Name: Sage

CBer/AE/CAPTCHA: AE

Age: #Ageless, but appears 12.

Gender/pronouns: female, she/her/hers.

Requested dragon appearance (appearance must include breed name, and we request that you have gills or other implements for underwater breathing): rainbow scales, giant wings, gills on neck, neon green eyes, long tongue, big curvy horns on head, ridiculously long tail.

Describe your personality in five words: 1. nonsensical 2. adventurous 3. loud 4. fun-loving 5. weird.

Favorite food: probably a weird hodgepodge of sour sugary candy.

Favorite subject in school: recess

Fears: boredom, drowning, hornets, axe murderers.

Likes: video games, spelunking, hiking, basketball, comic books, Diritos, weirdness, silly words, neon colors, Marvel, comedy movies, Minecraft, bean bag chairs, soda, candy, mechanical pencils, pie fights, pulling all-nighters.

Dislikes: makeup, dresses, monotone, documentaries, waiting, learning, high-heeled shoes, acting proper, vegetables, long books, the color white, getting up early, even numbers.

Favorite book: probably a comic book, or like, Dog Man or Diary of a Wimpy Kid.

Favorite movie: Ant-Man, Endgame, or Guardians of the Galaxy.

Luggage: an extra hoodie, Diritos, comic books, Nintendo Switch, several pairs of converse, Sour Patch Kids, and a plastic spider.

Name: Nihil

CBer/AE/CAPTCHA: CAPTCHAE

Age: 17ish

Gender/pronouns: She/Her/Hers/Herself

Requested dragon appearance (appearance must include breed name, and we request that you have gills or other implements for underwater breathing): Completely black body, sleek and powerful build, glassy black eyes, glassy black claws, four huge wings, spiked wing frames, spikes on her cheekbones, no shadow, smells faintly of cold rain.

Describe your personality in five words: Provoke me, you die slowly.

Favorite food: Ice water

Favorite subject in school: Martial arts

Fears: None applicable

Likes: Silence, snow, alone time, sparring.

Dislikes: Loud noises, bright lights, boredom.

Favorite book: ALL OF THEM

Favorite movie: None

Luggage: Anything she needs, plus some stuff for self defense... and offense...

We feel we should inform you that the installments will be posted one or two each day, to give us a little time to catch up and write some new content. Here is:

Day one pt. One:

Fleet carefully filled out the sign-up sheet, and with a shimmer and a pop! sound, it disappeared, replaced by a shiny indigo and teal cape of scales, seeming to have been made out of an actual dragon skin. Shuddering slightly, Fleet draped the head over her head, and slipped her hands into the forepaws. With a soft whoosh, it contracted around her body. Her first thought:

   Geez, this vacation is going to be uncomfortable.

   Luckily, the scales seemed to melt into her body, and soon they were her body, and instead of uncomfortable, they felt made for her, as the had been. Almost before Fleet had a chance to register all this, darkness swirled in from the edges of her vision, and when it finally cleared, she was standing on all fours in a grassy field, looking up at Skywater fortress, a huge castle-like building connected to a mountain. On either side of her, CBers and companions appeared in swirls of mist, gazing around blearily. To her right, Khai turned to Nyx and commented angrily:

   <Nyxx> <ever> <yone> <isBi> <gger> <than> <mmee!>

   Nyx looked around, then answered, “No they aren't, look at Barnswallow, she's even smaller than you.” Khai promptly bounded over and hugged the said Barnswallow, trilling happily.

   <Irly> <like> <smol> <drgn!> she squealed. 

   “Oh, thank you.” Barnswallow answered, confused and half squashed. 

   They all turned as someone called them, and up on the hill, near the entrance to the fortress, were two black dragons. One was very slender with a sweet smile, and the other was huge and powerfully built, with a sour expression. The smiley one nodded as they turned to look at her, and began to speak.

