I collaborated with over a dozen artists and creatives looking to grow our social media impact through each creating a coloring or activity page to contribute into a collective freebie product! This is the brain child of the Very Social Animal which I highly recommend joining if you are interested in learning how to sell and grow your social media presence (and if you love kawaii things!). Go here to download the FREE coloring book collab! Each contribution has their socials after it - and the best part is.... THERES MORE THAN ONE DRAGON! 🥰 See if you can find mine for the Dragon Village! https://jaceandjudy.com/products/free-coloring-book-color-our-world If you would like to rock your socials and participate in challenges, come join us in the Very Social Animal. I would love to see how you colored them once you've finished one!

Runi stood in the center of what used to be his sanctuary, now a hollowed-out shell of cedar and dust. The transition through the light-leak perimeter had become easier, but the physical attic felt strangely thin compared to the high-contrast vibrancy of the Astral Keep. While the permanent bridge allowed his material belongings to reside in the Deep Astral without fading, the reverse path remained a mystery governed by the Law of One-Way Permeability. He looked down at the floorboards where the gnarled, thorny wooden frame had once merged with the house. To his astonishment, the wood was not dead. Tiny, translucent shoots of astral flora were curling out from the cracks in the floor, pulsing with the same teal-blue internal light that had once characterized Astaro’s egg. This was organic matter from the astral plane, yet it had not dissolved into mist upon re-entry. It was thriving in the material world, anchored by a biological resonance he hadn't yet named. The Failure of Dead Matter Eager to test the limits of this discovery, Runi reached back through the shimmering vortex of Astral Nebula and grasped the 19th-century brass maritime chronometer. He had watched it function perfectly on the indigo stone altar of the Keep, its gears ticking in Conceptual Moments. "If the moss can stay, then the machine should follow," Runi whispered, his voice echoing in the empty attic. However, as the brass instrument crossed the threshold, the dual-realm frequency began to reject it. The heavy, polished brass began to flicker, turning into a varying shade of charcoal gray before losing its mass and molecular structure entirely. Within seconds, the chronometer—a masterpiece of physical mechanics—shattered into a shower of cerulean sparks and vanished. The Biotic Exception Runi realized then that the Impingement Field created by Astaro's birth was selective. He returned to the Keep and found a small astral flicker-wing—a delicate, moth-like creature of the upper realm—resting on a jagged obsidian spire. He gently coaxed the creature onto his finger and stepped back into the material attic.

...The dancer froze mid-twirl; I froze mid-step. For a heartbeat we all stared at one another... Then the cloaked traveler blinked, looked from Sunny’s smoking snout to my frozen, half-crouched form in the bushes… and burst out laughing. It wasn’t mocking or sharp — it was bright and genuine, the kind of laugh that chased the tension straight out of the clearing. She pressed a hand to her chest, tail flicking behind her as she caught her breath. “Well,” she said, grinning wide enough to show sharp little fangs, “not the strangest percussion this one has danced to — but certainly the cutest.” Sunny chirped, proud despite himself, and hid halfway behind my leg. I raised my hands slowly. “In our defense,” I said, “he sneezes when he’s excited. And you were… very exciting.” Her ears perked. “Ah! Then this one accepts full responsibility.” She gave a playful bow. “This humble entertainer is at your service.” Her bright blue eyes sparkled as they met mine. “And may this one know who you are?” “Jack,” I said, relaxing at last and stepping into the clearing. “And the menace is Sunny.” Sunny puffed a harmless curl of smoke in greeting. The cat crouched to his level, utterly unafraid. “A fire-breather with manners,” she murmured approvingly. “You travel in excellent company, Jack.” She gestured to her pack. “Come. You startled my song, but you have improved my morning. Sit. Eat.” I hesitated, patting my own near-empty ration bag. “I won’t say no… but fair warning — town is the only thing between us and starvation.” Her whiskers twitched. “Then fate is efficient today.” We shared dried fruit, flatbread, and something spiced and unfamiliar that made Sunny sneeze again — thankfully without flames this time. The dancer listened as I spoke of the mountain pass, the long road, and the village below. “This one travels that way as well,” she said, tail curling lazily. “But not with haste. Paths are more interesting when they twist.” I smiled. “We’re a bit more… straight-line thinkers.”