The DepthStriders - Prompt 3

Reginald led his small group through the Depthstrider territory while trying desperately to stave off his growing headache. Behind him the small annoying Kernel was rambling about how he would have decorated the various store and home fronts they were passing while the excitable Lianna stared at everything starry-eyed. The non-stop babbling from the chaser was easily more annoying but Lianna’s constant habit of wandering off from the group was proving to be a pain. The dark runner paused to rub his temples as Kernel focused his attention on a particular stall they were passing. “-I mean just look at this mess! Purple and red corals?! Eugh no thank you. Honestly these bottom dwellers have no eye for aesthetics.” Reginald glared at the chaser at the derogatory nickname he used for the denizens of the beneath. The last thing he needed was for this arrogant little chaser to put his foot in his mouth and cause an inter-continental incident. The runner stalked up to the chaser who was so caught up in his own ramblings that he hadn’t seen his superiors' sharp glare. “Shut. Your mouth.” Reginald growled at the pink chaser.

Finally noticing Reginalds obvious anger the pink loud-mouth chokes on his words and shrinks back meekly. “Y-yes sir.” Reginald sighs and after finally getting the chaser to shut up he looked up only to realize that Lianna had disappeared again. The dark runner closed his eyes and inwardly cussed out the crown prince who had ordered him on this mission. After regaining a small shred of his sanity he looked around and spotted the tyrian at the very stall that Kernel had just been insulting. The runner sent up a prayer for patience before leading the chastised chaser over to the stall to see what had grabbed the tyrian's attention this time. A haedian dressed up in flamboyant costume jewelry was sorting through various materials and clothes while Lianna watched silently behind them. As the boys approached they both realized that the shy tyrian had not announced her presence at all and so the haedian who had now started to create some sort of bedazzled… fishnet? hadn’t noticed her at all. Reginald cleared his throat making the tyrian jump in surprise while the haedian merely glanced up at the sound.

“Oh? Surface dwellers? Welcome!” The haedian happily greeted them with a smile before ushering them all properly into the space. “Welcome to the Crafting Grove~ Here you can assemble any sort of clothing or jewelry you can dream up! There is a small flat fee to keep anything you make but if you just want to make anything feel free to experiment and see where it leads you.” The ornately decorated haedian gave its sales pitch while displaying its wares happily. Lianna who had been shyly looking for a chance to escape the sudden social interaction got swept into the convincing haedians pitch and was now excitedly examining the various types of thread the stall offered. Kernel moved over to the already made clothes and trinkets looking for something he could modify to be what he considered nice. Reginald moved over to the selection of crystals, rocks, and corals that could be used as decorations. His mission was to gather information on the various clans and to see what materials or resources they could offer. Innocent interactions like this were the perfect chance to gather information not only on available resources but also on the general culture and dispositions of the newly discovered haedians. 

Lianna skillfully wove a couple strands of colorful string together in an alternating pattern, creating a long braided cord. Once she got it to half the length she desired she moved over to where Reginald was and also rummaged through the available materials. Reginald admired the tyrian’s skill in using her talons to weave, he was rather skilled for a vayron but he had always thought that tyrians wouldn’t be as dextrous due to only having two talons per appendage. Kernel pulled him from his musing when the annoying little chaser confidently slapped a large cloak down onto a sewing table. The cloak was a deep mauve color and had aqua flowers embroidered across it in a checker pattern. In Reginalds opinion it was a decent cloak already even if it wasn’t quite to his tastes. He watched uncertainly as the chaser smiled in determination while brandishing a sewing needle and golden thread. Lord only knew what kind of monstrosity the chaser was about to make. Reginald sighed and shook his head before turning his attention back to his own task.

The dark dragon runner spotted a small amber colored gemstone cut in a teardrop shape. It was small, no bigger than one of his toes but something about its color really caught his attention. He picked the stone up and turned it over in his paws admiring it. Lianna noticed the stone and smiled sweetly, “Oh that one is the same color as your eyes!” the tyrian happily remarked as she affixed an oval gem to the cord she was braiding. Reginald blinked and looked back down at the gem, he hadn’t realized it but the tyrian was right. Perhaps the reason the stone caught his attention was because the color was so familiar. The stall owner wandered back over to the group and asked, “How is everything going over here?” they smiled sweetly at the group admiring Liannas craftsmanship and Reginald’s find of the gemstone. When the haedian looked over to see what Kernel was doing they flinched at the abomination that was in the making. The once simple cloak was rapidly transforming into a tacky nightmare. Gold lines now stretched between the embroidered flowers, large tufts of fluffy cotton now lined the edges of the cloak, and attached to each petal of the flowers were large oblong shaped gems with sticks of coral sticking out of the center. 

