The isles of Maisha Maua were peaceful and quiet, with only the sound of the breeze knocking over leaves to break that silence. The young man was sitting in a circle of bright blue flowers while gazing at the sky. Hana had gone off to visit her mother and Wesley was able to sit this one out. He needed some time on his own to think. Plucking one of the sapphire blooms, he began to inspect it for a moment before putting it in his satchel.

His life had been a whirlwind of misfortune and bliss. Ever since he met her, things had turned around for the better and yet….he was wary. The bright happy sun always was replaced by the somber moon. Too many days of summer often meant more of winter. His time being happy…..how much longer would it last? What would happen when that inevitable storm came in and tore everything apart? This happiness of his was a fragile glass statue dangling over a fire. How much longer would it be until it was shattered?

He didn't want Hana to see his worried thoughts. She had enough on her mind without him adding more to her plate. These growing concerns led him to take a break on a peaceful island full of flowers and life. He'd hoped it would have been relaxing, and yet it did little. What if he didn't deserve this joy? What if he didn't deserve her? He hadn't done anything particularly useful for her. Their meeting was by chance and everything else was a direct cause of Hana. Wesley flopped onto his back and then turned to the side, holding his head in frusteration. Guilt lingered in his heart. He didn't deserve any of this. Not her, not the new sense of family, not anything. There was nothing to his name nor had he done any great deed for this joy.

He came here to relax but those darkened thoughts crept in the back of his mind. If he could wish them away he would. Pushing himself from the ground, he stood up deciding it would be better to take a walk. If he kept going down that hole, there would be no returning. A bit of work would do him some good. His mother once said, when you're head is talking to much, give it something to do. He smiled as he remembered that advice then spotted a patch of beautiful yellow carnations. Kneeling down, Wesley began to gather the flowers.

This was turning out to be much harder than he had thought. The problem with collecting rare sources of magical flame was just that–they were rare. So far he had been lucky in getting the first four colors, especially the purple eldritch fire. But now Belen was starting to think he'd put himself in a corner. Where in Revaliir was he going to find golden fire from a dragon? Tempest or her grandma might know the answer, but that'd ruin the surprise. And he didn't want to rely on having Lady Angela help out all the time. If it did exist, he'd have to find it on his own. And that meant tracking down every single rumor and bit of gossip about dragon sightings in the area. Due to some bad weather conditions in Eritea, the airship he had boarded made a detour to Maisha Maua for a brief pit stop. The half-fey had been planning to head over down to Nuali, land of the dragons, to start his search. Unfortunately until the situation improved in Eritea, he'd have to sit around and wait for the airship to resume it's course. There wasn't another way to reach the dragons' ancestral grounds.

As soon as he set foot in the chromatic isles, there was one thing that was on his mind. "Whoa…it's like somebody took the river from Vada and covered everything in it." Everything here screamed rainbows, the flowers, the rocks, the water… Even the flowers were blending in with the stuff they were growing on. Flopping down on the ground, the brunet stared up at the sky. "Ugh…I'm almost done. Just one more thing and I'll finally be able to get the ring." Rolling on his side, he groaned. "Why'd I have to do this to myself? I mean, I don't hate Cyril. He's my little brother, he looks up to me. So why am I getting so worked up over this?" Was it jealousy? No, not quite. He'd never let himself feel that way. If he had to choose between Tempest and his brother, that wasn't really an option. He'd choose both obviously, regardless in what order. 

To be fair, he was both proud and surprised when he saw his younger twin pull off a proposal to remember. He remembered getting butterflies in his stomach watching Cyril and Sapphire walk down the aisle. But that amazing proposal was exactly why he was in this situation to begin with. Everything was fine until Tempest mentioned she was impressed at Sapphire's proposal. She wasn't the type to envy others, but the moment Belen heard that, a rock sank in the pit of his stomach. If that was enough to impress her–then he'd have to do better–no, he'd have to outdo that level of impressiveness. This wouldn't be nearly as hard if his brother hadn't gone all out and if his girlfriend wasn't the genius blacksmith of Sularia. Rolling back onto his back again, he put his hands over his face. "Where am I gonna find a dragon that breathes gold-colored fire?! Do dragons have different colored breaths anyway?! Am I losing it? Maybe I should just use something e–no, no that's not going to be good enough." 

