projection shifted in response. A miniature version of the airship appeared to jump out of the wall and split in half, revealing its insides in a schematic that covered the whole wall, above all the (empty) food serving counters. From the diagram there were three separate decks that ran the full length of the craft, as well as one shorter deck on top which was much shorter and held the bridge.

"Majestic is a zenzic-class, medium-lift, passenger transport airship operated by Transportation Division Fleet Command, currently commissioned by Education Division to take you all out for the Fledgling Wilderness Survival Expedition. This vessel has four decks, called the low deck, mid deck, up deck, and the top deck. You are now in the mess hall, located_here_." The captain pointed towards a large room in the middle deck. "I believe all of you should already have found your cabins, which are over_here_. Take note--the ship's toilets and bathrooms are located here, just to the rear of the cabins on every level. You are expected to use them. Do not stick your tail out of a window and_shit_ into the air. We may be leaving the city, but that's still uncivilized."

Jarzyl chuckled softly. Caden hushed her expedition partner.

"At any time you may also visit the top deck's external gallery if you want to get some fresh air," continued the captain, pointing to the airship's very highest deck, where there was a flat surface that was open to the sky. "However, do not take flight without first asking for permission from a crew member. I know you are all young dragons who hate listening to rules, but we need to keep track of where everyone is. Let me say this again--don't go flying off without permission! Just tell the aircrew first so that we know if you are leaving the airship. I understand that you want to stretch your wings now and then."

Captain Aetos tapped the control panel, and a few portions of the model airship shifted colour to red. "These are restricted areas you may not enter. Do not enter the power core room. Do not enter the thruster access conduits. Do not enter crew-only compartments, including crew cabins, and do not interfere with flight operations. You_may_enter the flight bridge, but knock and ask permission first. I don't mind letting you see how we fly this vessel, but I will not have crowding on my bridge. And don't touch anything."

Nerlin nudged Pyxis's side. "We have to check out the bridge! I've always wanted to see how an airship is controlled," he whispered to her.

Pyxis nodded in agreement and wrote that down in her notebook. She had dipped her tail in ink, and was taking notes from the captain's briefing. "Can go see the bridge. Ask permission from crew. Sounds interesting?" she wrote.

"They call this the fledgling expedition, but I'm going to treat you all like young adults, so in return I expect you to behave like adults. Now as for emergency procedures: if the airship encounters turbulent weather, announcements will be made over the public address system. If you wish to rest, return to your bunk and sleep in your bed to reduce the risk of injury from unexpected heavy turbulence. If technical difficulties are experienced, obey all instructions from crew members without delay or questioning. Follow the illuminated lighting strips on the floors, wall, and ceiling in the unlikely event of an evacuation, but do not evacuate unless we instruct you to do so. Remember--stay in the airship unless you have permission to leave!"

The captain continued explaining all the many rules which the airship had. Pyxis dutifully wrote down all the regulations in her notebook, but Jarzyl got bored and leaned over to see what her friend was doing. Seeing that Pyxis was just taking notes, Jarzyl took a spare sheet of paper from Pyxis and dipped her own tail in her friend's ink pot. She started doodling on the paper, haphazardly sketching the surroundings.

Suddenly Nerlin got a tap from his left, and he discovered that a basket filled with pastries, puffs, and rolls was being passed around. He took a meat puff and passed the basket on to Pyxis, who also took a pastry before passing on the basket.

"...crew of twenty, but we have seventy-three hunters and eighteen master hunters on-board. Please respect each other's space and don't go into someone else's cabin without their permission. Living on a airship, even for a brief trip, is different from being in the city. Fleet regulations apply, and my word is the law on this vessel once we leave city airspace. We are not your chaperones, but_please_don't do anything stupid."

"They sure do have a lot of rules, don't they?" Jarzyl murmured, with her mouth stuffed with at least one jam roll and possibly also a butter pastry.

"I wonder how many of those rules you are going to break?" Pyxis murmured back. Jarzyl responded by using her inked tail to paint a small smiley face on Pyxis's side.

"...mess hall for recreation. There are quite a few movies and some interactives stored in this projector, which you are allowed to use outside of meal time. There are also a ridiculous number of board games to keep you entertained. As I said before,_do not_leave the airship to go hunting for food. You'll end up getting lost and left behind. This has happened before!" continued the captain. "And lastly..."

Mounted high on the wall, the light field projection shifted one last time, forming a top-down photorealistic map of the drakken territories. The projection even had an accurate amount of depth, with tiny mounds of enchanted sand rising up from the wall to represent hills and mountains. "The city is currently located at this spot right here, near the central zones. As with the previous years, the fledgling expedition will be conducted in the north-western regions, past the Julnir Mountain Range. This airship has the flight capabilities to fly directly over the mountains, but once we've dropped you off you will likely have to fly south to clear the mountains. I'll let your master hunters give you the rest of the topographical and expedition information once we're closer to the drop off point. I think that should be all. Anyone have any questions? No? You can always ask any of the crew or your master hunters if you're too shy to speak up now.

"And that's all for my briefing. I see that the bread baskets are already being passed around, but you can go ahead and get a full meal if you want. Breakfast will be served for one hour and a half, so you can also go to the top deck and watch the launch from up top. On behalf of my crew and Transportation Division as a whole, I wish you all a good flight, and good hunting!"

Captain Aetos yanked her data crystal from the projector's port, and the projection exploded into a cloud of multi-coloured light and fractal shapes. When the light field stabilized, it had flattened into a two-dimensional image showing the view from the top of the airship looking forwards--a live data feed of what could be seen from the bridge. There still wasn't much to see, except for the fully enclosed hangar bay blocking them on all sides.

The captain left the room and headed up the circular stairway, followed by some of the crew members who had been in the mess, although some also went to the lower decks, presumably going to the airship's engineering areas.

Nerlin chewed and swallowed the rest of his meat pastry, and then he turned to Pyxis, who was looking over her notebook. "Let's go to the top deck and watch the launch," he suggested.

"Ok!" Pyxis got to her feet, but they weren't the only ones who had decided to go to watch the takeoff from above. Most of their fellow hunters had stood up and were heading to the circular stairway, although some remained behind and were watching the large windows or the light field projector's display.

Jarzyl was also standing, and her neck frill was raised all the way up around her head. "Yes! This is the moment when it all starts. The expedition begins and there's no... going...back! Are you sure you guys don't want a group hug? I give hugs for free."

"Don't you touch me," Caden insisted.

"But if you don't join in then the group hug doesn't work, because then I'd feel like I'm intruding between Nerlin and Pyxis," Jarzyl said.

"Yeah, okay. The crowd is gone! Let's go topside," Pyxis said.

The four of them headed up the stairs and followed the amassed fledglings to the top deck of the airship.

Nerlin was sitting beside Pyxis, and the two fledglings were leaning over the edge of the airship's top deck with their paws resting on the railings. They were looking over the airship's starboard side, while Jarzyl and Caden had gone to sit over at the port side. For a while, all was quiet and calm. The air was still and unmoving inside of the hangar bay's enclosed space, only slightly disturbed by the small clouds of vapour emanating from_Majestic_'s stabilization thrusters.

Numerous navigation lights of varying colours illuminated along_Majestic_'s hull, bright enough to still be easily visible under the harsh internal floodlights of the hangar. And then suddenly a new source of light appeared. Far below them and underneath the airship itself, the majority of the hangar floor had split down the middle and revealed itself to be a pair of huge doors which began swinging downwards.

For of course, _Majestic_was just a small airship, and dragons had done far grander things with their technology and magic. Avaeria, the mighty drakken city, took that concept of airship flight technology and literally lived up to its name as the City of Wings. Now they were about to take the quickest, simplest route to exit Avaeria--simply dropping out of it and into the skies through which the city was flying.

Nerlin stuck his head as far as he could past the airship's railing, trying to get a look of the open space beneath them. The bulk of_Majestic_'s tumblehome hull blocked out his view until the hangar bay doors were almost completely open, swinging away to clear the way for the airship's launch. And even then, the only things Nerlin could see were thick clouds swirling past the open hangar doors, illuminated by light beams coming from the hangar and the airship itself.

And then _Majestic_began to move. There was no dramatic shaking or even so much as a shudder to indicate that they were now airborne, but the airship slowly began to slide up and out of its launch moorings as its thrusters pushed it upward. After the airship's weight had lifted off its launch clamps, these large clamps began to fold downwards and slide back into recesses in the hangar wall.

Nerlin pointed his paw at the clamps, and Pyxis nodded. Numerous other hunters were spread out across the viewing gallery, gazing out in all directions, but she was the only person he was paying any attention to. Neither of them said anything, but suddenly Nerlin felt his expedition partner touch his tail and carefully entwine it with hers. They sat side by side, tails entwined as the metal airship hovered inside the hangar, still stationary in relation to all of the city.

"We're flying now," Pyxis murmured. "Even if we're still standing here on the top deck with our wings closed, the airship is flying."

"True, but we were already flying before. The city is flying, so we're always flying," Nerlin replied.

Although the hangar bay's lower doors had opened up and swung down, there was a surrounding outer platform which remained unmoved, marked out by a safety stripe on the floor. A large crowd of dragons remained on the edge of the hangar--friends and family who were bidding the fledgling hunters farewell. Nerlin took a few seconds to spot his parents amongst the crowd, and he waved his wing at them. Pyxis also waved at her brothers, though Nerlin wasn't quite about to see where they were.

An aircrew drake was standing by the hangar's side, operating a control panel which presumably controlled the hangar doors and the launch clamps. With the doors open and the clamps retracted, the drake climbed up onto a higher platform (which also ran all around the hangar sides around its middle instead of at the bottom) and then jumped straight onto_Majestic_'s top deck. As Nerlin and Pyxis watched, the aircrew drake strolled away and into the airship's bridge.

Almost immediately, _Majestic_began to descend out of its hangar. The sudden sensation of dropping made Nerlin jump. His tail twitched against Pyxis's, and he snapped his wings half open before catching himself. The airship dropped smoothly downwards past the open hangar bay doors, and the tall metallic walls gave way to open space all around.

The moment they had cleared out of the hangar, a gusty breeze hit from the side. Scales were ruffled and Pyxis's neck frill was blown sideways, but the airship compensated for the wind shear with ease. Out of the bright but enclosed hangar, they dropped into thick dark clouds. The lights from the hangar were still shining downwards through the cloudy weather, and the beams of_Majestic's_ lights were clearly visible cutting through the clouds.

Now that they had cleared out of the hangar, Majestic smoothly halted its descent and began to push forwards through the air. With thick clouds still surrounding them, it was impossible to see the ground far below over which Avaeria (and now_Majestic_) was flying, but looking upwards revealed the city's underside.

The airship dockyards were a vast array of boxy hangars in which airships were built, housed, and maintained, though on the outside all that was visible was numerous closed doors all with numbers painted on them to indicate the hangar numbers. They had just launched out of hangar 143, as became evident when the open hangar doors swung closed behind them. The dockyards were located near the centre of Avaeria, close to the middle of the entire city. Quickly_Majestic_ began to move outwards, moving away from its launch hangar and passing beneath various other hangars, some of them much larger than the one they'd just departed.

Looking back upwards, the city itself was another sight to marvel at. At such a short distance it was impossible to see the full scale of Avaeria's construction, but the dockyards alone were a sight to behold, and activity was clearly visible all across the city. Just like the upper side of Avaeria, numerous flags and windsocks flapped gallantly in the breeze, constantly indicating the wind speed and direction.

The city had no restriction on airspace and none of this was new to Nerlin, though he didn't often come to the lower decks to see the full extent of the city's activity. Here it was a barely controlled chaos that mirrored Avaeria's busy upper side. Just as there were buildings built onto Avaeria's topside, there were also buildings built under the city's underside, hanging downward like stalactites. Dragons with scales of every imaginable hue and wearing harnesses of numerous different colours were flying from point to point, dropping from the city into the early morning skies below to make their way around as work, school, and life started for the day.

However, unlike the city's upper side, one key difference here was that at least half a dozen airships were flying in and out of the docks, arriving or departing to other sectors of the city to transport supplies, goods, or other cargo. The airships were all going in different directions, and their lights cast our halos of light in the nearby clouds. The floodlights of active hangars also threw out their own areas of illumination, though most hangars were quiet and dark.

Majestic continued moving through the air and they was soon passing out of the dockyard boundaries. They passed close by two other airships on their way out; one was headed for an open hangar bay illuminated with landings lights, while the other had taken off a few minutes ago and was heading out of the docks ahead of_Majestic_. There were also dragons flying in various directions and at several altitudes, although they all carefully steered clear from the massive metallic airships.

Nerlin spotted a flash of light from behind him, and he turned his head to look.Majestic's bridge protruded from the top of the airship, and through the windows he could barely see the outlines of the bridge crew at their posts. The flash of light came again, and Nerlin identified its source as a spotlight mounted to the mast topping the bridge. He couldn't translate the quick flashing pattern, but another airship (the one coming in for landing) signalled back with its own lights and message as they passed by.

There was something enthralling about feeling the wind and looking up at the immense bulk of the city. They were flying, but not with wings. Darkness and cloud filled the morning sky, creating an aura of mystery as the surroundings were kept partially obscured. Even though the sun ought to be rising by now, they were still in Avaeria's shadow, and the thick clouds kept the surroundings dim.

Within a few minutes _Majestic_had left the dockyards behind, and soon enough they passed out of the busy city centre. If they had been on Avaeria's top deck, then industrial factories, commercial markets, and residential apartment towers would all have been visible as they flew out. Instead there were lesser buildings, mostly just access pathways for dragons to conveniently move from one place on the city's upper side to another.

As they headed out through the city's airspace, Majestic's thrusters created a constant dull rumble, and their super cold temperatures left a thin line of condensation trailing behind them and marking the path they'd flown.

Time seemed to pass quickly as the two fledglings watched the city above and occasionally made comments or shared conversation. Pyxis took out her pocket watch from her harness and checked the time every now and then. It took three-quarters of an hour, but suddenly the steel and glass architecture of the city ended and suddenly the whole airship was shrouded in diffuse white light. They were still covered in clouds, yet now they were no longer in the city's shadow.