   “Welcome CBers! And companions,” she added with a wink, “to Skywater fortress! I’m Lila, and Sourface over here is Vansix. Don't worry, he’s just grumpy because I got him up early to prepare for your arrival. First of all I’d like to inform y’all that we have hired a few former students to help maintain the fortress during your visit, and to help if so eone gets lost.” They looked around and noticed that there were indeed several other dragons going around the group, introducing themselves here and there. “Second of all, I think I’ll tell y’all the schedule. Y’all should be up bright and early for breakfast, and I feel I should inform you that you will be eating a healthy balance of foods during your visit.” There were a few groans, cut off by a whoop of excitement from Nyx, who immediately looked embarrassed. “Well, yes.” Lila continued. “Where was I? Oh, bright and early for breakfast, and then we will cycle through a few activities, before a quick lunch and down time.” More groans. “Don't groan at me, this is how we do it. And down time simply means you stay in your rooms with no electronics on for about forty-five minutes to an hour. You can read, you can talk, you just have to stay in your rooms. After that there will be a period of time when we will ‘kick you out’ so to speak, into the field and woods, and you can be active. Run around, fly around, play tag, explore, just don't be sitting on the doorstep waiting for it to be over. After that we’ll have dinner, then free time, about halfway through that we will have a snack of sorts, basically a treat. You'll find out what we mean when it happens. The rest of today, however, will be spent with a short tour, and getting unpacked and in your rooms. At dinner tonight we will review the rules and anything I might have forgotten.” 

   At this point Vansix poked Lila with something, and she slumped forward and started snoring. A chorus of gasps rose from the CBers.

   “Oh, don't worry.” Vansix drawled. “She's fine, it was just a sleeping dart. I need to tell you a few things she forgot that shouldn't wait for dinner. Skywater fortress and staff are not responsible for any wounding, mauling, or slow, agonizing deaths.” That dampened the enthusiasm. “If anyone does happen to be killed, they will be……. Resurrected, in a sense, for the closing event. Now, follow me, and I’ll take you guys on a tour of the fortress.”

