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xxDkreignxx

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"I-I'm not a dragon; I'm a human!" I blurted out, then immediately clamped my mouth shut. ~Maybe that's not such a good idea...~ I thought, embarassed. It was so obvious that I was a dragon, probably no one would believe otherwise.
The lizard rolled his eyes. "Riiiiiiiiight...." He stood up and turned towards the door. He paused on the threshold, and looked back at me in mid-step. Sighing, I got to my feet and followed him through the door.
We were walking down a long hallway lit mildly by soft-burning torches placed at intervals on the walls, lined with dark, doorless doorways. I could see dark shapes lying within them. The dragon walked carefully, making little noise, and I quickly matched his gait as I realized why: the shapes were sleeping dragons, and he didn't want to wake anyone up.
He looked over his shoulder at me, his mouth opening in what I guessed had to be the dragon equivalent of a grin- it looked too reptilian to be the same as a Human grin, and he didn't have lips (A.N.: Reptiles don't have lips, in case you didn't know). "Name's Skye," he said. He slowed even more and lifted his right forepaw up, using it to gesture at the house we were in. "I live here."
I noticed Skye kept glancing left and right, through the doorways at the sleeping dragons, and his gait would slow whenever he did so. ~He must've been the one who found me earlier, when I fainted...~ I realized, remembering the red, four-legged figure that had approached me. ~Must've been only a few hours ago, and he hasn't told anyone yet....~

14-Sep-2007 07:19:02 - Last edited on 02-Mar-2009 23:26:51 by xxDkreignxx

xxDkreignxx

Posts: 10,061 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

He looked back at me again when I didn't say anything, a curious expression on his face. "Oh, um... my name's...." I thought back to that dream I had, where I'd heard my name spoken. "Aaron. My name's Aaron."
Skye grinned again and returned his attention to the hallway- we'd reached the end, and the front door. "Well, Aaron, come on." He pushed the door open with his muzzle. "There's someone I'd like you to meet."
As we stepped through the doorway, I found myself in a small village. Well, relatively small, anyway; the houses were large, but there was a small number of them. I looked around for a moment, observing the day. The sun was still absent, but I could see a faint orange glow on the horizon to the east- sunrise was about an hour or so away. I looked down and saw Skye walking away. I trotted to catch up to him, and stayed behind him as we made our way through the village, between the houses. The houses, like the one we had just left, were made of stone, their supports hidden to sight behind the walls. At first, I thought it was a different village, but closer inspection of the surrounding area revealed that it was the same one I had seen while on top of the hill.
I looked up at Skye- he was stretching his wings and neck and yawning broadly. I realized it had to be earlier than I thought. ~Wow, is it really that early?~ I wondered; I felt wide awake, despite the fact that I had fainted from exhaustion only a few hours earlier. ~Maybe I just got more sleep than him...~ I decided, stretching my own, lavender wings. "Where is this, anyway, Skye?" I asked, folding them again.

14-Sep-2007 07:19:02 - Last edited on 08-Oct-2008 06:13:28 by xxDkreignxx

xxDkreignxx

Posts: 10,061 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

He glanced back at me before answering. "Dragogoth Village, in Takeron Valley," he replied, folding his wings as well. "You're not from around here, are you?" he asked suspiciously. "The only green dragons around here are light colored, but your scales are dark."
I shook my head. "I'm from..." I began, but again the memories eluded me. The questions had been flying through my mind ever since I realized I couldn't remember my past: Who was I? Where did I come from? Why, no matter how hard I tried, could I not remember my past? "I-I'm having trouble remembering," I said, turning my head away to avoid Skye's eyes. "It's been like this since yesterday morning...."
"You conked it a while ago, right before I found you," said Skye sympathetically. "Seeldah said you were acting a little strange when she found you; just took off.... Assumed you might be having a little amnesia or sumthin', and asked me to watch over you until you woke up."
"Where are we going?" I asked, looking around. We had reached the outskirts of the town. There were fewer houses here.
"To speak with Seeldah," Skye answered, nodding towards one of the houses. "After you ran away like that, she's been worried about you." He grinned broadly as we approached the house. This house, like the other houses, was made of stone, but its wooden supports were on the outside, not hidden in the walls. The door was also wooden -and supported on a wooden frame- with the emblem of a dragon engraved into the center of it. Strangely, it looked a lot like me....

