u/_InvaderJim

Wow, I… kind of hate this lol. It looked better in my head. Glad this form isn’t canon! It’s too cursed lol. I think the main issue is that one of Laika’s main traits is a cartoonishly long muzzle, the flat feline face looks weird on her lol.

I’ve already got a much nicer version of this early HK purple silo, however my cleaner one has incorrect US rear wheels. Since my Antifreeze HK silo has all 4 deep dishes, I wanted to find a set of deep dishes for the rear of my purple silo so they would match. And wouldn’t you know, the set I found was attached to the exact same car I’m swapping them onto! Pretty cool, it’s like the “ultimate purist” way to source replacements, since it’s the exact same variation lol. I wasn’t specifically looking for a silo to take the deep dishes off of, but when this thing popped up for 5 bucks on eBay, I couldn’t pass it up! Deep dishes for my cleaner one has silo plus an extra HK purple! Later, when I go for the full (albeit, very small) HK bow, I could even salvage the side pipes, engine, and glass from this beater if needed, so it’s nice to have an extra parts car around so if I ever need to replace parts, they would be OEM!

Now for the tough part: getting those deep dishes off the beater without busting the notoriously fragile HK axle!

Rendering and background practice of Phoenix and Silver enjoying a beautiful country sunset!

So I was thinking: this character is often drawn with very great attention to detail. So what if I were to draw her in my main art style, which notably lacks high levels of detail?

It was a fun experiment to draw her all cartoony-like! I think it turned out decent :)

Decided to do a fun little exercise and draw a few of my OCs swapping outfits.

- Phoenix and Silver fit into each other’s clothes quite nicely, as they have pretty similar builds to each other. Silver is big into fashion and will try on anything and everything, so she quite enjoyed trying Phoenix’s clothes. Phoenix does not wear dresses, but he has to admit, it fits like a glove and dosnt look terrible.

- Brodyaga and Laika are another story, however. Laika’s space suit fits Brodyaga perfectly, as it’s made of a special fiber that can adjust to fit any form via a control panel built into the wrist of the suit, so it could fit pretty much any body type perfectly. Unfortunately, Laika is not a fan of Brodyaga’s skinny jeans and button-up. She does not mind snug clothing, so long as it’s stretchy and maneuverable. Me and her both particularly dislike jeans lol.

this was a fun experiment, it was interesting to imagine how my characters would react to each other’s outfits. I’d totally recommend trying this drawing challenge out, as it can lead to some pretty funny situations depending on who swaps outfits with who!

Here is without a doubt the new WEIRDEST piece in my collection! This is 100% original unmodified from the factory, it was assembled like this! A genuine Silhouette with RRRumblers track guide wheels?!

This thing is crazy. It kind of rolls (the wheels barely hold it off the ground, it’s like a lowrider!). It’s got an antifreeze body and a lime base, and the Track Guide axles still have functional suspension like redline axles (they are crimped into the places where the redline axles would have gone).

It came originally from an employee collection. I assume it’s a lunchtime experiment (an employee going down to the factory floor during lunch break and building experimental cars using genuine Mattel parts, equipment, and tools). Though, there is also a chance it’s some weird prototype thing meant to test how the track guide wheels would work, because they stopped making the silhouette right around the same time they started making RRRumblers. Whatever it is, it’s fully spun and original, and incredibly weird! What do y’all think of this crazy Frankenstein car?

This silhouette is one I ordered almost a month ago, but just arrived due to shipping delays and a mishap with the delivery address. I ordered it cause it’s a shade that I don’t have and have never seen on a silo before.

I’m a little stumped on this one. The top is obviously heavily faded/light sprayed, and I thought it was just a light version of red, but upon closer inspection, it’s definitely not just basic red.

The base shows the true color, which does not perfectly match anything else I have. Honestly, it looks exactly like the “watermelon” red used on store display custom mustangs. Now, I know the silhouette never came in “watermelon” but I’m just noting how similar (nearly identical) it looks to the watermelon mustang (the lighting makes it look a bit off, but in person, the base looks exactly like a store display mustang. I included a pic from the Online Redline Guide for color comparison, the mustang isn’t mine)

Now you may be thinking: it’s just magenta or rose. That’s what I thought too, but I have a magenta and a rose and I compared them, it does not match either of those colors either. The group shot has it next to Silos in varying shades of red and pink for comparison (from Left to Right: Creamy Pink, Rose, “watermelon?”, Red, and Magenta)

I’m stumped. Let me know what y’all think of this odd specimen. A few things to note: windshield is heavily yellowed and opaque, and the interior steering wheel is loose from the car, despite it being a US model and not an HK with a separate steering wheel piece.

Chapter 7: The Lost City of Night

“-And if you don't want to take another dip in the river, id suggest you go ahead and back off and leave us alone!” Viperfish shouted at Prism.

“Hmph! Whatever! Not even worth my time!” And Prism stomped away with a huff.

Viperfish turned in Iceosceles’s direction with a triumphant smile, and they both laughed. She was happy to have finally met someone who took the time to understand her perspective, and as they walked along the beach together, she thought about how much she appreciated knowing Iceosceles and the other misfits.

Her train of thought was broken, however, by a dragon landing with a thud right in front of her and Iceosceles.

“Hey, Viperfish, right? I am so glad I found you, I have been looking all over for you! I have a very important matter to discuss with you!” Said a voice that she recognized as Shadowhunter, the Nightwing from her winglet.

“Um, hi Shadowhunter? Could it wait until later? Me and Iceosceles are a little busy right now.”

“Oh I wish it could wait, but this is very urgent, the big treasure hunt is tomorrow, I can't wait any longer.”

“Treasure hunt? What does a treasure hunt have to do with me?”

“Its very important that you come with us on the hunt! Trust me, it has to specifically be you.”

“Oh really? Me? And what makes you think that, huh?”

“Ok well its- um… It's just- It's a little hard to explain..?”

“Well, I'm not even going to consider it if I don't know why? What's the point! If I am so important to this ‘treasure hunt’, I deserve to at least know why!”

“Uggghhhhh… Ok, I really wasn't looking forward to telling you this, because I was worried you would think it was stupid. But I suppose you deserve to know… So I kind of had a dream? Like, a super important dream! And this other weird Nightwing dragonet named Dreamweaver warned me that it was super important for you specifically to come on the treasure hunt with us!”

“Um… Ok? Did this ‘Dreamweaver’ guy tell you why by any chance?”

“...Well no, he didn't give me any specific details. He just said it was important!”

“Well, I guess you are right then.”

“Wait, really? So you agree it's very important and you will join us on the hunt?”

“No, you are right that I think this is stupid! I'm not going on some wild goose chase just because you had a weird dream! You don't even have any specific reasons!”

“Viperfish, I hate to disagree, but Shadowhunter is a prophet. That very well could have been a very important dream. Maybe even some kind of prophecy.” Iceosceles interjected, “In the end, it's up to you, but I would at least consider it. You never know, maybe you would enjoy it?”

“Yeah, I'm not much for treasure hunting, Iceosceles. Not really my thing, I doubt I'd enjoy that.”

