Kurfalla

Kurfalla had always been feared and hated. For her entire life, anyone who looked at her either froze in fear, ran away, or attempted to attack her. Wherever she went, she never felt safe, for there was always conflict and terror. They called her an abomination, and treated her like it. And so, eventually, she embraced it. If they would never even try to see her as anything else, why bother to try.
She became what they made her.
A monster.

Kurfalla spent her days living in caves and quarries, for rocks could never run away. Anyone who came to disturb her peace was either scared off, or killed, if they persisted.
She moved often. Once the clan leaders had discovered her, she would be forced to leave, or deal with another attack.

Her newest dwelling was better. Slightly. The clan leaders had welcomed her to their lands, claiming none to be outcasted here. But they were afraid of her. She could see it in their eyes. She had growled at them, and they promised to never send anyone her way. She could live in peace.

She settled in a cave, and the clan kept its word. No one came. She could rest. After many moons had passed, she could finally lower her guard a bit. And she did.

And then she arrived.

Kurfalla was jolted awake by a loud clank at the mouth of the cave. Her spines flared and she bared her teeth. She had gotten too comfortable. They were here at last to take her down. She cursed herself for becoming complacent. She stalked towards the cave opening, keeping to the shadows.

“Who’s there? Show yourself!” She shouted, scanning the stones for intruders.

She heard another startled clank from behind a stalagmite, and the head of a pink Fae peeked around the side, turning in Kurfallas direction.

“Hello? Who’s there?” She asked, a hint of relief in her voice.
“Sorry for barging in like this! I got a bit lost on my way to-“

“Enough! Why are you here? What do you want?” Kurfalla interrupted. She didn’t want excuses, she wanted answers, and then possibly a painful, lengthy execution.

“Well, as I was SAYING,” the Fae said, sounding both annoyed and wounded at the same time, “I got lost, and now I’m here. Can you help me find my way back to the clan village?”

“Why would I ever help you?” Kurfalla said, a dark laugh clinging to the end of her words.

“Well, you’re here, no one else is, and I’m lost and alone and I have no idea how to get back.”

“Even if I were to help, which I am not, you do not want it.”

“Oh, believe me, I do.” The Fae argued. “I have no way to get back on my own.”

Kurfalla, tired already if this back and forth, emerged from the shadows at last, rearing up to her full height and spreading her wings.
“Oh, believe ME,” she growled, “you definitely do not!”

Kurfalla expected the Fae to run in terror, or at least scream, but surprisingly, she only kept looking forward.

“Look, we could do this all day. Doesn’t change the fact that I need you, and you either help me get back, or I’m staying here tonight.”
The Fae crossed her arms and tilted her head, as if to say “your move.”

Kurfalla narrowed her eyes.
“Why don't you run? Are you not afraid?”

“Should I be?” She asked, raising an eye ridge.

“Everyone else is. All those who see me flee.”

“Ah, well, there’s your problem then!” The Fae said with a smile, confusing Kurfalla to no end.
“I have never seen you. And I never will!”

Kurfalla blinked rapidly a few times. Never seen her? She was staring right at her!

“You see," the Fae said, “I’m completely blind. Have been since I hatched. That’s...kinda also why I need help getting home. And I mean, more help than just a point in the right direction!” She said with a chuckle.

Kurfalla was shocked still. She had never heard of a blind dragon. Not fully, anyways.
But as she looked at the Fae closer, she saw her eyes were pale, and blank in their gaze. She moved her head silently to the left, but the Fae only looked forward to where Kurfalla had been speaking, her gaze unwavering.

Intrigued, and for some reason wanting to continue what was by far the longest conversation of her life, Kurfalla let her guard down.

“I see. Well, um, in that case, you will have to stay here till nightfall. I will not go to the village in the daylight.”

The Fae smiled, and nodded eagerly. “Perfect! That gives me a chance to get to know my valiant rescuer better!”

Kurfalla scoffed. “I am not your rescuer, girl. I am merely trying to get you far away for me as soon as possible.”

“Sure you are.” She laughed. “And it’s Eugenia, by the way. If we’re going to be spending the day together, I’d hope you would call me by something other than ‘girl’.”

Kurfalla blinked again. She then slowly stepped forward, and reached out a wing until it bumped the Fae’s talons.
“This way, to the cave gi- Eugenia.”
The other dragons name sounded foreign on her tongue, and yet, nice. It had been a long time since she had used another’s name. And hers was...not the worst.

Eugenia wrapped her small talons around Kurfalla's wing bend with a smile.
“Lead the way!”

As they began to walk together, Eugenia again broke the silence.

“What’s yours?”

“What?”

“Your name? I told you mine. I would be honored to know my hero’s name.”

Kurfalla scoffed again, but less brashly. More like an amused puff of air.

“Again, I am not your hero.”

“...But you may call me Kurfalla.”

“Kurfalla.” Eugenia smiled, trying out the name. It had been so long since another had spoken it, and yet, never had it been said quite so gently.

“That’s beautiful.” Eugenia said, brushing her wing against hers.

Kurfalla almost tripped.
That was a new one.
Beautiful.
She hoped it wouldn’t be the last time she heard the blind Fae say it. Because for once, she felt she would actually have a reason to believe her.