   Barnswallow tried unsuccessfully to detach herself from Khai, and finally subsided and walked along after Vansix, trying not to get stepped on. Someone jostled against her, and a sharp pain pierced her shoulder. “Ow!” she snapped, not sure who had poked her. They continued on, but after a few moments Barswallow began to feel sick, and staggered along, finally collapsing as the poison reached her heart.

~~~

Dead: Barswallow

Suspects: none

Yay! I'm so excited for this to continue!

I'm re-submitting my sheet, as I have some adjustments to make to it.

Name: Porcelain Dragon

CBer/AE/CAPTCHA: CBer

Age: Unimportant

Gender/pronouns: Female

Requested dragon appearance: Pure white, with scales of porcelain shards sharpened into uncountable blades as smooth as an airstream. Four huge wings, spikes on the frames. Spikes on cheekbones, my horns are long and sleek, continuing the line back from my forehead. Green eyes that sparkle in only moonlight. Average height, body is strong but sleek. Gills are hidden in an undisclosed place. 

Describe your personality in five words: Silent until necessary, fierce fighter.

Favorite food: Takis Fuego

Favorite subject in school: Logic/Latin/Math/Science/Programming/Literature.

Fears: None that I'm telling you!

Likes: Books, drawing, quality time with friends, some video games, animating, etc.

Dislikes: Loud noises, crowds, bright lights, coconut.

Favorite book: That is my least favorite question, you know. There are SO MANY GOOD BOOKSSSSSSS

Favorite movie: Mune, Guardian of the Moon / Emperor's New Groove.

Luggage: The necessities plus some things for self defense. 

Day one pt. Two:

<Barn> <swal> <loww!> cried Nikai, aghast, at the death of her newfound friend. Everyone stopped and turned, and a few cries broke out. Nikai stared down at the limp blue-scaled body. Barswallow’s small flaming wings were put out, and her tiny body was curled on the long grass almost as if she was sleeping. Nikai turned angrily to her CBer, who was staring in very badly concealed fascination at Barnswallow, and snapped furiously, <NYXX!> <II’MM> <THEE> <SMAL> <LEST> <ONEE!> 

   “Yes, Nikai.” Nyx seemed preoccupied, leaning down to the body and poking it clumsily with a claw. TheaterGirl came over and poked Nyx back.

   “What the heck are you doing?” she asked, “Barnswallow just died, and you're poking at her like she's some sort of science experiment!”

   “Well, excuse me,” Nyx retorted, “I'm trying to figure out how she died.”

   “Oh.” TheaterGirl stepped back. “O-okay.” 

   <some> <onee> <pokd> <heer!> cried Nikai.

   “What?” TheaterGirl asked, leaning down next to the others. Sure enough, there was a tiny puncture mark on Barnswallow’s shoulder. “You're right. Someone pierced her shoulder, probably with a needle, and i guess it was poison, or…….” 

   “Could Nikai have poked her?” asked Luna-Starr, shouldering her way forward.

   “My little CAPTCHA?” cried Nyx. “she'd never hurt anyone! Plus she's too featherbrained to even be able to form a plan to do so!”

   “Okay.” mumbled Luna. “Then who did?”

   Everyone went silent, not wanting to talk about it anymore, and Vansix took the chance to resume the tour. TheaterGirl wasn't very enthusiastic about it, but she did her best to pay attention as Vansix took them through the fortress, pointing out the library, the corridor to the bedrooms, the dining room, where they dropped off their luggage, and several other rooms. Lila joined them about halfway through, but left for the kitchen after hearing of Barnswallow’s death. 

   Eventually, Vansix led the group all the way back to the dining room, where dinner was already laid out for them, with name tags telling them where to go. They all got to their spots, and TheaterGirl found herself at a table with Nyx, Leo, and Nikai. They found that Lila had somehow gotten all their favorite foods available for the first day. Even TheaterGirl’s favorite dish, fiesta casserole, was in front of her. To her left, Nyx was staring uncomfortably at a bottle of a fizzy drink that was next to her corned beef and cabbage.

   “Unexpected?” asked TheaterGirl.

   “No, I'm just not sure how I'm supposed to drink this with a dragon’s mouth. Maybe if I……” She awkwardly grasped the top of the bottle in her jaws, then tipped it up in an attempt to pour it into her mouth. She successfully got most of it in, with much coughing and gagging, and the rest splattered all over the table and her chest, earning an explosion of laughter from their table and the neighboring one, where Luna-Starr, Kitten, Fleet, and Rhaksha were. Nyx coughed again and muttered, “I guess that’s not how you drink kombucha.”

   “So that's what that was?” TheaterGirl asked.

   “Yep.” 

   They all looked up towards the front of the room as Lila called for their attention. She looked more downcast than she had before, but she still made a brave effort to be cheerful.

   “Attention everyone!” she called. “I'd like to discuss a few things we didn't get to earlier. First of all is the closing event. On the last day of your visit, there will be a huge dance party, for which everyone currently in the fortress will take a break and celebrate! Now, we really were hoping we wouldn't have to do this, but, any CBers or companions that may have been injured or killed during the visit will be, resurrected, in a sense, for the party. I know that takes away from the party slightly, but i’m afraid we can't fix that ourselves.

   “Now,” she continued, “there are some rules here, but not many. Rule on is that you do not go into any sections of the fortress that are banned. It's for your own safety. 

   “Rule two, there will be no electronics during down time, unless it is an electronic reading device. Does anyone here have one of those?” Silence. “I guess not, so that shouldn't be a problem. 

   “Rule three, you cannot be out past curfew. Curfew is not fixed, but it isn't hard to follow. It simply means once the staff come through and say lights out, you stay in your rooms, no exceptions. I think that's all the rules, so I'll move on. 

   “Each of you in your dragon forms are able to breathe fire, but if you want another power, you can come up here after announcements and ask for it, though it might not be given to you. 

   “And now, and this is the last thing, I promise, here are the room groupings. Please come up as I call your name, and i’ll give you a map of the fortress with the rooms marked on it and the names of your roommates.” Lila began to read off of a list she held in her claws.

   “Nyx, Fleet, and Sage, room eight. Luna-Starr, Vivian, and TheaterGirl, room thirteen. Leo, Kitten, and Rhaksha, room fourteen. Sybill, Nihil, and Joan B. of Arc, room eighteen. Porcelain Dragon, Nikai, and-- oh. Right. Barnswallow was supposed to be in that room………” The mood had started to lighten as Lila talked, but now it sank even lower.

   “Sorry.” Lila murmured.

   “It's all right.” grunted Vansix. “They should be heading to their rooms right about now anyway.”

