Post by Paws on Oct 12, 2017 20:04:30 GMT -5
A Race In The Treetops
A bird touched down lightly on a branch, its feathers fluttering gently. It barely glanced at the 50 foot drop yawning down beneath it, or the fact that these trees had close to no branches.
It squeaked a call and lifted its four brightly colored wings to preen itself. Another bird softly hopped past it.
The serene peace was shattered by a loud crash on the branch. The birds shrieked and scattered, bugs going silent below. A humanoid figure wobbled on its perch, pausing only a moment to catch its breath.
Moon brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and squinted. Another twenty feet? She moaned inside her head. Mother said this was the end!
She grunted and shifted her weight. The branch creaked. She lowered her front half, swinging her tail to meet the balance, and bounced ever so slightly on her sleek silver dragon legs. Moon narrowed her eyes and tensed.
She leaped suddenly, soaring through the air, claws extended, arms wide out, and landed.
Moon grinned at the green dragon next to her, who wore a scowl.
“How’s that for a finish, Vigeo?” she laughed at it, again brushing the hair out of her face.
The green dragon, Vigeo, scowled even deeper. “Oh, please. That landing was about as good as a zrooth in a cat fight. Show me something good.”
“Good?” A yellowish dragon swiveled his wings next to Vigeo, coming to a stop. “I’ll show you good.” He flicked his talons, a burst of flame igniting on top of each one.
Behind Vigeo howling with delight and laughter, Moon looked away so they couldn’t see the dark, bitter aversion that clouded her vision.
They know I can’t do magic, she blinked back angry tears. They’ll pay for their teasing.
Instead she hid it with a smirk. “You’ll eat your words, Kkai. I won the treetop race, so I get the sweetleaf fruit.”
Kkai slumped. “I told you, that was only luck. You and your stupid human thing.”
Moon’s blood broiled. She was about to slap him when another dragon wound his way up their tree.
“Congratulations, Moon.” Her father smiled. There was a rare proudness in his eyes whenever he looked at her, even if she had done something bad. “I expected as much.”
He was a leen sparkly silver dragon with gems around his claws, head, and neck. His eyes were the traditional dragon green and he had black spikes on his back and black horns, as well as tiny ones on his cheeks. His tail was a spade. Being the leader, he wore a silver collar with a green gem in the middle and four silver anklets on his talons, along with an elaborate green necklace. Like most dragons, he walked on his toes, not the whole paw.
Kkai crossed his forearms and a ‘humph’ noise escaped his nose. “Yes, Soulium. We all did. Picking favorites again, huh?”
Soulium’s eyes grew cold as they traveled to Kkai. He opened his jaws to respond, but before a word could get out, a silver and black blur tackled Kkai and pinned him to the branch, making it crack dangerously.
A furious hiss escaped Moon’s bared fangs. “You sssay that again and I’ll kick you sssssso hard you won’t be able to eat for a month.”
Her s’s were snakey and drawn out, like they always were when she was mad. Her pupils also narrowed into angry black slits.
Soulium, or Soul, as many called him, peeled Moon off a trembling Kkai. “Stop it, both of you.” He reached into his pouch and pulled out a small, round, purple fruit. “Moon will get this. The rest of you, go back to your homes.”
Moon hunched over, fiddling with them hems of her black leather jacket as her father glared at her disapprovingly.
“Moon, I know you get your fierce temper from me, but you must learn to control it. You’re already an outcast
as it is; I don’t want you making trouble.”
“I know, I know,” Moon grumbled in a bored voice, plucking to sweetfruit out of Soul’s talons and slipping it into one of the pockets of her jacket. “No more fights, be nice, make sure you do all your chores, I get it. I’ve heard it all. I’m going back to the house.”
Without waiting for her father’s reply, she jumped off the branch and dropped all the way down, landing squarely on the ground.
Her dragon legs absorbed the impact, allowing her to easily rise and continue trotting to the village. She never looked back, hoping no one saw her trembling.
Moon twirled her spear. She suddenly threw it to the ground in a huff and stood.
Where is that stupid idiot? He promised to be here an hour ago.
There was a sudden whoosh as a deep green dragon flew in, wings outspread and talons stretched. He grandly swooped his wing in front of him into a bow as his feet touched the floor.