14-Sep-2007 07:19:03 - Last edited on 03-Mar-2009 00:04:18 by xxDkreignxx

xxDkreignxx

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~Maybe it's a green dragon...~ I thought, shrugging. Skye walked up the short flight of steps leading to the front door, pressed his muzzle against the wood, and gently pushed it open. The door creaked inward, revealing a dark, unlit room. The room was large and made up the entirety of the house.
By the gloomy pre-dawn light pouring in through the doorway, I saw that the room was filled with small wood carvings of dragons-in-flight, on the floor and on shelves. Each was about a foot high, and had its own unique design. There was a total of about sixty to seventy statues. In the center of the room, standing at six feet high, was a stone statue of a wyvern, standing upright on its talons, wings spread, and beak opened, head turned upward. I felt a shiver run up my spine as I saw the statue; it was creepily life-like -even more so than the dragon carvings- and I could almost see the fire in its eagle eyes. I quickly looked away from it towards the room's single living inhabitant.
On the other side of the abode, lying on a stone tablet similar to the one I had been sleeping on earlier, was Seeldah; I recognized her from our encounter in the forest. Her body was long and almost serpentine, but it was bulky, her length constituted most by her tail and neck. Her scales were icy-blue, and her wings were sky-blue. Her claws were a dull grey, but it didn't diminish the color of her scales, only enhanced it.

14-Sep-2007 07:19:03 - Last edited on 03-Mar-2009 00:04:41 by xxDkreignxx

xxDkreignxx

Posts: 10,061 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

Her snout was long and narrow, with two long fangs curled over the corners of her mouth. Two long, sky-blue spikes protruded from the back of her skull, on either side of her head. Puffs of smoke emanated from her nostrils whenever she exhaled and her eyes were closed- she was asleep, and I tried not to wake her as we crossed the room.
I made certain to keep my gaze turned away from the wyvern statue as we made our way towards her; it gave me the creeps. Right before we reached her, I accidentally bumped into one of the carvings on the floor. It rocked for a moment, then settled back into place. I looked up at Seeldah anxiously, but the sleeping dragon didn't stir. As we stopped in front of her tablet, though, her breathing quickened and she opened her blue-green eyes. As she raised her head from the tablet, the room brightened -several torches on the walls lit up- and she turned towards me. I looked away shyly. My mind was focused on Seeldah at the time, otherwise I would've noticed the peculiarity of the torches lighting like that. She smiled and turned to Skye. "Hello, Skye," she said in a light, kind voice. "I am glad you both came."
"Seeldah, this is Aaron," Skye introduced me, gesturing towards me with his paw. "He's having trouble remembering anything."
Still smiling, Seeldah turned back to me. I looked away again; I was still uncomfortable around larger dragons. I realized that's why I was scared when I first met Seeldah: she was a good six times my height, and considerably longer.

14-Sep-2007 07:19:04 - Last edited on 02-Mar-2009 23:28:49 by xxDkreignxx

xxDkreignxx

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Her tail flicked as she extended her neck towards me, and gently raised my head back up. As I looked into her deep, almost hypnotic, kind, blue-green eyes, all fear of her seemed to evaporate. "Don't be afraid, Aaron..." she whispered. "I won't hurt you." I turned my head away again, then looked up at her she settled back onto her tablet. "My name is Seeldah," she said, addressing me. "One of the four elders of this village, like my mother was before me." Her eyes flicked over me, examining me. "I had a friend named Aaron once, a very long time ago.... You remind me of him, though he was older."
"How old am I?" I asked curiously, looking up at her face.
Seeldah shook her head, a slight smile creasing her face. "I'd say about two months old, give or take... my friend was three years old." Her eyes flitted to Skye briefly, who was watching them silently. "You would be the same age as Skye in that case; you both are fairly young drakes."
"You can stay with me and my family if you'd like," said Skye, grinning at me. "My mom's got a soft spot for orphaned dragons...."
Seeldah chuckled. "Ah, but Aaron is not an orphan... that we know of yet." Her gaze returned to me. "But perhaps that would be best until you remember and we can find your family... or if they come looking for you."
I thought for a few seconds, considering it, then dipped my head. "Thanks..." I said gratefully. I paused for a moment, then looked back up at Seeldah. "I can't remember much before I met you in the forest...."

14-Sep-2007 07:20:03 - Last edited on 02-Mar-2009 23:29:41 by xxDkreignxx

xxDkreignxx

Posts: 10,061 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

"You will fit in fine here," she reconciled me. "Many Dragons live in Takeron Valley: red dragons, blue dragons... even some green dragons," she said, pointing, -with a claw on her left forepaw- at each carving in turn- the three were more or less lined up at the front of the group to the right.
But there was one carving in particular that I was interested in... "Which one is that?" I asked, jabbing my head towards the carving I had tripped over. It looked like any other wood carving of a dragon, but there was something... different about it, somehow.
Seeldah turned towards the carving I had indicated, and her pleasant demeanor turned to anger. "That is a dark dragon," she hissed in disgust, glowering at the statue. "Beware of the dark dragons, Aaron; they are evil, twisted dragons that live near Mount Raynor to the north." Her eyes softened as her gaze turned back to me. "But now is not the time for that...." She chuckled, identical to when we first met. "I believe you are in need of flying lessons; you will fit in more here if you learn how to fly."
(A.N.: As not to create confusion: the following sentence is a recount statement, not a present-time telling)
Now, I know dragons are cold-blooded and, technically, can't blush, but I swear I felt my face warm at the memory of my first attempt at flying. "Don't worry, Aaron," Skye remarked sarcastically, "no one gets it right on the first try... it took me three times before I could finally fly."