There were no consistencies in color or shape, and the stitching job the chaser was working so hard on was messy, loose, and honestly ugly. “O-oh… oh my…” the haedian stuttered, not sure what to say or feel about what the chaser was creating. Reginald sighed and shook his head, this was why he hated young nobles. They always think more needless extravagance is somehow better than actual cohesion or taste. Lianna furrowed her brow at the chaser’s creation but merely said, “Oh Kernel, what a… lovely cloak…” Her tone was gentle, almost like what a parent would use in gently praising a child when they were creating something truly hideous. The pink chaser paused in his work briefly to puff out his fuzzy chest in pride, “Of course! My cloak is truly going to be the greatest creation the haedians of the Depthstriders have ever seen.” Reginald rolled his eyes and muttered quietly, “more like, greatest war crime they have ever seen…” The only person who heard the dark runners muttering was the stall owner who choked down their laughter at the comment. The haedian turned to the runner trying to banish the image of the cloak from their memory. “A-Anyway, would you like to mount that gem into a broach? I think I have some facets that would fit it.” 

The haedian wandered over to another collection of wares and rummaged through it briefly before pulling out a couple brooch backs made of various different colored metals. After examining them briefly the runner chose a gold backing and passed the gem to the haedian to have it set. While he waited for the haedian to affix the gem, Reginald wandered over to the premade clothing section and browsed through the selection. Admisted the odd oversized costumes and tacky festival garments the runner spotted a small selection of scarves. One scarf in particular caught his eye. It was a similar color to the scaling of his dragon marking and was plain with no additional adornments. He touched the scarf gently and ran his paw along it, it was soft and nice against his rough paw pads. He smiled softly before pulling the scarf free and presenting it to the stall owner. “Could you affix the broach as a clasp to hold the scarf in place?” The haedians eyes sparkled at the runner's good taste, “Yes of course! Just a moment~” they trilled as they took the scarf in hand. 

Lianna sat back with a content hum as she put the finishing touches on the necklace she had been weaving. She held up the simple braided cord with a pale blue oval gemstone in the middle. The cord was a braided combination of simple brown and silver and was honestly quite pretty despite its simplicity. Reginald smiled at the sight, the necklace was exquisite and would look wonderful on the tyrian as it matched her soft coloration. His smile was immediately whipped off his face when Kernel loudly exclaimed, “HAHA Behold! My perfect cloak is complete!” Reginald grimaced as he stared at the extremely gaudy and tacky cloak which had somehow gotten even uglier in the brief time he had last seen. The pink chaser excitedly tossed the cloak over his shoulder and latched the multi-jeweled latch that included a gem of every major color and size on a gold inlay. The chaser posed proudly displaying the full monstrosity for the group to see. “Truly the greatest creation you have ever seen, no?!” he asked the stall owner who merely awkwardly smiled before saying, “It is certainly the cloak i have ever seen.” 

The chaser had obviously missed the fact that the haedian had left the adjective out of his response and began to fish around in his belongings for the payment needed to keep the cloak. Reginald silently and judgmentally stared at the chaser, not believing that the little idiot actually thought the cloak looked good and that he was actually going to keep it. The stall owner presented the runner with his finished scarf, pulling him from his derision,  and quickly put it on. It felt wonderfully soft and light on his shoulders and when he tugged the scarf into place the small teardrop brooch glittered on his shoulder like a badge. He smiled softly at his creation, it was simple but somehow he felt it fit him perfectly. Lianna and the stall owner both praised how good he looked with the scarf and the runner also decided to purchase the item despite his initial plan not to. Lianna tried on her necklace and shyly stared at the dark runner, hesitating to ask whether it suited her or not. She didn’t think the runner noticed it so she started to feel a little sad as she debated whether she should bother buying it or not. Just as she was about to take it off to leave it behind, Reginald complimented her, “That really suits you, you did a fantastic job making it.” 

Reginald looked away from the tyrian after complimenting her, a little embarrassed and not wanting the tyrian to get the wrong idea. Lianna’s eyes sparkled happily at the praise and clasped the necklace's gem in her talons. She looked down at the ground, “Th-thank you.” she said softly. The stall owner looked back and forth between the two before smiling broadly. They might not be able to see it, and that little tacky pink creature was too self absorbed to see it, but it was plainly obvious to the haedian that these two might have feelings for each other.