“At your service, m’lady,” Daki said, grinning. “Your grandest-”
“If you were that grand, you would’ve been here an hour ago,” she snapped, crossing her arms and turning away from him.
He spread his talons out. “Aw, c’mon, give me a break, I just-”
“That’s no excuse for wasting time. I promised my mother I’d meet her in another hour, and you’ve just wasted an hour of training, so that cuts my time short. Get to it now.”
Daki was a mentor hired by her father, a calm and respectable dragon, but he was always a bit on edge whenever lessons with Moon came around, because he was scared of her. He also tried to flatter her, mostly because he wanted to make a good impression on Soulium.
Her mentor swallowed. “Okay, kid, I promise, I promise. We’ll make this quick.” He said while Moon held her hand out towards her fallen spear, fingers tensed and outstretched. He pulled out his own green spear and ignited it with a shrink noise. “Do your exercises.”
Moon glared at him. “Oh, my exercises, I totally forgot with all that time I wasted waiting for you-stars above-I ought to beat your brains out!” The spear gave a sudden jerk and shot into her hand.
Daki nodded at her, trying not to gawk at Moon’s spear, which she had raised up. Moon could sense feelings of shock and agitation radiating off of him. “Uh, sure.”
He cleared his throat. “So, you’ll want to, uh, work on the Disarming Curl, I believe.” Daki nodded and hunched in the traditional way of beginning a professional fight. Moon mimicked it, though she thought when she did it she looked like a horse with a hairball.
She tensed. Swinging her spear in a circle she blocked Daki’s attack and ducked over his second one as his spear sliced over her head with a sharp shwip.
She stood up and jabbed her spear at Daki, twirling it so it came in contact with Daki’s and flicked it hard, causing his spear to clatter on the ground a few feet away.
Her mentor stepped back and put his paws up. “Whoa, there, half-ling, no need to get excited, you won, you won.”
“Do not call me half-ling,” A rusty hiss escaped her throat as she held her spear to Daki’s neck. “I am a half-dragon.”
She hated being called a half-ling, mainly because ling was the suffix for little dragonets, namely called dragonlings. Moon hated being called a little child. It was insulting. Dragons lived three times as fast has humans, so she lived longer than a regular human would. Her appearance didn’t change as fast as a humans’, though, so she didn’t visually mature quite as fast, so to speak. Dragons often mistook her as younger than she really was. In human years, she was ten. In dragon years, she was only eight.
Daki winced. “Oh, come on, kid, you’re only seven-”
“Eight,” Moon’s voice was beyond calm. “You will resssssspect me, or you will pay the priccccccce...”
Her mentor shrugged. “You’re still too young to know the difference.”
“YOU DESERVE BETTER THAN A QUICK DEATH!” she screamed, slashing her spear in a wide ark. A sickening shurk filled the air.
Spinning on her heel, she stormed out. Moon retracted her spar and shoved it briskly into its holder. She tossed her hair back and launched into the unwelcoming night sky, not noticing the thick smell of blood, or the sizzling body she had left behind.
The Village
Moon put her hand down on the desk, drumming it lightly to the song of the birds cooing outside. She was resting her head on her knee and the other dangling off the table. She sighed deeply, and the birds sighed along with her.
Reggie blinked at her. “What’s up, those two twerps bothering you again?”
“No, it’s-it’s my emotions. I’ve practiced and practiced, but I can’t control them.” Moon replied softly to her mother. “I’m worried.”
Reggie nodded in her direction, but still keeping her eyes on her work. She was weaving a n elegant rope net. Her job was making nets for hunting, for the few dragons that were carnivorous. Most ate berries, nuts, and meat, or just berries and nuts. She was the best at weaving due to her human hands.
Moon returned her gaze to the window. She regretted losing her temper so fast last night, though she didn’t regret injuring Daki.
She suddenly jumped off the desk and walked out the door. Moon padded through the winding thatch streets, slipping past dragons and her eyes darting to and fro.
“Hey, kid.” A voice growled. Moon’s eyes constricted and her hand went straight to her spear as she whipped around.
Daki scowled, partly concealed behind a chattery young purple dragon talking to someone else. “You owe me a wound.”
“I what?” Moon blinked, confused. Her hand on her spear tightened.
He stepped out from behind the purple dragon, revealing a frayed bandage wrapped tightly around his neck soaked with blood.
