45. Sound

                                    

                                          
"It's all ocean, when are we getting there?" Nya sat on the dragon, no longer grasping on the tail with Jay.
        "Yeah- we've been riding through clouds for literal hours!"
        "Hm." You only pet the feathers and fur at the back of her head. "We'll get there." The dragon closed her eyes gently. "For now, she needs a name."
        "How about Fido?" Ronin laughed and was immediately hushed by a growl, wisps seeping from her fangs. "Please don't let it eat me, kid."
        "Depends." You chuckled, her fur flattening, like a cat. "Pttf, Kitty." The dragon stared blankly at you. "I'm joking- How about Wisp?"
        "Not very creative."
        "What- Nya how could you!"
        "Oh- oops."
        "What?"
        "I used to have a lightning dragon named Wisp! So you can't name this giant, inferior clone that!" The serpent hissed at him, clearly offended, yet, she didn't fight that claim as she did with Ronin.
        "This dragon looks nothing like him, Jay," Nya muttered.
        "Yeah, this one's prettier." You smoothed over her fur.
        "Not true! He was a handsome young man!" Chimes jingled, like a small chuckle. You had the perfect name. "Mine had these cool wings, unlike this wingless knock-off, and it was way nicer–!"
        "Chime... Chime, that's it."
        "Better than Wisp!" Jay retorted.
        "Eh, I can see it." Ringing melted to quiet, her orbs catching the warmness of the sun. And then she paused in her path. "Wait, I see something–a lighthouse." Ronin shifted in his spot behind you, pointing below at a tower, with no light.
        "That's not any lighthouse- that's Zane's dad's lighthouse-!" Nya yelped as Chime darted to the rock housing the lighthouse without a warning, nearly flinging everyone off as they held out with outcries.
        "Stop!" You yanked on the fur you were holding onto, putting brakes on her frenzy. She floated to the patch of sand at the foot of the stairs carved into the rock. She wastes no time.
        Her lengthy body wounded the lighthouse, slithering to the top window as if searching. When she was done with that, she circled the base of the giant rock holding the smaller lighthouse. All she found was the tip of her feathered tail on the other side. Dejectedly, she peered at the sea lapping her claws. "Looking for someone?" She simply closed her orbs as an answer.
        "We should be careful then," Ronin murmured, the first up the weather-worn steps to check for signs of life.
        'Who would risk it to patch up a dragon?' You all stopped at the door. "Hello?" Ronin knocked on the door when there was no answer. "Are you the one who healed Chime?" No response. "The dragon?"
        "No other way in except busting it open."
        "But-"
        "No one's here Nya- that or they're hiding from us." Ronin leaned on the brick wall. "You wanna wait here all day?"
        "I'm gonna bust this door open!" Still silent. "Okay, here it goes." You try busting the aged door with your palm... Not even a splinter, those tiny wisps disappeared. "Huh?"
        "Have performance issues?" Ronin snickered.
        "Haha, funny." You placed both your palms on the decaying lumber, and there was the slimmest fissure.