[Gift] GD2: Lightning arcs

The rain pattered down on the two dragons and their rider as they walked through the city at night. It wasn’t heavy rain, by all means, but it was still definitely a thunderstorm judging by the flashes of lightning that would occasionally turn the sky white for a brief moment. The rain cast a foggy and almost mystical look across the tall-ish buildings, neon lights in shades of blue and yellow and pink diffracting through the mist and reflecting across small puddles on the ground. Water has all but soaked through the brown and white fur on Quake’s neck, as well as made Nova look like a soggy black and green chicken. Their rider flash, after thoroughly making sure every inch of his large feathered wings were covered by waterproof oil, watched in despair as his tail still managed to drag on the ground and now became just as drenched and dirty as Nova’s feathers. Overall, not a great look for any of them, but Quake still thought she had it better than the others, since the rest of her was hard scales that water ran down in rivulets.

That is, until they spotted a pile of reflective metal and tangled limbs at the bottom of an electric pole. Unlike the other time with the snake, this time Quake was the one who approached the unknown creature first- yup, definitely a dragon, the feeling of elemental magic hit her as soon as she went two steps closer to them. And from the sharp smell of electricity in the air, a Thunder dragon, and a very disgruntled one at that. What could have injured a Thunder dragon in their own territory, though?

Quake waved one of her tails to signal to the others that the dragon was safe to approach. It was a female, and as she opened one eye to take in the sight of the metal-covered face of Quake, her antennae twitched and she gasped, pressing herself against the pole. Quake turned and glared at Nova behind her, who was arching his neck in a semi-threatening pose. “Don’t scare her!” She scolded him, in response to which he lowered his crest slightly, but still stared at the stranger with relative suspicion.

After a while of conversing with the dragon, it turned out that the Thunder dragon- by the name of Spiffy- had collided with the pole and one of her wing joints was broken, so she was momentarily stunned. Flash examined the joint, rain still pattering down, and yup- it was twisted at an odd angle, the metal sheared off at some locations and a couple screws missing. Additionally, and perhaps more worryingly, the wires running through had also been sheared off along with the metallic parts. This meant that even if they had made a joint- it was decently easy, as Nova chimed in to say, because all it required was a couple of bearings and a pulley system, and the Earth dragons can get some metal easily- the wiring still wouldn’t work. And as much as Flash hated to admit it, he wasn’t an electrical engineer.

“Hey Flash,” Quake chimed in with a swish of her tail, “can you fix up the mechanical parts while we find a Thunder rider or dragon to help with the electrical stuff?”

He had to admit that was a good idea. So that was what they did, Nova running off with Quake while Flash stayed behind to start on the joint.

“My dragons, using me only for my opposable thumbs,” muttered Flash as he bent down to pick up a small screw. Thankfully the residents of this city were skilled enough to put water-resistant coatings on every piece of metal there was, otherwise this screw would not be doing well in a few days judging by how soaked it was from the ground.

Before he could even finish picking up all the screws and bearings scattered on the ground however, his two dragons returned with another in tow. The newcomer was a pink-furred Thunder dragon by the name of Sheeva, who had found the two Earth dragons running desperately across the rain-soaked city night and decided to check them out. Thankfully, although she was tiny compared to the two Earth dragons, she was still willing to help them out. Even Nova, who is usually suspicious of strangers, didn’t question her once as they sped back to Flash and Spiffy with her in tow.

“Alright,” Flash said once they got back with what appeared to be a fluffy pink scarf. “Sheeva, could you please help us with how the wiring’s done on her wing? We just need to get it fixed enough that her wing can work for the rest of her trip home.”

Sheeva floated closer to the brightly-coloured Spiffy, who was extending the wing in question to help her see. She reached one front leg towards the joint, and a spark of Thunder magic flowed towards the joint- and oh, that was fast. With his enhanced eyesight Flash caught the moment where the crude joint’s wiring seemed to float towards specific locations, and they were now suspended in midair at the points where they are supposed to connect.

Quickly, Nova stepped forward, surprising both Flash and Quake. He touched his snout to the joint, and metallic dust swirled around the area until it formed the rest of the missing connections. For extra security so it didn’t short out in the rain, he also encased it in some clay. (He had no idea whether it would work, but hey, at least he didn’t use another metal.)

He stepped back to admire the handiwork, turning to the others in pride. Spiffy sat up and experimentally swished the wing about, and confirmed that their patchwork fix did in fact work, even if it was janky and probably wouldn’t last more than an hour of use. She thanked them, as well as Sheeva, and took off into the stormy night sky. Flash and the dragons also bade farewell to Sheeva, the smaller dragon buzzing her wings as a goodbye, and the three kept walking towards their destination.