~~~

Dead: Barnswallow

Suspects: none

Day one pt. Three:

Leo headed down the hall behind Kitten and Rhaksha, until they found their room, room fourteen.

   “Why is our room number fourteen if there are only five groups?” Rhaksha grumbled. 

   “Well,” Kitten answered, “this was formerly a school, so there were definitely more students here then there are us.”

   “Whatever.” Rhaksha stomped into the room and stopped. “Whoa.”

   Leo and Kitten pushed past her and froze, gaping at the room. It was small, but not cramped in the least. The walls were painted yellow, and there were three tall windows along the wall with light green curtains. The windows were open, letting a warm breeze blow in. There were three hammocks along one wall, and along the other was a small television on top of a bookcase. They found that on the bookcase, among other things, were their favorite books and movies. After unpacking, Leo and Kitten talked for a while, and Rhaksha sharpened her javelin. 

   Eventually one of the staff members came in. She was an icy blue color, and her scales seemed almost transparent.

   “Hi,” she murmured, “my name’s Klirscales. Pronounced Clear-scales. I came to tell you that it's lights-out. Also, tomorrow, whatever time you get up, you need to stay in your room until you're called to breakfast. ‘Kay?” 

   “Alright.” Leo answered. 

   Klirscales ducked out the door before Leo could say anything else, and she shrugged and curled up in one of the hammocks. Kitten and Rhaksha climbed into the other two, and though they fell asleep quickly, Leo lay awake, unable to chase one thought from her head: that whoever had murdered Barnswallow, wasn't done. 

   And she was right. In another room, the murderer also lay awake, plotting the death of the next unlucky vacationer.

~~~

Dead: Barnswallow

Suspects: none

~~~

There's a clue in this chapter, can you find it?

Day two pt. One:

Nyx stretched in her hammock, ignoring the sounds of her roommates, Agent Winter and Sage, talking. There was a knock on the door, and a large, thickset green dragon came in.

   “Hey,” he grunted, “name’s Slinky. I came to tell you that it’s time for breakfast.”

   “Okay, thanks Slinky.” Agent Winter said brightly. “Let’s go guys.” 

   Breakfast that morning was simply eggs and bacon, and like the night before, there was some silliness figuring out how to eat it. Sybill got eggs shoved up her snout, Porcelain Dragon Wildling poked herself in the eye with a piece of bacon, and Joan B. of Arc accidently pushed her entire plate off the table and onto Kitten’s claws, somehow starting a food fight. 

   Nyx managed to duck under the table during the fight, so she avoided most of the flying food, but some of it got to her, and she ended up with some stuck between her claws. She climbed out, shaking it free, as Vansix started explaining what they would do next. 

   “In a few minutes we will head outside,” he said, “and play some games. Now, most of the games we play are a lot the same as your human games, but us being dragons, we play them differently. After that during lunch, we will talk about what will happen for the rest of the day. Understand?” There was a murmur of agreement. “Good. Now, Lila will divide you into teams, and we will all go outside.” 

   Lila stepped forward and read the names for each team off of a list. “TheaterGirl, Leo, Vivian, Nihil, and Sage are in one team. Kitten, Luna-Starr, Nyx, Porcelain Dragon, and Rhaksha in another, and Sybill, Agent Winter, Nikai, and Joan B. of Arc in the last. Now, since Sybill’s team only has four dragons in it, I will be joining them. Vansix, lead us out.”

   They separated into their teams, and followed Vansix out into the field, over to a small lake. The sour dragon turned and started talking.