“Just, please think it over, ok? I really hate to push you to do something you don't want to do, but the dream was very worrying. I'm concerned something bad could happen if you aren't there!” Shadowhunter added, “Ill leave you two alone now, but Viperfish, please consider what I said. If you change your mind, meet us in the prey center after classes tomorrow. I really hope you will consider it, I worry the future may depend on you being there…”

And with that, Shadowhunter flapped away. Viperfish tuned to Iceosceles with a scoff. “Well, that was officially the weirdest thing I have heard all week! Like I would waste my time running around looking for treasure just cause some Nightwing had a funny dream! How laughable!”

Iceosceles, however, sounded worried. “Viperfish, I don't know. Honestly, what if he is right? I know it sounded a bit silly, but what if the future really depends on you being there tomorrow?”

“Dont buy into that nonsense, Iceosceles. I don't need weird dreams and maybe-prophecies to guide me! I am my own dragon, and ill do as I please!”

“Well, if you say so.” But Iceosceles sounded very hesitant.

“Dont let that guy’s gobbledygook spook you, come on. Let's grab some fish from the river and forget about all that nonsense!”

As the day continued, Viperfish did everything she could to forget about Shadowhunter. As if she would let herself be bothered by this weird Nightwing! No way! But try as she might, her thoughts kept cycling back to what he had said. Maybe it was that he had sounded so desperate, or maybe it was how worried he had been. But she just couldn't shake the slight uneasy feeling she got from him that she had been trying to suppress all day.

‘Hanging out with the gang will help me get my mind off of this!’ She thought as she gathered with Iceosceles and Spindle at midnight that night to go meet up with the misfits. The three of them flew down to the beach together and snuck into the secret cave one by one.

“Welcome-” Started Bion.

“-back!” Finished Chaly.

In the dull light of the cave, Viperfish switched from her blindfold to her new goggles. She didn't use them all the time, but she did like seeing her friends without having to put out the lights. Almost immediately, however, she saw that Eclipse had narrowed her eyes and was staring directly at her.

“What!?” Viperfish asked.

“Something is bothering you,” Eclipse answered, “Its what Shadowhunter told you earlier, wasn't it?”

“Ugh, him! I have been trying to forget his nonsense dream stuff all day!”

“And yet, you can't, because deep down, you believe what he said is actually important.”

“I don't think it's important at all! And even if my deep, inner, traitorous subconscious may be ever so slightly concerned about what he said, you can probably see in my mind that what he said sounded like nonsense! So what makes you think it's important?”

“Shadowhunter- earlier after he left you two, he came to ponder by himself right outside the cave. I saw his mind, and I know he wasn't faking any of that. He truly believes that you need to go on that treasure hunt, and he is very anxious about it. He has been troubled with strange dreams lately, and he's convinced it's part of a bigger prophecy.”

“Ugh, well that's just great! Even if I wanted to go on a stupid treasure hunt, I don't want to go with a bunch of random strangers!’

“Actually, nearly half of your winglet is part of the Treasure hunter’s club, so they wouldn't be complete strangers. Desertglass, Rust, Heatwave, and of course, Shadowhunter. They are all going. I've seen it in Desertglass’s mind, he comes down to the beach for suntime every day, so I've seen inside his mind a lot. He seems pretty friendly.”

“Just because those guys are in my winglet doesn't mean we hang out and stuff! We take classes together, sure, but they are still pretty much strangers to me.”

“What if you took a friend along? Maybe Shadowhunter would let someone else come with you?”

“Well… I suppose it would be a bit less weird if y'all were there. You should all come. Maybe, if it's so important, we can do it together.”

“I can't come, it's a school activity, and I'm not in the school.”

“We cant risk-” Started Chaly.

“-being seen!” Finished Bion.

“I unfortunately have my inventing trade class during that time, so I can't come either.” Iceosceles added sadly.

“Oooo! Oooo! I can come with you!” Spindle shouted excitedly, "I don't have a trade class, we can be treasure hunting buddies!”

“Well, one is better than none, I guess. Do you all really think this is a good idea?”

“If Shadowhunter was so concerned, it may be worth it just to put him at ease,” Iceosceles answered, “if it really is just nonsense, nothing will happen. And if you don't enjoy it, you don't have to keep going on hunts in the future. But you never know if you will like something until you try it.”

“Well, I suppose you have a point. That does seem logical.”

“Plus, you will have a fun story to tell us tomorrow night!” Added Eclipse.

“Ok, FINE, ill do it! Just to get Shadowhunter off my case! And I'll tell you guys all about how inevitably boring and useless it will be at tomorrow night’s meeting.”

“We will be eagerly waiting!” Chalybion said together.

“Something tells me you may enjoy this experience more than you think.” eclipse added.

“Somehow, I doubt that…”

The next day, viperfish and Spindle found Shadowhunter in the prey center after classes. He was very excited to see them.

“Did you decide to join us after all? That's great!” he exclaimed.

“Here is my offer, Shadowhunter. I will come with you, but on one condition; Spindle comes with us as well.”

“Well, I will see what I can do,” He replied, “Follow me to the meeting table.

Spindle and Viperfish followed Shadowhunter over to where the others had gathered.

“Hey, Shimmer. Before we head out, I brought a couple friends who are interested in joining us. Would it be ok if they tagged along?”

“Interested is a stretch…” Viperfish interjected.

“Trust me, it's very important that they come with us. Its um- its part of… A PROPHECY!” He tried to say it with as much gusto as he could muster, but Viperfish couldn't take him seriously the way he had said it.

“Hmmm… I'm not sure, Shadowhunter. Do they each have a unique treasure to show to join us?” Shimmer asked.

“Oh… I may have forgotten about that part. Do you two have any special treasure?’ Shadowhunter asked Viperfish and Spindle.

“Well, these goggles are pretty much the only noteworthy thing I own, besides a few stuffed sea creatures that I made for anatomical studies.” Viperfish put the goggles on, “Iceosceles made them for me, I am light sensitive and the tinted lenses let me see properly during the day. And I suppose if I am going to be looking for treasure, it would be helpful to actually be able to look at things.”

“My treasure is Viperfish, because friends are the greatest treasure of all!” Spindle shouted way too cheerfully.

“Ugh, that is the sappiest thing I have ever heard.” Viperfish replied with a cringe.

“Well, I guess I can't argue with that!” Shimmer said, "They can join us, plus, we are more likely to find treasure with more dragons looking! So everyone, where do we want to search on this hunt?”

“Actually, about that, I have a surprise I'd like to share with you all that I was waiting to share until today,” Desertglass interjected, “Some of you already know about it, but I believe it's time to officially introduce it to the club. It will be a valuable resource going forward!”

Desertglass reached into a bag he was wearing and pulled out the strangest looking compass that Viperfish had ever seen. “This compass is a family heirloom, passed down through many generations. Nobody knows exactly where it came from, all I know is that it was touched by an Animus dragon long ago. This compass was enchanted to lead the user to treasure that has been lost to time! It can take us anywhere on Pyrrhia… except the night kingdom…”

“Why not the Night kingdom?” Asked Shadowhunter curiously.

“Well, I assume it was able to at one point in time, because each of the small gems dotted around the compass are color coordinated to a certain tribe. Red for Skywings, Orange for Mudwings, Yellow for Sandwings, Green for Rainwings, Blue for Seawings, White for Icewings, And this pink pearl indicates if a discovered treasure is Animus-touched. Then there is this part that's all scratched up, it looks like another gem used to go here, I can only assume it was the Nightwing gem that belonged here. Unfortunately, that missing gem will probably never turn up.”

