Here's something new, a collab story between me and . I still very much like adventure stories, so that's where this one is going to go. I've also been wanting to branch out a bit from doing only weight gain and inflation stories (fun as they are to write), so here's another chance at it. Azar and Callum come across what could be the find of the century. And so they set off to what could be something big!

This story is set in the world of Gaia, which is a world created by and where the majority of his stories take place. This is not the world that Azar normally exists in. As such, a few things might be different (such as the level of technology) in this story compared to the ones Azar is normally featured in.
Featuring:
Azar
Callum
Editing done by

Azar couldn’t recall the last time he had a need to rush through the city for any reason, but if there had ever been a time, this was it. The dragon was zipping through the air so quickly that he had missed his intended destination four times already, spiraling around in the air and coming back to make another pass. Eventually he managed to get control of himself long enough to go in for a proper landing. The dragon’s target was a popular bakery, of all places.

On any other occasion, Azar would simply be stopping by to say hello to a friend, talk for a bit, and possibly pick up some snacks. But this was different. The dragon clutched some kind of rolled up parchment close to his chest as he landed, awkwardly stumbling into the bakery on three of his four legs. “Callum! Callum!” he called out, before apologizing to the line of customers as he tried to squeeze past them. “Callum! It’s me! I need to talk to you!” he said, his tail waving in the air to get his friend’s attention.

Jolting softly from the interruption, the drake Azar was after whipped his head around greet his friend. A slight ripple accentuated the movement due to the moderate layer of pudge encompassing the baker’s form, though it was never a hindrance; he was simply a heavily-built dragon. Standing opposite him now, the lighter, lithe knight was heaving and out of breath, giving Callum the impression that this was something of distinct importance. It took alot to make Azar breathless.

“Hey bud,” he greeted jovially, ringing up his current customer, a well-built lion intent on enjoying the muffins they’d just been handed, “Just gimme a second to settle this transaction.” A moment later, the grey dragon rounded the counter, placing Mira, his ursine partner, at the helm. “What’s going on?”

Azar held up a paw when Callum approached him, taking a moment to catch his breath. Once he was composed again, the white drake looked around before stepping a bit closer to his fellow dragon. “I’ve got something here you really need to see. But not out here,” he said, his voice having dropped down so that only Callum would hear him. “It’s something I think you’ll be very interested in, but I only want to share it with you. Do you have anywhere in this bakery that’s a bit more private?” he asked, looking around again to see if anyone was eavesdropping.

The large dragon nodded, before turning and having Azar follow him into the back of the bakery. A small, feathery lump suddenly pounced on the knight, affectionately nibbling his neck and horns. Azar followed Callum into the back of the bakery, grunting with surprise as Callum’s beloved pet landed on him. “Oof! Well hello to you too Duncan,” he said, petting the gryphon on the head before he motioned for Callum to come to a nearby table.

Callum went over to an oven and began to remove cinnamon rolls from the heated interior. As he did so, he grinned over his shoulder to his friend, wagging his thickset tail, “You're alright to talk here. Duncan’s quite adept at keeping secrets.” As if to cement the assurance, the bird curled himself around Azar’s head, engulfing his ear slits in the process.

“Alright, I believe you on Duncan,” he said with a grin, before starting to unfurl the parchment he had brought with him. “What I have here could be the biggest find of our lives Callum!” he said, his tail flicking from side to side with excitement. When the paper was fully revealed, it showed a map of the Northern regions of Gaia. However, what was different about this one was that there was a marker with coordinates on an area of the map that looked to be in the middle of nowhere. In fact, any other person would have told the dragons that those particular coordinates would have just led them into the middle of an ocean.

“For some time now, in the little free time I can gain, I’ve been researching into Gaia’s past. Researching more into Gaia’s myths and legends from long, long ago. The ones that intrigue me the most are the ones with so little known about them. All those exploratory trips I’ve gone on have been to find the truth, or lack of, on these old legends. And this could be one of the biggest ones,” he explained before pointing at the dot on the map. “Legend says that this area contains what could be the first city of the Primals. The first civilization to ever begin on Gaia. Historians and archeologists have made amazing strides in uncovering Gaia’s past bit by bit, but even they can’t quite trace back where civilization began on Gaia. Only rumors and theories. Even some of the spirits I’ve talked to can’t give me a good location. This, however, might just be it. I dug further and further, using what resources I had, until I could get a lead that gave me the best possible location. Or at least, where to start looking,” he said before looking up at Callum.