   “So our first game,” he said loudly, “will be a relay race, under and over the water. The teams will line up at the edge of the lake, and….. You all know how a relay race works, right? You go to the finish line, come back, and tap your teammate’s talon?” Several murmurs confirmed that they knew. “Well, you'll line up at the edge of the lake. First you'll fly over the lake and touch down on the far bank. Then, you'll dive into the water and swim back to touch your teammate’s talon. Got it?” They all nodded. “Great. Line up.”

   Each team got into their own line, and when Vansix called the start, Leo, Luna-Starr, and Sybill shot forward.

   Lila of course was the best individually, because she was used to being a dragon, but there were some who did very well in the other teams. In Kitten’s team, she did very well in the swimming part, and in TheaterGirl’s team Nihil was better at flying. 

   Eventually only Vivian, Nyx, and Agent Winter were left, and as Porcelain Dragon tapped her talon, Nyx ran forward, pumping her wings to lift off. She found that she wasn’t as good at flying as she’d hoped, but she wasn’t far behind the others. Touching down on the far bank, they wheeled around and dived into the water. Vivian and Agent managed to swim well, but Nyx’s large wings were cumbersome, and her initial plan of using them to shoot forward wasn’t working. She quickly came up with another idea, and pinned her wings tightly to her sides. Sinking down to the muddy bottom of the lake, she dug her claws into the sand and silt and pulled herself forward, almost running along the mud. She passed Agent Winter, who had gotten her horn stuck in some weeds, and came up behind Vivian just as she broke the surface. They ran side by side towards their teams, but Agent pushed past them, having freed her horn, and ran smack into Joan, toppling them both over. 

   “Sybill, Agent Winter, Nikai, Joan, and and Lila’s team are the winners!” roared Vansix, who seemed to have cheered up greatly since their arrival. Everyone cheered as Joan and Agent picked themselves up, and took a moment to calm down Nikai, who had gotten it into her head that a victory dance should last for at least eight minutes.

Yay, this is back!! I loved the idea of this ski lodge.

Could I change "ambiverted" to "introverted" on my sheet? thanks!

Sorry we didn't post the last few days..... we were a little busy. And, I must admit, I didn't feel much like posting.

Day two pt. Two

After several rounds of what Lila called “Flying Freeze Tag”, they all came back inside for lunch. Afterwards they headed back to their rooms for down time, but the murderer had other plans. They managed to fake getting separated from their roommates, and ran towards the library, where one of the staff members was waiting for them. 

   “Thanks for helping me with the poison.” said the murderer.

   “No problem.” The staff member waved their tail under the murderer’s nose. “Do you know how I did it?”

   “No.” The murderer couldn't care less, but the staff member wasn't inclined to let it go. They jabbed the murderer’s nose lightly with the tip of their tail, and then drew it back. With a swift flick, a barb slid out of their tail-tip, dripping with some liquid that the murderer wasn't eager to identify. 

   The staff member retracted their barb and held out a talon. “Do you have my payment?” 

   The murderer dropped a wad of cash into the outstretched talon. “I stole it from the cash register after Nyx paid for her extra companion!” they said gleefully. 

   “Whatever. Let’s get you back to your room before you get in trouble. I’ll take you to the right hallway.” 

   The murderer wasn't actually lost, but they accepted the staff member’s help getting back to their hallway. Nearing the door, they came upon Vivian, who was grumbling about some power Lila had refused to grant. Recoiling, the murderer watched with glinting eyes. The golden dragon wasn’t their next target, officially, but they couldn’t resist the murderous urge, and as Vivian neared, they sprang.

   Finally standing, the murderer observed their job with a sly smile, then turned and headed to their room after cleaning the blood from their claws. 

   At the end of the hour, Sybill was woken from her rest by a scream. She ran out into the hall, Joan and Nihil hard on her heels, and found that the scream had come from the group that had gathered around something on the floor. Sybill pushed forward, and stopped at the sight. Nyx was crouched by a bloody form, the glistening scarlet almost completely obscuring the once-shiny gold scales.