“Never say never!” Interjected a new voice. Everyone turned to see who had said it. Viperfish recognized this dragon too. It was Nightshade, the Nightwing-Leafwing hybrid from her winglet.

“Nightshade? What are you talking about?” Desertglass asked, surprised.

“Desertglass, I must confess, I know about your compass, in fact I've known about it for a while. I wanted to make sure I could trust you before revealing more information, but you have proven to be trustworthy time and time again. You have used the compass to help your friends multiple times, which means you are using its powers for good. So I think you finally deserve an explanation.”

“Explanation?” He asked, confused, “What do you know about the compass?”

“That compass was actually a legend among my family. As the story goes, the compass was created by one of my ancient ancestors. Reportedly, he was a Nightwing Animus who carved the compass with his own claws before enchanting it!”

Viperfish noticed as Nightshade said this, Shadowhunter’s eyes went wide, like he’d seen a ghost. “You alright, Shadowhunter?” She asked.

“Y-yeah… just got a weird sense of deja vu…” He replied in an oddly nervous tone.

“According to legend, the compass was lost to time hundreds, maybe even thousands of years ago. For as long as any of my family could remember, that was it. That was the whole story, the compass never turned back up.” He turned to Desertglass, “One day, I noticed you holding the compass, and I thought, maybe… It looked almost exactly like the description of the compass passed down through generations. When I overheard you talking about it just now, I decided this was the perfect time to reveal what I knew for a very special reason.”

Nightshade turned to Shimmer, “I was wondering if I could join you all for the hunt. I know its last minute, but I have a feeling I could make this a lot more interesting. Here is my special treasure to enter the club.” Nightshade took off the silver locket he was wearing and held it up to show everyone.

“Hmmm… that locket seems fairly generic, is there a special story behind it?” She asked.

“I know it seems just like a regular old locket, but you know what they say. Looks can be Deceiving!” Nightshade popped open the locket, removed the small purple gem from inside it, and held it out to Desertglass.

Desertglass froze, his eyes wide. “That- that isnt… it cant be…”

Nightshade smiled, “Who wants to explore the infamous Lost City of Night?” He dropped the gem into Desertglass’s talon, and for a long moment, Desertglass just stared at it, unable to speak.

“You… What? How!? This- this is the missing Nightwing gem?! Where did you find it!?”

“My ancestors may have lost the compass, but apparently held onto this one piece of it. It was passed down generation after generation, much like the compass was in your family, Desertglass. Apparently, my ancestors hoped that by passing the missing piece down, that eventually one of their descendants would find the rest of the compass, and it wouldn't be forgotten. I guess they were right then, huh?”

“That- That's amazing! But… the compass is damaged, how could I mount this gem back into place?” Desertglass looked around thoughtfully.

Viperfish pondered this too. She noticed a small patch of wet clay near the wall of the cave. “Hey Desertglass, I think I have an idea on how to fix it, may I borrow the compass for a moment?”

“Um… ok, just be really careful with it.” He hesitantly handed the compass to her.

Viperfish walked over to the wet clay, grabbed a scoop of it with her talon, and smooshed it down into the space where a chunk was missing from the compass. Desertglass handed her the Nightwing gem with a slightly confused look, and she squished it into the wet clay, adjusting it slightly so it was in relatively the same position as the other gems. Instantly, all the gems flashed a pulse of light together, and the wet clay instantly hardened and fused with the rest of the compass. It was as if the compass itself was alive and had realized that its missing piece had returned. Viperfish could feel the energy it now radiated, and she didn't like it. She quickly handed the compass back to Desertglass with a cringe.

“Here, take this back, there is something off about it. It feels weirdly… alive…”

As she handed it back to Desertglass, he gave a slight shudder. “It… does feel different now. I wonder why?”

“Oh, that's just it reacting to being able to run at full capacity again!” Nightshade replied, “It makes sense that it would radiate more power now that it's all back together! It's a very powerful artifact!”

“Well… if you say so…” He replied hesitantly.

A few minutes later, the group was winging their way towards the old Nightwing peninsula. Nightshade looked very pleased, and most of the group seemed eager to get hunting. But Desertglass and Shadowhunter both looked unusually nervous. Well, it was unusual for Desertglass, as it seemed to Viperfish that Shadowhunter had a habit of getting nervous. But unlike before, Viperfish understood why. She had held the compass at full capacity, but it felt so wrong. Being in contact with the compass made her feel like she was being watched, and now they were following it to the old Night Kingdom.

Viperfish decided to talk to Desertglass, as he had also noticed the unusual aura emanating from the compass. “Hey, I am not scared or anything, but just for consideration, are you sure it's a good idea to be following that thing? There aren't very many things that make me nervous, but that thing… There's something about it that I don't like.”

“Well, the compass has never led me astray before. I will admit, I've also never felt like it was watching me before, but Nightshade said that was just the way it's supposed to feel now that it's all back together. He seems to know a lot about it, so I suppose it's ok.”

“Right, Nightshade. If he has never even seen the compass all together with all of its gems before, how does he know what it's supposed to feel like at full capacity?”

Desertglass opened his mouth, then closed it again. “Huh, I'm not sure,” He added, "I'll ask him.”

Desertglass angled his wings to glide over to where Nightshade was happily soaring along. “Hey uh, Viperfish made a good point just now. How do you know the compass is supposed to feel this way with all the gems intact?”

“It's part of the legend passed down through my family. I was told that when the pieces were reunited, the compass would emit a power so radiant that it would almost feel lifelike. I'm sure you have noticed that the compass seems to have a mind of its own. I've been told that it does not just locate random treasure. It actually knows and feels its user, and guides them to the treasure that it knows they need.”

“Now that you mention it, every time I have used this thing with one of my friends, it has seemed to guide us to exactly what we needed. It brought me to Razorblade, it found something shiny for Rust to wear, and it located that weird beat-up neckband for Heatwave. Now that I think about that, it's been helping find exactly what I need since the very beginning. Since my very first hunt, since… the necklace…” His voice trailed off for a moment, and he seemed lost in thought. “You are right. It is like this thing has a mind of its own.”

Viperfish heard all of this, and it put her a little more at ease. But she still could not shake a slight nervousness that remained.

Eventually, they reached the Nightwing peninsula. Except the compass didn't stop. It kept leading them further, further further. Eventually, they left the peninsula all together and began heading out towards the ocean.

“Maybe we should stop,” Desertglass called to the group, “It could be dangerous to fly out into the ocean without knowing where we are headed.”

Just then, the compass stopped, and the needle began spinning. They had arrived… over a random patch of ocean about a mile from the peninsula.

“What the- why are stopping here?” Viperfish asked.

Then Shadowhunter spoke up, a look of realization plastered across his face. “Thats it… That's why Dreamweaver said to bring you…” he said to Viperfish. The whole group was watching Shadowhunter eagerly now. “We are in the old Night kingdom. The peninsula used to be a lot bigger, but over thousands of years, the peninsula and most of the old Night kingdom sank into the ocean! We needed Viperfish because the treasure is in the sunken part of the Night kingdom, and she is the only one who can breathe underwater! And with her excellent night vision, it will be a lot easier for her to find it down in the depths of the old city! It all makes sense!”

As Viperfish listened, she couldn't help but be a little impressed. It really had been imperative for her to be there. “Well ill be… That's… actually kind of cool!”

Desertglass handed the compass to Viperfish again, “Here, you will need this to find the exact location of the treasure. Please be careful not to lose it.”

