Creative Corner

501

December 26, 2015 11:55:16

Feel free to post and comment on this thread. My brother and I are writing this story together but he doesn't have an account. This story won't follow any set pattern of updating but will update when we have time, and hopefully at least daily. If you want to be added to the pinglist please let me know!

KINGDOM COME

Summary: When she was born, Hauku was totally alone. She had accepted a life of solitude, when a strange Mirror came crashing into her life, and turned everything upside-down.

Table of Contents

Prologue : Lonely Birth
Part 1
Chapter 1: The End of the Day
Chapter 2: Light, My Dear
Chapter 3: The Road Not Taken
Chapter 4: The Weary Pearlcatcher
Chapter 5: Her Name Is Punky
Chapter 6: Attack
Chapter 7: Striking A Deal
Chapter 8: Bridging the Gap

Characters so far

Hauku, female Fae, currently in Dragonhome with Riku

Riku, male Mirror, currently in Dragonhome with Hauku

Punky, female Pearlcatcher, found injured by Hauku and Riku, now a part of their fledgling "Clan"

Abelia, female Skydancer, trained Witch who is looking for a mate and now going along with Hauku and Riku's fledgling Clan

Glossary

First Home: literally the first home a dragon has, usually where they are born. Although they usually move, a dragon's First Home is the most important, and often provides a sense of security and happiness when a dragon goes there.

Pinglist:

Quote:

@DeathSpecter @VoxxVoleur @tsaarn @Crystalcave @Mizie @BarbaraFett @Skooma @Fabro

Kingdom Come: Clan Lore Story | Hope: Diary of a Slave |Tales from the Star Wood: Writing Shop | Hatchery | Leveling Service

Last edited on Jan 03, 2016 18:51:16 by brianna100

PART I: A TALE OF TWO DRAGONS

Prologue: Lonely Birth

““I am lonely, lonely,
I was born to be lonely,
I am best so!””
-“Danse Russe,” William Carlos Williams

On top of a precarious spire in the middle of the Crystalspine Reaches sat a tiny Arcane egg. Though it hovered a few centimeters off the top of the spire, the egg was carefully balanced on the thin tip. All it took was a gust of wind to knock it off of its perch and send it tumbling down the side of the spire.

The egg bumped and rolled against the rocky sides, but didn’t crack. Dragon eggs were remarkably tough, and thanks to the force field that surrounded all Arcane eggs, it wasn’t harmed by any outside forces. It would only break when the hatchling inside of it was ready to come out. Finally, the egg rolled to a stop, still wriggling slightly.

It had been abandoned on the spire a few days ago, with its parents expecting it to die not long after. The egg was the runt of the nest, and the hatchling inside of it was expected to be unhealthy and die within a few days of hatching.

But the egg did not die. Unwillingly, they had abandoned the egg in just the right place for it to continue to incubate, saving the hatchling inside from a terrible fate. Now, it was ready to hatch.

The egg gave a few more furious wriggles. The tiny hatchling inside was determined and totally focused in its pursuit. It struggled for about an hour, before a tiny foot broke out of the shell. The work was not over, however, and the rest of the hatchling’s body took some time to come out. Once it had broken a sizeable part out of the egg, the shell, now fragile and weak from the struggle, cracked and fell open around the hatchling with a rush of fluids. The newborn hatchling sat in the middle of the broken shell, shaking her head and unsticking her wings from her sides. She was a Fae, and smaller than usual – evidence of her being the runt of her nest. Most of her was all wings and tail, and she struggled to actually get to her feet.

At first, she was confused. Hatchlings were usually met immediately by their parents after hatching, but she was alone. Surrounded by the towering spires of the Crystalspine Reaches, the tiny hatchling shivered with both cold and loneliness. The first thing she would need to do was find somewhere warm to sleep. Hatching was exhausting, and normally hatchlings would have their parents to curl up against for warmth. But this hatchling was totally alone.

The newborn made her way towards the spire from which her egg had fallen. Beneath it was a small opening, just large enough for a full-grown Fae to crawl through, and definitely large enough for her. She chirped happily, the first noise she had made since her birth, and dropped in through the opening, landing on the sandy ground. This sandy cavern would be her First Home, the walls would be her sanctuary and her only support in this cold, unforgiving world.