“I said you need to heal me,” Daki’s growl grew deeper. “Now.”
“I made that wound for a reason, and that reason wasn’t to heal it, you big brat. Get lost.” Without waiting for Daki’s angry response, she shoved aside the purple dragon and ran down the streets before he could catch up to her.
Finally she made it to the her father's’ house. He used to live with Moon and her mother, but after he became king, he had to move into the center of the village.
“Father!” she called, now inside. “Father?”
“What’s up, Moon?” Her father poked his head around the side of a column and grinned. “I thought you were supposed to be at home with Reggie.”
Moon shrugged. “Yeah, well, my rules change with the tides,” she said.
Moon extended her wings and flapped up on the rousers. “How are things in the royal abode?”
“Not bad, considering I have to take a bath every half a second.” Soul sighed. “I wish I was the general instead.”
Another dragon walked in. He was total black, with a silver collar matching Soulium’s, and a simple green necklace. Green eyes sat on his sharp face.
“I wish I was the king, so there.” The dragon stuck his pink tongue out at Soul. Soul gave him a teasing poke.
He was Soul’s brother, and Moon’s uncle, Nexium. Nex was the word for ‘night’ in their language, so he was appropriately named. Most dragons just called him Nex.
“Hey, Uncle.” Moon slid off of the rafters, landing elegantly on her dragon legs with a thud and a graceful sweep
of her tail.
“Your family seems to be made of a bunch of show-offs.” Nex’s eyes sparkled as he looked at his niece. “Your father especially.”
Moon tossed her head. “I get it from you, Uncle.”
Soulium’s face twitched with a smile as he glanced between the two. “So, why are you here?” he asked lightly.
“I’m here because of my mentor.” Moon’s friendly smile faded and her bright eyes darkened. “He is the worst-p-possible thing you could ever give me.” She struggled with the wording. There was no way to describe him, really.
Soulium nodded. “I shall have him removed at once.” He sat down and folded his paws gently in front of him. “I knew you didn’t like him, but still...the medics were up half the night trying to keep him alive.”
“Not my fault.”
Nex sighed. “Two hours to find him.”
“Again, not my fault.” Moon took out her spear and tossed it in the air, catching it and spinning behind her back, flinging it up and seizing it swiftly.
Soulium’s sigh matched his brother’s. “Moon, I won’t punish you, but you know you have to learn patience.”
“Too bad.” Moon grinned. “I don’t care.”
She launched herself out of the abode, stretching out her wings to soar over the streets, letting the sun shine through the webbing.
She knew she shouldn’t have said that and it was kind of a dumb response, but it was too late anyways. Her family was already used to her retorts.
Moon’s shadow glided over the lumbering dragons below. Some looked up, probably wondering what kind of bird was circling over them.
She dipped down in the direction of her house, but swerved past it, still keeping low to the ground.
Moon dodged a branch. She flared her wings and touched down.
This part of the forest was cold and dark. No one went near here. They thought it was cursed.
Heh, matches my cursed heritage, not to mention my luck.
Fog hung low to the ground, clinging onto her as she padded through the crooked trees, which seemed to creak towards her.
Moon smiled as she pulled a branch to the ground and tugged out a small whirring machine. She clicked a switch and the fog slowly vanished.
She jumped over a fallen tree and shoved another off a huge, sparking object.
It was a machine, something to get off this world and find another. Moon knew it was not typical to want to leave her village so badly, but she had a natural sense of curiosity.
She flipped on a welding mask and pressed a welder to two pieces of metal. Blinding sparks flew.
Moon snatched a few wires and stuck them together, her dexterous hands whirring in the dim light shining through the trees.
Time passed so quickly she didn’t even know it was dark until she took off her welding mask.
Oh no, Father said I have to be back by sundown! She bit her lip. I have to hurry!
Moon forced the tree back over the machine, but the tree was propped up against another, so it wouldn’t crush the machine.
She thrust the tiny machine back into the tree and flicked the switch again. Moon stumbled into flight and pumped her wings as fast as she could.
The cold night air ruffled her wings. It was a peaceful calm up here, the kind where you could extend your wings and soar all the way around the world. Not many nights were like this.
Good omen, or weird luck?
She was back to the village in no time. Moon tried for a surreptitious landing, hoped no one could see her, snuck into her house, and curled up to go to sleep.
Sincerely,