He was back a square one. Belen was too busy struggling with his thoughts literally and metaphorically to realize that he wasn't alone, and let out a yell in frustration as he rolled around like cat whose backside was on fire. Meanwhile, there was somebody else in the distance from him in a flower patch. 

The sound of someone shouting in the distance distracted him from his work. Wesley wasn't expecting anyone else to visit the island. Partially out of curiosity and partially out of boredom, he followed the sound to a strangely familiar man speaking about gold fire and holding his face in his hands. A golden flame from a dragon? He was under the impression most flames were a mix of orange and yellow. Perhaps that wasn't what was needed? Wesley walked towards the man, deciding to make a good first impression by being friendly. 

"Sound like you're day is going as well as mine." Wesley said plopping down into the grass, "So dragon gold fire. That's a pretty tough thing to find. I might know someone….. actually never mind. She's too scary and I want to live."

It was best to leave Hana's intimidating aunt out of this. He didn't want to be bench-pressed like those dragons. Wesley pondered for a moment, trying to think of what golden dragon fire meant. Maybe it was a riddle, or some kind of spell? Or maybe it was a literal flame?

"My name is Wesley." He said, "I don't suppose we've met before, you seem familiar."

He held out his hand to the stranger in a friendly manner. The one thing that remained in Wesley was his unconcerned willingness to befriend strangers. Wesley hoped that the stranger wasn't one of the people he caused trouble when he was cursed. He listened to the stranger then gazed up at the sky. It was a nice day and wasting it wallowing in self-pity would be such a shame. Perhaps he could help someone else instead.

"If I may ask, why do you need this flame?" Wesley inquired, "Got a big bonfire planned?"

At the sound of somebody walking in on his minor breakdown, Belen quickly pulled himself together with the finesse of a trial-weathered barrister. Rolling to his side, he rested his head on his elbow as he got a good look at the accidental witness to his moment of existential crisis. "Oh hi, I'm Belen. Yeah I get told that a lot. I guess everybody's met a roguish smooth-talker at least once, right?" In contrast to his distress from earlier, the brunet acted as cool as a cucumber. He would've pulled the bluff off too if Wesley hadn't seen his emotional state a few minutes beforehand. But when Wesley asked why he needed a flame, that's when the bluff fell apart. Slumping, Belen groaned. "So you heard that, huh? Well normally I'd say yes, but not really." Glancing left and right, he checked if there were any other accidental bystanders before whispering loudly to the friendly stranger. "So uh…can you keep a secret? I'm actually looking for dragon fire–not just any ol' dragon's fire," He quickly added. "–Gold dragon fire." There was a pause as he let that sink in. "Pretty crazy right?"

At this point, being asked about why he was doing this opened up the floodgates as Belen began spilling the beans on his grand 'master plan' to some random guy who was probably here as a tourist. He had been keeping it to himself for so long that he just needed to get it off his chest. "Ok–it's for my girlfriend. Not the fire–I mean yes, but it's not the only fire I've been looking for." Pulling out a silver-traced lantern, he held it up to Wesley's face. Inside there were five different colors of flames already dancing inside the enchanted container: fairy-fire pink, eldritch violet, flaming red-orange, ghostly blue, and hellish green. "I'm gonna make them into a ring; I just need one more. You see, my girlfriend's kind of a genius, so I can't just 'buy' her something fancy. Normally when you prepare to pop the big question you wanna make it a one-of-a-kind experience. And what better way to do it than to give her a one-of-a-kind ring?" He wasn't sure if this guy would believe him or think he was out of his mind, but it was the truth. "So I kind of want to keep this a surprise for her. As for keeping it a secret–if you don't, I'll be pretty bummed about it…but there's not much I can really do."

Wesley leaned in as Belen began revealing his secret.

"A golden fire? I guess orange doesn't really count as gold then." Wesley said, "Yeah that is really crazy."

Soon Belen was telling him the entire master plan in great detail. Instead of zoning out, he listened attentively to his new friend. The stranger was looking fore these colorful flames to make a ring for his girlfriend. It was the kind of sentiment Wesley could admire. This was the type of person who people would sing legends about. He was on a grand journey for the sake of his true love. This stranger was a noble gentleman that would do anything for his true love. Wesley smirked and put his hand on the strangers shoulder in a friendly manner.