As she curled up to sleep for the very first time, the newborn’s life would become more incredible than she ever could have dreamed of.

brianna100

501

December 26, 2015 11:57:52

PART I: A TALE OF TWO DRAGONS

Prologue: Lonely Birth

““I am lonely, lonely,
I was born to be lonely,
I am best so!””
-“Danse Russe,” William Carlos Williams

On top of a precarious spire in the middle of the Crystalspine Reaches sat a tiny Arcane egg. Though it hovered a few centimeters off the top of the spire, the egg was carefully balanced on the thin tip. All it took was a gust of wind to knock it off of its perch and send it tumbling down the side of the spire.

The egg bumped and rolled against the rocky sides, but didn’t crack. Dragon eggs were remarkably tough, and thanks to the force field that surrounded all Arcane eggs, it wasn’t harmed by any outside forces. It would only break when the hatchling inside of it was ready to come out. Finally, the egg rolled to a stop, still wriggling slightly.

It had been abandoned on the spire a few days ago, with its parents expecting it to die not long after. The egg was the runt of the nest, and the hatchling inside of it was expected to be unhealthy and die within a few days of hatching.

But the egg did not die. Unwillingly, they had abandoned the egg in just the right place for it to continue to incubate, saving the hatchling inside from a terrible fate. Now, it was ready to hatch.

The egg gave a few more furious wriggles. The tiny hatchling inside was determined and totally focused in its pursuit. It struggled for about an hour, before a tiny foot broke out of the shell. The work was not over, however, and the rest of the hatchling’s body took some time to come out. Once it had broken a sizeable part out of the egg, the shell, now fragile and weak from the struggle, cracked and fell open around the hatchling with a rush of fluids. The newborn hatchling sat in the middle of the broken shell, shaking her head and unsticking her wings from her sides. She was a Fae, and smaller than usual – evidence of her being the runt of her nest. Most of her was all wings and tail, and she struggled to actually get to her feet.

At first, she was confused. Hatchlings were usually met immediately by their parents after hatching, but she was alone. Surrounded by the towering spires of the Crystalspine Reaches, the tiny hatchling shivered with both cold and loneliness. The first thing she would need to do was find somewhere warm to sleep. Hatching was exhausting, and normally hatchlings would have their parents to curl up against for warmth. But this hatchling was totally alone.

The newborn made her way towards the spire from which her egg had fallen. Beneath it was a small opening, just large enough for a full-grown Fae to crawl through, and definitely large enough for her. She chirped happily, the first noise she had made since her birth, and dropped in through the opening, landing on the sandy ground. This sandy cavern would be her First Home, the walls would be her sanctuary and her only support in this cold, unforgiving world.

As she curled up to sleep for the very first time, the newborn’s life would become more incredible than she ever could have dreamed of.

Kingdom Come: Clan Lore Story | Hope: Diary of a Slave |Tales from the Star Wood: Writing Shop | Hatchery | Leveling Service

Last edited on Dec 26, 2015 16:11:03 by brianna100

@DeathSpecter thank you, I'll add you right now

brianna100

501

December 26, 2015 14:44:17

@DeathSpecter thank you, I'll add you right now

Kingdom Come: Clan Lore Story | Hope: Diary of a Slave |Tales from the Star Wood: Writing Shop | Hatchery | Leveling Service

The prologue has been edited and updated, thanks to the awesome Dunkarooba!

brianna100

501

December 26, 2015 16:11:29

The prologue has been edited and updated, thanks to the awesome Dunkarooba!

Kingdom Come: Clan Lore Story | Hope: Diary of a Slave |Tales from the Star Wood: Writing Shop | Hatchery | Leveling Service

@DeathSpecter

Part 1, Chapter 1: The End of the Day

“At the end of the day you're another day older,
And that's all you can say for the life of the poor.
It's a struggle, it's a war,
And there's nothing that anyone's giving.
One more day, standing about, what is it for?”
- “At the End of the Day”, Les Miserables

Against all odds, the unnamed hatchling continued to grow. She never did leave her First Home, that sandy hole in the ground, but she did travel throughout the Arcane lands. Thanks to this, she earned her name: Hauku. Since she had no parents to name her, she had to find it herself. By using scrolls she traded for with traveling merchants, she was able to pick out the perfect name. It sounded right on her tongue, and felt as though it should be her name. With no one to tell her otherwise, Hauku christened herself once she was a little over two months old.

Hauku had adjusted herself to a life of solitude. Most dragons lived with a clan to support them, but Hauku had no one but herself. A few times she thought of seeking out the clan of her birth, but it would be of no use, she decided. If she had truly been abandoned, no one would be looking for or wanting her. The last thing she wanted to do was cause chaos in a clan by her showing up where she wasn't wanted, so she stayed alone.