For a few seconds the clouds continued billowing by, and then_Majestic_ broke free into open air. The sudden glare of day made Pyxis squint her eyes, but after adjusting to the brightness, she smiled at the sudden beauty. White wispy clouds rolled across a wide blue sky, with the yellow-white sun just barely climbing over the horizon. The land far below held vast endless plains and rolling hills, with lush green forests in the far distance, and a huge lake that sparkled in the sun just off to the south. Flying so far above the world, they could see an incredible distance in all directions and it was a sight that took her breath away.

Majestic had finally left the city and they were headed for the Outer Colonies. Hardly any other dragons were in the air here. Nerlin took in a deep breath of the crisp morning air, and he glanced back one last time.Majestic was a medium-sized airship, but even the largest freight haulers were tiny compared to Avaeria itself--the City of Wings.

In faraway parts of the world, centaurs, humans, mantises, and numerous other sapient species had made their mark, building countless cities and spreading their civilizations far and wide. In comparison, the drakken only had one city, but it was a city like none other.

Avaeria was an immense flying island built from metal and stone, resembling a flattened bipyramid or a huge metallic flower which floated through the clouds. Thousands of buildings were built into and onto the city's upper and lower surfaces, with numerous dragons flying from point to point. The city was still shrouded in clouds, but even the scant few portions which were visible revealed its immense size.

Unthinkably powerful enchantments of stone, electrical, and ice magic kept Avaeria afloat in a similar manner to which_Majestic_ was pushing its way through the sky. Avaeria was synonymous with drakken civilization, for whom else but the dragons could have engineered a flying city? What other civilization would even have tried?

Now that they were clear of the city, Nerlin saw Pyxis reach into her flight harness and take out her compass. Sure enough, they were now flying northwest, heading away from the flying City of Wings, and out towards the Outer Colonies.

"Look, you can see the field tremors already," Nerlin said, pointing at the compass Pyxis was holding.

"That's just my paw trembling," Pyxis replied. "Field tremor isn't something you can see in a compass. You can only_feel_ it."

"Is that so? Hmm."

Field tremor was something unique to drakken civilization. In a manner completely unlike how dragons flew, Avaeria (and all drakken airships) used powerful magnetic fields to keep themselves afloat and flying. These magnetic fields were strong enough that they could easily be sensed by a dragon's natural compass, but for an airship this was only a very short ranged effect. In comparison, Avaeria's immense size required incredibly powerful propulsion systems, with a corresponding huge effect.

There was an old saying which dated to the founding of Avaeria, "A dragon can always find home", and this was literally true. Even while far out in the Outer Colonies, dragons could always find the city. The sheer strength of Avaeria's propulsion systems sent huge ripples through the planetary magnetic field, and the internal compasses of dragons could detect that slight distortion caused by the city's flight.

Nerlin had felt this before when he'd left the city for training hunts, and now he could feel it again. His internal compass was giving him the direction of north, but he could also feel that instinctive direction trembling and giving him a weaker, intermittent signal pointing right behind him and towards the city. That was_field tremor_, also commonly called the call for home--an instinctive knowledge of the direction for home, a serendipitous by-product of Avaeria's very nature as a flying city.

The City of Wings was so powerful that it's presence could be felt throughout drakken territory, but now they were leaving Avaeria behind. Saying goodbye to the high city of the drakken, and saying hello to freedom and wilderness.

"Raaayh!" Someone near the front of the airship let out a roar, and many of the other hunters quickly joined in with their own voices.

Nerlin straightened up and added his own roar to the proud cheering sound. "Yaah!"

"Rahh... Ahem." To Nerlin's surprise, Pyxis roared as well, although she did stop earlier and glance away, looking embarrassed from having raised her voice.

Suddenly feeling emboldened, Nerlin unfurled his wings and pretended to stretch them. But then instead of closing his left wing, he wrapped the limb around Pyxis's shoulders. She leaned against his side and hummed, sounding pleased at the close contact.

Their adventure had begun.

After the thrill of the initial takeoff had worn off, and seeing endless forests, plains, and lakes all around had stop being quite as amazing, the top deck was mostly vacated as the hunters returned to the mess hall for breakfast.

Food was cooked from the airship's galley (which was directly next to the mess) and served hot. it tasted surprisingly good, given that all of the food was either deep frozen through frost enchantments or preserved by drying. Nerlin learned this when he spoke with the airship's chef as he was spooning out food to their trays.

Their first day on-board _Majestic_was spent exploring the vessel (as far as was allowed) and also saying hello to all the other hunters. Having spent years together in academic classes, training hunts, and flight school, many of the young dragons were well acquainted with each other. Nerlin knew quite a few the hunters who were on the ship. And although Pyxis was shyer and less inclined to participate in a chat with people she wasn't friends with, she tagged along and occasionally joined into the conversation.

After breakfast was concluded, most of the hunters stayed in the mess hall to continue chatting and interacting. The captain hadn't been exaggerating when she'd mentioned the number of games. All sorts of tabletop games were housed in a cabinet at the side of the mess--board games, card games, games involving dice or tiles--and soon enough the young dragons had split up into several groups to play. Other fledglings headed back to their bunks, or went to the top deck to stretch their wings.

Nerlin joined a group of a dozen fledglings who were playing a game called two-fold. The game used coloured chips and numbered tiles, and its name derived from the rule that each round held increasing odds. Nerlin felt that the game was mostly based on chance, but he had to revise this opinion when Caden swept victory three times in a row.

"Luck? You wish," Caden told the fledgling next to her, on revealing that she was about to take control of all his tiles.

"Then...how? What's the tactic?" he asked, but Caden just smiled and swept all his tiles to her pile.

After losing a few more rounds, Nerlin left the game and went to go play something else. He joined Pyxis and they played a strategy game against two other pairs of hunters. The games continued until midday, when lunch was served in the mess.

After lunch, Pyxis went back to the cabin, while Nerlin stayed on and continued playing for a further hour. He eventually stopped and headed back as well. It wasn't quite the same, playing without her.

Lying in her bunk, Pyxis was enjoying an afternoon nap. The port-side curtains were drawn, covering the west-facing window and blocking out direct afternoon sunlight. Pyxis was drifting halfway between asleep and awake when she heard the cabin door open. Cracking one eyelid open, she saw that it was Nerlin. Her hunting partner had returned.

Nerlin didn't seem to realize she was awake. He quietly shut the door, and Pyxis closed her eyes again without saying anything. Listening carefully, she heard his paws tap softly against the metal floor as he walked over and past the bed. He walked over to his locker, unlocked it, and then she heard him doing_something_.

Feeling curious, Pyxis opened her eyes and turned her head to look. Nerlin was sipping from the drinking tube of his flight harness's hydration pack--a removable reservoir that stored drinking water in a special pouch. He was staring out the window watching the clouds pass by, so he hadn't noticed her attention just yet. Pyxis thought about saying hi, but somehow it seemed more fun to close her eyes again and pretend she was still asleep.

Eyes closed, she heard Nerlin shut his locker. He walked past the bed again and then the cabin door swung open and close. Pyxis listened quietly for a few moments, and on hearing nothing she opened her eyes.

Her expedition partner was gone and she was alone again. How anticlimactic--had he only come back to get a drink of water?Oh well... Pyxis tried to supress an irrational feeling of disappointment. Trying to find a comfortable position, she flipped onto her back and half-unfurled her wings, also curling her tail around her left hindleg. Then she closed her eyes and tried to go back to her nap.

Nerlin walked down the corridor, carrying his empty hydration pack in his mouth. Arriving back at the mess hall, he took the water pack and unscrewed the cap. He held the pack's opening under one of the water dispensers located at the side and began to refill it. Clean drinking water poured out of the tap, supplied from the airship's storage tanks.

When his hydration pack was fully refilled, he closed the tap's valve and replaced the pack's cap. The pack was a great deal heavier now that it was filled with water. Nerlin threw it over his shoulders and let it rest on his back, balanced between his wings. Then he headed back to the cabin.

The cabin's door still clicked as he opened it, but he tried to keep it quiet now that he knew Pyxis was taking a nap. Nerlin quietly entered the cabin and used his tail to gently push the door shut behind him. He carried his hydration pack back to his locker, but he halted as he was passing by the bunk bed. A brief glance at Pyxis had made Nerlin suddenly realize that she was sleeping on her back. Had she been resting like that before? Nerlin was reasonably certain he'd have noticed if that had been her posture, because this position very clearly showed off her underside.

Pyxis's partially unfurled wings were a deep dark blue, but her underbelly was countershaded to a pale cyan that was almost white. Nerlin's eyes darted lower, then even lower. His expedition partner's position was somewhat revealing with legs spread slightly, and he could see the cleft in her scales that marked her genital slit. Not that he hadn't ever seen a dragon's genital slit before--in fact, his own genital slit didn't look so different from hers, except that hers was lower down towards her tail and slightly shorter. Also, his scales were a plain red, whereas Pyxis's underbelly was a bluish white with a faint tinge of pink right at_that_ place.

But now there was something different about seeing Pyxis in such a manner. Nerlin swallowed nervously, yet somehow he couldn't bring himself to stop staring at her._I really shouldn't be looking there. Stop looking. Stop looking. If she wakes up, I'll be in so much trouble. This feels like something I shouldn't be doing._Curious desire contrasted against rising guilt until Nerlin finally snapped his gaze away and hurriedly walked towards his locker. He felt uncomfortable over what he'd just done, even though he hadn't really done anything. They'd hugged or entwined tails before, and he'd even kissed the side of Pyxis's snout the other week during one of their training hunts together, yet somehow all that physical contact seemed more innocent and playful than how he'd been staring at her.

It wasn't like he'd touched her while she was vulnerable or even made her feel uncomfortable, yet Nerlin still felt bad for taking advantage of Pyxis while she was sleeping--except it wasn't really taking advantage to merely stare at someone, was it? It was just anatomy. He'd always known that Pyxis had a genital slit, and she surely knew that the same was true of him. Seeing her lying on her back only confirmed the obvious facts--that Pyxis was female, and that she was (just like him) practically a grown drakken.

Nerlin tossed his hydration pack into the locker and stared at it. This seemed like a minor moral quandary. Was it wrong to stare at someone while they were sleeping? He supposed that if Pyxis was awake she would have probably have been embarrassed and covered herself with a blanket or her wings, which seemed to provide an answer. He wouldn't want her to be embarrassed or uncomfortable.

Therefore Nerlin decided that he was going to make sure that he did not stare at Pyxis again, and he was going to try his best to forget everything he'd just seen. "Think wholesome," he thought to himself, which completely didn't work. A deep primal part of him just wanted to hug Pyxis and hold her close and gently kiss her and feel her scales sliding against his, and then maybe also rub against her and listen to her softly moan as he slid his hard, stiff...

No, no, no. Stop thinking that. That is indecent. Nerlin felt a rush of warmth in one particular part of his anatomy that was_not_going to come out and was absolutely not going to get used right now. The fledgling clenched down on the muscles of his underbelly to ensure that he did not become erect. He pushed his locker door shut and walked back to the bunk bed, carrying the one book he'd decided to bring for the survival expedition in his jaws. Deliberately averting his eyes from Pyxis, he reached for the ladder and climbed up into the upper bunk to lie down and do some reading.

A moment earlier...

Pyxis had closed her eyes for no more than a few minutes when she heard the cabin door open again. Just like before, she pretended to be asleep--this was not out of a real desire to play a prank or deceive anyone, but just because she had no reason to open her eyes and reveal that she was still awake. From the footsteps she recognized the dragon as Nerlin, same as before. He walked over towards his locker again, although suddenly she heard him stop right next to where she was lying in the lower bunk.

Pyxis kept still, wondering what he was doing, but then she abruptly realized she was lying on her back with nothing covering her chest or underbelly. She remained perfectly still through sheer force of will, although it took deliberate effort to keep her neck frill from twitching. The thought that Nerlin might have seen her in an exposed position was embarrassing but also a bit exciting.Is he looking at me? Or did he just stop for another reason? Do I actually_want _him to be looking at me?

A naughty part of her imagination that she had only recently discovered went into action, creating a fantastical (and completely improbable) scenario where she opened her eyes to see Nerlin staring at her with a lewd gaze, and then she'd wink at him seductively and he'd grin back and climb into her bunk beside her so that they might do inappropriate things with and to each other. The scales on her chest and face felt warm and might have started showing a blush--Pyxis wondered if Nerlin might notice that change. Worse yet, blood rushed to her underbelly and made her feel strangely aroused.

But then Nerlin was on the move again, completing the walk to his locker. Pyxis heard the locker door swing open, and then she heard him place his hydration pack back into the locker. "So that's where he went--to go refill his water bag," she realized. Nerlin stayed at his locker for a short time, then the locker door swung shut again and he walked past the bed.

The whole bed frame shook slightly as Nerlin grabbed the ladder attached to the side of the bunk bed. As he climbed up to the upper bunk, Pyxis opened her eyes and got a good glimpse of her expedition partner's underside as he climbed up the ladder. That seemed only fair, since he'd probably gotten a good look at_her_underbelly. Her eyes were drawn to that one special, private part of Nerlin's anatomy. Was it just her imagination, or was his genital slit just a little bit swollen? How swollen could a drake's slit become before his phallus popped out and grew to full length? That would be something to see...

Probably just my imagination. I should stop fantasizing. At least her heat cycle had finished just a few days before the expedition had begun. Pyxis wasn't sure how she would have coped with sharing a cabin with Nerlin if she was getting aroused all the time by her body's natural fertility. She lowered her head to stare at her body, and then a burst of self-consciousness made her unfurl her left wing and use it to cover herself. She closed her eyes again, trying to return to her nap.

This soon turned out to be a futile pursuit, for she was completely awake now. Pyxis gave up her attempt to nap and opened her eyes. She raised her head and glanced around the room, then she noticed that the tip of Nerlin's tail was dangling from the upper bunk and hanging downwards. Feeling mildly mischievous, Pyxis quietly got up into a sitting position. Moving carefully so she made no noise and did not shake the bed frame, she sat at the end of the bed near where Nerlin's tail was hanging. Her expedition partner couldn't have fallen asleep so quickly, so she might as well have a little fun.

With a grin, Pyxis reached a forepaw up and ever so gently flicked a claw against the appendage. Nerlin's tail twitched away, and Pyxis wondered what her expedition partner was thinking. Perhaps he was unsure if he had just imagined the contact, or perhaps he hadn't even consciously noticed that something (someone) had touched his tail. Pyxis was tempted to put her head down to pretend to be sleeping, but she was only having some harmless fun, not trying to play a prank on him.

