bubblegummy

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When Bubble’s eyes opened for the first time, it was to a starlight sky full of beautiful lights. So many lights.

“Hello, little one,” chuckled a male voice as a muzzle nuzzled her side, making her sneeze. As she turned to face the voice, she saw a dragon made of crystal and stone, his eyes sparkling like gems. She pawed at his nose and he chuckled.
“Oh, my little angel,” he cooed. “My little Bubble of joy. May the sun ever shine bright for you, my blossoming flower.”
Bubble batted at his nose before staring at the stars again, her heart aching to fly up to them.
“I see you met the stars,” he said softly, gesturing upward with his front talons. “They’re beautiful, aren’t they? If you look closely, you’ll see them dance, high above us, in a place we cannot reach.”
“Kyril,” a female chuckled from behind Bubble, causing the hatchling to turn around and face the dragoness made of magic and light and shadow, “we do not know that she carries your curse. She may fly to the stars one day.”
Kyril sighed. “I hope so, my dear. I hope so.”
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Bubble had a happy childhood. Four years of absolute bliss. It wasn’t until the fall after her fifth summer that things started to go wrong.
It was meant to be a leisurely flight. Just another normal day. How was she to know of the curse in her blood?
Bubble danced over treetops, looped over peaks, until without warning the tips of her wings felt so heavy.

She brushed it off. She was a queen of the sky! They couldn’t pin her down!

But as they got heavier and heavier, she began to drop out of the sky unwillingly. Fighting with all her might to stay aloft, she struggled harder and harder with stroke after stroke, but to no avail. She fell to the forest floor far from home and all alone.

Struggling to her feet, she examined her wings. At first glance, they were no different. She could still feel them and move them, but she knew there was no way she could get back into the air. She was eternally grounded, which meant she was a defenseless hatchling in the middle of the Starwood Strand. Not good.

Backing into the hollow of the roots of a nearby tree, she warily watched the forest around her for a predator looking for a snack.

“Do you mind?” asked a deep voice behind her.
She jumped nearly a foot in the air as she whipped around to face what looked like a giant bear.
“Please don’t eat me!” she squeaked.
The bear stared at her. “Eat you? Why in the world would I eat you?”

“... Because you’re a big scary bear that will eat lost little grounded hatchlings like me?” she said nervously.

The bear looked at her, puzzled, before the full gravity of that statement. "You're lost? In that case, which way did you come from?"

"Um... That way?" she said, confused.

"Then let's get you home," the bear said as he picked her up and cradled her in his arms before heading in the direction she had gestured.

She was silent for a few moments before she spoke. "What is your name?"

"Shardflank, but you may call me Shard," he answered immediately. "And you are?"

"Bubble," she replied, "for I am my father's endless Bubble of joy."

Shardflank chuckled. "I think we're gonna get along just fine."