Her life was rarely spontaneous, and while Hauku was thankful for the lack of surprises, it left her wanting something more. To put it plainly, her life was boring. There was simply nothing to do tucked within the towering spirals of the Reach, except when the traveling merchants passed through. She had yet to experience her first festival, since she was too inexperienced to leave the Arcane lands, and their festival hadn't happened since her hatching. She knew little about the outside world, other than what she had read in her scrolls, and while she yearned to expand her knowledge, she had no one to lead her. The most real fun she had was when she searched for insects, and decorated her First Home.

It was right after Hauku returned from getting more decorations when her life took a sharp turn. Much had changed since she first stumbled into the sandy cavern after her birth. She had fashioned a lamp out of the tree sap which Fae were so talented with, and used a few bursts of mana magic to keep it lit in the corner of the cavern. There were a few pieces of artwork on the walls, also from the traveling merchants, which Hauku tended to arrange and re-arrange at least once every week. Her stocks of dried insects and healing potions sat against the back wall, along with her grimoire, where she wrote down the recipes for her own potions and the effects of certain herbs she had observed in the wild. She had no real use for them at the moment, but decided to keep them on hand just in case they were needed eventually. She was nothing if not prepared.

Well, she wasn't prepared for someone to come crashing into her cavern.

Hauku had just settled down to eat when it happened. A shuffling at the opening to her First Home got her attention, and just as she was turning around to figure out what it was, the long head and neck of a young Mirror crashed through the opening. He was panting heavily, and his four eyes were glazed and unfocused. Hauku could feel the heat radiating off of his body, and her frills raised in alarm. The Mirror struggled for a moment, claws scratching at the narrow walls around him, before he finally gave up, letting his head hang down into the cavern. It nearly touched the floor, reminding Hauku of how much bigger he was than her.

At first, Hauku was nervous to approach him. Everything she had heard about Mirrors told her that they were wild, dangerous, and highly unpredictable, but something was off with this one. He was definitely sick; Hauku could smell the illness on his breath when she took a few tentative steps forward. While that meant he was weakened, he could still be delusional, and might not see her as a friend. If he tried to attack her, Hauku would have a clear disadvantage.

"Um … excuse me, sir, are you alright," Hauku asked, waving one of her paws in front of the Mirror. He lifted his head, his heat-sensing eyes likely seeing her heat but getting confused by the fever in his own body. A shiver passed through him, and he dropped his head again after she addressed him.

"My clan is dead," he rasped, voice laced with unshed tears. Taking a closer look at his feet, Hauku saw that they were calloused and bleeding. She figured he must have been running for a long time, likely over rough terrain. He was also very pale, and his skin seemed to be covered in a sheet of sweat and grime. "The fever -- the Shade brought the fever -- they all died."

Hauku pressed one of her paws to the side of the Mirror's face. He was burning, yet radiant, like a dying star. She did not know this dragon, but she did know that she had a duty to help heal him. As long as he was here, he would be under her care.

"Okay, let's get you out of this hole," Hauku told him, attempting to push one of his shoulders back out through the opening to the cavern. With her help, the Mirror began to move again, using his back legs to pull himself backwards. Thanks to the sweat slicking his body, he was finally able to pull himself out of the opening and collapsed on the grass in front of her cavern, nostrils flaring with the force of his breaths. Carefully, Hauku checked him over. "I'll get you something to treat your fever, just hold on for a bit, alright?"

"I don't want to die," the Mirror said again, his pale violet-pink eyes fluttering.

Hauku gave him a reassuring pat. "You won't die, as long as you stay with me. You'll be alright."

Hoping those wouldn't be empty words, Hauku ducked back into the cavern to find something to give the sickly Mirror.

brianna100

501

December 26, 2015 17:16:38

@DeathSpecter

Part 1, Chapter 1: The End of the Day

“At the end of the day you're another day older,
And that's all you can say for the life of the poor.
It's a struggle, it's a war,
And there's nothing that anyone's giving.
One more day, standing about, what is it for?”
- “At the End of the Day”, Les Miserables

Against all odds, the unnamed hatchling continued to grow. She never did leave her First Home, that sandy hole in the ground, but she did travel throughout the Arcane lands. Thanks to this, she earned her name: Hauku. Since she had no parents to name her, she had to find it herself. By using scrolls she traded for with traveling merchants, she was able to pick out the perfect name. It sounded right on her tongue, and felt as though it should be her name. With no one to tell her otherwise, Hauku christened herself once she was a little over two months old.

