Skyside Prime

[Shadowcaller]

[Raindrop Apartment]

"Oh, he's right in front of you. Just move a bit further up..."

And sure enough if Utayo moves ahead she can spot him in his mothers fur, sleeping soundly. The blanket he's been wrapped in is somehow all tangled up in there like it's magnetic.
All the bawling he did earlier must have really tired him out as he's been able to sleep through all of this. "I discovered that I could attach him to me like this if I wrapped him in the right material." Ambrosia explains as she stops in the air. "And he doesn't seem to mind it much so far."

[Gullara]

[Raindrop Apartment]

Utayo looks more closely, and then lets out a disbelieving, amused sound. "How about that. I expect it's very useful to have him hands free." Her amusement rings through her voice.

[Shadowcaller]

[Raindrop Apartment]

"Especially when you lack hands at all." The dragons remarks, a similar amusement coloring her speech. "One might even consider it essential. I do hope he will learn to fly on his own soon enough. Flight isn't quite the same with passengers."

She has started moving through the air again, raising up in a gentle slope up towards the clouds.
"What about your children? How long until they can fly?" Or whatever Utayo preferred calling her locomotion.

Ugi continues snoozing softly in his little crib.

[Gullara]

[Raindrop Apartment]

Utayo shifts herself so that she has a firm seat at the start to move. Naturally she's quite unperturbed by moving through the air. "My understanding is that it happens in early childhood, around the age of three or four. You can see signs earlier, but the proper capability is tied to balance and motor control."

[Shadowcaller]

[Raindrop Apartment]

By now they've stopped ascending but it doesn't seem like that makes the clouds stop coming closer as rather than ascending to their level the clouds have started to descend towards them as the temperature slowly starts to raise.
This is probably something Utayo has seen before. They're being changed into nimbostratus clouds. Dark-grey and hanging lower than most other clouds as they're heavy with precipitation. These clouds don't cause thunderstorms however as other darker cloud types might.
Now it seems they're getting lower than usual to hide the dragon as she glides over the city with her passengers.

"That's remarkably young. How do parents handle their children being able to fly at that age?" It must have been on Utayo's mind she imagined. "Nets?" Ambrosia let's out an amused snort.

[Gullara]

[Raindrop Apartment]

Utayo notes the changes in the cloud cover as they ascend. She can also tell that's quite unnatural. Not that she's unaware of Ambrosia's ability to manipulate the weather, but she doesn't quite know to what extent and what form it takes.

Utayo chuckles at the suggestion of nets. "No, it's not such an issue when the parents can likewise fly. Verticality is also often limited until their grow older." She adds on.

[Zefir]

[Groundtown]

"I'll take the front, don't worry." Kuvesh raises his large, heavy shield.

"Zaalmin and I will be behind you. Luuvat and Sian in the back."

"We don't like them very much, but we can deal with them," Zaalmin tells Sian as the group sets out.

The goblins will take measured steps, Luuvat putting his shield forward to block anything coming from that direction.

[Groundtown]

When they pass the barrier they will notice that it only blocks light or thats what they can tell. Creatures made of light would not be able to pass here, but since they are all flesh and bones there won't be a problem. So they enter in a very bright are as long as the flashlightis ignited. The path itself is straight and goes slightly down. Afteraround thirty meter it makes a sudden turn to the right and will open into a cave. The monster they saw is present as is another one which is slightly bigger. Both used their tentacles to stack rocks. They seem to immedatly notice thegoblins, likly due to the change of light (The shield makes a shadow) so they throw a rock at the incoming intruder which should get easily deflected by the shield. Then they jump to the side trying to split the intruders attention.

[Halae]

Mina's Place

"Woah no, the mom look does not work on me." Mina snaps, though in good humor.
"There is absolutely a difference between letting strangers into my home with no security and some basic precautions and being picky about which social groups you advertise it in. Don't you give me that face." she insists, feigning offense in a rather exaggerated manner as she turns away.

[Mina's Place]

Emily lets out a good natured laugh at her Mom Vibes being rebuffed, "I'm not saying to do it without being prepared, or not to do it intelligently, but I do think it'd be healthier if you had some folks you interacted with frequently."

[Morty]

[Groundtown]

"Bugger! There's two of them!"

"Focus! We've got this!"

As Luuvat speaks, the tip of his staff glows again and an arc of lightning jumps towards Kuvesh's hammer, enveloping it in electricity. The shield-bearing goblin steps forward, swinging his weapon and causing the electricity to jump at the creature to his right.

The goblins hold formation, Olvisin taking a few shots at the monster to the left while Zaalmin shoots a large, blunt projectile into one of the stacks of rocks, trying to scatter them and remove the monsters' ammunition.

[Shadowcaller]

[Raindrop Apartment]

Utayo notes the changes in the cloud cover as they ascend. She can also tell that's quite unnatural. Not that she's unaware of Ambrosia's ability to manipulate the weather, but she doesn't quite know to what extent and what form it takes.