“There’s a catch though, and it’s why this place has been so far behind. I didn’t find it by asking where to find Gaia’s first civilization, but by asking about this fabled ‘disappearing city’. It’s said to appear only once every few hundred years. Sailors and other explorers are on record as having seen it, but never approached it out of fear. Not only a city but the entire region it resides on appears! Out of nowhere! How amazing is that?!” he said, the excitement even more evident in his voice. “After I dug around, there’s evidence that the City of Primals, and this Disappearing City, might be one in the same. And if my sources are correct, the city is going to appear again in just a few days!”

Azar took a moment to catch his breath again before finally getting to the point. “Callum, I’d like you to come along with me on this excursion. You’ve always had a great talent for exploring out there with me. I know this bakery is the whole of your life now, and you’ve done very well for yourself. But this could be the chance of a lifetime! And I want my friend to be there with me if what we have here is true.”

Callum quickly stuffed a confection into his companion’s mouth to ensure the drake would get some measure of a break. The spiel about hidden cities, lost civilizations, and exploring were plenty exciting, but the baker didn’t want to see his companion keel over from lack of breath. Grinning to the knight, he nodded vigorously, “It’d be an absolute pleasure to accompany you, my friend. A hidden city reappearing after centuries sounds exceedingly intriguing.”

Padding over to the oven, he unloaded yet another batch of confections. Moving about and puttering around the bakery helped him think, as if the tasks aligned his thoughts. “I have no qualms with leaving the shop for a couple days, I’d just need to get a few things...” he padded over and scritched Duncan’s belly, “In order with Mira.”

At that precise moment, a deep, feminine voice thundered from the front of the door. In the tone of a stern mother, the curvy ursine admonished a particularly eager patron who’d jumped ahead. “You’d better get back in line before I crack a rolling pin over your head, boy!” The voice immediately went back to matronly and sweet as it then dealt with the current customer, “And that’ll be three gold pieces and two copper ones, dear. Have a lovely day!”

Callum grinned sheepishly to his companion, “Actually, I think she can take good care of this place herself.” Duncan nodded in agreement, both of them quite familiar with the mother bear’s tendencies. “So when shall we leave?”

Azar grinned a bit sheepishly as Callum said that he could leave the shop for a few days. “Well… it might be for a little bit longer than a few days. More like… a lot longer. Considerably longer,” he said before his frills drooped a bit. “The city appears for a total time period of a week to a month, depending on the story you want to believe. I unfortunately have no true confirmations on how long it stays there exactly, or if that time period is the same each time. I only know that explorers who have gone there previously in the month after the month it shows up in have never found it. So we could potentially be there a while. Especially if it does show up and we have so much to look at and document,” he said before tapping his claws nervously on the table. He knew how much the bakery meant to Callum, and to leave it for that long might hurt the business more than anything. “We’d leave in three days time, but I thought I’d give you some time to think the offer over first.”

Callum shook his head, hellbent on going. An adventure to an exotic location with one of his closest friends was something one simply didn’t pass up. “Alright, I’ll be ready by then,” he replied, nuzzling the nervous drake softly and padding over to the stairs leading into the loft above the bakery. “I’ll have to fetch a couple things and ensure business is being handled, but trust me when I tell you there’s positively no way I’m not accompanying you on this trip.”

The white dragon grinned when he heard Callum again agree to still go on the trip. “Excellent! I’ll make sure all travel preparations are in order! Trust me, I wouldn’t have come to you with all of this if I didn’t think we’d find something. I have a really, really good feeling about this,” Azar said as he started to head back towards the lobby of the bakery. “Oh, and try to keep this as quiet as you can. As far as I know, we’re the only ones that know these coordinates, aside from my source. We wouldn’t want to get there and find the place swarming with tourists now would we?” he chuckled before he headed for the door.

