The First Hunt: Pure Luck

Prompt: Encountering wisps can be difficult.  Patience is key with Wisp Hunting.  Your dragon must learn how to wait quietly and patiently in the dark for a wisp to appear.

Word Count: 983

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As far as Dirge was concerned, everything about wisps boiled down to luck. It was a coincidence that he was at the right place at the right time to even spot his first wisp. He was out for a midnight swim, nightly insomnia plaguing him as normal. Dirge spotted the odd faintly glowing turtle in the distance and almost missed it entirely, so entranced by his own chaotic thoughts. He did a double take and halted, terrified of scaring it off.

The turtle-wisp was swimming casually above the coral reefs, acting like any other sea turtle would. If it had noticed Dirge at that moment, it didn’t care. It drifted along, making occasional snaps at passing creatures that could never process the rarity of the situation they found themselves in. 

Dirge was fortunate that the turtle-wisp was so nonchalant as he took his chances far too quickly and slowly approached it. Somehow, he was lucky to encounter a wisp that would join an aqrion’s company if it was simply asked. Since that night, he’s had the turtle-wisp in his companionship. It might not have always been visible or anywhere near Dirge, but it would often make its presence known to him.

Dirge swears he’s noticed more wisps about. Appearing in the far edges of his peripheral vision or an oddly glowing tail disappearing behind a turn. Despite seeing far more of them, he had not encountered another that didn’t flee upon noticing him. One thing he had noticed was that his turtle-wisp companion was with him when he was the closest to a second contact.

The toothed singer was swimming without purpose, wandering for wandering’s sake, when the turtle-wisp tried to get his attention. It was subtle, but it was acting differently, swimming alongside Dirge near his head and trying to steer him in a particular direction. Had Dirge been paying less attention or had a destination in mind, he might have missed this.

Dirge followed his companion’s lead as it took him to an entrance to a cave that was rather well hidden. Had he not been told to look for it, he never would have seen it. He watched as the turtle-wisp slipped through the narrow entrance and disappeared. When Dirge didn’t immediately follow, it poked its head out as if waiting for the aqrion to follow. 

The tunnel was too thin for Dirge to easily squeeze through. If he had been any smaller species, he would have been able to slip right in with no issue- especially had he been a pygmy singer, phin singer, or abyssal. Instead, he had to spend some time digging away at the sand that had found itself piled up at the mouth of the cave before being able to follow.

He cleared enough to pull himself through, the sand shifting away from his blubbery body. Beyond the entrance, the cave was spacious enough to comfortably fit a small pod of toothed singers. It was dark, with only the faint light of his turtle-wisp companion providing any sort of visibility. Dirge had to rely on his sound element, sending musical clicks that would serve as echolocation to help navigate the caves.

He wasn’t sure how long he swam in darkness, following the wisp who looked to have known exactly where it needed to go. Even if Dirge wanted to turn back, he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to find his way out. The wisp rounded a corner, making his only light source disappear. His clicking increased as he felt his back shiver, fearful of whatever could be lurking in the dark.

Dirge rounded the corner and blinked. There was a blue hue that he almost thought he was imagining. But as he went deeper into the tunnel, he found that there was bioluminescent algae growing along the cave walls. They were faint at first, but as he got deeper they became brighter. 

Dirge released a calling whistle to his companion who he still hadn’t seen since it rounded the corner. No response. It had brought him to whatever it wanted him to see, but Dirge wasn’t sure what was special about this place. Aside from the algae, this cave room didn’t look to be any different from the other tunnels and rooms they traveled through.

On closer inspection, he could see other life scuttling about on the cave walls and the muddy floors. For the most part, crabs and barnacles. There were other oddities like fish without eyes or other bioluminescent creatures, but nothing that stood out as important. After spending what felt like hours running through every detail of the cave and turning over every stone, Dirge gave up. 

He wanted to leave. He hadn’t noticed it as he was diving, in part because of how slow he descended, but the pressure was immense. Dirge felt like his head had been getting slowly squeezed over the course of his investigation. It was hard to think and he needed to start resurfacing for air.

As he began to leave, he spotted a new creature. It rose from one of many dug out holes in the mud. An eel that bore a striking resemblance to the turtle-wisp. It poked its head out, and stared at Dirge. As Dirge slowly moved to investigate, it dove back into the hole.

For a moment, Dirge cursed himself. With a frustrated sigh, he left the room and made his way through the tunnel to the outside. He’s still not sure what compelled him to do so, but he checked over his shoulder. Just barely, he could see the head of the eel-wisp peering at him through the hole in the ground. Dirge hadn’t lost his chance to befriend a new wisp, he just needed to be more careful for the next encounter.