"I won't say a word." He said, "I'd reccomend you visit one of the dragon migration places. Dragons like to migrate this time of year. Unless you are looking for ice dragons, most dragons like to change up where they are living."

Wesley stood up, stretching out his arms when a thought occured to him.

"Actually these islands are one of the more popular places for dragons." He said, "I used to be chased by them all the time when I visited this place a long time ago. You'll mostly find flower or plant themed ones but there might be a dragon with that flame. Maybe a golden dragon would have golden flames? I mean they're both golden? The colors should match, right?"

He had no clue about how dragons breathed fire. The migration was common knowledge and he had lots of experience of fleeing from dragons when he was cursed. At this point Wesley didn't want this stranger going alone. The world was dangerous and there were hundreds of people who would steal anything that looked important. But most importantly, he wanted to know the guy who could make fancy rings for future reference.

"Tell you what. I'll help you find this golden flame if you let me see the final product." Wesley offered, "What do you say?"

Wesley held out his hand to Belen in an offer and to help him to his feet.

Belen raised and eyebrow when he said that he knew some places where he could find some dragons, and he was practically giddy when one of those places just so happened to be Maisha Maua. Sitting up, the half-fey was grinning from ear to ear. "No way! Seriously?! Looks like we're in luck! I mean, it's not a bad guess to assume gold dragons can breathe gold fire. I have no idea if it's related." Did he just say 'we'? By lending a listening ear to the brunet's troubles, Wesley was now officially involved with Belen's shenanigans–whether he knew it or not. "Deal. I'll be counting on you!" Grabbing the young man's hand, Belen stood on his feet and started rummaging through his bag. Fishing out a pendulum on a chain, he let it swing for a bit until the momentum died down. "This here's a little trinket I use to help me find stuff I'm looking for. Since you're the dragon expert, we'll follow your lead until we find one–then I'll use this thing to see if it's the one we want." Of course he had the magical lantern at the ready, in case he needed to snatch the flames before they disappeared. 

At this point, if he missed the roll-call back onto the airship he could just open a portal back to a city and wait for the next one bound for Nuali. Having his new buddy lead the way was a big help, especially when they were navigating this amazing technicolor wonderland. Staring at the environment for too long made his head spin. His curiosity went unchanged nonetheless, as he picked a few flowers thinking of adding them to the mix–only to see them lose their rainbow glow in disappointment. It was just like the water in Vada. If he wanted to keep it as is, he'd have to pinch a bit of soil or whatever it was that gave the plants their enchantment. He'd definitely recommend this place to Cyril and Sapphire if Chrys hadn't beaten him to it already. Putting his hands behind his head, he began some small talk while they conducted their search. "Sooo–did you ever run across a blonde girl with a big flying mount the size of a hill? They've got a big wingspan, and often people make a little camp on their backs due to how huge they are." He wondered if Wesley had ever met Chrysanthe while she was doing her travelling across Onnen.

Wesley inspected the pendulum but he knew nothing about it. There were thousands of magical items in this world and he knew none of them. Deciding to just lead them to the dragons, he began walking south. The dragons normally preferred the hills of the island, where they could see every inch of the islands. As they walked, Belen asked if he had seen a blonde girl riding a giant mount the size of a hill. He thought for a moment, then shook his head.

"I've seen many blondes but I don't think I've seen any on hill sized mounts." Wesley admitted, "Don't tell me you're looking for a mount like that too? I'm afraid thats something I can't help you on."

He couldn't help but tease his new friend a bit. Wesley realized that Belen was the type of person his mother once told stories about. A heroic knight….perhaps not a knight, but a heroic person searching for treasure to present to a true love. A fairytale story playing out right in front of his eyes. Perhaps that meant Wesley was the comedic side kick? Soon they were getting closer to the spot with dragons. The march up the hill was easy, or at least in comparison to the midnight climbs as a cursed wolf. Wesley lowered himself to the ground as they neared the top and beckoned Belen to do the same.

"You'll want to be careful." He whispered to Belen, "Some of these are mothers. If you see a dragon with a smaller dragon, avoid them at all costs. Oh and roll around in the ground for good measure. A dragon has a great sense of smell and can detect humans from further away. If you smell like the island, it is more likely to ignore you. If you smell foreign, it will likely be hostile. Trust me, I got chased around until I figured this out."

