Flowers For The Sky

Breaking The Ice

The sky was quickly darkening, and the stars started to show. Shala yawned. "Can we find a place to land and rest? We got two more flowers today, and we haven't really stopped." she said. "That was my plan." Ruby said. "Well, let's land in the fields near Glakshir's Mountain and get some rest there. It seems like the best course of action to me." Felix said.

"Ditto." Scarlet responded. The dragons drifted through the sky on the wind, eventually coming to Glakshir's Mountain. They landed in the fields near the foot of the mountain, and the girls on the dragon's backs slid off to the ground. The dragons lied down in the grass, and Ruby flopped down next to Scarlet.

Shala sat down next to Felix before lying back and resting her head on his tail. Ruby put her hands behind her head as she stared up at the night sky, glancing around at the stars. Eventually, her eyelids grew heavy and she drifted off to sleep along with everyone else.

~  ~  ~

Ruby was woken up by Scarlet nudging her in the side. Still half asleep, Ruby didn't do anything but push Scarlet away. Scarlet eventually pushed Ruby hard enough to roll her over. Ruby finally opened her eyes, slightly glaring at her dragon. She eventually gathered her bearings, and looked up at the mountain that was nearby.

"Oh. Right. Elemental flowers." she said. She stood up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Shala was already up and looking at her map. She glanced up to see that Ruby was awake and smiled before motioning for her to come over. Ruby walked over to Shala and looked at her map.

"I think that if we fly up to this pass, then we can still qualify for the trial if we walk the rest of the way." Shala said. "And it will go faster than the last trial. We all have a boost." Scarlet added. "That too." Shala said. "We'd make it up to the top and get the flower at around midmorning if we get moving soon, and then we can fly over to the last flower so we can get it tomorrow." Felix said.

"That sounds like a plan to me." Ruby said. "Well, let's go." Scarlet said. Ruby and Shala mounted their dragons and they took off. As they ascended to the pass, a sudden cold hit all of them. "This is a lot colder than I thought it'd be." Ruby said.

"It's the coldest mountain in Edenor. I'm surprised you didn't think it'd be so cold." Shala said. "I thought that my element would make it warmer." Ruby argued. "Fair enough." Felix said. After a bit, they landed on the ground at the pass. Ruby and Shala slid off their dragons, and Ruby had to hold onto Scarlet for a bit to gain her footing on the ice.

Once she did, she looked over at Shala, who was just standing there watching. "How are you not slipping?" Ruby asked. "My boots have winter treads. Makes it a lot easier to walk on snow and ice. Plus you landed in an ice patch." Shala said. Ruby looked at where Shala was standing, and sure enough, it was just snow.

Ruby carefully walked over to the snow to join Shala. "That is a drastic difference." Ruby said as the group started to move forward. "Just try and avoid the ice patches and you should be fine." Shala said. Ruby nodded. They followed the path up the mountain, but somehow got off of it.

"Hey Shala? Do you know where we're going?" Ruby asked. "I don't recognize the area." Shala said. Realization struck her and she facepalmed hard. "We took a wrong turn." she said. "Well, how are we gonna get back to the path?" Scarlet asked. "That's the thing. I don't know how to get back. We're lost." Shala said.

Ruby gave a light sigh. "We'll find our way back. Somehow." Felix said. There was a gentle chiming from nearby, and it sounded like ice clinking together. "Wait, what's that?" Scarlet asked. On cue, two icy white panthers came out from behind a rock nearby.

"Ice Panthers." Ruby said. "They're... passive, right?" Shala nodded and walked up to the two big cats. "Do you two mind bringing us back to the mountain path? We took a wrong turn and got a little lost." she said. One of the Ice Panthers gave her a small lick on the hand before bounding past her.

"Follow those cats!" Felix said. The group ran with the panthers, following them through the snow and ice. Eventually, they made it back to the main path. The Ice Panthers sat on the ground in front of the group, and Ruby and Shala walked up to them.

Ruby pet one on the top of the head while Shala gave the other some chin scratches. Once the panthers were content with the affection, they bounded back away into the snowy wild. "They were so sweet." Ruby said. "Guys, we lost a big chunk of time. We should keep moving." Felix said.

The group started walking again, coming to a large pass with a cave at the other end. "That's the cave! We're almost done!" Shala said. They all started to head towards the cave, but were stopped before entering by a large group of blue bats. "Great. Frost Bats." Ruby said, drawing her sword.

Shala grabbed her bow and hooked an arrow on it. Felix and Scarlet growled as they got ready to fire their blasts. Scarlet was the first to move, firing a fireball at a small cluster of the Frost Bats. It hit them, and they all went stiff for a moment before fluttering away in panic.

Shala went next, using her bow to fire at the rest of the bats. They all moved away from it before going in to attack everyone. A few of them surrounded Felix, and he used his tail to smack them all away. Scarlet bore her fangs, fire dancing around them. She pounced forward at a few of the bats, and they all scattered as she bit down near them.

A couple Frost Bats charged for Shala, who rolled out of the way. She notched another arrow and fired at the bats from behind, and they decided it was too close and fled. Ruby swung her sword at the bats surrounding her, but they were relentless.

One of them bit her in the arm, and she flung her arm back, making it let go and slamming it into a rock. The bats regrouped in front of Ruby, who glared at them. She took a deep breath, and the fog that would have come from her mouth didn't show. She spun her sword around in her hand, the blade becoming engulfed in fire.

She looked at the bats in front of her with a glare. "Let's dance." she said. She ran forward, slashing at the bats. Most of them ran, but a few of them held strong. They all got into a line formation, which Ruby used to her advantage. She slashed the air in front of her, and a line of fire followed her swing, flying out and singeing all the bats.

They fled away in a panic as the fire faded from Ruby's sword and her friends joined her. Shala and Ruby put their weapons away. "Alright. Glakshir's cave and the Ice Roses are right in front of us. What are we waiting for?" Shala asked. They all ran into the cave, and stopped to admire it.

The walls were encased in ice, and the ground was littered with Ice Roses. Glakshir stood at the other end of the cavern. "And how may I help you?" he asked. "We're only here for an Ice Rose, sir." Felix said. Glakshir nodded and Shala picked an Ice Rose. "We'd like to have this shrunken down. Can you do that for us please?" Shala asked.

She held up the flower and Glakshir blew a group of little snowflakes towards it. They surrounded the Ice Rose and shrunk it down before disintegrating. Shala put it away and the group got ready to leave. They said their thanks and goodbyes before walking outside and taking to the air.

"And that's flower number five. This is going a lot faster than I thought it would." Shala said. "Same. But, the only flower between us and Caylus is the Shadow Blossom." Ruby said. "And that's the worst one to get."