Pyxis felt her neck frill rising in amusement as she reached up again and lightly tapped Nerlin's tail a second time. This time his tail coiled up slightly at the contact, and she had to supress a giggle. There was something very childish about what she was doing, but she did it anyway. Nerlin's tail stayed coiled for a few seconds, then his muscles relaxed again and it unravelled. Dragon's tails were prehensile and capable of grasping objects with dexterity (although not with too much strength), so most dragons did use their tails as ink brushes to write.

When Pyxis raised her paw and lightly poked the tail a third time, she finally got a response. Nerlin's tail coiled up, then it uncoiled, then less than a second later it coiled up again and Pyxis heard her expedition partner moving about on the bed above her. Nerlin stuck his head over the edge of the bunk bed (which had no railing), and glanced down to stare at her. "Oh, you're awake!" he said.

"I've been awake for quite a while," Pyxis replied.

"Did you touch my tail?"

"Maybe. So what are you doing up there?" Pyxis asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Just reading a book. It's called Grounded."

"What's it about?"

"Alternate history. It's a story about the great wars, except that in the story we lost the fight instead of drawing a stalemate, so all the dragons are enslaved by the centaurs and the humans. It's... it's pretty good stuff. The story is about this fledgling who is born in captivity and never even get to learn how to use his wings, but he secretly practices gliding and flying. If the humans catch him they'll break his wings, but if he actually flies he can try to escape."

"Sounds dark. Can I borrow it after you're done?"

"Sure," Nerlin said, nodding his head. "So what are you doing down there?" he asked, in much the same tone as she'd asked him.

"Not much. I was trying to sleep, but that's not really working so I guess I'll read too." Pyxis slid off her bunk and went to her locker. She took out her book (they had been advised to bring some form of lightweight entertainment for the airship flight out), and she sat back down on her bed.

"What's your book about?" asked Nerlin.

"Pirates! It's about the Airguard crackdown on piracy that happened a hundred years ago. There are all these detailed descriptions of airship-to-airship combat, along with aerial duels between dragons. I don't know if it's very accurate, but it's definitely exciting."

"Hopefully _Majestic_doesn't get boarded by pirates, or we'll get to find out exactly how historically accurate your book is. We should swap books once we're both done reading." Nerlin raised his head and lay back down on his front to continue reading.

"Good idea." Pyxis flipped open to her bookmark and tried to read, but after a few minutes she got distracted by Nerlin's tail, which was still dangling over the side of the upper bunk. She batted the appendage and watched it swing from left to right, but then Nerlin tugged his tail back up so it was resting entirely on the upper bunk. "Hey..." Pyxis objected.

Nerlin lowered his head to stare at her again. "Sorry, I didn't realise... At home I usually just let my tail hang off the bed, so I didn't realise I was bothering you."

"You're not bothering me. Put it back down," Pyxis demanded.

"I, uh, ok?" Lost for words, Nerlin simply did as she asked. He moved the tip of his tail so that it was dangling off the edge, and Pyxis started poking at it with her paw. "Heh. If that keeps you entertained, then carry on," Nerlin said with a chuckle. He went back to his reading, while Pyxis kept playing.

She poked and stroked Nerlin's tail, watching with amusement as his muscles twitched and the appendage coiled up in response. She tried tying his tail into a loose knot, but Nerlin straightened his tail before she could complete the loop. Pyxis tried blowing air on it, then without really thinking about it she opened her mouth and started gently gnawing on his tail, which made Nerlin let out a squeak of surprise. "Eee! That tickles!"

"Does it?" Pyxis murmured just loud enough that Nerlin would hear her. She grabbed his tail with one paw to keep it still, and then she went full in on licking and gently sucking on the appendage.

"That really does! It tickles! Ah!" groaned Nerlin, as Pyxis playfully teased him. She smiled at his discomfort, finding it amusing to hear the giggling sounds he was making. "Pyxis! Hehe...no... Let go of that. I'm sensitive when you play with it like that! Ahh...heh..."

Suddenly the cabin door swung open as a flash of orange scales sprinted into the room. "Have you heard?! Graye got his magic and--" Jarzyl suddenly paused at the sight of her two friends. "Am I interrupting something?" she asked, her vocal tone instantly switching from excited to curious.

Pyxis hurriedly took Nerlin's tail out of her mouth, and he snatched the appendage back up. "No! Nothing. We were just... reading... books," Pyxis insisted.

"Are you sure?" Jarzyl asked, her neck frill rising up around her head. She used a hindleg to push the door shut. "Because if you two want some privacy, I'll tell Caden and we'll stay out of the room. You two can have some_alone time_ until dinner. It's good to bond!"

"We're just reading. You can come in if you want," Nerlin said, although he wasn't sure if this was the correct response. He leaned his head over the bunk bed and shared an embarrassed look with Pyxis.

Jarzyl stayed at the doorway, with her tail wrapped around the door's pull bar. "Ok, I'm just going to ask. Are you two, uh, a pair? A couple? In a relationship that's more than just expedition partners and friends, I mean."

"No!" exclaimed Pyxis automatically, but even the most cursory search of her emotions forced her to reconsider this statement. "Ok,maybe? I don't know! Ask him!" She lay chest-down on the bed and wrapped her wings around her head to provide defensive protection from Jarzyl's amused grin.

"Oh? And what say you, Nerlin?" asked Jarzyl.

"Um... I think _maybe_was a good response," Nerlin said. His current relationship with Pyxis was that they were somewhere closer than friends and expedition partners, but he wasn't totally sure what that counted as. "What were you saying about Graye?" he asked, trying to change the topic.

Jarzyl shuffled her wings about on her back. "Graye got his magic. He's an acidspitter. He was eating a snack, and he choked on something and started coughing, then suddenly he spat acid on the table. Messy stuff, but I guess now he's not a fledgling anymore. Still not as cool as_this_..." A second Jarzyl suddenly materialized besides the first as their friend channelled her magic. She'd only discovered her own puppet affinity a few weeks ago, and she gladly showed it off whenever possible.

"But as I was saying," Jarzyl said, using her magical puppet to speak. "You have until dinner if you guys want to do anything. I'll tell Caden and we'll stay out."

"Don't tell Caden! We're not doing anything. We're just friends. Nothing's happening," Pyxis insisted. She was still hiding behind her wings because her scales had all gone purple from a blush again. Nerlin nodded his head in agreement with her, but Jarzyl didn't appear to believe them.

"We all know that isn't true, and these walls are pretty soundproof. As long as you don't scream, no one else will hear." Jarzyl winked at both her friends, then acting in unison, she and her puppet turned around and left the room.

After the door thumped shut, the room remained silent for a while.

"Um, so..." said Nerlin, finally breaking the silence. He hesitantly stuck his head over the side of the upper bunk.

"Nooo, don't look at me!" Pyxis squealed. She still had both her wings unfurled and mantled, forming a tent under which she was shyly hiding.

Nerlin almost chuckled in amusement, but he held in his laugh. He raised his head again so he couldn't see the lower bunk directly below him. "I'll just... go back to reading then. Sorry for embarrassing you."

"I'm not embarrassed. Not at all!" Pyxis insisted, even though this was obviously not true to both of them. She took a deep breath to try and calm her emotions, and then she returned her wings onto her back.Nothing to be shy about. "Ok, ok. I'm good. All good." Pyxis jumped off the lower bunk and stood up on her hind limbs such that her forepaws were barely resting on the upper portion of the bed frame. She let her chin rest on the mattress of the upper bunk. "Hey, uh, about what Jarzyl just said?"

"Yes?" asked Nerlin, turning to stare at her.

"I know that I said maybe, but I do like you. I don't know if I've said that before, but I'll just say it now anyway. I just wanted to, uh, make that clear. I like you, Nerlin, and I wouldn't mind if...if we did become...a couple..." Against all the odds, Pyxis managed to hold eye-contact as she said this. Her tail was nervously swishing from left to right, but now they were_talking_about this like adults! How responsible.

"I like you too, so that's fine by me. It's good to know that we're on even ground about this," Nerlin replied.

"Even ground? I'm on the floor. Hang on," muttered Pyxis. She knew that Nerlin hadn't been using the expression literally, but she used this as an excuse to jump up onto the upper bunk and sit beside him, carrying her book in her mouth. Nerlin scooted sideways to give her space. Now they were both resting on all fours, sitting side-by side with their books in their paws.

"Alright! So as I was saying, does that mean we're in relationship now? An actual, maybe serious, thing? Oh...!" Pyxis's voice trailed off as she felt Nerlin entwine his tail with hers.Nice, nice. She responded by unfurling her wing and wrapping it around Nerlin's back to pull him against her side. Their shoulders bumped against each other, and the simple physical contact was electrifying for both of the young dragons.

"I guess so," Nerlin agreed, a wide grin spreading across his face. "I just like spending time with you."

Pyxis hummed happily and leaned against his side. "Hm...thanks! This is great."

Then the two fledglings spent the rest of the afternoon lying side by side, reading quietly and enjoying each other's presence.

Later in the evening, Pyxis looked up from her novel as the airship shuddered. Staring out the window, she saw that_Majestic_ was no longer in clear air. Instead the airship was flying through thick clouds that filled the sky in all directions. Sunset would be arriving soon, although it wasn't possible to determine the exact position of the sun because of how dense the clouds were.

Pyxis turned to the side and gentled nosed at the red-scaled fledgling lying beside her. Nerlin had fallen asleep about an hour earlier and was dozing quietly. Her gentle nudge didn't seem to wake him up, but then the airship shook and the whole craft seemed to drop slightly then rise again. The sudden change in gravity was enough to wake Nerlin up with a start. "Hmm!?" he went, making a startled non-verbal exclamation.

"Hmm," Pyxis replied, humming calmly. She turned back to her book as Nerlin yawned widely.

"Is it... Is it dark already?" he asked, stretching his wings and back, although he took care not to shove Pyxis off the upper bunk they were both sharing at the moment.

"It's almost dinnertime, but not quite sunset yet. Thick clouds, low visibility," Pyxis explained, "Bad weather for a dragon to fly in, but not enough to slow down a airship."

Nerlin slumped back down again. It was very pleasant to just sit beside Pyxis and enjoy her close presence. Her scales felt warm against his, and even the smell of her was nice. "I can't even see anything. How do they fly the airship straight?" he wondered.

"If a airship can fly at night when it's dark, I'm sure clouds are no problem."

"That's different. They have nocturnal dragons in the flight crew so they can use their night eyes to see in the starlight, but even a nocturnal can't see through clouds."

"They probably rely heavily on their flight instruments. We can ask when we go visit the bridge," Pyxis said.

Suddenly there was a series of loud knocks on the cabin door. Nerlin and Pyxis both turned their heads to look. After about a dozen seconds' wait, the lock clicked and the door slowly swung open. A green-scaled fledgling--Caden--hesitantly stuck her head in, and then she pushed the door further and walked into the cabin they all shared. "Well, well, hello. Look at you two just cuddling! I hope you've finished up and are ready to go for dinner," she said, nodding her head towards the two fledglings still sitting together on the upper bunk.

Jarzyl trotted in just behind her. "You would not believe how unlucky I am at cards! I'd go broke if we gambled with real money, but Caden would make a killing," she muttered.

"I can't help it! It's not my fault I'm so very skilled. What a shame the master hunters don't let us bet with real money. Anyway, I hope you guys had more fun this afternoon than Jarz did," Caden said, speaking to Pyxis and Nerlin as she walked to her own bed. As she sat down, however, she paused and sniffed the air a few times. "Did you two actually do it?"

"Do what?" asked Pyxis.

Caden raised her forepaws vertically with both paws facing each other. She extended the claw from her right paw's middle digit, and then she clapped her paws together so that this single extended claw slid into a gap between her left paw's digits. The claw went in and out repeatedly as she moved her paws together then apart.

"Oh, so thaaat's what that gesture means!" Jarzyl exclaimed, recognition suddenly dawning on her face. "I've never thought about it, but it makes sense now."

"What? I don't get it," said Pyxis, tilted her head in genuine confusion. She raised her own forepaws and stared at them, trying to understand why Caden was making such a gesture. Pyxis was faintly aware that this was supposed to be an offensive gesture, but she didn't get the context. "What are you talking about?" She turned to Nerlin, who looked slightly uncomfortable, but he didn't explain it to her.

Caden raised her left paw--the one which had all claws retracted and also a slight gap between two digits. "This one is you, Pyx." Then she raised her right paw--the one with the middle claw extended. "And this one is Nerlin. He's normally like this..." The claw retracted back into her paw. "But then you make him go like this..." The claw slid out again. "So then I am asking if you two..." The green-scaled fledgling clapped her paws together again, sliding the extended claw between the gap, and she clicked her tongue in time with each clap.

"Huh? What?" repeated Pyxis, her neck frill rising in confusion.

"We spent the afternoon reading," Nerlin answered. He had a reasonably good idea what Caden was talking about, and it was not at all what he and Pyxis had been doing.

"I still don't know what she means," Pyxis repeated, so Nerlin leaned in and whispered an explanation into her ear. The more she listened, the more her blue scales started to flush purple with blood again. "Oh...oh...! So the claw represents your... And she means if we...? Hmm. No, we didn't, um, we didn't do that..."

Pyxis would have been totally fine (happy, even) if Nerlin had tried to seduce her during the afternoon, but she hadn't tried doing anything with him because things just didn't seem right. Sitting around and reading just felt so tenderly peaceful and calm. In comparison, when they were hunting breakhorns or mock duelling, she'd felt bold, energized, and ready to just grab Nerlin and kiss him passionately and do all the other things. But instead they'd spent the afternoon reading quietly next to each other, and in Pyxis's opinion that had been time very well spent.

Caden exchanged a look with Jarzyl. "I really cannot tell if you two are deliberately playing innocent and naïve, or if you are_actually_ that innocent and naïve. We all went for the same classes in school, so you obviously must know how sex works."

"Don't tease them. It's cute, and I think it's perfectly fine to take relationships slowly. No pressure! It makes things more fun when it actually happens," Jarzyl said, winking cheerily at Nerlin and Pyxis.

"How would _you_possibly know that? You haven't ever been in a romantic relationship!" Caden retorted.

"That is true," Jarzyl conceded, "but I'm a great expert in imaginary relationships which I've made up in my head. Also I did once read a book that contained a romance subplot; it was a minor subplot, and everyone died at the end, but still."

