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fenshae @
TheAwesoMew @
Farsidejr
I know I haven't been posting lately, school and life has just been getting in the way. But I have been doing stuff! I think that's everything I got from Pinkerton over the last couple days, so lets get writing!
Sapphira thought that this was the longest she and Theron had ever spent talking to each other. In the little glade by the river, nothing could break the timeless spell that seemed to lay over everything – except for one single detail in the sky.
"Is the sun setting?" Sapphira asked aloud, staring up at the pink-dashed clouds and lengthening shadows.
"I think so," Theron replied, equally surprised. Even so, he made no move to get up. "I wish we didn't have to go back."
"Me too," Sapphira said softly. With regret, she stood up, picking her pearl up from the sand. "Lets get going. I'd hate to worry Fang and Sakurako."
Reluctantly, the speckled Mirror stood up and followed her into the air.
They landed in the middle of what looked like a warzone. Unidentifiable entrails lay scattered everywhere amidst various bug parts. Mercuria had scratches on her metallic hide, and Sakurako looked to have several welts on his wings. Oddly enough, Auria did as well, her tongue swollen out of her mouth. Fang and the now-juvenile hatchlings, named Lunus and Amara, were applying poultices to the welts, though they weren't nearly as good as anything Sapphira could do.
"What happened? Is everyone alright? No one's hurt bad?" Theron called down. Sapphira managed to find a rock that wasn't covered in bug guts to land on; Theron wasn't as lucky, and lifted up a foot in disgust at the puddle of goo now attached to his foot. The blue pearlcatcher moved to help the other dragons, wincing at the job Lunus was doing.
"You're supposed to chew it into a pulp, not toss it around in your mouth," Sapphira corrected. The Imperial, white like his mother, spat out the pulp with a face.
"It tastes disgusting," he complained.
"It doesn't matter how it tastes, it matters how well the poultice holds together," Sapphira responded.
"That's what I told him," his darker sister announced. "But Mother and I can't chew it, so it's up to Lunus."
"Rat!" Lunus spat, glaring at Amara.
"Twinkle-toes," Amara shot back.
"Break it up, you two," Fang interjected, looking annoyed.
"I'll help," Theron volunteered. Sapphira glanced at him with surprise, but he held true to his word and began to chew. The mirror spat it out, handing the green gunk to Sapphira. "He's right, by the way," he said, before taking another mouthful of the herbs.
Lunus wilted under his mother's judging gaze. "I'll help put it on," he said, and slunk over to his father with a handful.
As it turned out, the welts were stings – bumble stings. An entire hive had descended on the lair without reason. Fang and Lunus and Amara were spared because they'd frozen, but too many had landed on Auria for the poor pearlcatcher to handle it, apparently. While Sakurako squirmed in place from the welts, her mother sat as still and silent as ever as Sapphira applied the mash to her tongue, not even wrinkling her nose in disgust.
"Are you alright? Those bumbles must have thought your stripes were flowers," Sapphira attempted to joke. Auria's expression didn't change – not that she'd expected it to.
"Yes, that's what the bumbles must have thought, for so many to land on you," Sapphira continued, applying the salve to more stings. "It must have been awful, all those legs crawling over you. I'm glad you're alright." More silence. After she finished, she settled down next to her mother.
"It's my birthday, today," she said after a moment. "Theron gave me a present – a good one, too. He's been acting so unlike himself lately . . . He gets bashful whenever I'm around, and goes out of his way to help me, even if I don't really need it. And today, we talked far later than I even intended to be out. I think he's in love with me, Mother. And honestly, I feel the same way." She sighed. "I know the curse would kill most of the children we'd have. That's why I haven't told him. I've seen what it did to you. I don't want to end up that way." She scraped a nonsense pattern in the rock with a claw. "In fact, I don't think I'll ever tell him. And if he tells me he loves me, I'll push him away. I don't want my curse to take him as well." She laughed. "That's what love is, isn't it? When you care for someone too much to risk losing them?"
More silence met her words, her mother simply staring at her. A sudden surge of anger rushed through Sapphira. "Why do I even bother? You never say anything! For a mother you're not doing a good job of it!" Sapphira stood up and brushed past her mother, intending to step outside and see how the others were doing.
"You can't fight fate." The strange raspy voice stopped her in her tracks. Sapphira turned. Was that . . .
"Mother?" Sapphira asked, all anger wiped away by hope. Auria simply stared back at her, stone-like face revealing nothing. A sudden chill climbed up her spine, and Sapphira left the cave a little more quickly than before.
• • • • •
Twilight settled down upon the forests of Sornieth as the last rays of the sun died out. Crickets and cicadas wove a primal song into the evening air. While the others had gone inside, Sapphira remained out, curled on a rock at the edge of the treeline.
"Mind if I join you?" Theron asked. Sapphira didn't answer. "What's wrong?" he asked, settling down anyway.
"I know you're in love with me," Sapphira said, her voice low and hard. "But you can't be, and I can't either. It'll be best for both of us if you find some other dragon."
"I don't care about your curse," Theron said. "I might be younger than you, but I'm not dumb, Sapphy. If you think you can toss me away like a stripped bone, you've got another thing coming."
Sapphira knew he meant it. And despite herself, she felt more affection for him than ever before. The words from earlier swam round and round in her head.
You can't fight fate.
(x13)