Hauku had adjusted herself to a life of solitude. Most dragons lived with a clan to support them, but Hauku had no one but herself. A few times she thought of seeking out the clan of her birth, but it would be of no use, she decided. If she had truly been abandoned, no one would be looking for or wanting her. The last thing she wanted to do was cause chaos in a clan by her showing up where she wasn't wanted, so she stayed alone.

Her life was rarely spontaneous, and while Hauku was thankful for the lack of surprises, it left her wanting something more. To put it plainly, her life was boring. There was simply nothing to do tucked within the towering spirals of the Reach, except when the traveling merchants passed through. She had yet to experience her first festival, since she was too inexperienced to leave the Arcane lands, and their festival hadn't happened since her hatching. She knew little about the outside world, other than what she had read in her scrolls, and while she yearned to expand her knowledge, she had no one to lead her. The most real fun she had was when she searched for insects, and decorated her First Home.

It was right after Hauku returned from getting more decorations when her life took a sharp turn. Much had changed since she first stumbled into the sandy cavern after her birth. She had fashioned a lamp out of the tree sap which Fae were so talented with, and used a few bursts of mana magic to keep it lit in the corner of the cavern. There were a few pieces of artwork on the walls, also from the traveling merchants, which Hauku tended to arrange and re-arrange at least once every week. Her stocks of dried insects and healing potions sat against the back wall, along with her grimoire, where she wrote down the recipes for her own potions and the effects of certain herbs she had observed in the wild. She had no real use for them at the moment, but decided to keep them on hand just in case they were needed eventually. She was nothing if not prepared.

Well, she wasn't prepared for someone to come crashing into her cavern.

Hauku had just settled down to eat when it happened. A shuffling at the opening to her First Home got her attention, and just as she was turning around to figure out what it was, the long head and neck of a young Mirror crashed through the opening. He was panting heavily, and his four eyes were glazed and unfocused. Hauku could feel the heat radiating off of his body, and her frills raised in alarm. The Mirror struggled for a moment, claws scratching at the narrow walls around him, before he finally gave up, letting his head hang down into the cavern. It nearly touched the floor, reminding Hauku of how much bigger he was than her.

At first, Hauku was nervous to approach him. Everything she had heard about Mirrors told her that they were wild, dangerous, and highly unpredictable, but something was off with this one. He was definitely sick; Hauku could smell the illness on his breath when she took a few tentative steps forward. While that meant he was weakened, he could still be delusional, and might not see her as a friend. If he tried to attack her, Hauku would have a clear disadvantage.

"Um … excuse me, sir, are you alright," Hauku asked, waving one of her paws in front of the Mirror. He lifted his head, his heat-sensing eyes likely seeing her heat but getting confused by the fever in his own body. A shiver passed through him, and he dropped his head again after she addressed him.

"My clan is dead," he rasped, voice laced with unshed tears. Taking a closer look at his feet, Hauku saw that they were calloused and bleeding. She figured he must have been running for a long time, likely over rough terrain. He was also very pale, and his skin seemed to be covered in a sheet of sweat and grime. "The fever -- the Shade brought the fever -- they all died."

Hauku pressed one of her paws to the side of the Mirror's face. He was burning, yet radiant, like a dying star. She did not know this dragon, but she did know that she had a duty to help heal him. As long as he was here, he would be under her care.

"Okay, let's get you out of this hole," Hauku told him, attempting to push one of his shoulders back out through the opening to the cavern. With her help, the Mirror began to move again, using his back legs to pull himself backwards. Thanks to the sweat slicking his body, he was finally able to pull himself out of the opening and collapsed on the grass in front of her cavern, nostrils flaring with the force of his breaths. Carefully, Hauku checked him over. "I'll get you something to treat your fever, just hold on for a bit, alright?"

"I don't want to die," the Mirror said again, his pale violet-pink eyes fluttering.

Hauku gave him a reassuring pat. "You won't die, as long as you stay with me. You'll be alright."

Hoping those wouldn't be empty words, Hauku ducked back into the cavern to find something to give the sickly Mirror.

Kingdom Come: Clan Lore Story | Hope: Diary of a Slave |Tales from the Star Wood: Writing Shop | Hatchery | Leveling Service

@DeathSpecter

Part 1, Chapter 2: Light, My Darling
Light, my light, the world-filling light,
the eye-kissing light,
heart-sweetening light!
- Light Rabindranath Tagore

For the first few days of the Mirror's stay, he was often in and out of consciousness. Hauku worried that he wouldn't pull through after that first night out in the cold, so she was able to fashion a crude den out of fallen tree branches from the edge of the forest. It was rough, but it was certainly better than nothing. In between bouts of consciousness, Hauku learned that the Mirror's name was Riku, and he'd come from the other side of the Arcane lands. That was all she was able to get out of him before he went back to sleep, staying in a state of suspended animation for three days. Hauku dutifully continued to treat him, and she even attempted to go after small mammals to fulfill Riku's craving for meat -- he wasn't interested in the dried bugs she collected, or the live ones for that matter. Mirrors needed meat to keep them going, so meat she would have to get.