Caden let out a long sigh and rubbed the tip of her left horn. "Am I the only one in this room who's not a virgin? Whatever. Shall we go for dinner? The mess has begun the food service."

"Indeed! I'm hungry enough to eat a cow!" Jarzyl said. She pulled the cabin door open and stepped back out into the corridor, where she and Caden had only just come from. "Come on."

Nodding her head, Pyxis jumped off the upper bunk and landed on all four paws. "Alright. Dinner time."

Nerlin slid of the bunk and landed beside her. After locking the cabin door, they followed after Caden and Jarzyl, heading down the corridor. Pyxis let Nerlin lead the way, and she playfully nipped at his tail as she trailed behind him.

Nerlin glanced over his shoulder. "Did you just try to lift my tail?" he asked, raising an eye ridge.

"No!" Pyxis replied. She trotted forwards to walk beside Nerlin, bumping his shoulder in mock offense. "Or did you want me to say yes?" she murmured, leaning closer to whisper in his ear.

Nerlin didn't respond, but Pyxis saw him grin.

Dinner was straightforward. The mess served up roasted steak chunks from a domesticated breakhorn, mixed into a thick vegetable broth stew. Once the hunters had collected their food buckets, they sat down at the tables to eat.

Pyxis adjusted her position, pressing down on her seating cushion to get it completely level. The four fledglings were sitting down at a table with six fixed cushions placed on the floor, but with two of the seats left empty. Each expedition pair was sitting next to each other; Nerlin was sitting with Pyxis, while Jarzyl was sitting beside Caden.

Majestic was still flying through clouds, so there was little to see outside the windows. Flashes of light could be occasionally seen as the airship's navigation lights illuminated the dense clouds surrounding them, but night had fallen and it was impossible to see the sky or the ground. In comparison, the atmosphere inside the room was bright, noisy, and cheerful.

Graye, the fledgling who had just received his magical affinity, was showing off his newfound power by trying to spit acid at a target practice board. The board was placed in one corner of the room, and the nearby floor and wall was coated in thick paint which was chemically and magically unreactive to caustic spray. Acidspitting was the most common type of drakken affinity, and practicing for range or accuracy was a common hobby. Graye's aim was terrible, as expected for a dragon just learning his affinity, but no one minded as long as his acid spray didn't hit anyone. Besides all the spectators happily cheering him on, there were also several other dragons waiting for their turn to take shots at the practice board.

Pyxis counted that at least five of her fellow dragons were acidspitters. Semantically, it wasn't technically correct to refer to them as 'fledglings' anymore. Since they had magic, they were now 'drakken'.

Apparently inspired by the acidspitters, Jarzyl also put her magic on display. With a flash of light and a dull snapping sound, she created another puppet and sat it down in the seat next to Caden so that her expedition partner was surrounded by Jarzyl on both sides (one real, one just a magical copy). Jarzyl then began using the puppet to toss bread cubes over Caden's head and at herself, so she could try to catch them in her mouth.

"You are ridiculous," Caden told her.

"I am ninety percent immune to your judgemental looks, and the remaining ten percent is overruled by fun," Jarzyl replied, grinning at her friend. She tried to have her puppet throw another bread cube over Caden's head and into her mouth, but the cube just bounced of Jarzyl's snout and landed in her stew. Her game was briefly interrupted when there was a bright flash of light from the side. One of the young dragons at the target board had spat not acid, but fire. The short burst of fire hit the middle of the board, and then the flame quickly faded into nothing as a fan sucked the air away into a specially designed ventilation port. Gasps and cheers sounded through the room.

Nerlin tapped his tail against the floor, applauding the shot. "I didn't realize so many people had their magic already," he commented.

"It'll happen to everyone sooner or later. What sort of magic do you guys think you'll get?" Pyxis asked, after slurping a bit more stew from her bowl.

Nerlin wiped his snout clean with the back of his paw. "I've got no idea, really. There are just so many things you can do with every type of affinity. They all have their perks, and having any magic is better than no magic."

"Oh, oh! Ask me! I want to get firebreathing! Yeah!" Jarzyl chirped, happily raising her neck frill.

Caden shook her head and pointed towards the magical puppet. "You already have your magic?"

"I know, but I could get two different kinds of magic! That's pretty common," Jarzyl said. Statistically, two out of every five dragons had two different kind of affinity instead of just one.

"And if you do, we'll have to hope your second affinity isn't firebreath or you'll probably burn the whole city down," Caden said.

"I would! I totally would. Just burn everything to ash!" Jarzyl muttered, her voice suddenly going soft and dangerous before reverting to her normal cheery tone. "What about you, Pyxis? What magic do you want?"

Pyxis opened her mouth and blew onto her stew, briefly imagining she was spitting fire, ice, or acid instead of just exhaling air. "I think healing would be nice? The medical centre could always use more healers. You could do a lot of good with that sort of affinity."

"There's a reasonable chance you could get healing, isn't there? Since your brother is a healer?" Nerlin asked.

"It is sort of hereditary, so yes. I have a better chance than average," Pyxis agreed.

"Hey, hey. Pyx! Speaking of your brothers, they were those brown-scaled drakes who were at the hangar this morning seeing you off, right? The twins?" Caden interjected.

Pyxis nodded. "Yeah. Why?"

"I saw you three teleport into the hangar this morning. So you mean that one of your brothers has healing affinity, and the other has displacer affinity? Both of them have rare types of magic?"

Pyxis nodded again. "They just got lucky, I guess."

"Mm hmm." Caden took a swig from the bottle she'd been drinking from. "You should totally introduce me to them. They're_hot_. Good pairs of wings on the both of them, and rare magic too."

It took Pyxis a few moments to process this remark. "Uh, what's in that bottle Caden? Are you tipsy?"

Caden gladly passed the bottle to Nerlin, who took a look at the label. "This is... fruit juice. Rainbow melon and sourberry," he said, reading from the bottle's label. He took a sniff, but the bottle really did just contain juice.

"I'm not tipsy. I get high from social situations and being surrounded by friends. My mouth goes all silly," Caden said. "But seriously, are your brothers single? Because I'd totally court them! Healers make lots of money. Displacers too."

"Money and looks? Is that all you're looking for in a relationship?" Jarzyl asked, leaning her puppet against Caden's side.

Caden casually used her paw to push Jarzyl's puppet away. "Of course not! I'm not_that_ shallow. But everyone has to start somewhere, and there's nothing wrong with liking a person with a career and a desirable body. I'm not planning to stay single for the next century, and if I date enough drakes, eventually I'll find one who clicks. So which of your brothers would you recommend, Pyxis? Help me out here."

Pyxis shrugged her wings. "You can't ask me to rank my brothers! They're both great guys. Fadris is a healer who works in the medical centre, while Maltus is a displacer who works in Enforcement. I think they're both single right now."

"Fadris is friendly and he helped to top up my healing crystal, but Maltus is scarier. He threatened to turn me inside out if I hurt Pyxis," commented Nerlin, recalling his experience meeting Pyxis's brothers.

"He's not scary!" Pyxis insisted immediately, "Maltus is just a bit... intimidating? Okay, maybe he's a bit scary, but that's only until you get to know him."

"Protective is nice, and scary isn't bad. A bit of rough play can be fun, so scary isn't necessarily a bad thing unless it goes too far and becomes psychotic. I don't want crazy. Jarzyl just about hits my limit for crazy," said Caden. She tapped one of her claws against her stew bucket. "Hey, I wonder if they'd both do me at once. Is that a thing they do, since they're twins?"

"Ok that is where I draw the line. Making introductions is one thing, organizing a threesome is quite another," Pyxis decided. She would be alright with her friend choosing to try and romance one of her siblings, but the mental thought of her brothers both mounting Caden at once was...uncomfortable.

"Relax! I'm joking. Mostly." Caden took her bottle back from Nerlin and took another sip of her fruit juice. "But I wasn't joking about wanting an introduction to one or both of the twins. I've got a thing for drakes with strong, powerful wings. I'd happily date Nerlin if he wasn't already claimed."

"Yeah, he's got nice wings," Pyxis agreed, making the fledgling in discussion look away modestly, but then Pyxis paused and frowned in confusion. "Wait, Nerlin is claimed? By who?"

"Um...aha..." Nerlin coughed awkwardly, but Caden and Jarzyl both looked like they were trying to avoid laughing.

Jarzyl couldn't hold in her amusement. Her puppet let out a snigger, which made the actual Jarzyl burst out into giggling laughter. "Pfft! Hehe... By you, silly! Hahaha... This is really something. You two are just so sweet with each other, you know that?"

"Oh. Riiight..." Pyxis felt her neck frill flatten in embarrassment, and she bent down to finish off the rest of her stew. "I didn't consider myself. I'm not good at social interaction, let alone an actual relationship. Sorry..."

"It's easy stuff, trust me," Caden insisted. She waved her bottle about in the direction of the two fledglings. "I speak from personal experience! If my parents can somehow make it work, then just about anyone can."

"Sounds like you got some parental issues you need to work through?" suggested Nerlin.

Caden shook her head and took another swig from her bottle of fruit juice. "You have got no idea. Seriously, don't get me started. Two clans' worth of politics is just the_worst_. Anyway, I'm sure you and Pyxis will get along fine. You two seem to really click."

Jarzyl tapped Caden's side excitedly. "Do I get to give advice too?"

"Is it good advice?"

"Yeah!" Jarzyl turned to nod at Pyxis and Nerlin. "Show affection!"

Pyxis wrapped her tail around herself and nervously chewed on the tip of the appendage, then she slowly leaned towards Nerlin until her shoulder bumped against his. "Does this count?" she asked. Nerlin leaned back into her, so they were both resting against each other's sides. It was pleasant.

Caden smiled and inclined her head. "It does. Could do more, though. You two should kiss."

Leaning forwards, Jarzyl watched her two friends closely. "Yeah, do that! Kiss!"

"No! Not in front of everyone..." Pyxis muttered. The mess was filled with activity. Many other hunters had finished their dinner and were moving on to chatting or playing games. There was only the four of them at this table, but that didn't mean she was going to openly display affection. "Everyone will see it if we do..." She glanced towards Nerlin, and her mind flipped-flopped between whether this was a great idea or a terrible one.

"Nerlin, you can do it too--kiss her!" Jarzyl said, turning to the other fledgling and nodding encouragingly.

Just like Pyxis, Nerlin was also unsure if he ought to do as their friends suggested. He wouldn't mind the act, but it seemed like such a bold forward move to make, especially if Pyxis was looking flustered and embarrassed again. He also had no experience or idea about how this would work, or what he was supposed to do. "You don't need to do anything you don't want to," he said to Pyxis, trying to reassure her.

"I know! But I kind of _want_to. Hmrrr..." Pyxis hummed and wiped her snout clean using a paw, but then indecision made her lean away and wrap her wings around herself defensively. Nerlin followed her lead, and both of the fledglings sat next to each other quietly. Both of them wanted to do the same thing, but neither dared to act on their shared infatuation.

After their tense hesitation stretched on for a full quarter minute, Caden shook her head in frustration. "You have got to be_kidding_ me. There is so much sexual tension between you two that I'm getting frustration just by watching you two flirt with each other. Don't be so ashamed! It's just a kiss, it's not like you two are going to start mounting each other in public. Can one of you just take the lead and be assertive?"

"But, but kissing? It's like we're showing everyone!" Pyxis countered.

"So? We're all young and on an adventure. There's no better time to make mistakes! Pyxis, you like Nerlin, right?" Caden said.

"Yeah..." said the fledgling with scales of dark ocean blue.

"And as for you, Nerlin? You like Pyxis, right?" Caden asked.

"Yeah..." said the fledgling with scales of warm crimson red.

Caden raised her paws and waved them around. "So therefore...?"

"I don't know. I've never... kissed... anyone before..." Pyxis stammered, unable to make eye contact with Nerlin.

"Me neither, unless you count a kiss on the cheek. Which I have done. With you. In the forest, uh, during that training hunt," Nerlin said, his words coming out haltingly. "But not a_real_ kiss."

Jarzyl flicked her neck frill up and down in exasperation. "It's not difficult! Both of you lean in and put your snouts together. You have to angle your head to the side otherwise only the tips of your muzzles will touch. Just sort of lightly touch lips and maybe a little bit of tongue if you're feeling adventurous. Don't force it, don't keep your eyes open, and don't act like your trying to regurgitate food into the other person's mouth," she explained.

Caden cast a sceptical look to her expedition partner. "You're a bubbling spring of advice, aren't you, Jarz? Have you ever even kissed anyone before?"

"No, but I've had practice!" In unison, both Jarzyl and her magical puppet winked.

"You kissed your own puppet?" Nerlin asked.

Jarzyl nodded her head and flashed a mischievous grin. "Oh, yeah! Wouldn't you, if you had puppet affinity? And I've done more than just_kissing_. I can give you advice on other things to do with your tongue..."

"Ok, ok, don't say it!" Pyxis took a deep breath and tried to muster up her courage. But before she dared to do anything, a grey-scaled fledgling walked over to the table and interrupted the conversation.

"Hey, we need a few more people for a game of stratenon. Any of you want to join?" asked the new arrival.

Caden sighed quietly at the disruption. She tapped the back of her head between her two horns. "Times like this, I wish I had a neck frill or crest just so I could droop it dramatically to better express the vast magnitude of my disappointment," she muttered.

Jarzyl jumped to her feet. "I'll join! Just let me return my bucket. Are you guys done with dinner? I can return the buckets." She walked her puppet over to take everyone's empty food buckets and eating utensils. Jarzyl sent her puppet trotting over to the kitchen to return the eating implements, while the real Jarzyl stayed at the table. It was a simple but obvious demonstration of how useful her specific type of magic was.

Caden nodded to the grey-scaled fledgling. "Count me in, Knaster. I'll go for at least a few rounds."

"Let's do it." Knaster walked back over to the other table, where a large game sheet filled with maps and locations was being spread across the table top by another dozen or so hunters.

Caden gestured to the remaining two fledglings. "Nerlin, Pyx, are you guys joining the game? Or are you going to go back to the cabin, since I guess you aren't going to kiss in public?"

"Ho! Then you guess wrong!" exclaimed Pyxis. Feeling a sudden and unexpected surge of boldness, she leaned over towards Nerlin and hastily kissed the side of his snout, licking his cheek with the tip of her tongue. "There. Hehe..." she giggled, feeling a shudder run down her back.

Nerlin couldn't help but grin and laugh in return. "Ha, so we're equal now."