“Ill be careful, and I'll be quick. I don't want to hold onto this longer than I have to…” She removed her blindfold and handed it to Desertglass. “Please hold onto this while I'm down there. Once I come back up, we will swap items back.”

She dove quickly into the water and began swimming down, down, down. As she got deeper and deeper, it got darker and darker, and the pressure of the water began to intensify.

‘Man, it's a good thing they brought me specifically,’ She thought to herself, ‘Most Seawings wouldn't be able to handle this much pressure. It's a good thing my egg came from the deepest depths of the ocean…’

She finally reached the bottom, where she could make out the silhouettes of ancient, decaying structures. She looked at the compass, and it seemed to be pointing her deeper into the city. She eventually came to a cave opening in the ground, almost like a sinkhole. At that point, the pink pearl on the compass began glowing.

‘Desertglass mentioned that if the pearl glows, that means the treasure is enchanted… How interesting…’

She dove deep into the cave, navigating around twists and turns. Eventually, she came to a smooth section of wall, a dead end.

‘Ugh, maybe this thing is broken, there isn't anything here.’ She thought. She began to turn around to leave, when all of a sudden, all eight gems on the compass lit up, and it began pulling her towards the wall. ‘WHAT?! Why is it pulling me?! How is it pulling me?!’

She gave the dead end a closer look, and noticed that there was a slight indent sticking out from under the edge of a large patch of algae on the wall. She wiped away all the algae, revealing a whole carving in the stone. It was a large engraving of a tree with a single full moon above it. The whole engraving was about as large as three adult dragons. In the center of the engraving of the moon was a very familiar octagonal hole. Viperfish got a weird sensation from the compass, as if it was compelling her, telling her what to do. She placed it into the octagonal hole, and the whole engraving lit up with a bright white light. Viperfish had to close her eyes from how bright the engraving glowed. Eventually, the light faded, and the front of the tree in the engraving slid open, revealing a passage deeper into the tunnel. The hole was large enough for a dragon to enter through. Viperfish grabbed the compass from the engraving and continued down the new passage.

As she got deeper into the tunnel, she began to get a strange feeling, like her scales were crawling. She did not like it one bit. Another thing she noticed was the deep water pressure instantly dissipated as soon as she crossed the threshold into the new passage. Eventually, the tunnel turned upwards and surfaced into a large, wooden room. There were no windows or lights in the room, and Viperfish was very glad she could see in the dark. There were desks dotted all around the room, and drawings on large pieces of paper hung all around the room.

Viperfish began to examine the drawings for clues as to what the treasure could be. One seemed to be a sketched design of what looked like a large circular palace with tall, narrow windows dotted around the outside. ‘That's a weird design for a castle?’ She thought.

She moved to the next drawing, it was divided in half, with a map of the Pyrrhia on either side. On one side, all the tribe territories were properly labeled, but the borders were very outdated. This version of pyrrhia looked older than any map in the history cave at school. The map on the other side of the drawing, however, was completely blacked out. Someone had scrawled “Night Kingdom” across the entire map in white ink, and there was a drawing of a large, intimidating dragon looming over the map. The dragon was painted in the same white ink.

‘Thats… unsettling…’

She scanned the room some more, and noticed a staircase in the back that led to a trapdoor in the ceiling. She walked over and tried to open it, but it was locked. There was an octagonal indention just like before, but this one had two extra triangular shapes jutting out from opposite sides. She placed the compass into it, but nothing happened. Whatever was supposed to fill those triangles on either side was missing, so the lock didn't budge. She continued looking around the room until she spotted a box on one of the desks. When she walked up to it, the compass began spinning wildly, and all the gems flashed a pulse of light.

“This must be it then…” She said to herself. She opened the box, and inside were nine identical black obsidian neckbands, each one meticulously engraved with all the phases of a moon cycle. There was a note inside, so she read it aloud.

“Dreamweaver’s neckbands of breath. Breathe where there is no air, remain warm where there is no heat. Survive in impossible conditions”

She closed the box and lifted it off the desk, and that's when she spotted a note underneath. She set the box down and picked up the note, her eyes going wide as she read it.

“Thank you for coming, Viperfish. I know it sounded silly, but Shadowhunter was right about the fate of the world depending on you finding my treasure. Speaking of which, tell him I said hi. Signed, Dreamweaver.”

This was all getting too strange. Viperfish packed up the note into the box and swam back down the creepy tunnel. As soon as she crossed the threshold back into the normal tunnel, the pressure returned, and the door closed automatically behind her.

She brought the treasure back up and reported everything to the group. They were astonished, especially Desertglass and Nightshade.

“Wait, you are telling me the compass opened a secret passageway?!” Desertglass asked.

“How peculiar. This wasn't in the legend of the compass that my family told me. There must be more to that thing than we could ever imagine…” Added Nightshade.

“You said this treasure was left by Dreamweaver?” Asked Shadowhunter.

“Yeah, he says hi by the way.” Viperfish replied, showing Shadowhunter the note. “There were all kinds of weird drawings down there too. Some weird old maps of the continent, one of which had the whole continent labeled as the Night Kingdom. And another drawing of some weird circular palace type building.”

“Wait, did you say weird circular palace?” Shadowhunter asked, “Do you remember it well enough to make a drawing of what it looked like?”

“Maybe, I'll try my best once I get back to Jade Mountain.” She replied.

Shadowhunter pulled her aside from the group for a moment. “Sometime, me and you are going to need to have a chat. This information is more important than you could imagine.”

“I agree, Dreamweaver seems to think so as well.” She added, remembering the note he had left for her.

By the time the group got back to Jade Mountain, it was almost midnight. The others went back to their sleeping caves for the night, apart from Viperfish and Spindle.

“What a CRAZY day! That was such a fun adventure, don't you think?” Spindle asked Viperfish excitedly.

“Well, it was certainly interesting.”

“Did you like it enough to stay in the club permanently?”

“I am going to stay, because I have a feeling things are going to start getting a lot more interesting from now on, and I should probably be around to see it.”

“Then I'm staying too! Can't let you have all the fun!”

Just then, Iceosceles entered. “Are you two ready to go to the meeting?” He asked.

“I believe so,” Viperfish answered, “And boy do I have a story for you all tonight.”

The three of them made their way to the misfits cave and entered. And as the night went on, Viperfish regaled the members of the gang with the story of her adventure.

“So, I guess it really was important for you to be there, huh?” Eclipse asked.

Viperfish thought uneasily about all the information she had learned, about the strange things she had seen, and about the compass. But mainly, she thought about Dreamweaver’s note, specifically the part about the fate of the world depending on her being there to find the Neckbands of Breath that day.

“Well… I guess you could say that…” She replied nervously, still unable to shake the feeling the compass had given her when she held it.

…Like she was being watched…

…Like the compass was…

…Alive…

Updates/notes:

Apologies that it’s taking longer than expected to get the series completely up on AO3, I have been very busy lately. I will get it done hopefully in the next few days, so I figured that I’d finish and release chapter 7 in the meantime.

Things are getting intense in the story! Only 3 more chapters to go in book 1!

I am considering composing a simple OST for this fanfic! I have a bit of experience with Garage Band, and if I do compose music to go along with the story, I’ll definitely post it up here in the WOF sub!

That’s all for now, as always, thanks for reading, and I hope you enjoy CLW!