Callum laughed as his friend headed out, the thickly built dragon rippling gently as he immediately padded into the front room to make preparations with Mira. The well built bear was intuitive enough to figure out what the drake was up to, but also keen to keep it quiet. She understood the need for anonymity, and only hugged the drake around his neck when he mentioned the duration of his absence. When Callum inquired as to whether she’d be alright with manning the bakery, she’d snorted and swept up Duncan, who loosed an indignant squawk. She then fawningly kneaded the doughball’s belly, causing him to relax immediately, and joked about how she’d be able to pamper and get the bird all to herself. Duncan had no issue with it.

Three days later, Callum was prepped, reassured by his companions’ taking care of his livelihood while he readied himself to embark on a journey he hadn’t made in years. One into the unknown. Shrugging softly, he noted he was a couple inches thicker, but he knew it wouldn’t be long before he was back in the game. All that was left now was to journey to Azar’s warehouse and hopefully scare the inventor derg prior to heading off.

The day of the two dragon’s trip had finally arrived, and Azar was looking as excited as when he had come into Callum’s bakery to suggest the news in the first place. He was busy zipping about inside his workshop, gathering last-minute necessary supplies. When Callum peeked in to see where the white dragon was, he would see his friend securing a harness onto himself that had several bags attached to it. The perfect way to keep all needed supplies on his person at any time. “Hmmm… I wonder if this travel harness will fit Callum,” he said to himself as he looked to another one in his paws. He shrugged a moment before heading towards the main entrance, right where Callum was waiting to surprise him.

The silver drake crept forward softly, doing his best to be wary of the numerous inventions and mechanical intricacies strewn around the workshop. When inspired with the promise of surprising a friend, the heavily proportioned drake adopted a rather light footfall. Creeping up, the grey dragon’s tail flicked excitedly as he promptly pounced on Azar’s tail, snagging the limb and yelling, “Afternoon Azar!” in a rambunctious greeting.

Azar let out a loud yelp of shock when his tail was grabbed, the dragon leaping into the air instinctually. Unfortunately, with Callum holding his tail, the action caused him to leap up and immediately crash back to the ground. “C-Callum!” he said, whipping his head around and getting back to his feet. “You… you’re far more stealthy than you let on!” he said, taking deep breaths to try and calm himself from his scare. “A-are you ready to go?” he said, trying to get his heart to stop slamming against the inside of his chest.

Callum laughed and nodded, sidling up to his companion and shifting off a knapsack filled with exploring gear. While his heart, and stomach, were largely loyal to the bakery, exploring and going on journeys was another facet of life that very much appealed to him. “I learned the stealth from a certain, sneaky scarf,” he replied, jostling the white drake, “Though it was quite helpful to receive some training from you.”

Scanning over the various implements the inventor drake had strewn over the counter, Callum whistled lowly and nodded at the latter portion of his friend’s inquiry. “As for preparations,” the silver drake struck a dramatic pose, crouching low and spreading his paws with flourish, “I was ready the moment you told me about this place.”

Azar grinned and chuckled as Callum showed off how ready he was. “Good! We’ll be flying out to the coast closest to the coordinates. From there, we’ll have to arrange for some sort of travel method to the location. Possibly a boat or something. We’re going to be traveling across open water, and if turns out there’s nothing out there for us to land on, it’d be a problem,” he said as he took out the map and showed Callum where the two were heading once again. “The rumors and stories say that this city, or town, or whatever it is, appears but is on some sort of island. So I don’t want to risk us getting stuck out there if I’m wrong about this,” he said before smiling. “But I think we’re going to get lucky with this one,” he added with a nod.

Callum nodded at the reasoning, his tail flicking softly in in consideration. “Makes sense,” he replied, pondering the flight ahead of them, “Wouldn’t want to perish over an empty ocean.” Grinning wickedly to the knight, the heavyset dragon looked over the maps and trailed its course, imagining the rough amount of time it would take for them to reach the coast. Grinning to Azar, he tapped one claw on the charts, “So when do we leave?”