Riku wasn't all that frightening, Hauku thought as she watched him sleeping there in front of him. He was big, certainly, and well-muscled from his travels already. He was about Hauku's age, three or four years old, and just barely an adult. From what she could tell, Riku wasn't anything like what she had imagined Mirrors to be. Even though he was sick, and obviously suffering from what had happened to the rest of his pack-mates, he hadn't snapped at Hauku. In fact, whenever he was awake, he seemed grateful and almost surprised at how helpful she was. She wondered how far he'd had to travel to find her, to find someone to help him.

Once he had slept for three days, Riku woke once again with a different light in his eyes. Where they were once glazed over and tired, they were now more alert, and he was attempting to get to his feet. Hauku rushed over to help support him, as his muscles were weak from not being used for so long, and from the sickness. His legs shook, but surprisingly he stayed steady, taking a few steps towards Hauku when he corrected his balance.

"Thanks for taking care of me," Riku said gruffly, shaking his head and flaring his crests. Hauku stared back at him, unsure of how to express herself. Fae dragons were mostly inexpressive, save for the occasional rise and fall of their frills.

Deciding on giving him a tiny smile, Hauku folded her wings against her back and sides. "It was necessary. I could not leave a sickly dragon to die on my territory and still keep my peace of mind." Had he died, she doubted she even would have been able to move his body. He was more than half of her size, and weighed hundreds of kilos. No amount of magic would be able to move something his size, and she would have been haunted by his rotting body, unable to escape it. She shivered at the thought, and Riku laughed.

"Apparently, it wasn't necessary to the other five dragons I came to before you," Riku muttered. Though his tone was light, the message was grim. Had that really happened? "But, it makes sense," Riku continued after a short pause. "I was sick. The others didn't want my sickness to get passed around their own clans, I get it."

"Still, it was unfair of them to leave you to die," Hauku replied flatly. "Though, I suppose abandonment is common of dragons. My own parents left me to die here."

"Explains why you live alone." Riku sat back on his haunches, apparently tiring from standing up. He lifted one of his feet slowly, licking it and then drawing it over his head to clean himself. "Most dragons have a clan, even Fae. How come you never left, or started your own clan?"

Hauku's frills fell back against her head. "I once thought of trying to find my birth clan, but I supposed if they left me to die, they didn't want me around. It might mean something chaotic if I were to come back."

Riku scratched at his crests with one of his back feet. "Still, you could've found another clan, but you live here in a hole by yourself. That's weird."

Flustered, Hauku raised her frills. Her magenta-colored skin began to get a bit darker. "I am sure it is not. There are many solitary dragons, usually traveling merchants with no clan."

"Yeah, but those dragons aren't happy," Riku said plainly. He flopped onto his side, then rolled over onto his back like a kitten, pawing restlessly at the air. "You can see it in their eyes, if you look close enough. At least, for the ones who travel alone. It's no fun, just going for miles and miles with no real place to call home. Some dragons call it romantic, but I call it lonely." Riku paused again to look Hauku in the eyes, taking on a serious turn. "Tell me, you ever been beyond that little dirt hole?"

"Indeed I have," Hauku huffed the best she could, still a bit flustered. "I have seen the merchants, when they pass through here. I have been to the forest, and through the spires --"

"Okay, what about beyond that," Riku pressed harder. "Have you ever been flying? Like, ?really ?been flying, for miles and miles and looking at everything around you as you go? Have you ever been outside of your own territory?"

His questions left Hauku feeling confused, and slightly upset. "No... no, I can not say I have."

"Then you haven't really lived," Riku said, tossing his head and laughing. "Oh, man... I can't believe you've never seen the snow, all fresh and glittering right after it falls, or ran through the bramble thickets in the Tangled Wood... there's so much in the Reaches you probably haven't even seen!" Seeing him look so exuberant after being so close to death made Hauku blink, wondering just how he was able to make a change so quickly.

"I have lived just fine," Hauku murmured. "Besides, I am only a Fae. I would be an easy target for bigger, stronger dragons, even with my magic. Besides, I can learn all I need to know from my scrolls."

"But it's not the same," Riku protested, jumping towards her. Startled, Hauku fluttered back a few paces, but he followed. "Tell you what -- you've got a big, strong Mirror by your side now. Why don't you come with me, and we can see all of this?"