-EA, Phoenix Motion Initiative

It’s not a rare variant by any means, in fact it’s very common. But I have been unconsciously searching for an affordable one cause I think this variant is so odd and unique.

In case anyone was unaware, in 1973, when they removed the exposed rear engine from Mantis and renamed it Double Vision, for whatever reason, 99% of Double Visions that year painted in specifically Seafoam Green retain the original Mantis body with the exposed engine and have all 4 capped wheels. It’s the weirdest thing, I’ve only ever seen Seafoam Green Double Visions that have this transitional hybrid body, and yet almost all of them in that color have it. It’s a very common color, easily obtainable in very good condition for cheap. It’s a lot harder to find a Seafoam Green Double Vision that has the new body with the closed off engine, I have seen them, but they aren’t nearly as common as the transitional version.

I would have gone for a cleaner one (I may still in the future sometime) but this is a good filler, plus starting bid on EBay was a buck, and nobody else bid, so I can’t argue with that price!

Just for fun, I added some pics of the car with its spectraflame counterpart for comparison, as well as a few pics with my transitional all-capped wheels Buzz Off and its counterpart, Tri-Baby.

Transitional Variants are so fun!

A couple more less traditional silhouettes have been obtained that are both pretty hard to find!

First is the (yellow? Green? Antifreeze? I’m not exactly sure) Gran Toros Silhouette. This color seems to be harder to find than the Purple one. And this one is in really good condition too! All 8 exhaust pipes are intact, which is insane considering how flimsy they are. Spare tire, gear shift, steering wheel, all there. It is missing a hubcap, and the left rear wheel has the wrong hubcap style, but those can be replaced from another Gran Toros.

Next is one I’ve been trying to find a good deal on for a very long time! The 50th anniversary replica Store Display Exclusive Aqua Overchrome one. This one was very tough because though the other 2 RLC release silhouettes are limited to 3000 each I believe, there were only 1500 of this one made, and they only came in the store display set from 2018! It’s quite hard to find this one loose by itself since most people wouldn’t part out that set, since it’s very limited. I just got super lucky on this one and obtained it for under $100!

(I know the RLC isn’t an original redline, that’s why I waited for the Gran Toros Silhouette to arrive, so I could include it with a Redline-Era car to stay on topic)

Now I (believe) I have every RLC release silhouette, and Almost every Gran Toros release (I’m still hunting for a good deal on the USSR exclusive Gran Toros Silhouette in Salmon Pink Enamel with white interior and white hubcaps, that is a VERY VERY hard to find variation!). My next goals are going to be getting and original Brown, an original true Yellow, and a variation I just discovered recently: the Red Enamel FAO SCHWARZ release. I have the Gold Chrome FAO car, but apparently there was another FAO set that’s even rarer that has a Red Enamel One!

Interesting note: today I decided to draw Laika with her mouth open, which is something I almost never do! I kinda wanted to see what it would look like if her mouth wasn’t just essentially a 2D shape on the side of her muzzle, so today, her mouth is fully open! also, her head shape is different, I was doing a lot of experimenting with this one. I should have the banner up in the next few days, even if there will only be a couple of us up there this month

Chapter 5: The Secret Ingredient

Over the past few years, Jade Mountain Academy has seen a great influx of new students.  While some came to learn general subjects like History, Science, and Reading, others also wanted to learn specific trades apart from core classes.  So eventually, optional specialized classes dedicated to teaching different trades had been added to the school.  Dragonets could choose to take these classes separately from their winglets to learn extra skills that could be useful when trying to pick a career.  These classes start a week after regular classes begin, to give new students a chance to be acquainted with the school first.

Now that the first week of classes had ended, and trade classes were beginning, many students were excitedly rushing around to find theirs.  And no one was more excited about the start of trade classes than Dirtdobber, the hybrid Mudwing-Hivewing of the Agate Winglet, who was currently on his way to the new Cooking trade class.

“I cant wait to get my talons on all the exotic ingredients the school has in storage!” Dirtdobber cheerfully said to Icescosceles, his clawmate who was signed up for an inventing trade class that was located near the cooking class, “And all the cooking recipe scrolls in the library?  I cant wait to see what new flavor combinations they will have to offer!”

“Sounds like fun!” Icescosceles chimed in, “Im just as exited for Inventing class.  If I can learn to make useful technology at Jade Mountain, I can offer my inventing services to Queen Snowfall, and my machines could help make up for 2000 years of lost Animus magic after the whole Prince Arctic incident.  Imagine, me, the queen’s personal inventor!”

“You could definitely do that!  That would be so cool!  Hmmm… If you want to invent for your queen, maybe I could learn such delicious recipes that Queen Moorhen would let me cook for royal feasts!  With access to everything Jade Mountain has to offer, ill learn so many new recipes!  Maybe they will let me combine recipes, too!  Oh man, all the experiments I could do with all these new foods!”

Dirtdobber was so exited and lost in thought that he didnt notice Heron, and accidentally bumped into her.

“Oh uh- oh my, I am so sorry!  I was totally in my own little world there, and got a little too excited thinking about cooking!”

“Hey Dirtdobber.  So you signed up for a trade class as well?  That's pretty neat!” Heron exclaimed, "I'm on my way to the Pottery trade class!  It's always been a passion of mine, and I figured Jade Mountain was a great opportunity to improve my skills!  I hope to be a master of pottery someday, and make vases that important dragons would store treasure in!  Or statues in the likeness of royals to be displayed in palaces!  Or even dishes beautiful enough for queens to eat from!”

“That sounds awesome, Heron!  Hey, um, if you ever needed to test out any of those fancy dishes, I'd be more than happy to put some fancy food on them for you!”

“Oh!  Well, you know, I may just have to take you up on that sometime!  Anyways, ill catch you later!”  And she headed off with a smile.

“Smoothe, buddy.”  Icesoceles said to Dirtdobber with a hint of sarcasm, which Dirtdobber did not pick up on.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing.  Hey, looks like we are here, ill see you after class!”  And Iceosceles hurried off to a cave at the end of the hall.

Dirtdobber entered his own classroom.  Most of the students in the class were Mudwings or Mudwing-Hybrids, which didn't surprise him.  One thing Dirtdobber was very excited for in particular was the professor.  Clay, one of the original Dragonets of Destiny, had volunteered to teach the class.  During the time of the Dragonet Prophecy, Clay had travelled all over the continent, and had the opportunity to try lots of different prey (or, in the case of his time in the rainforest, fruit) from lots of different tribes, and Dirtdobber was very excited to hear what he had to say.

“Hello students of Jade Mountain, and welcome to the Cooking Trade Class!”  Clay began, “It is my hope to teach each of you all kinds of knowledge about food!  Food history, food science, food variation between the ten tribes, and more!  Basically, if it has to do with food, you can learn it here!”

Dirtdobber couldn't wait to get started!  All the ingredients, recipes, and flavors he could ever dream of right at his clawtips!

“I have a very exciting introductory exercise for us this week to start off!” Clay continued, “In three days, we as a class are going to make a big feast to celebrate the beginning of the new school year!  I have a box full of scroll pieces, and each piece has a type of food on it.  Each student will draw a piece, and cook their favorite form of that dish for the feast!  You have full access to Jade Mountain’s ingredient stores and all the recipes in Starflight’s library for this assignment, and I will be available to help anyone who needs it!”