Neither Jarzyl nor Caden said anything, but they both nodded approvingly and turned to walk towards the other table where the game was being set up. Pyxis stood up to head over as well. Nerlin nipped at her tail as she went, then he followed after the others.

The next morning, Pyxis was the first of the four to wake up. Opening her eyes, she could barely see around the darkened cabin. The ceiling lights had been switched off before they'd gone to sleep (late, after playing many rounds of games late into the night), but now there was the faintest glow of sunlight coming from the windows, enough to barely make out the sky against the horizon. Pyxis blinked her eyes and laid her head back down to sleep, but after some time spent tossing and turning, she shrugged off her blanket and got up.

Sliding off the lower bunk, the fledgling winced as the cold metal floor stung her paw pads. Moving quietly so she didn't wake up her three roommates, she went over to her locker and picked up her pocket watch. The small timepiece fit neatly in her paw, and she had to angle it towards the window so that the dim light allowed her to make out the clock face. To her surprise, it was actually slightly later in the morning than she'd expected and the sun should already have been higher in the sky. Pyxis pondered this conundrum for a few seconds until she remembered they were in an airship. Since they'd been flying westwards, the sun would set and rise later.

Walking towards the window, she could barely make out the outline of the land far below them. Since they were no longer flying through dense clouds, she had a clear view to the ground. Yesterday's sweeping plains had been replaced by rolling hills and meandering rivers. Pyxis brought out the map she'd been issued at the start of the expedition. Her chart detailed the north-western regions of drakken-controlled territory, showing details such as terrain features, farms and settlements, and also expected wind directions for this time of year.

In the increasing light of dawn, Pyxis compared what terrain features she could make out against those she could see on the map. The City of Wings had been near the centre of all drakken-controlled territory, which corresponded to the bottom-right of the map. The airship was flying towards the north-western areas, and the expedition was going to start when they were dropped off just past the mountain range that ran from the top-middle of the map, diagonally down to the left.We fly for two days and two nights in an airship. It's the morning after the first night, so we should be halfway there.

Navigation was a trickier concept that might be expected, and many fledglings found it one of the hardest subjects in flight school. Now Pyxis used the position of the sun and compared that against her natural sense of direction to try and estimate their location. The natural compasses of dragons were essential for them to navigate, in more ways than just one. For example, in this scenario it obviously let Pyxis know the exact north-western heading on which_Majestic_ was flying, which let her make a guess at its flight path. However if she concentrated hard, Pyxis could also sense a steady, rhythmic deviation in her internal compass--that was field tremor, the effect of Avaeria's flight. That deviation let her guess the approximate direction of Avaeria compared to her current position, which gave yet another data point for her to estimate their position.

Pyxis tapped a spot on the map where she estimated they were. Although even the swiftest airship's thrusters could only propel it half as fast as a dragon's top flight speed,Majestic_had the advantage of being able to fly nonstop. Day and night the airship flew, unhindered by darkness or weather. In addition, the survival expedition would involve_Majestic flying over a tall mountain range that dragons would have difficulty crossing over by wing.

Pyxis felt a shudder of excitement run down her back. We're on an adventure! She inhaled deeply and let it out through her mouth. Her breath formed a patch of condensation on the cabin window, and when she wiped it away, she was surprised by how cool the glass felt under her paw. As far as she knew, an airship did not cruise any higher then Avaeria would (since the City of Wings used the exact same methods of thruster propulsion to fly), so why was it so cold? Pyxis supposed that this was because they were flying northwards, further from the equator. Perhaps the temperature was also dropping because their altitude was increasing as they flew over boreal forest hills and prepared to cross over the snowy mountain ranges which were still not yet visible.

Hearing the click of claws against metal, Pyxis turned her head to see that Nerlin was awake and climbing down the ladder that ran along the side of the bunk bed. "Good morning," he said, on noticing that he had her attention.

"Morning," replied Pyxis, smiling as Nerlin walked up beside her and sat down.

"Hmm... I see hills," he muttered, yawning widely. Seeing the map resting on the floor, he pulled the chart closer and frowned at it. "Can I see that? Where are we?"

"You see that lake? I think we're right here." Pyxis pointed out the window, then she tapped on her map to indicate their current location. Her paw happened to brush against Nerlin's, and they both smiled at the contact. Without looking, Nerlin entwined his tail with hers again.

In the quiet darkness of dawn, it was just the two of them. The only sound in the room was the gentle rhythmic hum of the airship's thrusters. Moving a little closer, Pyxis could see into Nerlin's dark brown eyes. And if only she moved just a bit closer, her muzzle would touch his. That would be a real proper kiss, not just kissing the side of his snout.

Pyxis took a deep breath, and then she turned her head sharply and looked behind them. Caden was also awake, and she was curiously watching the two of them from her own bunk. "Good morning," said the dark green fledgling, when they both stared at her. "Don't mind me, I'm just sitting here."

Nerlin and Pyxis glanced to each other, and then they both stood up and headed to their own lockers. Nerlin started drinking from his water pack, while Pyxis took her toothbrush and toothpaste and headed out of the cabin and towards the airship's washrooms.

"Grmmpfh... No... Is bright... is... Turn off the sun... Turn it off... Close the curtains... Bright..." Jarzyl mumbled, raising a wing and wrapping it around her head.

Their journey to the Outer Colonies continued as it had the previous day. Neither the master hunters nor the airship's crew imposed any sort of schedule or programme, so the young dragons were free to spend their time as they wished.

After breakfast, Pyxis and Nerlin went up to the Majestic's top deck along with three other hunters (though not Jarzyl or Caden). At the top of the circular stairway, instead of heading out into the open-air viewing gallery, they went to the bridge. A member of the aircrew let them in after a quick knock on the door, and then they got their first good look at the bridge.

"Welcome to the bridge," said the drakken who'd come to open the door and let them in.

Nerlin was surprised by how few dragons were here. He'd imagined that the bridge would busy and filled with activity, but in reality it was just a simple room. Huge windows provided a clear panoramic view in every direction, but not much seemed to be happening. No one even seemed to be holding any sort of central stick or wheel which might control the airship's flight. Two drakken were sitting at their stations, looking over consoles filled with detailed instrument panels and various switches, dials, and buttons. The drake who'd let them in walked over to his own console and sat down. "Have any of you ever been on an airship bridge before?"

The young hunters all answered in the negative, so the crew member shrugged his shoulders. "Alright then, I guess this is a minor learning experience. Maybe some of you will go work in Transport Division when you're grown up--it's a good job if you like travel.Majestic is zenzic-class. Six thruster clusters powered by a sapphire point-cut power core. Flight control is handled from the bridge, where we are. Questions?"

"How come there are so few people here? I thought that you had a crew of twenty?" Nerlin asked.

"We do, but you don't need twenty people in the bridge to fly an airship.Majestic is a moderate size craft, but flight control can be handled by one or two drakken. We need five for complex operations like landing and take-off, but only two during cruise. One person watches the horizon, one person watches the instruments. We have three for redundancy in case someone needs to take a toilet break." The crew member patted his instrument console, gesturing to all the different panels. "Mostly all we do on the bridge is monitor systems, but out here in the open air? There's nothing for us to see or avoid. In the city you've got tons of obstacles, but here all we need to do is make sure we don't fly off course. Makes sense, yes?"

"Where's the captain?" asked another one of the young dragons, "Doesn't she oversee the airship?"

The crew member shook his head. "Captain's just another person like you or me. She needs to sleep, don't she? We have three shifts--each shift commands the bridge twice every day. Same with engineering down in the power core. They've got the same shifts, with a pair of engineers maintaining the core. The only aircrew not on shift is the steward."

"The steward?" asked Nerlin.

"Yeah, him. He's the one who cooks your food. He doesn't need to be cooking food at every hour, so no reason for him to take shifts. Makes sense, yeah?"

"Oh. Yes."

"He's a great guy. Most important drakken on this ship. It's rare to find someone who can turn fleet rations into something edible, let alone something that tastes good. Any other questions?"

"How do you actually fly the ship?" Pyxis asked.

The crew member pointed to two control sticks on both sides of the control console. "Flight sticks right here. They send signals to the thrusters, which adjust their output accordingly. Two sticks gives the full six degrees."

"Six degrees?" asked Nerlin.

"Six degrees. Up down, forward back, left right. That's three..." The crew member raised his paw and demonstrated by moving his paw in several directions. "And then you got pitch, row, and yaw. That's other three, which makes six. Unlike you, me, or any other dragon, griffin, or airborne bird, this airship can fly in any direction. You can't fly backwards, but_Majestic_ can."

"So you can fly this airship backwards? What about upside down? Or pointing straight up?"

"Sort of. Not really. Thruster layout is optimized for flying forwards and right-way up. Anything else is pushing limits of the crystals."

"So can we do a loop?"

"Yaw axis? Easily. Pitch or roll axes? No. It would strain the power core and stress the thrusters to use them in non-standard configurations. An Airguard interceptor could handle it easily, but this is just a passenger transport. We fly straight and level. Now as you might know, airship thruster crystals use superconducting current loops to push against the planetary magnetic field..."

And so on. The questions continued, with the hunters allowed to roam about the bridge and look around, although they were told not to touch anything. Along with the other young dragons, Pyxis and Nerlin spent about an hour asking questions and seeing how_Majestic_ was controlled. They were even allowed to sit at the active flight console and try manoeuvring the airship around, although they were only allowed to make minor turns, rather than trying out anything more drastic. By the time they'd run out of things to ask about, their knowledge in this area had been considerably improved.

Looking out the bridge's window and seeing the bright morning sky, Nerlin decided that he wanted to stretch his wings. Six other young dragons were already in the air around_Majestic_, flying in large circles around the craft and swooping up and down. "I'm going to go join them outside," he told the drake who'd let them into the bridge.

The crew member nodded his head. "Go ahead. Don't get too far though. We'll flash the lights at you if you're getting too distant."

"Got it." Nerlin turned to Pyxis (who was speaking with another crew member at a different console) and waved at her. "Hey, I'm going to go fly. Want to come?"

Pyxis didn't even have to think about her answer. She said a quick goodbye to the drakka she was speaking with and thanked her for the chat, and then she trotted over towards her expedition partner. "What's going on? Where are we going?"

"Nowhere. I just want to spread my wings and feel the air," Nerlin said, partially unfurling his wings and flapping them. "Fly with me?" he asked.

"Oh, I'd love to," Pyxis agreed.

The two fledglings left the bridge, which now had about a dozen hunters just watching the airship fly or asking questions to the crew, and they headed out to the viewing gallery. The moment they stepped through the doorway, a strong breeze hit from the side.

Nerlin opened his wings and twisted them; instead of using the wind to pull himself into the air, he used the rushing air to push himself down and let his paws get a good grip. "Whoa, that's nice! Good day to fly!"

Pyxis turned her head to face the wind, so that her neck frill didn't get blown to the side. "Windy..."

"Yeah!" Nerlin took a quick look around to check that he had space to take off, then he flapped his wings hard and jumped straight upwards. He instantly caught the breeze and lifted away before turning smoothly to roll off the side of the airship.

Pyxis walked to the side of the top deck and stared over the edge. She could see Nerlin swooping around in the air below the ship, and as she watched, he flapped his wings and climbed sharply. The red-scaled dragon flew right towards her, only averting his course at the last second. "Come on, Pyxis!" he yelled, adding a proud trumpeting call to the end of his yell. "Skkr-yah!"

Pyxis hesitated, then she returned his squawking call and leapt into the air. "Yah!" Her wings caught the breeze and her breath caught in her throat as she took to the sky. She turned and flew towards Nerlin, but he sped up so that she couldn't quite catch up with him. Pyxis didn't think twice--instantly she sped up her own wingbeats to chase after him.

Gliding through the air, Nerlin started executing a series of aerobatic manoeuvres, and Pyxis challenged herself to stay on his tail the whole way through. Nerlin rolled, spun sharply, and even climbed upwards before suddenly inverting briefly into a steep dive, but Pyxis managed to keep up with him for most of the way. She wasn't sure if Nerlin was genuinely trying to outfly her, or if he was at times deliberately slowing down so that she could catch up.

They wove left and right, their flight paths crossing and interweaving like a pair of sinusoids. Red, then blue, then red again--it was hard to know who was really chasing who. In turn they both alternated between leading and following in their dance across the sky.

Nerlin kept looking back over his shoulder to see if Pyxis was still following him, but then suddenly she was nowhere to be seen. He felt a flash of confusion, but then the moment he looked back forwards again, Pyxis swooped up from under him and pulled into a tight loop that ended with her flying just above and behind him. "Yrah!" called the blue-scaled fledgling in a proud challenging manner that was not so dissimilar to the tone she'd used two weeks ago, just before they'd started mock duelling.

That flash of memory brought a fresh surge of energy to Nerlin's muscles. He flapped his wings quickly to pick up speed, then he climbed just as Pyxis had and looped so that their positions ended up inverted. He was flying barely over and behind her. "Hah!" he called.

Suddenly Pyxis hit a portion of turbulent air and her altitude increased, or perhaps Nerlin hadn't been paying attention and he'd flown into her wake, but the end result was that their separation abruptly disappeared and they almost crashed into each other.

Nerlin snapped his wings hard to avoid the collision. "Careful!" he called, but it was too late. Pyxis was below and in front of him, so she couldn't see him in time to make an evasive manoeuvre. The fledglings didn't quite_crash_ into each other, but Nerlin's forepaws brushed against Pyxis's lower back, and her tail bounced off his underbelly.

"Oh!" exclaimed Pyxis.

"Sorry, sorry!" said Nerlin. "Watch your wings!"

Pyxis immediately stopped flapping her wings and held the steady so that she wouldn't strike them against Nerlin's wings. They were left awkwardly tangled up with each other, with Nerlin's chest half pressed up against Pyxis's back. "Did you do that on purpose?"

"No! I was trying to do a loop," Nerlin replied. He tried to roll to the left and move away from her, but his attempts did not take into account Pyxis's own attempt to clear the conflict. She had tried to roll to the right, so their left wings both collided. The interference of airflow immediately stalled both their wing surfaces. "I'm so sorry--oof!" Nerlin grunted, as his chest knocked against Pyxis's back.

"Get off my back!" Pyxis said, trying to regain flight control, but every time she flapped her left wing it would collide with Nerlin's left wing and they'd both stall. The two fledglings spiralled down through the air; and it took them a few seconds for them to disengage and completely recover. They tumbled, then finally separated and flew apart in different directions.