"Come with you?" Hauku's voice raised slightly in pitch. "But -- but my cavern -- "

"It'll probably all fit in a couple bags, I can carry those on my back," Riku said. "I was sick, but I'm not that weak. It's not that much, right?"

"At least let me carry some," Hauku replied, her wings still fluttering nervously. "And -- Riku, this is my First Home. How can I just leave it?" A dragon's First Home was incredibly important to them. It was a place of safety, of comfort, where they would feel safe no matter what. Hauku had no idea how Riku expected her to just up and leave it.

"Listen, uh, what's your name again?" Riku asked.

"Hauku," she replied curtly.

"Hauku, I haven't been to my first home in a year," Riku purred. "Sure, it's hard at first, but you get used to it." He sprang to his feet again, tail waving back and forth excitedly. "So, we got a deal?"

"I -- " Hauku paused in thought. This was the chance she had been wanting. It was true that she yearned for some kind of adventure, but now that it was staring her in the face...

She didn't know what to do. But she was going to make a choice.

"I'll go with you," Hauku decided. "But know that I have no intentions of warming a nest with you. If we pick up more dragons along the way, so be it, but we are not..."

"Mates, cool," Riku finished for her. "Well, we should get everything every and head out in the morning, early. There'll be less standing in our way if we do that."

Hauku nodded, still not entirely sure of what she was agreeing to. When she squeezed back into her cavern, she looked longingly at the walls of her First Home, wondering how she was going to leave it. She would have to take everything with her. Would it still feel the same, she wondered, once the walls had been stripped and the pelt taken from the floor? Would she still long for it like a hatchling longs for its mother, even when she was hundreds of miles away? There was no telling.

Curling up around her pile of scrolls, Hauku fell into the first fitful sleep she'd ever had within the First Home, plagued with images of sick dragons and deadly foes with no face.

brianna100

501

December 26, 2015 19:08:04

@DeathSpecter

Part 1, Chapter 2: Light, My Darling
Light, my light, the world-filling light,
the eye-kissing light,
heart-sweetening light!
- Light Rabindranath Tagore

For the first few days of the Mirror's stay, he was often in and out of consciousness. Hauku worried that he wouldn't pull through after that first night out in the cold, so she was able to fashion a crude den out of fallen tree branches from the edge of the forest. It was rough, but it was certainly better than nothing. In between bouts of consciousness, Hauku learned that the Mirror's name was Riku, and he'd come from the other side of the Arcane lands. That was all she was able to get out of him before he went back to sleep, staying in a state of suspended animation for three days. Hauku dutifully continued to treat him, and she even attempted to go after small mammals to fulfill Riku's craving for meat -- he wasn't interested in the dried bugs she collected, or the live ones for that matter. Mirrors needed meat to keep them going, so meat she would have to get.

Riku wasn't all that frightening, Hauku thought as she watched him sleeping there in front of him. He was big, certainly, and well-muscled from his travels already. He was about Hauku's age, three or four years old, and just barely an adult. From what she could tell, Riku wasn't anything like what she had imagined Mirrors to be. Even though he was sick, and obviously suffering from what had happened to the rest of his pack-mates, he hadn't snapped at Hauku. In fact, whenever he was awake, he seemed grateful and almost surprised at how helpful she was. She wondered how far he'd had to travel to find her, to find someone to help him.

Once he had slept for three days, Riku woke once again with a different light in his eyes. Where they were once glazed over and tired, they were now more alert, and he was attempting to get to his feet. Hauku rushed over to help support him, as his muscles were weak from not being used for so long, and from the sickness. His legs shook, but surprisingly he stayed steady, taking a few steps towards Hauku when he corrected his balance.

"Thanks for taking care of me," Riku said gruffly, shaking his head and flaring his crests. Hauku stared back at him, unsure of how to express herself. Fae dragons were mostly inexpressive, save for the occasional rise and fall of their frills.

Deciding on giving him a tiny smile, Hauku folded her wings against her back and sides. "It was necessary. I could not leave a sickly dragon to die on my territory and still keep my peace of mind." Had he died, she doubted she even would have been able to move his body. He was more than half of her size, and weighed hundreds of kilos. No amount of magic would be able to move something his size, and she would have been haunted by his rotting body, unable to escape it. She shivered at the thought, and Riku laughed.

"Apparently, it wasn't necessary to the other five dragons I came to before you," Riku muttered. Though his tone was light, the message was grim. Had that really happened? "But, it makes sense," Riku continued after a short pause. "I was sick. The others didn't want my sickness to get passed around their own clans, I get it."