14-Sep-2007 07:20:04 - Last edited on 02-Mar-2009 23:32:14 by xxDkreignxx

xxDkreignxx

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Seeldah laid her head back down, closing her eyes. "Meet me in the valley in a few hours for your first lesson; it's too early to do it now. Skye will show you where to go." The torches died down as she fell back asleep.
As we left Seeldah's house, and started back towards Skye's, I could see other dragons going out and about. The sun was now just over the mountains, bathing much of the valley in sunlight. I saw several dragons flying through the air- out stretching their wings and watching the sunrise from the air. Watching the dawn from the ground in Surdaus is beautiful... watching it from the air is breathtaking. I still remember that first sunrise I witnessed while in Surdaus... it was truly an incredible sight. Several days later, after I had learned to fly, I made sure to go up with Skye that morning to see it.
Now, as we made our way through the village, I walked alongside Skye instead of behind him. "Sure your parents won't mind me living there, Skye?" I asked, looking over at him.
Skye nodded. "My parents are friends of Seeldah's; they'll take you in," he promised. "You know, of all the relatives that live with us, I have only one sibling; my sister, Kelandra- everyone calls her Kel. We're pretty close, but Kad and I -he's my cousin- are almost as close as brothers. Most people think we're twins because we look almost identical, but we're actually not immediate family. "He glanced over at me and grinned. "Sometimes comes in handy, though...."

14-Sep-2007 07:20:04 - Last edited on 02-Mar-2009 23:33:22 by xxDkreignxx

xxDkreignxx

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"What do you mean by that?" I asked curiously. "You gotten out of trouble that way before?"
Skye laughed. "Not exactly what I meant, but yeah, once... and he still hates me for it. A while back, me and Kad found this wierd powdery stuff up in the mountains. It was black, and smelled like fire. We -being the idiots we were back then- decided to play a prank on a dragon called Zek: place some of the stuff in his room to drive him crazy with the smell."
"So what happened?" I asked. "Did the stuff explode?" I laughed.
Skye's face darkened. "Yeah, it did... but not in Zek's house, thank god." He turned and looked up at a mountain to the east. "You see that black spot up there?" I nodded- half the mountainside was black. "Apparently, we dropped some of the stuff on our way back, and it caught fire somehow... burned down half the forest before we managed to put it out. We started a second fire to cancel out the first- that's the only way to stop a fire that big. We think the stuff was some kind of powdered brimstone; made a big bang when it blew."
I nodded. "Then someone thought you did it?"
Skye shook his head. "It wasn't until a week ago that we discovered it was the same stuff.... No, Zek found the stuff we put in his room, and he claimed that Kad did it. He never could prove it, but he's hated Kad ever since." He shook his head again and sighed. "Zek has a very short temper, but him and I have always been on good terms; he hates Kad, but doesn't mind me."

14-Sep-2007 07:24:18 - Last edited on 02-Mar-2009 23:33:48 by xxDkreignxx

xxDkreignxx

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"Does Seeldah know?"
Skye nodded. "I told her the truth about what happened... and she agreed that telling Zek wouldn't be a very smart idea. As I said: Zek has a short temper. The reason he didn't lash out at Kad was because he couldn't prove it... that's the greatest self-control I've ever seen him have."
I thought for a moment, considering, then asked, "It was you that did it, wasn't it?"
Skye shook his head, laughing humorlessly. "That's the reason why telling him would be a bad idea: it WAS Kad. It's ironic that Zek was actually right." He paused for a moment, then shook his head and continued walking. "I have nothing against Zek personally, but the second he makes a move against Kad... well, I'll do what I have to do...."
I waited for Skye to continue, but he remained silent. When he finally did speak, it wasn't to me....
"Good morning, Zek!" he called as a blue dragon walked across the street up ahead. Zek turned and nodded to Skye, but his eyes narrowed at me. Without a word, he turned and walked off in the opposite direction. "Oh, I forgot: Zek doesn't like green dragons very much," Skye apologized. "Never did explain why... eh, don't worry about it; he'll get over it eventually... and I'm sure it has nothing to do with Kad. Zek is a very complicated person; not many people like him."
"You're friendly to him," I pointed out.

14-Sep-2007 07:24:20 - Last edited on 09-Mar-2009 22:42:08 by xxDkreignxx

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