(Note to self: Don't be too worried about making it good, just vomit words onto the page)

The radio transcriber whirred, clacking out a message from one of the Sanctuary's scout towers.

PL KARNA: THE GROUND HERE IS SHAKING

The machine paused. Casado, half awakened by the initial sounds of machinery, stared at the transcriber with a weary eye. The whirring was coming to a slow, only to come back to life, obsessively clacking out message after message.

PL KARNA: SOMETHING GROWING IN THE DISTANCE. FAST

PL KARNA: LEAFY. THIS LOOKS BAD

A slight pause.

PL KARNA: IT'S THE ARMISTICE. ITS BROKEN

Casado remained in bed, squinting at the transcriber until he determined that no new messages would be coming from it. Once the transcriber stopped whirring, he decided it was about time to rise and shine. He stretched, letting his legs and wings fully unfurl, before rolling onto his belly and viewing what the transcriber had printed today.

He sat as he approached the desk the transcriber was situated on. As he shuffled his hat into position, he gave the transcriber a preliminary glance before reading through the messages. He found himself confused. He switched on the outputting part of the transcriber and brought out the connected keyboard. He typed:

SY CASADO: ARMISTICE?

Casado propped his head upon his hands as he waited for a response.

The transcriber began to whir again.

PL KARNA: YOU DON'T KNOW?

PL KARNA: THERE'S A LONG CONFLICT BETWEEN PLAGUE AND NATURE

PL KARNA: THE ARMISTICE = AGREEMENT OF PEACE

Casado's eyebrows furrowed.

SY CASADO: SHOULD I TELL THE SANCTUARY?

PL KARNA: I THINK EVERYONE WOULD KNOW ANYWAY

PL KARNA: THERE'S A HUGE FOREST IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WASTELAND

Casado jolted back a little, compelled to look out the window.

SY CASADO: THAT'S ALL FOR NOW

PL KARNA: BYE

Casado switched the output of the transcriber off and put away the keyboard. Karna'd be dead if she were playing jokes right now.

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And she wasn't.

Casado was among the crowd of dragons that were early risers, gawking at the verdant forest in the distance. The native Plague dragons stood at the front of the crowd.

"It's kind of beautiful..." Kaho murmured in a light tone. "It's terrible." corrected Akisaja. Kaho lowered her head, and Akisaja turned her attention back to the forest. As far as everyone knew, this swath of plant-life had just appeared within the last five minutes, and, upon a closer look, it was still expanding.

For a moment, the concern that the plant life would overtake the Sanctuary popped into Casado's mind, but he dismissed it, reasoning that the forest would have several more miles to go. Casado was preparing to leave the scene, both because he felt he had seen enough and to ease his conscious, but the word 'armistice' rung in his mind again. Looking around, none of the Sanctuary's heads were around, so, he took it upon himself to forward the news.

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Throughout the day dragons stopped and stared at the distant forest, but as the hours passed, crowds would stop forming. The Sanctuary had received messages from clans within the area that the forest was contained by Plague warriors and mages, which seemed to ease everyone. But still, as the sun set on the Sanctuary, a meeting between the Sanctuary's heads and the native Plague residents was held.

Silence hung in the air as everyone in the meeting hall prepared their speaking points. Karna, who came down to the Sanctuary on account of her scout tower being partly swallowed by vegetation, spoke out first. She rose from her seat.

"So, Wowzers... Why did it take you so long to arrange this meeting anyhow? I'm sure the Armistice is as big of a deal to you as it is to the rest of us."

Wowzers reclined slightly as she thought of a response. "I don't have a good excuse. This meeting should've been sooner, but I was shell shocked, so to speak. I can't have a meeting like this when my head is light". Karna sat back down.

"... Do you know when my scout tower could be rebuilt? Or at least, when it can be salvaged?" Karna asked more timidly.

Wowzers glanced towards Cassus, who then spoke up. "Well, under normal circumstances we'd have another scout tower built within two weeks, but here it would be irresponsible. You know how your tower was partly consumed, yes?"

Karna nodded, and Cassus continued. "Well, sometime during the day I took it upon myself to investigate the matter further. I talked with the Erebus clan closer to the explosion of flora. They've been working on rescuing dragons caught in the forest, as well as recovering some casualties."

"Dragons died?"

"Yes, you're lucky you were only caught on the edge of the forest."

Karna sat quietly for a moment, having a couple thoughts whirl in her mind. "So, will I be jobless until the forest... gets removed?"

"Yes," Wowzers piped up, "but I won't expect you to work during this time — unless you'd really like to. I'm sure Laeveris would like a few more hunters with the Gatherers."

"Uh, thank you. I'll think about it once some time has passed, I'm kinda shocked too now..." Karna replied, picking at her claws.

Once she determined that Karna was done, Akisaja went next. "Surana and I have been chatting about this event before this meeting. We'd like to know what the Sanctuary will do in regards to Nature dragons".

Wowzers squinted, "In what way?"

Akisaja took a moment to reword her thoughts, "With the Armistice broken, there is no guaranteed peace between Nature and Plague. With that in mind, what will the Sanctuary do with Nature dragons who come along?"

"We won't be doing anything." Wowzers, sensing Akisaja's displeasure, elaborated, "The armistice has been maintained for several hundreds of years. Even if there is some loyalist dragon within The Viridian Labyrinth, I'm sure any feelings of conflict will have been weathered by time."

"Weathered by time, you say? And do you think that it can't go the other way around?" Akisaja asked, becoming more stern in tone. Wowzers stood her ground.

"It can. But what are you getting at here?"

"Unless you know about the other side, there is no way to know what those of the Nature flight are up to now that peace has been broken."

"And I could say the same thing to the idea you're trying to present here."

Akisaja opened her mouth to speak again, but was interrupted by Surana's mighty paw bumping into her shoulder. "I think that's enough." Surana murmured.

"You do bring up some valid thoughts, Akisaja," Wowzers conceded, "but until we get to know the other side like you say, we both are wrong".

Akisaja still didn't look satisfied, but she regained her composure. "Fine. But when conflict rears its head, I hope you won't continue to be so soft".

Wowzers tried to disregard the comment. "Surana, do you have any comments of your own? If not, I'll be concluding this meeting".

Surana tilted her head upward, Akisaja giving her an expecting side glance. After some silence, Surana shook her head. Wowzers sighed.