"Still, it was unfair of them to leave you to die," Hauku replied flatly. "Though, I suppose abandonment is common of dragons. My own parents left me to die here."

"Explains why you live alone." Riku sat back on his haunches, apparently tiring from standing up. He lifted one of his feet slowly, licking it and then drawing it over his head to clean himself. "Most dragons have a clan, even Fae. How come you never left, or started your own clan?"

Hauku's frills fell back against her head. "I once thought of trying to find my birth clan, but I supposed if they left me to die, they didn't want me around. It might mean something chaotic if I were to come back."

Riku scratched at his crests with one of his back feet. "Still, you could've found another clan, but you live here in a hole by yourself. That's weird."

Flustered, Hauku raised her frills. Her magenta-colored skin began to get a bit darker. "I am sure it is not. There are many solitary dragons, usually traveling merchants with no clan."

"Yeah, but those dragons aren't happy," Riku said plainly. He flopped onto his side, then rolled over onto his back like a kitten, pawing restlessly at the air. "You can see it in their eyes, if you look close enough. At least, for the ones who travel alone. It's no fun, just going for miles and miles with no real place to call home. Some dragons call it romantic, but I call it lonely." Riku paused again to look Hauku in the eyes, taking on a serious turn. "Tell me, you ever been beyond that little dirt hole?"

"Indeed I have," Hauku huffed the best she could, still a bit flustered. "I have seen the merchants, when they pass through here. I have been to the forest, and through the spires --"

"Okay, what about beyond that," Riku pressed harder. "Have you ever been flying? Like, ?really ?been flying, for miles and miles and looking at everything around you as you go? Have you ever been outside of your own territory?"

His questions left Hauku feeling confused, and slightly upset. "No... no, I can not say I have."

"Then you haven't really lived," Riku said, tossing his head and laughing. "Oh, man... I can't believe you've never seen the snow, all fresh and glittering right after it falls, or ran through the bramble thickets in the Tangled Wood... there's so much in the Reaches you probably haven't even seen!" Seeing him look so exuberant after being so close to death made Hauku blink, wondering just how he was able to make a change so quickly.

"I have lived just fine," Hauku murmured. "Besides, I am only a Fae. I would be an easy target for bigger, stronger dragons, even with my magic. Besides, I can learn all I need to know from my scrolls."

"But it's not the same," Riku protested, jumping towards her. Startled, Hauku fluttered back a few paces, but he followed. "Tell you what -- you've got a big, strong Mirror by your side now. Why don't you come with me, and we can see all of this?"

"Come with you?" Hauku's voice raised slightly in pitch. "But -- but my cavern -- "

"It'll probably all fit in a couple bags, I can carry those on my back," Riku said. "I was sick, but I'm not that weak. It's not that much, right?"

"At least let me carry some," Hauku replied, her wings still fluttering nervously. "And -- Riku, this is my First Home. How can I just leave it?" A dragon's First Home was incredibly important to them. It was a place of safety, of comfort, where they would feel safe no matter what. Hauku had no idea how Riku expected her to just up and leave it.

"Listen, uh, what's your name again?" Riku asked.

"Hauku," she replied curtly.

"Hauku, I haven't been to my first home in a year," Riku purred. "Sure, it's hard at first, but you get used to it." He sprang to his feet again, tail waving back and forth excitedly. "So, we got a deal?"

"I -- " Hauku paused in thought. This was the chance she had been wanting. It was true that she yearned for some kind of adventure, but now that it was staring her in the face...

She didn't know what to do. But she was going to make a choice.

"I'll go with you," Hauku decided. "But know that I have no intentions of warming a nest with you. If we pick up more dragons along the way, so be it, but we are not..."

"Mates, cool," Riku finished for her. "Well, we should get everything every and head out in the morning, early. There'll be less standing in our way if we do that."

Hauku nodded, still not entirely sure of what she was agreeing to. When she squeezed back into her cavern, she looked longingly at the walls of her First Home, wondering how she was going to leave it. She would have to take everything with her. Would it still feel the same, she wondered, once the walls had been stripped and the pelt taken from the floor? Would she still long for it like a hatchling longs for its mother, even when she was hundreds of miles away? There was no telling.

Curling up around her pile of scrolls, Hauku fell into the first fitful sleep she'd ever had within the First Home, plagued with images of sick dragons and deadly foes with no face.