"Sorry! I'm sorry! I couldn't...react in time," Nerlin yelled, as he straightened out his flight path and flew towards Pyxis.

"It's my fault! I didn't realize... should have checked my blind spot before climbing. Wow, that was exciting," Pyxis replied. She could feel her hearts pounding in her chest from the brief collision, but she was feeling more thrill than fear.

"That was dangerous. Sorry," Nerlin said again. The two fledglings levelled off their flight and flew side by side, no longer attempting their aerobatics.

"No problem! We're fine. It was fun; just a little excitement," Pyxis assured him, speaking in short bursts as she caught her breath. They had only lost a little altitude from their near collision, and they were still high enough above to ground to be easily safe. Flying stunt aerobatics was an entirely different matter from just flying from point to point, especially if there were two or more dragons flying together. Of course, the point of aerobatic pair flying was to fly close but_avoid_ colliding; unless this was an altogether different type of flight which required much, much more physical contact with your flight partner. And Pyxis suspected that mating flights were just an urban legend, rather than something which dragons actually did. Not that she would do such a thing with Nerlin...not yet, at least.

Suddenly _Majestic_started flashing its lights at them. During the course of their flight the fledglings had gotten some distance away from the airship. Nerlin estimated that they were no more than five minutes' flight away, but apparently this was as far as they were allowed to go.

Pyxis saw the lights as well. Blink, blink, blink, pause, blink, went_Majestic's_ signal lamp, flashing towards them in a repetitive pattern. "Looks like we're getting too far. We should head back!"

"Alright!" Nerlin pitched to the right and began flying back towards the airship.

Pyxis took up position just off Nerlin's right wing, flying in the standard wingmate position. This simple formation allowed her to trail in the vortex created by Nerlin's wing, so she felt less drag as she flew. It was an efficient way to fly. "They're really flashing that light, aren't they?" she commented, as_Majestic_'s signal lamp continued to blink repeatedly at them, even though they were now flying back.

Nerlin frowned. Pyxis was right; Majestic was clearly signalling at them to return, but why? Even during the day, the signal lamp was very bright. At a greater distance it looked just sunlight repeatedly glinting off the airship's windows, but at a closer distance it was clearly a lamp that was flashing on and off repeatedly. He couldn't decipher the signal code, but it must have been something urgent.

"I'll wave at them." Nerlin rocked his wings from side to side, rolling left then right in a quick pattern before straightening his course again. The flashes of light halted for a few brief seconds, but then the flashes restarted and continued to flash in their quick, urgent pattern.

The two fledglings continued to fly back at a leisurely pace, but then suddenly a streak of blue light shot upwards from_Majestic_, trailing a thin smoke trail_._ "What's that thing?" Nerlin asked, but Pyxis recognized the pyrotechnic for what it was.

"It's a signal flare!" Pumping her wings hard, Pyxis sped up her flight, and Nerlin followed behind her after a few seconds hesitation. Suddenly both fledglings felt a sense of trepidation as the signal lamp continued to flash at them quickly. Neither of them said anything further, but they were obviously being recalled. A few brief moments ago they'd been playfully soaring through the skies, but now they flew as fast as they could, returning to the airship that was still signalling repeatedly at them.

Nerlin tried to think what the problem could be. They wouldn't use a signal flare just to tell them not to fly so far away, would they? The other hunters who'd been flying in circles around_Majestic_ were nowhere to be seen, so they must already have returned.

As the two fledglings closed in on Majestic, the signal lamp finally stopped blinking, but a drakken was standing on the top deck and waving at them with both wings. He raised his wings straight upwards, then lowered them sharply and furled them before repeating his gesture. Any fledgling who had passed basic flight school could recognize the gesture being made--land, land, land.

Nerlin was the first to land. He turned at the last moment so that he would land into the wind, and then his paws touched down on the airship's metallic hull and he folded his wings shut.

Pyxis came in to land a few seconds after him, having slowed down slightly so they wouldn't both land at the same time and risk a collision. However, right before she landed she turned her head to look around, and then she spotted something out of the ordinary. Behind them in the same direction they'd flown from, someone else was flying towards_Majestic_. "_Who's that?"_she wondered, but before she could get more than a brief glimpse, her paws touched the deck.

Pyxis stumbled as she landed. Her lapse in concentration meant she failed to perform a proper landing flare. She had too much forward momentum, so her forepaws tripped up and she fell onto the top deck.

"Pyxis!" Nerlin exclaimed, running over to his hunting partner.

Pyxis turned to him. "I'm fine--"

"Are you alright?!" yelled the aircrew member who'd waved them in.

"I'm alright," Pyxis managed to say. She glanced over her shoulder, looking at the skies in the direction they'd landed from, and she got a better look at the anomaly she'd spotted. Three dragons in a V formation were flying towards them, their wings beating up and down rapidly. They were still too far in the distance to make out fully, but something about them just seemed_wrong_. They couldn't have come from Majestic, so where had they come from?

"What's going on? What's with the flare?" Nerlin tried to ask the crew member. The signal flare had left a trail of blue-coloured smoke, which was still visible a short distance behind the airship, marking its flightpath through the sky.

"Stay calm. Get inside," ordered the drake, not bothering to answer the questions. He grabbed Pyxis's wing and pulled her to her feet, then he shepherded them towards the doorway which led inside.

Pyxis turned and used her tail to try to point at the sky, which made Nerlin turn his head to look. His eyes went wide when he saw approaching flyers. "Hey, what's that? There's some--" he began to say, only to be cut off.

"We know. Things are about to get exciting. Get inside, now! Go!" ordered the crew member. He pulled open the metal door and waved them in. The two fledglings hurriedly entered through the doorway, and then the drake pulled the door shut behind them. Immediately he walked into the adjacent room, which was the bridge, and Nerlin and Pyxis quickly followed without being asked. Unlike before, the bridge was now busy and filled with drakken. Most of the consoles had crew members sitting at them, and the captain was sitting at her own console at the helm.

"All passengers are aboard and accounted for," announced the aircrew member who had waved them in for landing. He went to sit down at his own station.

"Good," said Captain Aetos. The elderly drakka looked over Pyxis and Nerlin, and then she gestured towards the side of the bridge. "You two can stay here, but don't get in the way."

The two young dragons went to the side of the room, where several of their fellow hunters were already sitting. One of these hunters was Jarzyl, who was watching the proceedings with rapt attention. "What's going on?" Pyxis asked, as they sat beside their roommate.

"Exciting things..." murmured Jarzyl.

"Luxen, what are the updated D2 readings?" asked the captain.

"Recalibration just finished! Sensors confirm three contacts, split wing. Coming right for us," replied one of the aircrew.

Nerlin blinked his eyes and triggered his farsight. Transparent third eyelids slid down over his eyes, and internal lens groups moved into position within his eyes. Dragons possessed natural telescopic lenses that could enhance their vision, and now he used this ability to carefully observe the strange trio of dragons that Pyxis had spotted earlier. "Who are they?" he asked, looking out the large windows of the bridge.

"Pirates? Bandits?" suggested Pyxis, but then she shook her head and quickly dismissed her own remark. "No, that doesn't make sense. Three dragons alone won't stand any chance against an airship, and there haven't been serious bandit attacks for decades. The Airguard wiped them out."

"Maybe just visitors from one of the Outer Colonies or a nearby farming homestead, coming to say hello?" Nerlin suggested.

Glancing around the room, Pyxis doubted that these mysterious arrivals were friendly. The aircrew seemed too tense, and the captain must have come to the bridge for some reason. And when she turned back to the window to watch the approaching dragons, something about their flight just seemed wrong. It was difficult to say exactly what, but there was an unnatural way with which they moved. "What's wrong with their wings? They look_weird_," she said, voicing her thoughts.

Pyxis turned to glance at Jarzyl, and she found that her friend had a cold, dangerous look on her face, a stark contrast to her usual friendliness. Jarzyl was glaring at the approaching trio with an intense, predatory gaze. Jarzyl's neck frill had collapsed flat against her neck, but then she snapped it up and growled softly from the back of her throat. "Grrr... They've got four wings. That's why they look wrong. Those are vizriak hunters, not dragons."

"Vizriaks?" asked Nerlin.

"Vizriaks!" spat the captain, her tail slapping down on the floor behind her. She turned to the dozen or so fledglings sitting by the side of the bridge. "Those three creatures you see to the west are vizriak hunters. They are_pests_!" Nerlin wasn't sure she was making a direct response to his question, or if she had just decided to give them a lesson at that moment. "Can you see their wing split? That's because they have four wings and two legs, not the other way around. They are vicious, dangerous beasts which have paralyzing poison in their bite. A dragon can outfly a lone vizriak, but vizriaks rarely fly alone. They like to hunt in pairs or in packs."

"Are... are they attacking us? Should we be worried?" asked one of the fledglings.

Captain Aetos shook her head. "Worry not. They've just come to investigate our vessel and try to scare us off. Vizriaks are extremely rare nowadays and for good reason. The Airguard has tried to cull them and drive them to extinction; I even killed a few dozen of them myself, back before I joined the transport fleet. It's considered bad luck to see a vizriak, but we happen to have a rather effective good luck charm installed on this levi." The captain smiled coldly, and she turned to one of her crew members. "Secondary console, arm the skybreaker please."

"Aye, captain" replied a crew member. He reached to the side of his station and took out series of documents held together in a ring binder. He flipped to a specific page of the flight manual and started following the checklist within, pressing buttons and setting levers as per the contained instructions.

The captain leaned towards her command station and flicked a switch. Her voice was amplified and echoed through the_Majestic_'s public address system as she spoke into a microphone. "Attention all, this is the captain. We are currently being approached by three vizriak hunters from the west, on heading two-five-five. As per fleet standard protocol we will respond accordingly, and those of you who have a view of the port side of the airship may see one or several flashes of light. Do not be alarmed, we have the situation entirely under control. I say again..." She briskly repeated her message, and then she clicked the microphone off.

At the bow of the airship, directly in front of the top deck, a large hinged panel was pushed open as a turreted cylinder extended upwards and turned to aim at the vizriak formation. All of the fledglings watched with eager fascination, as did several of the crew members. This was the pinnacle of drakken technological and magical development. They were now witnessing one of the key advancements which had made the City of Wings possible, countless generations ago--skybreaker weather modification.

Skybreaker beam cannons were normally used in Avaeria to attract lightning bolts during thunderstorms, so that the city could convert the tremendous electricity surge into stored energy. This energy was then used to power the city's flight, as well as to recharge the power cores of airships such as_Majestic_. But with a simple circuitry reversal, skybreakers could_send_energy instead of merely receiving it.

"Reduce forward speed to idle and engage stabilization. Let them get nice and close," ordered the captain. She turned and spoke again to the fledglings. "This will very likely be the first and last time any of you ever see a vizriak hunter. The last time I saw a vizriak was almost a year ago. They are territorial creatures, but we'll remind them who owns the skies."

The skybreaker was simple in appearance, despite how complex the machinery and enchantments were under the surface of the device. Mounted into its turret, it resembled an elongated boxy rectangle that narrowed to a rod made of a transparent material. The weapon swivelled to target the approaching creatures and began to glow brightly as it charged with energy, drawing energy from_Majestic_'s power core.

"Oh, wow_._ I didn't expect we'd be seeing something like this," murmured Pyxis. By now the vizriaks had closed to just a moderate distance of_Majestic_. Their approach had slowed down and now they seemed to be more wary of the airship, even if they weren't intelligent enough to recognize it for the threat that it was. Pyxis made an annoyed noise as she got to see them up close. "Eh. I don't like those vizriaks. They're creepy."

Nerlin said nothing in reply, but he leaned closer and entwined Pyxis's tail with his. The vizriaks were unnerving creatures. They seemed uncannily similar to dragons, but yet they were just_off_, and this made Nerlin dislike them automatically. They looked almost like dragons, but at this distance it was possible to tell that they had leathery skin and wings instead of scales. All the vizriaks had green and brown spotted colouration, and now that they were so close it was obvious that these were not actually dragons. Nerlin had to concur with Pyxis--he didn't like them either. This wasn't like hunting a breakhorn or a deer, which were prey creatures; vizriaks were as large as dragons and they could fly, and this made them_rivals_.

"Capacitors fully charged, all systems ready. On your command," said the crew member operating the skybreaker.

"Let's pick up those prizes. Sweep across their formation. Arc when ready," ordered the captain. She sounded almost bored as she gave the command to kill.

"Target acquired. Arcing..." The crew member depressed a pair of buttons on his control station, and the skybreaker came alive.

For a brief instant that was no longer than one second, the glassy rod of the weapon flared to life with a brilliant glow. A flickering beam of energy lanced across the sky and hit all three of the vizriaks, accompany by a sharp sound which sounded like a booming thunderclap. Then it was over and the skybreaker went completely dark, but the effects of the weapon were clear.

Pyxis heard loud gasps and exclamations from many of her fellow fledglings, and she felt Nerlin's tail twitch against hers.

"Whoa!"

"Oh!"

"Did you see that?"

"Nice!"

The three vizriaks spiralled downwards through the air, out of control and tumbling. Getting struck by a skybreaker was almost like being struck by a lightning bolt. The powerful blast of magic had scorched their hides and killed them in an instant, and one of the three had even been set on fire as they all dropped out of the skies. A dragon's natural magic would have given them some level of defence against such an assault, but vizriaks had no such protection.

"Good hit! Targets going down," exclaimed one of the crew members.

"Power down the skybreaker. D2 maintain tracking," ordered Captain Aetos. The skybreaker turret slowly lowered back into its housing, with the hinged panel closing back up to cover it again.

"You want to go confirm the kills, captain?" asked one of the crew members; Pyxis was surprised when she realized that it was the airship's chef. Of all the aircrew, the chef was the last person she'd have expected to see on the bridge.

"Please do. Temer and Hasilt, you two go with him in case any of the vizriaks aren't quite dead yet," replied the captain. The three crewmembers stood up and left the bridge, before leaping of the ship and flying off towards where the vizriaks had crashed.

"Was that the chef? Where are they going?" asked Nerlin. He had been speaking to Pyxis, but apparently his question had been loud enough that Captain Aetos had heard it too. For an older drakka, her hearing was still sharp.