   “Vivian. Viv, Viv, Viv…..” murmured Nyx over and over. It seemed the murderer had taken pains to make Vivian’s death as bloody and gruesome as possible. Luna-Starr was crouched next to Nyx with a talon on her shoulder, and after a moment Agent Winter and Rhaksha also came over. Nikai was crouched under Porcelain Dragon’s wing, staring at the dismal scene, and Porcelain herself was gazing at Vivian’s body with a strange expression that Sybill couldn’t read. 

~~~

Dead: Barnswallow, Vivian

Suspects: Luna-Starr, TheaterGirl, Sybill, Nihil, Joan B. of Arc

TOP please!

Day two pt. Three

Rhaksha stared at Vivian’s mangled body. Her sister was… dead? Who? How? Somehow Rhaksha couldn’t imagine Vivian, bold, upbeat, outspoken Vivian, dead. Or maybe it was simply that she couldn’t believe anyone would want to kill her. She was so friendly and warm, no one had ever gotten in a fight with her, except her sisters. Well, sister. Rhaksha found herself involuntarily thinking of all the times she had complained about Vivian’s cheerful demeanor. The girl could look at a room with four inches of dust and dirt on every surface and say, “Well, at least it's not deeper!” Rhaksha found herself missing it. Nyx’s talons were inching closer to the body and then jerking away repeatedly, as if she wanted to embrace her dead AE but wasn’t quite sure about it. 

   Just then Vansix and Lila came around the corner and stopped. Lila cringed and went back down the hall, but Vansix came forward, head lowered. He placed a large talon on Nyx’s arm, and murmured something into her ear. She gulped a few deep breaths, and headed down the hall back to her room. Sage looked after her and then cocked her head at Vansix.

   “Aren’t we supposed to be going outside now?” she asked hesitantly. “I mean, like when we’re supposed to all be outside playing games.” Rhaksha looked at her, remembering Lila’s long talk about the schedule. Vansix nodded.

   “Yes,” he said quickly, “but I will let Nyx pass on it. The rest of you, however, should go.” They all nodded and ran down the hall. Rhaksha glanced back once and saw that Vansix had called Klirscales and another staff member over, and they were taking Vivian’s body somewhere. 

   I wonder where they're taking it, wondered Rhaksha, following the rest of the group.

   Once they had all gotten outside, they milled about for a moment, unsure of what to do. Turning at the sound of the door slamming, they saw two staff members, a large, thickset green dragon, and a smaller, skinnier yellow dragon that seemed to be underfed. 

   “Attention, vacationers!” called the green dragon. “I am Slinky--”

   “Met you before,” someone grumbled.

   “--and this is Yaelhing. We will be chaperoning your outside time, so don't try anything funky.” 

   Yaehling nodded enthusiastically, though she seemed incapable of stopping them if they did try anything. Shrugging, Rhaksha turned and headed towards the woods. She passed Nikai, who was trying to start a game of hide-and-seek. Joan B. of Arc, Sage, and Sybill had already joined, but she suspected that they were just trying to please the young CAPTCHA.

   <Raksa!> <will> <youu> <come> <play> <with ><uuss?> Nikai asked.

   “Sorry, I can't.” she answered.

   <please?> <itwil> <befun!>

   “Can't!” Rhaksha kept walking, trying to ignore her little sister’s pleas. She passed Nihil, who was leaning against a tree. She looked up as Rhaksha passed her, and nodded. Still walking on, Rhaksha headed down a path through the woods, enjoying the quiet.

   After a moment or two, she stumbled upon Porcelain Dragon. Literally. She was crouched on the edge of the path, looking at something, and Rhaksha tripped over her. Porcelain stood up, startled, and started saying multiple excuses that sounded rehearsed. Rhaksha stopped her.

   “What are you doing?” she asked.

   “Oh, I'm looking for something!” stuttered Porcelain. “I was trying to see if any poisonous plants grew around here, so maybe the murderer could used them to poison Barnswallow, and--”

   “You sound awfully flustered.”

   “You startled me!”

   “Fine. I’ll pretend I believe you. I'll see you later.” Rhaksha continued walking, but now her thoughts were marred by Porcelain’s strange behavior. Why had she acted like that? And why was she looking for poisonous plants? Rhaksha thought this over until Slinky came to tell her to come inside.

   And she was still thinking about it as she curled in her hammock that night. 