Kingdom Come: Clan Lore Story | Hope: Diary of a Slave |Tales from the Star Wood: Writing Shop | Hatchery | Leveling Service

Last edited on Dec 28, 2015 15:03:01 by brianna100

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Kingdom Come: Clan Lore Story | Hope: Diary of a Slave |Tales from the Star Wood: Writing Shop | Hatchery | Leveling Service

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Part 1, Chapter 3: The Road Not Taken

“Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth…”
~ Robert Frost, “The Road Not Taken”

Hauku woke in the early morning to the sound of something shuffling around outside of her cavern. Slowly, she uncurled from around the scrolls where she had positioned herself and hopped slowly over to the opening, peering up into the gray sky. It was only natural, and just her luck, Hauku supposed, that the weather would be terrible on the first day of their journey. Despite the bad weather, Riku was milling about happily as if nothing else mattered, gathering up what little belongings he had into a burlap sack.

"Hey, I was just about to come get you," he said cheerfully, eyes brightening as he looked over at his partner. Riku finished tying the final knot in the sack, then set it down in front of his makeshift shelter to bound over to Hauku. She looked up at him with eyes glazed with sleep and anxiety, and he caught on to that quite quickly. "What's wrong? Got all your stuff packed yet?"

"The scrolls are still out," Hauku yawned. She had woken up several times during the night, and every time she woke up she packed a little more, working slowly until her entire cavern had been fitted into three burlap sacks. "I just need to get another sack, then I will be done." She started to fly past him to grab the aforementioned sack, but Riku stopped her with one hand.

"C'mon, don't pretend like you're alright," Riku said. "Tell me what happened, Pinky."

"My name is Hauku," she muttered as she pulled her arm loose from Riku's grip. He hadn't hurt her, but she wasn't used to the close contact. "And if you must know, I had trouble sleeping last night. I suppose all of the stress of moving caught up to me when I laid down."

"It's like I told you, don't be scared," Riku reminded her, continuing to walk beside her as she grabbed one of the burlap sacks and started to fly back to her cavern. "You've got me with you now, and I can fight off dragons twice my size."

"I am not worried about other dragons," Hauku said plainly, crawling into the cavern. "I am afraid of the beasts we will encounter. Once we are outside of the safety of the Spire, there are many different Beastclans and monsters ready to attack us." She continued to speak as she gently placed the scrolls into her sack. "I have seen firsthand what can happen to a dragon who runs into the wrong creature."

"I wouldn't worry about it," Riku told her, peering down into the hole after her. Since he was too big to fit himself, he simply flopped down in front of it, tail twitching like a cat. "Beastclans are kinda weird. Like, a lot of 'em won't bother you as long as you don't bother them, but some of 'em just hate dragons. Not that they don't have a reason to, we do kill 'em all the time." He scratched behind one of his crests lazily, then perked up as Hauku headed to the entrance again. "You finally ready to go?"

"I think so," Hauku muttered wearily. She shouldered the burlap sack, which she had fashioned into a travel bag of sorts. "I will carry this bag. What about the others?"

"I can get two on each side," Riku replied. Sauntering over to the sacks already packed, he tied together the tops of two of the sacks together before sliding them over his neck and onto his back. "Mirrors like me tend to run a whole lot, but you can fly if you want to. Or ride on my back." He wriggled his back end suggestively, and Hauku rolled her eyes.

"I will be fine flying beside you," Hauku said, gripping the strap around her shoulder with one of her tiny hands. "Which way are we headed?"

Riku lifted his head up to the air in response, his crests rising and falling as he turned his head this way and that. He pointed with his muzzle to the North. "North. If we go that way, we'll get to the Dragonhome. Not a whole lot of dragons there to see, but the landscape is cool. Lots of dirt." He jerked his head towards the East. "If we went East, we'd be headed to the Scarred Wasteland, but I don't think we're ready for that just yet."

Hauku silently agreed with him. She wasn't too eager to go towards the Plague lands just yet, especially since Riku had just gotten over being sick. The last thing they needed to do was expose him to more sickness. "What is to the South?"

"The Southern Icefields," Riku replied. "Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful place, but right now it's pretty rough. Plus, we don't have anything warm to put over us, so that's a bad idea."

Hauku was surprised at how much the young Mirror knew. They were the same age, and yet he seemed to know so much more than her. Perhaps she had made a mistake, staying holed up in her cavern for all these years. He had traveled so far already, and now he was going to lead her on her own travels.

"Well, you know best," Hauku sighed, flapping her wings and fluttering next to Riku. "Let us go. There is no reason to stay any longer."

As they left, Hauku cast one last wistful glance in the direction of her old home, before turning her back on it for the last time for many years.

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