Dirtdobber couldn't believe what he was hearing!  A feast, right off the bat!  And not only that, besides the assigned type of dish he would draw, he had total creative freedom!  This was his chance to make a big impression with his experimental foods!

‘I hope to get an entree, and not a side dish,’ He thought to himself, ‘An entree would be more likely to stick out from the rest!’

Students began taking turns drawing scroll pieces from the box.  When it was Dirtdobber’s turn, he collected his piece and returned to his desk, giddy with anticipation.

“Ok class, you may unfold your notes and read them now!”  Clay said once the last student had returned to their desk.

“Yes!  Hot Entree!” exclaimed a Mudwing-Nightwing hybrid two seats ahead of Dirtdobber.

“Sweet, I got dessert!”  Said a mudwing to Dirtdobber’s left excitedly.

‘Oh moons, those are really good dishes,’ Thought Dirtdobber nervously, ‘Did I strike out?’ He closed his eyes and opened his note, fearing the worst.  Then he opened his eyes and read the words.

“Central Soup! I got the main soup base for the feast!”

“Lucky!”  Added a skywing sitting behind Dirtdobber who had pulled a “Side Dish” card.

After class, Dirtdobber headed to the library to check out some exotic soup recipes.  He had a favorite soup, but in his own opinion, it was way too basic for an opportunity like this!  He needed to find something truly special, then add his own flair to make it unique!

When he entered the library, Heron was there as well.  She seemed to be sketching something on a blank scroll.

“Hi again Heron!  What are you sketching?”  He asked.

“Actually, my pottery class’s first assignment is to create dishes for the feast your cooking class is hosting!  Isn't that cool!”

“Super cool!  What dish are you crafting?”

“We had a random drawing, and I got to make the bowl for the main soup!”

Dirtdobber couldn't believe what he was hearing!  “Well then, looks like I'll be testing your dishes sooner than expected!  I am the one making the soup!  I actually came here to study recipes to try and create the most outstanding, delicious, exotic soup of all time!  This could be my chance to make a name for myself!  At least around school.”

“Oh wow!  Then this can be an opportunity for both of us!  We could collaborate, you pick out a recipe, and I can design the bowl to match your soup!  The grand centerpiece of the whole feast!”

“You are a GENIUS!  That's so smart!  Oh dear, I'm going to really have to go all out then!  I'll tell you what, I'll check out the recipe scrolls today, come up with an idea, and meet you at lunch tomorrow with a recipe.  Then you can start designing the bowl, and then you will have two whole days to build it!”

“Sounds like a plan!  Then I'll see you at lunch tomorrow!”

Dirtdobber checked out a bunch of recipe scrolls from the library, and that evening, spent hours perusing all the ideas in the scrolls and debating which one to pick.  Iceosceles even let Dirtdobber borrow a moon globe he had brought with him from the ice kingdom so he could continue reading even after the sun set.  When lunch time came the next day, Dirtdobber headed to the prey center, excited to share his idea with Heron.

“Ok, I think I have come up with an excellent idea for the soup!”  He exclaimed, “I found a recipe here for a veggie soup with beans and bits of small prey added.  It looks pretty tasty!  Its almost perfect”

“Oh yeah, that is perfect!  A nice combination of flavors!” Added Heron.

“See, that's the issue though.  The flavors would go together nice, but as it is, it's only almost perfect.  I need to make something that IS perfect.  To do that, I need to add some kind of flair to the soup.  Something new and exciting!”

“Oh, what did you have in mind?”

“Thats my dilemma.  I'm not sure what I could add to this recipe to make it just that extra bit special.  I considered lots of available ingredients, but none of them seem special enough for this.”

Just then, Desertglass approached Dirtdobber and Heron with an idea.

“Hey, Dirtdobber and Heron!  Say, I couldn't help but overhear that you were looking for something extra special for your soup, correct?”

“Hi Desertglass.  Yeah, I really want to make this soup extra special, like something no one has tasted before.  But I'm having a hard time figuring out a perfect secret ingredient to add. Do you have any suggestions?”

“As a matter of fact, I think I know the perfect ingredient!  The elusive Dragonbite Chili!  Hottest pepper in the whole sand kingdom!”

“Hang on a minute, a little kick of spice would be nice, but I don't want to burn everyone’s mouth.”

“Thats the thing, eaten raw, this pepper would probably make an Icewing start breathing fire!  However, when cooked, especially into a soup, most of the spice cooks out.  Once that happens, an amazingly vibrant and tangy flavor is unlocked, its indescribable!  Dragonbite Chili soup is considered a rare delicacy where I come from, so I have only had it once.  But I can confidently say it was the best soup I have ever tasted!  And combined with the flavors of the other ingredients you mentioned?  You may just have the greatest soup on BOTH continents!”

“Wow, that sounds perfect!  But where would I find the pepper?”

“Hmm… It is very rare, but I think I may know one dragon who may have some.  I met him when travelling through the Scorpion Den when I was younger, a seller who specializes in rare and exotic ingredients for food.  He was the one who sold the peppers to my father that one time I had the soup, so I know he at least had them at some point.”

“I don't know, Desertglass.  That sound really expensive, and I dont have any gold or rare treasure I could trade him for the peppers.”

“Hmmm… Oh wait, I have an idea!  Ill take you to him myself!  He knows my family, so he may give us a good deal, and I have a few trinkets from my past adventures I'm sure I could trade to him!”

“You don't have to trade your own treasure for me, Desertglass, I couldnt ask that of you.”

“I'm offering, Dirtdobber.  I don't mind, really.  I have plenty of extra stuff lying around that I don't need that the seller would probably like.  Plus, I think its worth it to help a friend create the greatest soup ever!”

“Oh, thank you, Desertglass!  How could I repay you?”

“As long as I get to try this soup when it's done, that's payment enough!  I'd never pass up an opportunity to have Dragonbite Chili soup!”

“Ill tell you what, you can be my official taste tester!  That way, I can make sure the flavor is perfect before the feast starts!”

“Its a deal, then!  After classes today, ill gather my things, and we can meet back here, the Scorpion Den isn't far, we can be there and back in a day!”

“Hey, could I tag along as well?” Asked Heron, “Maybe all the sights, sounds, and smells of the Scorpion Den will help inspire my design for the bowl!”

“Of course!” answered desertglass, “The more, the merrier!”

Later that day, after classes had concluded, Desertglass, Dirtdobber, and Heron gathered in the prey center.  They made sure they had everything they needed, drank plenty of water, then headed for the Scorpion Den.  As they got closer, Desertglass spun around midair joyfully.

“Ah, the desert air!  Dry, sunny and warm!  Isn't it perfect?”  exclaimed Desertglass gleefully.

“I dont know, I think id prefer it if it were a bit more moist”  Heron explained.

“I agree with Heron, the heat is nice, but its so dry!”  Added Dirtdobber.

“I guess that makes sense,” Said Desertglass, “Well, anyways, here we are.  It may take me a little bit to locate this guy, for whatever reason, he periodically relocates his stand.  I would be careful, we should all try to stick close together.  The crime isn't nearly as bad as it used to be anymore, but it is still the Scorpion Den.”

They began making their way through the tightly packed stalls and shops.  The Scorpion Den was very crowded, so they had to be careful not to trip into any Sandwing tails.  As they continued, Dirtdobber noticed something strange.  Their group only had three dragons, but when he looked back, there were four clear sets of talon prints trailing them.  Before he could say something, a new voice spoke up seemingly from out of thin air.