"If you fledglings are wondering, yes, that was our chef. He's going to confirm the vizriaks were killed..." The captain reached a paw towards her jaw and made a sharp downwards gesture. "...by yanking their fangs. He's our best butcher, after all. The Airguard offers a bounty for every vizriak killed, even by transport airships, but you have to prove that you actually killed them by bringing their venom fangs back to the city. There are even a few bounty hunters who have made it their job to hunt down vizriaks. That's earn their living by killing vizriaks and collecting their fangs."

"Oh, really?" said Jarzyl, sounding intrigued. Through the entire encounter she had been watching the vizriaks closely.

The captain chuckled, but she shook her head. "Don't get any ideas. You younglings might have been on training hunts before, but that doesn't mean you should try to fight a dangerous creature like a vizriak. If you actually happen to come across them during the expedition, which is very unlikely, I recommend you just try and outfly them. Few things can outfly a dragon."

Nerlin and Pyxis stayed in the bridge for some time more, but the excitement soon died down as things returned to normal. When the three crew members returned half an hour later, carrying six bloodied fangs, the captain declared the situation over and_Majestic_continued forwards through the skies.

Each of the fledglings was allowed a chance to look at the downed vizriak's fangs, but Pyxis found them almost underwhelming when she saw them up close. They resembled nothing more than large pointed teeth, covered in saliva, blood, and gore. If not for the knowledge that they had only recently been attached to large, dangerous, pack-hunting aerial predators, there would have been little impressive about them.

Eventually Pyxis and Nerlin left the bridge and headed back to the mess room for lunch, which was slightly delayed because the chef was cheerfully giving recaps of the encounter to a large group of assembled fledglings. On hearing the captain's announcement, almost everyone (even including the master hunters and the off-duty crew members) had scrambled to the port-side of_Majestic_ to catch a glimpse of the creatures and watch as the airship shot them out of the air.

One particular fledgling, however, didn't seem so excited or curious. Caden had a disgusted expression, and she was arguing with Jarzyl. Pyxis walked over to see what the debate was about. "I can understand chasing them off, but killing them and yanking their fangs is undignified," Caden had been saying.

"Undignified? They're just pests. What dignity do pests have?" said Jarzyl.

"They were only flying over to get a look at the airship! They weren't even a threat to us at all. There was no reason for them to die."

"But they could have been a threat to a settlement if they started getting territorial and roaming near one of the Outer Colonies. It makes sense to kill them."

"Vizriaks pose even less of a threat to the Outer Colonies than they did our airship! It was slaughter! They didn't get a chance to fight back, or run, or even do anything. We blasted them out of the air with a skybreaker cannon!" said Caden, sounding repulsed.

Jarzyl nodded enthusiastically, her frill perking up. "Oh, yes! And it was great! I don't see why you have an objection. You didn't have any problem when we hunted during all our training hunts."

"That's different. Breakhorns and deer and boars are dumb creatures, and we don't make them suffer when we hunt them for meat. But vizriaks are entirely different; they're smart enough to form packs and hold territory, but people just kill them because they don't like them! Their meat is rotting on the ground, wasted."

"Would it have been better if we ate them, then?" counted Jarzyl.

"A bit, but not completely. The point is that this is just...violence without justification or need. Dragons complain that vizriaks are territorial so we should hunt them down, but that's just_dragons_ being territorial. It's hypocritical. We can't just kill things because we don't like them sharing the skies with us."

"You aren't going to convince me that a vizriak's life is worth anything," Jarzyl insisted. She and Caden both shook their heads; it was clear that the two friends weren't going to agree on this particular topic. Instead, they roped Nerlin and Pyxis into the conversation to get another opinion. "Hey, hey, hear us out. I think that vizriaks are filthy, disgusting, territorial, dangerous, and repugnant pests which should be exterminated from anywhere dragons fly, whereas Caden thinks they are not so bad. So what do you two think?" asked Jarzyl.

"That's a totally biased misinterpretation of my point. I'm just saying that if vizriaks are smart enough to form a pack and coordinate a hunt, maybe we shouldn't just murder them. Especially not for just being curious about investigating our airship," Caden said.

"It's not murder if they're not dragons," Jarzyl retorted.

"So you would kill a griffin? Or any member of one of the other sapient species? Isn't that murder too?"

"I didn't say that I would kill them. Griffins can talk, and craft stuff, and do intelligent things. Same with the humans and the centaurs and all the other intelligent creatures--that's what makes them intelligent. But if I had to choose between killing_them_ versus killing a dragon, I think the latter is much worse. And anyway, vizriaks aren't intelligent."

"That's debatable." Caden nodded to the other two fledglings. "Opinions?"

"I'm not taking sides. We'll probably never see a vizriak again, so the question doesn't matter to me," Nerlin said.

In contrast, Pyxis sat down and chewed on the tip of her tail as she considered the question. "Caden does have a point. I think many people just hate vizriaks instinctively rather than out of a logical concern about them being dangerous. But Jarzyl also has a point. They_are_ dangerous and I wouldn't want to be attacked by a pack of vizriaks while I was just flying around outside the city. Both of you have valid points."

"But which of us is _more_right?" Jarzyl said, pressing for an answer.

Pyxis just flicked her neck frill up and down. "I'm going to side with Nerlin and stay neutral. You two can sort it out."

"So much for that," muttered Caden.

In the afternoon, the master hunters held a briefing about the survival expedition. The fledglings were all assembled in the mess room again, and one by one their names were called to come forward and claim a kit of equipment for the expedition.

Of the four roommates, Nerlin was the first to receive his gear. He carried the bundle back to the table where he, Pyxis, Jarzyl, and Caden were sitting. Unwrapping the cloth bundle to see what was inside, he soon was staring at a small pile of essential equipment needed for the expedition. The largest item was a tetrahedral crystal which was just larger than a single paw; this was a displacer tracking beacon, which would allow dragons with that particular magical affinity to seek out his location and come quickly if he needed to call for assistance in an emergency. Nerlin also recognized several other items including water purification tablets, a fire starting kit, a small lantern, sealed ration food bars, and several mysterious cylindrical tubes that had numerous warning labels.

Pyxis picked up the piece of cloth which had been used to bundle up all the equipment. Nerlin had assumed it was just a rag to be disposed of, but the cloth turned out to be a wing pennant--a triangular banner that was one of the few types of clothing worn by dragons. Pyxis reached up to Nerlin's left wing and tied the cloth around his wingtip, then she folded his wing back up. The pennant was a simple design that was a plain black, without any insignia or logo.

Pyxis's name was called soon after, and she too collected her equipment, as did Jarzyl and Caden afterwards. Once all the seventy-or-so hunters had collected their gear, one of the master hunters activated the mess room's light field projector and began to brief them on the expedition.

"All right everyone! Pay attention, pay attention please. There will be plenty of time to look over your new gifts later, and you should really let us explain what these items are before you end up injuring yourself! Everyone needs to check that they've got all their equipment! First item--flares! You should have three. No more, no less. Everyone please check!"

The master hunter took a spare equipment bundle and picked out three cylindrical sticks. "They are for signalling! Do not play with them or you can end up severely burned. Two of these are smoke flares which will burn for about twenty minutes, producing a smoke trail and burning brightly. You activate them by twisting this bit at the bottom. Do not, do not, DO NOT try to test them out! Especially not right now! Have some sense, people! The longer tube is a rocket flare. Point the arrow_upwards_ before you activate it. Use these to signal to nearby expedition pairs if you need_emergency_help, not just because you feel like saying hi, and not just because you feel like seeing some fireworks. Again, let me remind you that these are not toys!"

Pyxis picked up one of the flares in her kit and read over the long listing of warnings and cautions that were printed on the side. "Inhaling smoke may cause respiratory distress. May cause fires if used improperly. Controlled item under Enforcement directive 24, Outer Colony use only? These things are more dangerous than I'd thought."

"That's why it's illegal to use them inside the city," Nerlin added.

"Next up is fire-starters! Some of you who are firebreathers won't need these, but everyone else does!" continued the master hunter. "And even if you_are_ a firebreather, it's better to rely on equipment than hope that your budding magic will perform on command. Don't embarrass yourself. Also, if the fire-starter crystal doesn't work, you_can_ try using a smoke flare instead if you desperately need to start a fire. Don't freeze out there!"

The rest of the equipment kit was explained over the course of the next hour. Most of the information was fairly simple, or involving things that they'd learned before in previous training hunts, such as how to use a water filter or how to use a fire starter to ignite a camp fire. However, the one item that did stand out was the tracking beacon; this particular device was something entirely new.

The tracking beacon was an enchanted object which was just over the size of a clenched paw. It somewhat resembled a healing crystal in material composition, but the magic contained within was used for an entirely different purpose. Nerlin picked up his beacon and examined it from all angles. In shape it resembled a tetrahedron (a triangular pyramid) made of smooth, translucent, glassy material. The beacon was mostly coloured dull red, but under the translucent surface there were numerous multi-coloured reflections that seemed to shimmer and switch colour if he looked at the crystal from different angles. A series of identical serial numbers was inscribed on each side, as well as a short series of instructions on use. Nerlin glanced over to look at Pyxis's beacon; her tracker looked almost identical, but with a different serial number.

"Listen to me, please. Your tracking beacons are designed to broadcast your location every half-hour. We, that is, the master hunters, will be split into three different groups to triangulate your locations. We will not actually bother to calculate your precise location unless you send a distress signal, which can be done by twisting the top of the beacon like so. It will begin to glow constantly to indicate it is in emergency mode. The tracking beacon will also activate if it gets cracked or damaged, such as if you crash." The master hunter twisted the top portion of the beacon, rotating it ninety degrees, and the beacon began to glow a bright red.

"Activate the beacon if you feel your safety is threatened, and we will come to your assistance immediately.Majestic will also make its way to pick you up if necessary. Do not hesitate to call for help if you need it, especially under the following scenarios--if you crash land and are injured, or you are bitten by a snake or other venomous creature, or you feel unwell, such as if you develop a fever, difficulty breathing, or a severe headache. In general, if you feel you need us to come help you, just call for it. All of you are on the verge of becoming adults, and I trust that you are independent enough to not have to rely on us for small things.

"Now if you issue a distress call, we will try to reach you as quickly as we can, but expect at least several hours before we arrive. Remain in one location and do not move unless necessary, as this will make it more difficult for us to find you. You may also use smoke and signalling flares to signal others who are in the area if you need immediate help."

Pyxis stared at her own beacon, imagining all the possible scenarios under which she might need to summon help. She and Nerlin were almost grown dragons, and there weren't many things that could really threaten them. Bears, wolves, and other large predators would usually know better than to tangle with dragons. Vizriaks were an extremely unlikely threat, despite the fact that_Majestic_ had happened upon a roaming pack. In Pyxis's opinion, the most likely problem she could envision was them falling sick in some way, such as if they ate something which turned out to be poisonous.

The master hunter standing in front turned to the light-field projector and displayed a map of north-western drakken areas. This projection was a large version of the map charts that they had been issued at the start of the expedition. "Tomorrow morning we will begin dropping you off in your pairs, starting at around this location here. Generally speaking, you have two flight options. You can fly southwest until you clear the Julnir Mountains, then turn and head east to return to Avaeria. Or you can try to cut straight through this mountain range by flying through a pass or valley. Do not just try to fly directly over the mountains! You can hold the altitude, but you cannot hold the speed. The winds are not in your favour and you will end up tired out before you make it over."

The map changed colour to highlight the primary obstacle of the expedition--the long mountain range that ran from the top right of the chart diagonally down to the middle, perpendicular to_Majestic_'s flight path.

"This area is largely uninhabited. The nearest drakken outposts are Dengah, which is a small mining village up in the mountains_here_, and the larger farming settlement of Malenta,here, on the other side of the Julnir Mountains in a river valley. You may head for these outposts if you wish to visit, but it is not necessary and you may also head directly home towards Avaeria. A master hunter will be stationed in each of these outposts, and the current residents are well aware that the survival expedition is being conducted in their area. They're very used to it by now, as we do this every year."

Nerlin used his tail to tap Pyxis and get her attention. "Do you want to visit the colonies?"

Pyxis flicked her neck frill up and down. "I'm...neutral. I don't really_want_ to visit unless you want to, but I don't mind stopping by if they're on the way."

"Alright. We can take a closer look at our maps and plan a specific route after the briefing," Nerlin decided.

The master hunter continued to give them information for the expedition. It was mostly just a reminder of all the things they'd learned over the previous few years of weekly training hunts. FAor example, they got tips about the sort of wildlife they could try to hunt, although game would get scare the closer they flew to the mountain ridge as the altitude increased and vegetation grew scarce. The fledglings were also reminded to make sure their planned routes had good access to fresh water from lakes or rivers, since water was far more crucial than food. Besides these reminders, they were also given the expected weather conditions for this time of year. Severe storms were unlikely but possible, and if the weather did get bad enough to ground them, the fledglings were to just land and find shelter to ride out the storm.

Pyxis took a deep breath to calm herself. Sitting beside her, Nerlin was grinning. They were all so far in the wilderness, away from the City of Wings and completely independent. This would be the greatest adventure they had ever had.

Once the briefing was done, it was almost dinner time so most of the hunters stayed around in the mess room to wait for the chef to bring out the buffet trays of food and declare the meal ready to be consumed.

While they were waiting for dinner to begin, Pyxis got her expedition map from the cabin, and she, Nerlin, Jarzyl and Caden sat around a table together and pored over the chart. They discussed potential routes and plans, taking into account the local topography and overall distances, as well as considering the predicted wind directions.

Jarzyl was keen on visiting both of the nearby drakken outposts--Dengah and Malenta--so she and Caden planned a longer route that would include stops at both these outposts. They would first head northwards and pass through the mountains via Dengah, the mining village, before looping around on the other side of the mountains to fly towards Malenta. This wasn't the most efficient or expedient course, as Caden noted, but they weren't just flying to speed back to the city; they were on this expedition to have a unique experience and an adventure.

In comparison, Nerlin and Pyxis decided on a different route. Instead of weaving through the Julnir Mountains to visit the nearby drakken outposts, they would fly southwest along the mountain range before heading further west until they reached the coastline of the Glassy Sea. From there they would continue to follow the coast until they reached the more populated central-western outposts, such as Maringe Harbour, and then they would fly back to Avaeria following the commonly used flyways.

Pyxis peered closely at her map, staring at the huge blue expanse that marked the left extent of the chart, and also the western extent of all drakken territory. "I've always wanted to see the sea," she murmured.