Utayo chuckles at the suggestion of nets. "No, it's not such an issue when the parents can likewise fly. Verticality is also often limited until their grow older." She adds on.

[Raindrop Apartment]

"Well, at least they can't breath fire too or have the appetite of a small elephant." The dragon muses. "I'm not even sure when Ugi develops that but I hope I will be the first person to find out at least."

She pauses as they slowly glide over the city. The dragon taking them further and further away from the apartment rather than circling around it.
"So what are your plans for the birth? They can be rather sudden after all and I don't imagine you would want to be at an alien plane when it happens."

[Earl of Purple]

Groundtown

Sian also reacts, ducking to one side to avoid the projectile before raising her arms and firing her guns. A single shot from the type-25 plasma pistol, the green bolt streaking through the air towards the left monster, even as multiple blue beams lance across the room towards the same target from Sian's Institute pistol. Both energy weapons produce light as a side-effect of their use, so hopefully they provide some additional illumination. The plasma bolt of the Covenant weapon emits an electro-magnetic pulse upon contact, though this may not be as useful against organic targets as when used against forcefield-protected infantry or vehicles.

[Gullara]

[Raindrop Apartment]

"Well, at least they can't breath fire too or have the appetite of a small elephant." The dragon muses. "I'm not even sure when Ugi develops that but I hope I will be the first person to find out at least."

She pauses as they slowly glide over the city. The dragon taking them further and further away from the apartment rather than circling around it.
"So what are your plans for the birth? They can be rather sudden after all and I don't imagine you would want to be at an alien plane when it happens."

[Raindrop Apartment]

"That would be quite impossible. No, I'm afraid it'll be some time before I can visit again after the birth. I imagine our lives will be quite upheaved and it'll take some time to settle into the new normal. I especially won't be able to leave for very long at a time." She explains. "I'm not one who's known for staying in one place, but some sacrifices must be made for family."

[Shadowcaller]

[Raindrop Apartment]

"Yes, I suppose so." Ambrosia remarks, though does sound a tad reluctant. "Though I cannot say I would know. I'm hardly what you would call a 'family person', as much as I like to try to pretend otherwise back on my own plane. Even the decision to have Ugi was at least in part out of a sense of obligation to the continued existence of my species. Not sure I'd call it a 'sacrifice' though." Nor was a species the same as a family.

[Keeper]

[Mina's Place]

Emily lets out a good natured laugh at her Mom Vibes being rebuffed, "I'm not saying to do it without being prepared, or not to do it intelligently, but I do think it'd be healthier if you had some folks you interacted with frequently."

Mina's Place

"Well. I'll work on it." Mina gives her. Her eyes brighten as she looks at Emily appraisingly.
"In the meantime...you wanna see the pool?"

[Halae]

[Mina's Place]

"I'd love to," Emily confirms, "Let's go check it out."

[Gullara]

[Raindrop Apartment]

"Perhaps, though to my eye you've taken quite well to the role of a mother." Utayo observes. It's an early impression, but a fair one she thinks. "As for myself, I try to be pragmatic. Many paint parenthood as purely a joy, but I understand it's equal parts struggle. I think it's best to keep a level perspective." She explains.

[Shadowcaller]

[Raindrop Apartment]

"That's... nice of you to say." The dragon replies, sounding strangely touched by the compliment. "Though so far it has been easy honestly. While Ugi can scream his heart out he's mostly been calm. But I'm concerned as I don't really know what will happen next. Yet to find any texts detailing how old dragons are when they decide to enter their dragon forms. I started off like this-" Kind of. "-so I have no idea when it's supposed to happen and that's a rather scary thought. Yet I'm of course excited for it as well since I want to see him as he really is."

A beat.

"Since you must be excited to see yours too of course. But I have read that the first pregnancy can be especially hard on the mother."

It seems like they're approaching the edge of the city. A wast open sky opening before them so unlike the heavily populated city.

[Zefir]

Groundtown

To clear things up first. There is only one pile of rocks both monster worked on. Their ammunition wasn't taken from the pile they instead pciked some of the ground.

The right (bigger) monster gets the lightnings which seems to cause pain, but when the blunt shot is fired it seems to use all his force to jump into the shot. It uses his tentakles like an armor, but the shot still wounds the creature badly.

The left (smaller) monster, also seems to draw all his strength for this fight. His movements appear unpredictable. It uses his tentakles to push itself into different directions to avoid the bullets and plasma shots, still ti seems to avoid the bright shots more which results in a normal shot hitting the target. It starts to bleed from the wound witha strange green fluid. Seeing his partner down the monster inhales deep and breaths at the intruders creating a thick black smoke to fill the room.

[Gullara]

[Raindrop Apartment]

"Of course, but I went into it knowing what to expect." Utayo says with an apparent lack of concern. She's not really ready to admit how she's actually struggled.

"I have to admit that I'd be concerned if I had so little information to go off of. I researched quite extensively before ever becoming pregnant. I have a stack of books back at home that I've read through at least once each." Utayo pauses, then realizes that's not very reassuring. "But, uh, I'm sure your intuition will guide you as challenges arise." She adds.