“Well, well, well!  What do we have here?”  Said the mysterious voice, “Three dragonets, all alone in the Scorpion Den?  Now why could that be?”

A strange ripple in the air began to circle the group.  Dirtdobber and Heron stepped closer together, scared.  The ripple stopped right in front of Desertglass, but he just chuckled at it.

“What do you know, I might have known you would be here, brother!” Desertglass said to the ripple.

“Ok, you caught me!”  The voice exclaimed cheerfully.  Suddenly, where the ripple had been, a whole dragon materialized.  He looked quite similar to Desertglass, but with less reflective scales, and he wore a necklace with a pearl that featured wavelike accents along the side.

“You are getting better at camouflage, brother!  I wish I could make myself fully invisible like that!”

“Im still working on that, its not always easy to keep the underside of my wings hidden!”  The dragon opened his wings, revealing the undersides to be just as reflective as Desertglass’s mirror scales.  “So, who are your friends?  More students from the academy, I assume?”

“Oh yes, that's right!  They are from my Winglet at Jade Mountain!  Heron is the Mudwing of the winglet, and Dirtdobber is a hybrid like us!  He is the winglet’s Hivewing!”  Desertglass turned to the others, “Dirtdobber and Heron, I'd like you to meet my brother, Mirage!”

“It's a pleasure to meet friends of my brother!”  Mirage gave a slight bow, and sent a sunburst of warm colors through his scales.

“Nice to meet you!” Said Heron.

“That was a pretty neat trick, Mirage!”  Added Dirtdobber, “Desertglass, I didn't know you had a brother?”

“Yeah!  I actually have a few siblings!”  Answered Desertglass, "Speaking of which, Mirage, how are Cactusflower and Chupacabra?  Have you seen them lately?”

“Cactusflower, yes.  I saw her the other day when I visited mom and dad in Possibility.  She's doing good, I'm jealous of how good she is at camouflage!  I wish I had full color changing scales like her!  As for Chupacabra, I haven't seen him recently, but from what I heard from mom and dad, he's still doing good as a guard at Queen Thorn’s stronghold.  So, what are you and your friends doing in the Scorpion Den?”

“Oh yeah!  Have you seen Porcupine’s stand?  Dirtdobber is going to make Dragonbite Chili soup, and we need to get some Dragonbite Chilis from him.”

“Oooo, how exotic!  Yes, I know where he is, I passed his stand earlier!  Follow me!”

The group followed Mirage deep into the heart of the Scorpion Den.  Eventually, they reached a certain stand that was packed with odd things, like strangely colored berries and prey that Dirtdobber had never seen before.  Behind the counter was a strange dragon, he looked like an Icewing, but his scales were a deep brass-gold color, and his spikes were the same dark brown as Desertglass’s tail barb.  He also wore a neck pouch that looked similar to the one Desertglass often wore.

“Well, hello Desertglass!”  Started Porcupine, “Long time no see!  I heard you got into fancy that school, how's life in the mountains?”

“Pretty good so far!  These are my friends from school, Heron and Dirtdobber.  Dirtdobber is trying to spice up a soup with a very special secret ingredient for the school potluck, and we were wondering if you had any Dragonbite Chilis in stock?”

“Ah, the elusive Dragonbite Chili!  An excellent choice for a secret ingredient in a soup!  Unfortunately, I'm clean out, these things have been getting tough to come by.  I've been meaning to make a trip to an old mine where I know some grow, but I don't have fire, and it gets pretty dark in there.  But since I know you Desertglass, I'll cut you the deal of a lifetime!  If you and your group come with me and help light the way so I can gather a restock, I'll let you guys take some of the Chilis back with you, free of charge!  How's that sound?”

“Excellent!” Desertglass turned to Heron and Dirtdobber, “You two up an adventure?”

“For sure!”  they said in unison.

“You want to tag along, Mirage?”

“I'd love to, but unfortunately, I have certain… things…. To attend to.  But I wish you all the best of luck on your endeavor, and I will see you next time!”  And with that, Mirage gave another small bow and vanished into thin air.

“Your brother is cool!” Dirtdobber exclaimed to Desertglass.

“Oh yeah, he sure is!”

Desertglass, Heron, and Dirtdobber followed Porcupine to the old mines where the pepper was supposedly located.  Once they arrived, Heron grabbed a dry branch and set it aflame to use as a torch, and they all entered the old mine.  It was dark and humid inside.

“Ah, the air is much more humid here, this is better!” Dirtdobber added happily.

“For sure, deep in this mine in an underground oasis, that's where the peppers grow!” Answered Porcupine, “Follow me, the entrance to the Oasis should be right up-  uh oh…”

“Uh oh?  That sounds bad”  Heron said nervously.

“Right, um, the entrance directly to the oasis used to be right where this wall of rocks is… It would seem that its caved in since last time…”

“Oh moons, well there goes that,” Dirtdobber added sadly, “That would have been one good soup though…”

“Wait a minute, not all hope may be lost.  Last time I was in the oasis, there was a separate cave leading in from the opposite side, and I could feel a warm breeze coming from it, meaning it must also lead outside somewhere.  I have never tried to travel through it because it's much more overgrown than the usual path, but if we find it, we may be able to access the oasis.”

The group flew above the caves and looked around the area for a while.  Eventually, they came across a smaller opening in the rocks on the opposite side of the mine.  

“This mineshaft tunnel is a lot smaller.  Heron and Dirtdobber, you two should keep your distance from me and Desertglass so you dont accidentally get scratched by his tail or my spikes.”

“Your spikes?  I know icewings have sharp spikes, but they are generally harmless otherwise, right?”  Asked Heron.

“For regular icewings, that would be true.  However, my sandwing half comes out in a strange way, rather than having a poisonous tail barb, my icewing spikes are all tipped with sandwing venom.  Very dangerous, but helpful in certain circumstances, for example, if I ever get attacked, all I have to do is turn around and let the attacker run into my back!  That's why I'm called Porcupine, because like a Porcupine, my spikes are my natural defense mechanism!”

“Ooooo, cool!” Added Dirtdobber, “Kinda scary, but in a cool way!”

They all entered and made their way through the deep, winding tunnels of the narrow mineshaft.  Eventually, however, they came to a roadblock.

“Hmm, this path is blocked by all these massive roots!”  exclaimed Porcupine, “Well, at least roots are easier to get rid of than boulders!”

“Should I burn them?” asked Heron.

“No, this deep in the mines, setting a fire that large would make too much smoke.  We wouldn't be able to breathe.  However, I have an idea of what to do that would avoid that issue!”  Porcupine turned to Desertglass with a smile.

“Oh yeah, time for me to use my not-so-secret weapon!”  Porcupine instructed the others to back up as Desertglass raised his tail toward the vines.  He pondered for a moment, then scratched a large star shape in the wall of roots with his tail barb.  After a few seconds, the roots began smoking and fizzing.  Then with a tap of his talon, the roots fell away, leaving a perfectly star shaped hole.

“Hah!  Showoff!”  exclaimed Porcupine.

“That looked like rainwing venom!”  Shouted Dirtdobber.  Then he figured it out, “Your tail has rainwing venom!?  That's crazy!  You and Porcupine have some crazy-dangerous venom abilities!  If you two teamed up in battle, you would be a force to be reckoned with!”