“Can you tell me about the colors?”
Eugenia suddenly asked.
Kurfalla looked over at the Fae sitting next to her, leaning against her wing.
They were sitting at the mouth of kurfallas cave, Eugenia feeling and Kurfalla watching the sun set.
They did this together most evenings, talking about their lives and discussing the great mysteries of the universe
(Like last night, when they had a lengthy conversation about the logistics of frog politics)
But this was the first time Eugenia had asked her something like this.
Sure, she had asked what things looked like before, like when she asked what an odd shaped object she was holding was, or what Kurfalla looked like, but…
This was a different kind of question.
“The colors?” Kurfalla asked.
“Yea, ya know, like, tell me what each color is like.”
She closed her unseeing eyes for a moment, as if trying to imagine them.
“I know there are so many, and that I’ll never get to see them all, but, well…” she faltered.
“Never mind, it’s dumb. Forget I said anyth-“
“It’s not dumb.” Kurfalla cut her off. “Has anyone ever told you about them before?”
“No, not really. I mean, I know there’s red orange yellow etcetera, but, I just don’t know what that means.”
Kurfalla thought for a moment, letting the silence hang over them. She wasn’t sure how to do this, without seeing. She couldn’t very well say “well, red is the color of an apple!”
Because Eugenia had never seen an apple.
She stared at the setting sun for a moment, watching the oranges and purples dance along the skyline.
Then she closed her eyes.
“Red” she said at last, “Red is hot, like fire.”
She opened her eyes momentarily to grab a stick, before letting out a small burst of flame, and holding the burning branch in front of Eugenia, who put her claws out to feel the waves of heat pulsing off of it.
“Red is warm, and comforting on a cold night like this, but it can also be raging. Red is anger.”
Kurfalla paused. There was more to it than that.
“Red is also love.”
“Love?” Eugenia asked, tilting her head.
“Love. Red is that warm feeling in your chest when you love something, or…someone” Kurfalla felt her face get warm, but didn’t bother to hide. She knew the Fae couldn’t see the red threatening to color her face.
She looked away from Eugenia quickly, before clearing her throat and moving on.
“Yes, we’ll, Orange. Orange is similar to red. It’s warm, but not hot like red is. Orange is feeling the sunset on your face. Never burning, but, just, warm.”
Eugenia set the stick on the cave floor to burn out, and faced the setting sun, smiling as its gentle heat fell against her.
Kurfalla thought she looked beautiful.
But really, she always thought that.
“Orange is also autumn. Orange is feeling the leaves crunch under your talons.”
“I love that!” Eugenia said excitedly. “That’s one of my favorite sounds!”
“You’ll have to tell me about the rest of them someday” Kurfalla said, smiling at the Fae.
Her excitement was contagious.
After a moment, she continued.
“Yellow is happiness. It’s that bubbly feeling you get when something excites you, or you’re having fun. Yellow is laughter.”
Eugenia seemed to like that one, letting out a small giggle, as if trying the color out.
“Green is life. Green is almost ever plant and tree. It’s nature. Most things that grow are green.”
Kurfalla looked down at her own scales for a moment, before continuing.
“Green is also strong. Preserving. It’s hope when things seem bleak.”
“I like green.” Eugenia said.
More traitorous red tried to creep back onto Kurfallas face.
She shook her head, clearing her thoughts before moving on.
“And blue. Blue is cold. It’s the opposite of red. It’s ice and snow, and water. It can be bitingly cold, or cool, like running your claws through a stream. Oh, and refreshing, like drinking water on a hot day.”
“Is blue hatred then? If red is love?”
Kurfalla thought for a moment, closing her eyes and remembering all those years of hatred and contempt for other dragons.
“No.” she said at last. “Hatred is red too.”
“Blue is…” she paused, looking at the Fae.
“Blue is loneliness, and sadness. Emotions that don’t burn you, but rather try to drown you.”
Kurfalla noticed the sad look on Eugenia face. And realized she made blue sound mostly awful.
“But it’s also calm, and peace. It’s relaxing into the silence and floating in a lake. The sky is blue most days.”
Eugenia sat in silence, her frown gone, but clearly waiting for Kurfalla to speak again.
“Purple is, well, it’s hard to describe. Not many things around us are purple. It’s, it’s mystery. It’s the unknown. It’s, it's what color imagination is, or dreams are, I’d imagine. Sorry, purple is not as simple as the others.”
She finished lamely.
“It’s alright, Eugenia said, placing her claw on Kurfallas neck. “You make it sound lovely.”
Kurfalla smiled again, not fighting the red this time.
“I’m glad you think so.”
“Are there any more colors?”
“Many, many more. But most of those are just mixes and variations of the ones I’ve already told you. I think there’s only one more I should mention for now.”
“And what color is that, professor?” Eugenia said with a smirk, causing Kurfalla to roll her eyes.
“Pink.”
Kurfalla paused, looking at Eugenias scales.
“And what is pink like?” She prompted.
Still looking at Eugenia, she began again.
“Pink is sweet, like candy. It’s flowers blooming in the spring, and making new friends, and it’s fun and new and exciting, and it’s like finding something you didn’t know you were missing.”
She looked into Eugenias unblinking eyes, the Fae turned towards her voice, taking in every word. She looked enraptured.
“Kurfalla, what color am I?”
“Pink” the Banescale said, trying to keep her tone neutral.
Eugenia smiled warmly, before laying back down, nestling into Kurfalla wing again.
“I had a feeling.”
“Why is that?”
“Because you seemed to like pink quite a lot.”
Kurfalla blushed again, not liking how easily the Fae had read her.
Eugenias breathing evened out, and Kurfalla shut her eyes, laying her head down near Eugenias, drifting of.
Before sleep overtook her, she heard the Fae mumble one last question.
“Kurfalla, what color are you?”
“Green.” She mumbled back.
She saw Eugenias face crack into a smile again, before sleepily muttering
“Good. Because I think green is my favorite color.”
The Fae then fell asleep, breathing softly against Kurfalla side.
She smiled, and lay her tail gently over Eugenias before following her into the purple of dreams.