“We leave today my friend! As soon as the last little bit of preparation is finished, we take off for the skies!” the white dragon said as he started to pack in the last of the materials they needed. “I have some ration food packed away, but I thought we’d do some hunting while we’re out there. Besides, you could use the practice,” he said with a chuckle as his tail poked at Callum’s hefty middle. “Been awhile since you’ve hunted anything outside of the bakery huh?” he teased his friend.

Looking back at the map, Azar tried to figure out about how long it would take the two of them to get to the location. “At an average speed, I think we can get there in three days. Give or take a day,” he said, studying the map once more before putting it away. “What do you think? Ready to take to the skies my friend?”

The grey drake nodded in return, slightly miffed as his middle was poked. “Oh, perhaps,” he groused with a grin, nosing Azar’s muscled flanks and smirking, “I simply hope I won’t be a burden from all my bakery activity.” A mutual chuckle was shared between them, underlying the good natured vibe of their usual interactions. After a moment, Callum adopted a less humored expression, though excitement was still present, “And three days sounds about right. Hopefully you’ll be able to keep up with me.”

Azar’s expression became serious momentarily as he nodded to his friend. The look both of them shared showed that they knew what they might be in for. On the one hand, it could be a harmless trip that led to nothing. In fact, there was a very good chance of that. But on the other, the two dragons could be heading off for the discovery of a lifetime. Should they find something out there in the wilds, there was no telling what exactly would be there or what dangers could be present.

“Let’s get going Callum,” Azar said as he pushed the metal doors of his workshop open. Once the two were outside, he took a moment to look back at his workshop, which was also in a way his second home. He sighed a moment before patting the metal doors. “I’ll be back before you know it,” Azar told the building before turning back to Callum. His frills flickered a bit when he saw his friend had been watching him for the whole exchange. “Ehehe… I care a lot about all my inventions in there. And it’s like my home too,” he said to try and explain his actions.

Callum nodded understandingly, having done something similar with his bakery. Unfortunately that particular ceremony was interrupted by a particular gryphon pouncing on his head, but he took it as a sign that things would be alright. “It shows you care for the things closest to you,” he replied, bumping his companion comfortingly, “And this building certainly has a lot of value to it.” There were multitudes of inventions within, ones that had bettered the lives of the city. It was also a place where Callum had spent plenty of time with his inventive companion. In effect, the place meant something to the silver drake, furthering his understanding of Azar’s endearing connection.

Azar smiled and nodded once more to his friend, thankful of his understanding. Though he shouldn’t be surprised that Callum would know how important something like a building or what its contents were. “We can take off from here and start heading Northeast. When the sun starts to get low, we’ll look for a place to land. But if you need a break along the way, just let me know and we can stop for a bit. I don’t think we’re in any real competition to get to the place,” he said with a chuckle.

The white dragon then leaned back before a smirk came across his face. In one fluid motion, the dragon leapt from the ground and his wings shot out to his sides, pumping hard to push off the air currents and get him higher into the air. He went up fast, and within seconds he was already hovering in the air, looking down and grinning as he awaited Callum to join him.

Still grounded, the rounder drake narrowed his eyes balefully at his friend. He’d forgotten how quick Azar was, both in take offs and ascensions. Grumbling, the chubby reptile flared his own set of platinum wings and begin romping forward, attempting to gain propulsion. A fair amount of jiggling accompanied the maneuver, tinging the drake’s muzzle a light blue, but Callum eventually managed to claw his way skywards. Wings pumping hard and webbing billowing in the wind, the baker drake bore an equally satisfied grin as he leveled himself with Azar. “Piece of cake, eh Azzy?”

Azar was grinning wide by the time Callum was in the air, having watched the whole ordeal of his friend taking off. “Very much so! Though I think you could use a few less pieces of cake if you want your takeoffs to go a little faster,” he chuckled again before turning and gliding in the direction they were headed. “Wave to your bakery as we pass over!” he said as the dragons soared a bit higher.