“Hey, he has a point!”  Realized Porcupine as the group moved deeper into the cave, “Next time a bunch of sisters start a war over the throne of a tribe, or a giant ancient evil dragon pops out of the ground, or new tribes arrive from across the sea to enlist Pyrrhia’s help to defeat an evil mind controlling ghost plant, contact me!  We can be the, uh, the Unstoppable Spiky Boys!”

“Maybe, but we gotta work on that title, hah!”  Desertglass chuckled, “We need a name to strike fear into the hearts of our enemies!”

“Ill come up with something, hopefully it will be a long while before another prophecy emerges, and ill have lots of time to come up with names!”

They continued through the tunnels, dodging roots and sharp rocks here and there.  Right at the top of a long downward slope near the entrance to the oasis, there was a particularly annoying rock that jutted right out in the middle of the path that they all gingerly stepped around.  Dirtdobber spotted the underground stream of the oasis.

“Finally!  Water!  I am so thirsty!”  He shouted excitedly.

“I wouldn't drink that if I were you, Dirtdobber,” Added Porcupine, “A deep underground fissure releases natural gas into that water, its toxic and high explosive.  Speaking of which, let's leave the torch up here.  The bioluminescent plants down here should provide just enough light.”

They set down the torch and began exploring the cavern.  It was very large, with strange underground trees growing around the toxic stream.  Glowing moss covered the roof of the cavern, bathing everything in an eerie blue-purple light.

“Found it!”  Porcupine exclaimed.  He had come across a particularly nasty looking tree that was covered in wicked red thorns and black leaves.  The peppers hung from the tree in bunches like bananas, so Porcupine grabbed two bunches.  One he put into his own pouch, and one he handed to Desertglass, who put them in his pouch.  As they were leaving, Dirtdobber grabbed the torch, and Heron followed him as he trailed Desertglass and porcupine up through the tunnel.  Porcupine turned around to make sure everyone had made it up the slope alright.

At that exact moment, Dirtdobber mis-stepped and tripped on that one rock that stuck right out of the middle of the path.  He dropped the torch, but when he bent down to pick it back up, it was gone.  Because of the slope of the mine, it had already started rolling away down the tunnel towards the oasis cave.

Porcupine went wide-eyed, “The lake!  The gas!  Everybody RUN!”  He shouted.

Everyone made a mad dash up the tunnel towards the exit.  As they approached the wall of roots, they all heard a distant ‘Splash!’, followed immediately by a loud ‘BOOM!’.  Porcupine, Desertglass, and Dirtdobber made it through the hole in the roots.  But Heron tripped on the edge of the star-shaped hole and fell down.  Dirtdobber noticed this.  As the whole mine began to rumble and crumble, he turned around, grabbed Heron, and flew for the exit.  There was barely enough room to fly, and his four wings kept scraping the edges of the cave.  But finally, he burst out of the exit with Heron and immediately dove out of the way just in time.  As soon as they were clear of the exit, the cave exploded in a ball of fire, the ground gave a mighty quake, and the entire mine caved in on itself in a cloud of smoke and dust.

“Is everyone ok!?  Did we all make it out!?”  Shouted Porcupine from up ahead.

“I'm all good. More or less.”  Answered Desertglass.

“We are ok over here!”  Added Dirtdobber.

“Dirtdobber, you saved me!  Thank you!”  Said Heron gratefully.

Dirtdobber blushed, “Aw, it was nothing.  Besides, how can the greatest potter in the world present her work before queens if she gets burnt to a crisp?”

“Hah, you are right, I guess that would make it pretty hard!” Then her face lit up with an idea, “Hey, I've got it!  I know exactly what I'm going to paint on the bowl now!”

“That's awesome!  I can't wait to see it!”

Everyone gathered themselves up, and the three members of the Agate Winglet parted ways with Porcupine.  Desertglass brought back with them one of the bundles of peppers they had gathered, and they flew back to Jade Mountain as the sun set and the moons rose.

Over the next two days, Dirtdobber experimented with small batches of the soup to get the flavor just right.  Desertglass took a few of the peppers to Nightshade, who used his leafspeak on the seeds to grow an entire Dragonbite Chili Tree beside the underground lake in Jade Mountain, so Porcupine would have a new (and much safer) place to restock in the future.

On the day of the feast, Dirtdobber cooked a large batch of his new soup, and added it to the giant bowl.  Heron had decorated the bowl beautifully, there was a painting of the oasis around the base, with large flames towering above it.  Inside the flames, a ring of Dragonbite Chilis was painted around the bowl, and finally there was a gold stripe around the rim.  It was very beautiful, and with Dirtdobber’s soup added, it made for the perfect centerpiece of the feast.

Dirtdobber and Heron both got perfect grades on their projects, and Dirtdobber watched proudly as the other students enjoyed his soup.

“We did it!”  Heron exclaimed, watching the feast, “The perfect combination of flavor and style!”

“That means there is just one thing left to do, Heron!”  Dirtdobber said.  They turned to each other with a smile.

“Lets eat!”  They said in unison.

Credits: Mirage and Dirtdobber OCs created by u/Mawz_Drawz

Updates/notes:

First of all, I apologize for the wait on the chapter, June was kind of a crazy month for me, it shouldn’t take so long next time. However, I have lots of exciting behind-the-scenes updates to share!

1: I pretty much have the rest of the chapters for Crazy-Lace book 1 planned out!

2: I have a rough outline in place not only for book 1, but also BOOKS 2-5 (yes, Crazy-Lace is getting an ENTIRE 5-BOOK STORY ARC!).

3: my AO3 account has been approved, and my next project is going to be setting up Crazy-Lace on there! I will continue to publish the main chapters on both Reddit and AO3, but I will also periodically publish my own “winglets-style” mini side chapters exclusively on AO3 to give better context and origins to some of the side characters from Crazy-Lace. I’m already planning a winglets chapter for Mirage!

4: Mirage and Dirtdobber are the first case of someone else’s OCs appearing in the story! (Of course, Dirtdobber has been around for a while, since he was created prior to me starting to publish my Fanfic).

5: I am officially opening applications to have YOUR OCs make a cameo appearance in the story! If you are interested, feel free to shoot me a DM with some info about your OC, and I’ll let you know if I can sneak them in or at least mention them. Not all OCs may be able to make it in if there are too many, but I will try my best to include as many as possible, at least in mention! I will credit all creator’s Reddit profiles in the chapter when their OC cameos, just like I did with Mawz here in this chapter!

That’s about all I have in terms of updates right now. Chapter 6 will probably have a link to the AO3 page included. As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy CLW!

EA, Phoenix Motion Initiative

1984 dodge charger Shelby, the slowest Shelby car ever made, and the only front wheel drive dodge charger lol

Just picked up this prowler with capped rears, missing the engine but I can get a replacement engine, it rolls really well. I may have to break out the old tracks and run this one!

Obtained this absolute gem from a Facebook sale! An unspun silo with mis-matched colors, blue body and gold base! Just like my other unspun blue body, it has no taillight paint, so I’m guessing it’s some kind of factory paint test car. I love weird test cars like this, and always love to add a new test car to the silo collection! What do y’all think?

Pics don’t do it Justice, the lighting was bad. But it is indeed platinum, at least the body is. Front axle needs straightening, but it’s decent regardless. Now I only need aqua, true yellow, and true brown!