venon

Life had never been easy for the bright red Fae, which was to be expected for a dragon who had been born into an apocalypse and had been forced to fend for himself and survive on his own. Venon scoffed as he sat on one of the branches of a nearly fully decayed tree and looked over the rotten world around him. Though he had not known the world before the apocalypse, before the world had begun decaying and mutation the creatures living upon it, Venon occasionally tries to imagine what the world would have looked like before. When the trees were still green and flowers bloomed, when the creatures walking around him were not some twisted terrors and when the water was still clear. At least those were the stories older dragons had told him years ago when he was just a hatchling. Venon found it hard to imagine the world as a place that wasn't like this, but he still wished for a world where his days were not spent trying to survive, and instead, he'd bathe in the sun without worrying about predators and enemies. He was torn from his thoughts by movement on the horizon. He had learned early on in life to be aware of every single movement no, matter how small or how far away. This time, however, it was only a dark colored dragon walking by, sure to keep his distance from the tree the red Fae was perched on. Venon chuckled slightly, his glowing blue tail wrapped around the branch of the tree as he adjusted his posture. He recognized the dragon from a fight he'd had several weeks prior. It was far from unusual for other dragons to underestimate the small Fae and some even mock him when they encounter him, but they quickly learn to be careful around Venon.

He might look small and fragile, but the young Fae is easily one of the worse things one could encounter in these wastelands that had once been so fertile and green. The small dragon's teeth had taken many chunks of flesh out of dragons that had opposed him. Venon's confidence usually annoyed and deterred other dragons from getting closer to the red Fae, though he did not mind. To him, friends were a useless principle that dragons held onto for no reason he could understand. The emotional bonds would conflict with his main objective, which had always been his own survival. He knew it was easier to survive on his own, with nobody to hold him back or make mistakes. Yes, Venon enjoyed his solitude, as he was the only one that was responsible for his own survival. He had witnessed dragons putting their lives in the paws of dragons they had trusted, only to be abandoned by their so-called friends when things became rough. Venon would not make the same mistakes and so opted to stay by himself. A quiet whimper made him look away from the fading silhouette in the distance and towards the ground beneath his tree. At first his mutated eyes failed to see anything, but when another whimper reached his ears he noticed a tiny Spiral hatchling cowering between the rotten roots, shaking and hurt. Now, Venon may be an angry creature filled with hatred most of the time, even someone like him has a weakness, and Venon's was right in front of him. Hatchlings were the only thing he would protect in this unyielding world. They did not ask to be born into this apocalypse and were too innocent to have to be surrounded by death and suffering at all times. His heart ached as small sniffles escaped the tiny dragon.

Venon slowly crawled from his tree, his glowing tail used as a rope to lower him to the ground slowly and softly. "Hey, little one." Venon said softly, causing the hatchling to look up at him and gasp in fear, trying to crawl further between the roots and away from the |Fae in from of it. "Don't worry, I want to help you. Come here so I can look at your wound." he said, his voice unusually soft and friendly, as he motioned for the Spiral to move towards him. Hesitantly the small dragon crawled out from in between the roots and into the light. She was skinny and had a cut on her shoulder, but other than that the hatchling seemed to be fine, although a little frightened. "It's alright, what's your name? I'm Venon." he said while carefully cleaning the smaller dragon's wounds with quick paws. "I don't know." the small Spiral answered quietly, looking away from the red Fae, wincing slightly when he wrapped an old but clean cloth around her shoulder. "Well, that's not good, you need something others can call you." Venon said with a soft chuckle as he patted the hatchling on the head before handing her some of the food he had stashed away for himself. The red Fae watched the young Spiral eat and then, after thanking him for his kindness, curl up between the roots of the tree to sleep. Venon smiled sadly at the young female. She had done nothing to deserve this hell and yet she had been born into it against her will. Her eyes, which were supposed to be filled with hope and innocence, held guilt and fear. Venon sighed as he took out a small hand-made knife and placed it down carefully beside the sleeping hatchling's form along with a small bag filled with food, that would last her about a week. With one last look towards the tree he had stayed at for the past year and the small hatchling Venon took off into the wastelands to find another tree to stay at. He knew he had to leave the hatchling by herself, it would be better for her and for him if they were alone. At least that is what he kept telling himself. If it was the only truth, not even Venon knew.
written by MaybeHuman