The wind currents carried them easily now, the white dragon letting himself relax a bit on the flight. “I can’t say if we’ll pass over anything else of interest along the way, but who knows what we’ll see. Let’s just hope no one starts questioning where we’re headed. From what I researched, it might be a bit chilly where we’re heading. But nothing too terrible or dangerous. We’ll just have to make sure we pick warm places to spend the night.”

Callum chuckled at the thought, his wings streaming through the layers of cumuli as they powered over the various buildings constituting Parone. Prodding his supple figure with one paw, the drake cocked his head to the white drake beside him, “At least I have some protection against that.” As they continued on, he momentarily waved at the mid-sized building with a familiarly slanted roof, imagining Mira berating a rude customer or fawning over Duncan.

Azar’s connection to his inventory abode twinged once more, as a note of familiarity began to slip behind with the comforting sights laid blurring under them. Soon, the comely sprawl of civilization gave way to sprawling farmlands and rural development. The oceanic forest and meadows formed a prodigious barrier between the city and the coast, offering abundant hunting and farming lands. Essentially, it was perfect for the usual rural fur, but for Callum, it was a formidable obstacle. Readjusting his straps and ignoring how much they dug against his belly and legs, the drake continued gliding Northeast alongside his pearlescent companion.

Azar flew alongside Callum for the days it took to get to their destination. It was a calm flight, and the two dragons conversed the entire way. The white dragon was a bit upset that he couldn’t say too much information on the place they were headed to, and that was only because he didn’t know too much about it. He only hoped the lack of information didn’t turn out to be a dud like the last two places he had explored alone.

After some camping and a few stops to hunt, the two dragons had reached the coast. “Down below, head for the docks at the town and we should find our boat waiting for us,” he informed Callum before starting to glide down. The town they were at was a rather poor excuse for a settlement. Three or four buildings that were mostly there for sea vessel maintenance, and some for fishing and hunting. It was a basic-living kind of place, weathered and old. Of the three docks there, only one had a boat big enough to just barely fit the two dragons. “Do you know anything about piloting a boat?” he asked Callum out of curiosity. The dragon waited at the edge of the shore, not wanting to risk his weight on the rickety old wood of the docks.

Callum placed a paw on the vessel, his weight rocking in similar undulation to the water. “A little,” he replied, “But only on lakes and small streams for leisure and light travel.” Grinning back to his companion, the silver drake spread his wings to stay his balance, offering brittle reassurance in the gesture. The sprawl of water before them matched the swath of forest they’d traversed to get here. Seemingly endless and entirely antiquated in a singular hue of crystalline blue, Callum could only hope the vessel would hold strong. He did not relish the thought of being used as a float in such circumstances. “How about you, good knight? Any voyages in your time with the military?”

“Only a handful of times. Dragons and water don’t really mix well,” he said with a chuckle. “At least the boat looks sturdy. The waters are calm enough for us to head out, so we have that in our favor. Though the mist I see on the horizon might cause a few problems,” he said before looking back at the boat. It looked about as old as the docks and place itself, but Azar’s friend had assured him it would sail. “Huh… I don’t know why I don’t see my friend here. I thought he’d be the one to see us off,” he said, looking around for a moment.

“You think I’d just leave ya hangin’?” came a voice from behind the two drakes. Azar quickly whipped around before grinning at who he saw. A middle aged fox with yellow-golden fur stepped out from the building behind them. He was dressed in a sailor captain’s gear, though it was looking a bit disheveled. “I was just gettin’ myself a drink,” he said before guzzling down whatever was in his cup. “Can’t go sailing thirsty. Now, if you two don’t mind, head on into my ship there. I’ll take ya where you need to go,” he said before stepping out onto the dock and making his way to his ship.

“Callum, this is Antony. A long time friend of mine who, unlike me, loves the sea. He’s the one I always pay to take me out to those far off places,” the white dragon said, introducing the two friends.