They could see the dragons but were far enough where the dragons wouldn't need to notice them. There were at least fifty different types of dragons all resting on various stones and sunning themselves on comfortable dirt. Some dragons were tiny, the size of a little firefly. While other dragons were large, the size of houses. They were all wild but had grown accostumed to seeing at least one human wherever they went. It was an unspoken rule. Don't bother them and they won't have a barbeque with you as their meal. There were several dragons with golden scales. One was about the size of a large bug while another one had gold and red patches. There was another gold dragon that looked more traditional but it was sleeping.

"What's the plan?" He asked Belen, hoping he would come up with something smart.

Belen was good-natured enough to not be bothered when Wesley joked around. "Nah~ I was just asking. I have a friend who travels around Onnen a lot, so I thought maybe you two had crossed paths sometime." As they carefully snuck over to a good vantage point, his new friend showed him the dragons lounging around, soaking in the sun. They were still pretty far away, but Wesley gave an explanation before he could ask why. Ah, the old 'scent covering' trick. It wasn't something he'd used himself, but he remembered how his mom told him and his brother countless times on what to do in case you found yourself lost in the woods before dark. He was pretty sure she mentioned how she managed to avoid detection from wild beasts by painting herself with a thin layer of damp mud, and keeping low to the ground. Peering out from their hiding spot, Belen's eyes lit up when he spotted at least a few yellow or gold colored dragons in the mix. There sure were a lot of different types, not just color or size. Unfortunately for Wesley, bothering was exactly what Belen planned to do.

When Wesley asked him what they were going to do, Belen started grinning. "We're gonna have a little talk with one, that's what." He had set his eyes on the larger, solid gold scaled dragon. The tiny one probably wouldn't be able to make more than a puff to light a candle, and attempting to negotiate with it might end up looking like a kidnapping. Neither of them had any whelps near them, which was a plus. If there was one thing he learned from his time with Tempest's family, it was that mother dragons were the most terrifying things to talk down. Well, more like grandmother–but you get the idea. The fact that his plan was little more than striking up a friendly conversation was a very concerning thing seeing how dragons were technically one of the world's top predators. But his smooth-talking skills had never failed him before. If there was a will, there was a way. And he wouldn't leave until he was absolutely sure none of them could make gold fire.

"Oy! Jus' what d'ye think ye doin' laddie?" A deep, heavily accented voice piped up from behind, and Belen's bag began to move until a platypus poked is head out of it. "Hey, Haskell! Funny thing seeing you here! So uh…how long were you inside my backpack?" There was a hint of nervousness in his voice because he wasn't sure how much the creature had heard. "Well I cain't say. Took a nap one afternoon an' slept like a log." Haskell lifted his bill and sniffed. "Why does it smell like dragon around here?" Without further ado, the talking platypus climbed up onto the half-fey's head. "Oh Haskell–since you're here, what can you tell me about the dragons over yonder? Specifically that big, gold-colored one over there?" Haskell had a knack for telling if people were friendly or not. Belen planned to explain to Wesley later–but only after he convinced Haskell to go back to sleep again. The platypus often came along with the twins so they wouldn't be unsupervised, but now that they weren't kids anymore, he did whatever he wanted.

While Haskell was busy squinting his eyes at the scaly beast, Belen gave an apologetic look to Wesley and motioned that he'd fill him in on the details later. Haskell had a bad habit of being a blabbermouth and nosy, if his voice didn't make that clear. "Hmm…well the bloke's sleepin'. Don't look like anything's upsetting him none, now there." Seemed like the dragon wasn't hostile, at least just yet. Taking off his backpack, he looked up at the platypus that had settled itself onto his head. "Thanks a bunch, Haskell. You're a real life-saver. Could you do me another favor and watch my stuff for me? I have something really important in there and I can't afford to lose it." Those key words did the trick, and the talking platypus slid off to climb inside the backpack. Once he was fully occupied, Belen motioned for Wesley to hurry on over with him.

Belen had a handful of gems and shiny things he figured a dragon would like. In case the dragon was the type to be grumpy after being woken up, he could try to bribe it. Carefully he navigated through the area while keeping a wide berth from the other drakes. When they were close enough, the gold dragon snorted and opened its eyelids at the brunet boy. "Hi~ So sorry to interrupt your beauty sleep, but I was wondering if you could help me with something?" He took out the handful of gems, holding them out while putting on his best non-threatening smile. Well, here goes nothing.

