Noxon

Noxon: The Insane

Painting a Masterpiece

WARNING: The following story is slightly graphic.

A rhythmic sound echoed throughout the small, dark cave. Drip, drip drip. A Pearlcatcher sat in the middle of the cave. Drip, drip drip. His name was Noxon, and he was caring for his Pearl. Drip, drip. Noxon closed his mouth and the black mucous stopped dripping. Silently, he peered down at his thoroughly covered pearl. The mucous slid down the sides of the sphere like mud. It pleased him greatly. So greatly in fact, that he began to smile. Then, he began to laugh. His laugh soon formed into a maniac cackle that filled the silence in the too quiet cave.
Abruptly the laughing stopped, and the cave was quiet again.
Noxon returned his gaze to his Pearl and cocked his head, noticing a bit of color through the quickly settling sludge. It was the eye he'd carved into his beautiful Pearl, and as the mucous continued peeling back, the the grinning, wolfish face that accompanied it soon followed. That face brought back memories, some more delightful than others.
It was warm and bright on the day he'd lost his Pearl. As every Pearlcatcher knows, it is the greatest shame to lose ones' Pearl. To lose ones' Pearl is to lose ones' identity.
...Anyway, on this bright and warm day, Noxon was lying next to a crumbling pillar. His Pearl had just been nice and cleaned when a Snapper lumbered over in his direction. The Snapper was young, and obviously so. He was much smaller than the other male Snappers who'd decided to relax in the grassy clearing and his slightly dusty brown hide had not yet grown rough from years of traveling. He was also a very unwise Snapper.
When the Snapper had gotten close enough, he leaned down to sniff at Noxon. Noxon allowed this, with only a slight feeling of disgust at the lesser dragon getting this close to him.
Then he heard it. The sound that would echo in his head forever and ever and ever. Snap. Noxon blinked as the Snapper took a step back, his face now split into malicious glee. Quickly he trotted back over to his group of friends, who were hidden in a copse of trees on the edge of the meadow. They were all laughing hysterically.
It was then that Noxon looked to his right, the place he had heard the sound come from.
His Pearl lay in pieces on the ground. Great slivers of it rocking from having just been separated from the whole.
Noxon couldn't really recall the next few frames of memory. All he heard were screams, and all he saw was red, and all he felt was pain, pain, pain.
The next part he could remember was walking through the wet grass of the meadow, humming a monotone tune to himself. Slowly, he made his way over to his Pearl, and looked at the ruined thing that was his identity. The light filtering through the broken shards cast a reddish glow on his wet paws. Suddenly, an ice cold fear swept through him. If the other Pearlcatchers saw that he had no Pearl, he would be exiled! Forced to beg other lesser species for charity. As if he would subject himself to that. Quickly looking around, Noxon spied a spherical shaped object on top of the crumbling pillar. That would do nicely.
Continuing his broken humming, he crouched (Ignoring the searing pain in his haunches.) and leapt to the top of the pillar. He landed a bit awkwardly, having to crouch over the stone to find a foothold. When he was sure his footing was steady, he looked bellow his chest at the tan colored object. It was a perfectly rounded stone, obviously carved from the same rock as the pillar below it.
Noxon blinked, then pushed the stone to break it from the rest of the pillar. It came away easily, as its hold was weakened from age. Keeping a careful hold on his new Pearl, he leapt down from the top of the pillar and onto the squishy ground below.
His foot slipped slightly on the grass though, and his claws gouged a curved scratch into the 'Pearl' as he struggled to stay upright. Noxon's eye twitched slightly. He had to fix this, he had to fix this. He couldn't lose it again!
It was then that he noticed the almost graceful slope of the scratch, and he hatched a brilliant plan. He would make this Pearl more beautiful and more special than the last one! Every Pearlcatcher would envy him. And so, with utmost care, Noxon began carving his newfound Pearl. He let out a sharp burst of laughter.
When he was finished carving, he sat back and admired his work. Beautiful spirals and a grinning wolf face looked back. As beautiful as it was though, it still wasn't perfect... What did it need?
It was then that a fresh wave of pain erupted from Noxon's backside. He let out a yelp and turned to see what was bothering him so. He was surprised to see fresh gashes in his haunches. They caused his back legs to be completely slathered in blood. Miffed, Noxon looked up to see what could have caused such a wound.
Littering the meadow were the bodies of at least twelve Snappers. Their gold colored blood seeped into the ground, causing it to become almost marshy in texture.
Noxon went very still. He looked at his new Pearl, then to his wounds, then to the Snapper blood, and then to the green grass below. And he hatched the most wonderful plan.
It took him all night, but he managed to make himself and his Pearl beautiful. His claws turned from weapons, to tools of beauty overnight. He'd pierced his skin so many times he lost count. He was covered head to tailtip in so many colors, he was euphoric.
Noxon distinctly remembered that he'd spent the next few days applying more layers to both himself, and his Pearl. He'd also used up a lot of mucous in those days, smoothing the Pearl out and making sure the color stayed. And now, here he was, sitting in his cave more happy than ever. He didn't need a Pearl like the other Pearlcatchers had. He was much happier with his new one. Hissing quietly, Noxon readied himself for another cleaning. He loved it when the colors sparkled under a fresh coat.
Drip, drip, drip.