[Shadowcaller]

[Raindrop Apartment]

"Of course I'm concerned." The dragon insists before Utayo can even add that second part. "But I don't have a stack of books I can look at." There's an audible pause.

Her voice was never raised but the heavy emphasize on some of the words and their suddenness is enough is why she adds.
"...which is frustrating." A beat. "As I'm sure you can tell." There's an equal sense of resignation and embarrassment in her voice.
"...it's just that the scholars of my plane seemed more concerned with the pregnancy and the resulting egg than the child's development. Especially when the mother wasn't a dragon. I had to go to a completely different part of the world to learn about that."

[Gullara]

[Raindrop Apartment]

Utayo pauses for a moment before she replies. She doesn't want to misstep again. She looks out over the vast expanse at the edge of the city. "Ah, it really does remind me of home." She says quietly, not really expecting a response.

"I certainly sympathize." She says, returning to the topic at hand. "Perhaps you can turn this into an opportunity. You'll have the first hands on experience in who knows how long. You could perhaps create your own writings on the topic. The concept is related to your regular research, after all."

[Morty]

[Groundtown]

"Dammit! Smoke!" Kuvesh backs away, raising his shield, but it does little against the smoke.

"Stay focused!" Olvisin reloads her guns and starts firing in a wide arc, trying to keep the monsters at bay. The smoke prevents her from aiming precisely. Zaalmin does the same with her shotgun.

[Shadowcaller]

[Raindrop Apartment]

It certainly did remind Ambrosia of something too. Not home but... something close to it. Her library, floating on an ocean of clouds. Perhaps she could consider it one home of many?
Too bad it was ruined by the city around them. Since if she hadn't found it so awful then perhaps she would have chosen to stay here as well.

"Mm... yes. But I do want to draw a line between my work and the rest of my life. It's my son after all, not a research project. There's so much I want to find out about him yet what kind of mother would I be if I started performing tests? Even if they're harmless it would start to blend parts of my life together. Yet at the same time... it would probably help him in the long run." She pauses as they glide closer and closer to what seems to be the very edge of the city, or at least the flying part of it.

Groundtown, like a plant that had never known sun it had nevertheless grown in of skyside's shadow. Grown yet never thrived. Since the only thing that thrived down there was misery and the people that endured it day after day.

"I don't know. This is something I could use a second opinion on."

[Gullara]

[Raindrop Apartment]

"Oh I wouldn't go that far. I just mean document your experiences. From there you can analyze them in retrospect and draw conclusions. We're not talking about a scientific study here." She titters lightly. It's amusing since it's not so far from where her own mind could go.

[Shadowcaller]

[Raindrop Apartment]

The dragon spends a moment sounding like she's clearing her voice. "I do need to write down my experiences for future generations as I can't be repeating the mistakes of the past. So in a way it is a scientific study."

And just like that they've technically crossed over into ground town, though it seems like Ambrosia has a location in mind that isn't in the city at all. Though it must be relatively nearby as she has slowly started to descend. "But how do you like lakes?" The dragon suddenly inquires as if to distract from the former subject. "Since I happen to know one nearby. Untainted by this city's influence." Quite a dramatic way of putting it.

[Gullara]

[Raindrop Apartment]

Utayo arches a brow, not that Ambrosia can see. "Lakes can be a pleasant environment." She acknowledges. "I feel as though there's more to this story, though." She adds.

[Earl of Purple]

Groundtown

Sian can't see through the smoke, and backs away. She puts her hands back into her pockets to replace her pistols, replacing the energy pistols with different guns. Her left hand holds a flintlock duck's foot pistol, four barrels fanned out, and her right hand holds a machine pistol with an air-cooled shroud. She'll fire both into the smoke, though can't see what she's shooting. Four lead balls are fired simultaneously from the duck's foot pistol, the gunpowder adding more smoke to the air, and the machine pistol sprays randomly through the smoke with no real target.

[Shadowcaller]

[Raindrop Apartment==> Lake]

"I figured I could give you some more research opportunities. Since there are things I simply cannot do with so many buildings and people around." And perhaps she just liked the idea of someone researching her for once. "And besides, I think I need a quick bath if you don't mind. You've already studied my naked body after all so it's not like I'd be showing something you haven't already seen."

[Gullara]

[Raindrop Apartment => Lake]

Utayo raises her eyebrows at that, but decides not to give it too much weight. "If you wish." She replies politely, "You will nee to explain what further research opportunities there are out here, though." She prompts back toward the topic at hand.

[Shadowcaller]

[Raindrop Apartment => Lake]

"Well, my breath weapon for one." The dragon proclaims, a bit disappointed that she didn't manage to get Utayo off balance with her previous statement. She was tough! "And my ability to control the weather, among other things. Though I couldn't possibly show it all to you in one afternoon." Completely impossible!

They are descending a bit more rapidly now and for the first time they can see actual nature. How untamed nature this close to Skyside is can be questioned as it seems like a lot of it suffers from its closeness to the city.