~~~

Dead: Barnswallow, Vivian

Suspects: Luna-Starr, TheaterGirl, Sybill, Nihil, Joan B. of Arc

We're sorry this is so short. But we are excited to announce that this is the last installment of the story that's being reposted! After this, it's all new!

Day three pt. One

The murderer snuck through the halls, hiding whenever they passed a staff member, except for when they came upon their accomplice. Eventually they came to room fourteen. Opening the door quietly, they slipped inside. They placed their talons carefully, avoiding the three dragons sleeping, and rummaged through a pile of stuff in the corner, finally leaving the room with the one thing they needed. 

   Kitten couldn't stop yawning as she followed her roommates to the dining room. Unable to stop thinking about the deaths, she had had a hard time falling asleep the night before, and had woken early with a jump, immediately searching the room for anyone hiding. They spent breakfast in relative silence, aside from Rhaksha grumbling about her javelin, which had apparently gone missing in the night. 

~~~

Dead: Barnswallow, Vivian

Suspects: Luna-Starr, TheaterGirl, Nihil, Joan B. of Arc

Day three pt. Two

   Later that day, Sage hummed distractedly to herself as she tried to listen to Lila and Klirscales, who were explaining the basics of paper mache, “dragon style” to them as they slowly followed along. Much to the annoyance of some of the CBers and companions who already knew the basics. 

   “Why can't we just figure it out for ourselves?” hissed a voice from the back of the room. Klirscales’ head jerked up, and for a moment the seemingly shy dragon looked almost fierce as she scanned the room for whoever had spoken. She couldn't find them though, it seemed, and soon returned to the large, unidentifiable shape that was slowly forming under her claws. 

   Eventually Sage got intolerably bored of the lumpy form on her little table, and raised her claw.

   “Yes, Sage?” asked Lila. “Do you have a question?” 

   “May I be excused for a moment?” Sage asked. There was a murmur of agreement, as several of the almost-as-bored CBers and companions looked up and brushed gluey paper off of their claws, hoping to get a chance to get out of the room which, besides being boring, was also very hot and humid. 

   Lila and Klirscales looked at each other, Lila sheepish, Klirscales annoyed. 

   “We’re sorry,” Lila said, smiling ruefully. “We didn't realize that this might take longer than might be comfortable for some of you, and well… it’s almost lunsh and down time anyway. You may all be excused for a breath of fresh air, and we will continue this tomorrow, or later today if you wish.” There was an audible sigh of relief as they all stood up, and filed out of the room to clean up. 

   But the murderer lingered for a moment, just long enough to slip their half-dried paper mache creaation under their wing. They had not been following the directions for the misshapen lump that everyone else had made; they had been using their time to craft a different device. 

   Sage trailed along after the few others who had cleaned up faster, only half listening to the excited chatter of what everyone planned to do later. A few corners away from the dining hall, something by a window caught her eye. She bent over a large pale green luna-moth that had come to rest on the windowsill, fluttering gently in the breeze. All of a sudden it startled and flew away. Sage reached a claw after it dissapointedly, then turned away from the window. 

   She gasped, startled, as rough claws wrapped themselves around her. She found herself staring into a pair of angry eyes, eyes that she recognized almost immediately, as the murderer reared up and smashed their head into her jaw. She collapsed against the wall, panting painfully, aghast at the discovery of who the murderer was.

   How? she thought frantically. Of all dragons, I never thought it would be--

   She was distracted suddenly by the murderer clasping a wet bowl-shaped object around her snout. She flailed, trying to escape, as the damp paper mache sealed around her mouth and nose, cutting off her breathing. Her gills pulsed, trying and failing to breathe the dry air, and eventually her thrashing slowed, and finally stopped. 

   The murderer cautiously released Sage’s motionless body, and stepped away, heading to clean the glue off of their claws and rejoin the large group now heading towards the dining hall. 

~~~

Dead: Barnswallow, Vivian, Sage

Suspects: Luna-Starr, TheaterGirl, Nihil, Joan B. of Arc