"I've visited Maringe Harbour before, on a vacation with my family. It's...really a sight to see. They don't call it the Glassy Sea for nothing," Nerlin replied. Their flight route would give them the chance to see the sea, and it would also take them through several of the coastal Outer Colonies.

After dinner, Jarzyl and Caden stayed in the mess to play a few rounds of games with the other hunters, but Pyxis and Nerlin opted to return to their cabin. This was the last night before the expedition proper began. They would soon be doing a lot of long-distance flying, so getting a good night's sleep was important.

The two young fledglings sat in their bunks and read their books, spending some quiet time before they slept. They had traded books and were now reading each other's novels. Pyxis was feeling relaxed as she read, but then she saw Nerlin climb down from the upper bunk and walk towards the window. He gently tugged on her tail as he walked by. "Wow. Pyxis, look at that," he murmured.

"What? Look at what?" asked Pyxis. She put down the book and turned around, and then she saw exactly what he was talking about. The window curtains had been drawn to block out the bright afternoon sun, but now it was sunset. Through a crack in the curtains Pyxis caught a glimpse of the world outside, and it was like nothing she'd seen before.

Nerlin swept the curtains aside so that the panoramic windows were completely exposed, and both fledglings exclaimed softly. "Oh,wow!"

They had arrived at the Julnir Mountain range. The view was breathtaking.

The sky was alight with orange and amber hues, with broad stripes of clouds which were a deep red. Such vibrant sunsets weren't unique to the location and could even have been seen from back in the city, but it was the terrain that truly set the scene--a vast, snowy mountain range that stretched to the left and right as far as the eye could see. The mountains were covered in tall boreal forests, towering cliffs with misty waterfalls, and rolling hills that went on and on. Lit by the fading light of the sun, lofty mountains peaks cast long shadows down through the valleys and the rest of the highlands.

Seeing the mountains from up high was astonishing, but Nerlin wanted more. He walked towards the window until his nose bumped against the glass, then he turned around and strolled towards the door. "Come on! Let's go up top." He wanted to see the view with his own eyes, not hindered by a window, and he yearned to feel the air with wings again.

"Oh, wow..." repeated Pyxis. She paused only to lock her locker and hang her key around her neck, and then she followed after her expedition partner.

Nerlin ran up the circular stairway taking the steps two at a time, and Pyxis scampered up after him. When they reached the highest level, Nerlin walked straight for the exit door leading out to the top deck. Paw waiting on the door's push bar, he glanced back to ensure that Pyxis was right behind him, then he pushed the door open and they stepped out into the open air.

Pyxis felt the wind ruffle her scales. The breeze was not as strong as it had been in the afternoon, but now the air rushing around her felt different. As_Majestic_ climbed higher and higher in preparation for its flight over the mountain range, the air had become thin and light. She saw Nerlin flip a wing open and flap down briskly, apparently just to feel the reduction in drag compared to the dense lower atmosphere.

Pyxis took a deep breath of the crisp, cool air, but she was more interested in the view. The Julnir Mountains were a spectacle to behold! The evening sky was aflame with the colours of sunset, so that the snowy mountain tops seemed to glow orange.

There was no one else on the top deck other than the aircrew members sitting motionless inside the enclosed bridge room. The two fledglings walked forwards until they were standing near the airship's bow, and they sat down next to each other and took in the sights. The mountains were casting longer and longer shadows as the sun drifted lower in the skies. Winding rivers and icy glaciers were just barely visible in the fading light, but eventually the sun slipped below the horizon completely and the world was plunged into twilight.

"It's colder than it was before, isn't it?" asked Pyxis. She had just been making a comment about the climate, but Nerlin unfurled his wing and wrapped it around her shoulders. In turn she leaned against his side, and both of the young dragons felt a slight shiver at the contact which had nothing at all to do with the temperature. In the evening twilight, it was just the two of them alone--red and blue sitting side by side.

Night had come, and the taiga had fallen into darkness. Nerlin looked up at the sky. Now that it was no longer overpowered by the light of the sun, a thin crescent moon was visible, casting dim illumination that was insufficient to make out details of the terrain far below. The snowy mountain tops were still visible, but not much else.

"This is amazing," Pyxis said, but her murmur was too soft for her expedition partner to hear.

"What did you say?" Nerlin asked, turning to look at her. Fortunately at that moment the gusting wind died down to a quiet, gentle breeze, and when she repeated herself he understood her words.

"I said, this is amazing. I've never seen mountains so tall. It's beautiful," Pyxis told him.

"You're beautiful too..." Nerlin said, immediately blurting out the first response which came to mind. Pyxis grinned, but Nerlin blinked and hurriedly glanced away. "I...uh... That slipped out. Not a very original compliment, I know," he said.

Pyxis's neck frill was as raised as it possibly could get, and she chuckled softly. "Heh. Original? I guess not. But was it honest?"

Nerlin nodded his head and stared at her. "Very much so," he replied, his voice just a quiet murmur. Both of them were just fledglings who didn't yet have their magic, but there was something magical about his smile.

Pyxis's gaze darted up to the sky, before quickly returning to meet Nerlin's eyes. "The stars are coming out..." Twilight was fading away and tiny points of light were now becoming visible. Far from the constant illumination of the city, the night sky was darker than she had ever seen, yet the stars seemed to blaze brighter than ever.

Nerlin looked upwards, just for a few seconds, and when he turned back to Pyxis their snouts met. Had he done that, or had she? Did it even matter? He hesitated for the briefest of instants, then he closed his eyes and gave in to the kiss.

It was a simple, mutual display of affection and attraction. Dragons were used to licking each other to groom scales or to show care, so this was nothing more than a deeper, more intimate version of that. It started out soft and light as they both got used to the sudden intimacy, but things seemed to gradually escalate.

Pyxis let her tongue slip out as her lips brushed against Nerlin's, and then she felt his tongue touch against hers. Eyes closed, it felt like her sense of smell and touch had been amplified hundredfold. A shudder ran down her back and she felt her scales jump up on end, as if she was flying. One of her paws was against Nerlin's neck, and the other was touching his chest. He gasped softly, and she felt his wing gently push against her back and pull her closer into his embrace.

Pyxis unfurled one of her own wings and pulled him closer as well. She could feel her scales rubbing against his, and the contact was electric. Their muzzles were still locked with each other's, but she wanted more, needed more,desired more. She wanted to get closer and closer to him until every single one of her scales was touching one of his, and that aching desire was a deep, instinctual attraction that seemed to run through every cell in her body. But for now they settled for just a kiss, and maybe a bit more.

Pyxis didn't just kiss Nerlin's snout; she gently licked the side of his neck, and gasped when he did the same to her. Her paws ran over his body, caressing and rubbing and feeling his tense muscles underneath smooth scale plates and skin. She had to stop herself before it went any further, much as she desired otherwise. Though they were in the dark of the night and alone on the top deck viewing gallery, the bridge crew might still see them if they had nocturnal dragons on shift.

How long did it last? Pyxis couldn't say, but when they finally broke the embrace it felt like she had finally grown up. Her pulse was pounding in her chest again; both her hearts were beating quickly as if she'd just been flying, and it felt like she could soar to the moon and back. She rested her snout against Nerlin's, letting their foreheads touch, and they held each other close with their wings and paws.

Nerlin was the first to break the silence. "That was..." He paused for about a dozen seconds before continuing. "Wow..."

His voice trailed off again, but Pyxis didn't need him to tell her anything. From the way they'd both been kissing and touching each other, it was clear they had wanted the same thing. She hummed softly, and Nerlin hummed back.

"So... You, uh... You want to do that again?" Nerlin suddenly asked.

"Oh, yes please. Kissing is fun," Pyxis replied. And then they did it again.

When the two fledglings returned to the cabin, they found that their roommates had finished their board games and were sitting in their bunks. Caden was sitting down and using the inked tip of her tail to write in her diary, while Jarzyl was lying in the upper bunk, resting on her back and juggling several unlit signal flares between her fore and hind paws.

"Where'd you two go?" asked Caden casually.

"We were on the top deck. Just enjoying the view," Nerlin replied. He quickly walked over to their bed and climbed up to the upper bunk to lie down, because it was getting increasingly difficult for him to keep himself from growing erect. He had managed to control himself all the time he and Pyxis had been kissing, but certain muscles could not be kept clenched forever.

Pyxis trotted over to the lower bunk and flopped down in her own bed. She took a deep breath and let it out in a long, pleased sigh that dragged out into a contented rumble. "Hmmrrrr..."

"Wow, are you actually purring? You two must really have had lots of fun up there," Caden muttered.

Pyxis was feeling far too happy to get embarrassed. "Yep! The view was...great. Snowy mountains, nice sunset, all that. So good looking... Rrrrr..."

"I'll bet you two went for the company, not the view. But this is admittedly an excellent location to stage the survival expedition," agreed Caden, "The only mountain range higher or longer than the Julnirs is the Rasterin belt, but that's all the way on the eastern ranges. And that's near griffin or worse, human territories. Don't want to mess with them."

"I don't like griffins or humans. I like dragons--drakes!" chirped Pyxis in a soft, sing-song voice. Hearing her cheer made Nerlin feel like his heart was melting.

"I think that's pretty obvious. You and Nerlin are so damn sweet with each other that my teeth are going rotten just watching you two interact.Bleurgh," Caden said, teasing them with an amused grin.

"Rrrrrr..." Pyxis went back to purring contently. Nerlin, on the other hand, stayed quiet to avoid drawing attention to himself. He was half-lying on his side and half on his belly, with his underside facing the wall and his back facing the rest of the room; a position which was necessitated by the current (engorged) status of his reproductive equipment. He now realized that he should have gone to the bathroom to manually resolve this problem before returning to the cabin, but now it was too late. He hurriedly unfurled a wing and wrapped it around himself to conceal his arousal.

Nerlin glanced over his shoulder. Pyxis was on the lower bunk directly below and she couldn't see him, while Caden was writing in her diary again and wasn't watching him. Jarzyl, however, was lying in the upper bunk of the cabin's other bed directly across the room, and she was lying on her back as she smoothly juggled several signal flares between all four of her paws.

Nerlin found himself wishing that it was Pyxis he could see lying on her back, so that he might climb over her and...No, wait, stop. I don't want to be thinking about that._But now the thought had entered his mind and it wasn't going away. He was in a cabin alone with three female fledglings; it was hard not to fantasize, especially about Pyxis, who'd just been kissing him! Nerlin tried to mentally will his phallus to become soft again, but it did the exact opposite. The full length of his erection slipped out of his genital slit, and a tiny drop of slick liquid even began beading at the tip._Ok, so that's going to be like that now. Hmm, I bet it would felt wonderful to touch myself right now... No! I'm just going to lie here and try to relax. Maybe if I stop thinking about it, this'll go away. And I really hope no one asks me to stand up right now.

Caden and Pyxis were casually chatting about their planned routes for the start of the expedition tomorrow, and Nerlin tried to focus on the details they were discussing. Yet even a few minutes later, his phallus still refused to retreat back into his genital slit. This was the sort of awkward behaviour associated with younger fledglings who had started to enter puberty. Nerlin had thought he was old enough where he could control his urges, but apparently not. He felt very naughty about this; his friends were all just a few close distance away from him, but he couldn't control the way his body was acting. A small drop of pre-ejaculate dripped onto the mattress, and Nerlin mentally apologized to whoever it was whose job it was to clean the bunks after the fledglings had all left_Majestic_. In a bid to encourage his erection to go down, Nerlin gently tried to push his phallus back into his slit, but this only made his erection twitch against his paw, and the feeling of his paw touching his penis felt distinctly pleasant. He snatched his paw away before he got tempted to try and subtly chase that pleasure and find some release.

Nerlin glanced over his shoulder again. Even with a wing unfurled and covering his body, his actions might not have been as covert as he had hoped. Jarzyl had stopped juggling and raised her head to watch him with a curious, slightly confused expression. "Why are you lying like..." the orange-scaled dragon began to ask, then her eyes went wide and her neck frill drooped flat. She opened her mouth to say something, but then she glanced down at Pyxis and snapped her jaw shut without saying anything. Jarzyl lay back down and began juggling again, with her eyes visibly averted so that she was staring at the ceiling. As embarrassing as it was, Nerlin was deeply thankful for her tact.

"Hmm? What did you say, Jarz?" asked Caden.

"Nothing. I was just thinking that, uh, maybe we should get some sleep," Jarzyl replied. "This'll be our last night sleeping in a proper bed. Come tomorrow night we'll be lying on groundsheets."

Caden didn't sound like she bought this explanation. "Really?You want to go to bed early? Wow. I would have thought you'd want to stay up all night and keep playing games. I heard Flicher and Dezi are running a stratenon championship in their cabin; I'll probably go watch them for a while before I tuck in for bed. It is way too early to sleep, in any case."

"Uh, maybe just dim the lights. If I can't fall asleep I'll go watch the games with you," Jarzyl decided.

On his part, Nerlin was very relieved when Caden stood up and pressed the button placed beside the cabin door. The lights blinked out and the cabin was plunged into darkness, which was a relief because it meant he could unfurl his wing from around his body without running the risk of having one of the other fledglings noticing how erect he was. This was a level of embarrassment he'd hoped wouldn't last past adolescence, but it seemed he wasn't quite an adult drake yet.

After turning off the lights, Caden left the room, heading over to another cabin where other hunters were still playing games. Jarzyl sat on her bed for only half a minute before jumping up to follow after her partner. The room was briefly illuminated by the corridor's lighting as she pulled the door open. "Ok! Good night to you two! Have restful dreams and all that," Jarzyl said to the two fledglings still inside, then she shut the door behind her.

Nerlin realized that his erection had finally begun to diminish. Deprived of stimulation either mental or physical, his body had finally gotten the message. Suddenly he felt something grab the tip of his tail which was dangling over the edge of the bed. He had a brief moment of panic, but then he realized it was just Pyxis. A slight crack under the door let in just enough light that Nerlin could make out his expedition partner's face, staring up at him.

"Sleep well! Tomorrow, tomorrow we fly," Pyxis told him.

"You too. Have a good rest," Nerlin agreed, and then he yawned and closed his eyes. Tomorrow their expedition would begin and they would leave the airship to venture out into the wilderness, fully alone but for each other.

END

You made it to the end of this chapter! Thanks for reading. The next chapter can be read HERE.

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