“A pleasure to make your acquaintance!” Antony said, bowing a bit before getting back to work on getting his ship ready to sail. “And this is my ship, the Lovely Dragon,” the captain said, gesturing to the schooner tied at the dock. “Named after a lady who stole my heart, before she realized the whole dragon-with-fox thing wouldn’t really work out. Still, got a soft spot in here for her,” he said with a smile, tapping his chest as he retold the tale of his ship to Callum.

“Where’s the rest of your crew?” Azar asked when he noticed the ship was looking rather empty.

“Fired ‘em. I’ve done this long enough that I can handle my own ship on the seas. Only need the help to load and unload cargo,” Antony explained. “Plus, now I have you two to help out as needed.”

Callum chuckled, already warming up to the rough mannered vulpine. He was used to all manners of soft spoken individuals back in the city, and the contrasting personality of the fox fit the idea of an experienced captain.

Stepping onto the boat, the cerulean drake paused for a moment to gain his footing. At this point, the drake wasn’t worried about falling into the water, as he was a relatively strong swimmer. Callum’s uncertainty lied in the risk of capsizing the boat, which was certain to leave a dour impression on the newly acquainted fox.

A sigh of relief escaped his muzzle as he successfully made it to the open portion of the boat in the front. Curling up, the round drake settled on one side, facing the boat and drumming a claw on the weather-worn wood. “Anything I might do to help, Antony?”

Antony shook his head at Callum’s request. “I don’t be meanin’ any disrespect, but this kind of work takes a more delicate hand than dragons have. Even Azar, inventor that he is, wouldn’t really be of much help here. Just try not to rock the boat,” he said as he started untying the boat from the dock. “Azar says you two are looking for something mighty special. Any chance you might want to give me a little more clue on what that might be? Azar’s been oddly tight-lipped about what we’re looking for,” he said, looking up at Callum as he started to direct the boat out to sea.

Callum thought for a moment, pondering his companion’s words. The white knight had been sparse with his description due to both secrecy and scarcity of knowledge. Tail sweeping back and forth along the smooth wood, the platinum drake cast a blue gaze over the sea, “Supposedly, it’s a civilization that appears very rarely and on a cyclical basis. It dates back to the time of the Primals, is inherent to the culture of Gaia, and might offer extremely valuable information about our past.” Grinning to the secretive knight, Callum nudged his companion, “And I was fortunate enough to know a certain derg savvy enough to figure out where it appeared.”

“Where do you keep coming up with this crazy stuff Azar? Every time I see you you’re off on some new trip to ‘lost this’ and ‘forgotten that’ kind of places,” Antony said as he took the helm of the ship, sailing the two off into the distance.

“That’s because I only ever tend to contact you when I’m in need of passage over the water that I can’t fly over myself,” Azar said with a chuckle, before his claws dug in a bit to the ship to prevent himself from falling over as the ship rocked. “Anyways, Callum’s right. We’re just going to check out the coordinates, and then we’ll be on our way. Though if something is there, we might be ashore for a while.”

Azar then looked over to Callum. “And so begins the second leg of our journey. I estimate it will take us another day at least to reach the island, if it’s there,” he said before handing the map over to Antony so that the fox could lead them where they needed to go. After all, a captain without directions was rather useless. “Any questions for me or Antony?”

Continuing to trace the seemingly endless horizon, the baker drake shifted his weight slightly, sending faint ripples through his figure. At this point the silver dragon had a decent grasp on their destination and the uncertainty of it all. “I think I’m content for the moment,” Callum replied as he swiveled his head to grin back at his companions, “My only questions for now might concern the abundance and variety of your food stores.”

Antony couldn’t help but laugh at Callum’s question. “Thankfully I know dragons and their appetites well. Half the cargo hold is taken up by food should we need it. If Azar’s secret island doesn’t prove to be anythin’.” he said with a grin to the white dragon. “Trust me you two, I’ll get you there safe and sound. Azar pays well, so it’s worth my time to make sure he, and by extension his friends, get back home in one piece,” Antony finished before setting the ship off into the thickening mist. “Though this mist might slow us down a bit. Don’t worry, it’s nothing I can’t handle,” he said. Though as the ship went deeper into the misty waters, Azar could swear he saw the outline of another vessel ahead of them. If only for a moment.