Wesley gave Belen a confused look when he claimed he was going to have a talk with one. These were magical dragons with the power to breath fire and crush them with their jaws and Belen was just going to talk with them? The a platypus popped its head out of Belen's bag, adding to Wesley's growing confusion. Then it talked. Wesley ran his fingers through his hair as he processed this. Maybe one of those flowers he picked was a hallucinatory drug and all of this was coming from his mind. The grass underneath him felt real, as did the warm sun. This was actually happening. On top of all that, the platypus could tell from one look if a creature was hostile. At this point Wesley decided to accept that Belen was a magical wizard and maybe a blacksmith.

But he wouldn't leave Belen to do this on his own so he followed him through the crowds of dragons towards their goal. Belen was holding shiny gems which gave Wesley a little hope. Waking a dragon up from a nap was dangerous but if they had a bunch of treasure, they might be okay? The arrived in front of the dragon and Belen woke it up immediately, holding the gems out towards it with a big smile. Wesley awkwardly smiled but he was secretly begging that the dragon wouldn't tear them apart. The golden dragon looked at the both of them for a moment with amusement then stood up. The golden dragon opened its jaws and picked Belen up by his shirt and carried him towards the edge of the hill, and threw him down it.

"Oh geez." Wesley said.

He tried to subtly leave the area, but the dragon quickly snatched his shirt and threw him with Belen down the hill. Wesley rolled and tumbled down the slope, as it was fairly steep until he hit the bottom of the hill. Wesley was dazed for a moment and dizzily looked around. The dragon had taken the treasure, that much was clear. After a few moments Wesley pushed himself to his feet and walked towards Belen.

"I don't speak dragon but that seemed like a go away to me." Wesley said with a sigh, "If only there was a way to just get them to use their fire. Then we could just ask whoever has the golden fire instead of going to all of them."

At first he thought that his plan had worked. The dragon didn't start inhaling or breathing smoke, and seemed interested. Belen's expectations were a tad too optimistic, as the dragon then opened its mouth, grabbed him with it, and dropped him down a slope. "AAAAaaaaaaa–" The boy's scream faded as he quickly went rolling downhill. Using some magic to soften the landing, Belen laid flat on his back, sprawled out on the ground. "…Well that didn't work." He muttered when Wesley came to see how he was doing. Haskell was right though, the dragon really wasn't hostile. "As much as I'd love to get going, I'm not leaving unless it can prove it doesn't make gold fire." The half-fey said stubbornly, crossing his arms. "Guess that wasn't a big enough bribe. Should've brought a geode or something." Offering a handful of gems was like trying to lure an adult with a handful of candy. Unfortunately he didn't have the time or money to get a bigger chunk of precious stone for the second round, so he'd have to think up something else. 

Wesley had a point though; it'd be better to just ask outright. But doing that would be super awkward, and they'd get stared at like a pair of weirdos. "Hmm…what other reasons would a dragon need to use fire outside of self-defense?" He began racking his brain for a plan that would work, and knowing Belen–that meant only one thing…shenanigans. He trudged back up the hill, this time stopping when he was far enough away. He still had a good view of the dragons, though. Taking out the pendulum again, he began mumbling something under his breath while letting the enchanted trinket do it's thing. The pendulum swung once, twice, three times, and then it began to show a pattern. The arc was nudging towards a particular direction, and he followed it with his eyes until he saw who was in its path. The same gold-scaled dragon. Drat. 

"So I have some good news and bad news," The brunet said to his new compatriot in collaboration. "–The good news is that dragon has the gold fire. The bad news is…that's the dragon with gold fire." He was pointing at the one that tossed them down the hill. "And I'm fresh out of stuff to bribe a treasure-loving dragon." He decided to check his inventory anyway, just in case he was wrong. Well, technically he might still have a few things depending on the dragon's preferences. He had some of those moon biscuits from Nisshoki, a magic shell that made illusions, and durian. Naturally he wasn't going to try offering it the durian. He didn't want to die just yet. "I had an idea in case the first bri–I mean, gift didn't work. But I don't think that would be good seeing there's a bunch of other dragons nearby."