@myriadofstars @Larkfin @LadyChipmunk @Victorzies
I loved all of your prompts:) It was a tough choice, but I ended up going with @Victorzies.
Snow drifted down silent, silent outside the cave threshold. Or at least he imagined it did. He'd never seen the snow, but he wanted to. He imagined it looked like a thousand tiny silver fairies, all dancing and laughing on their way to the ground...
"Tourmaline! Come away from the window, boy. You're daydreaming again."
Tourmaline reluctantly turned away from his imaginary snow.
"Yes, Wakaba."
"Thank you. Have you taken a bath today?"
"Twice."
"Take another one before you go to bed. It's so dusty here."
"Yes, Wakaba."
Isshiki looked up from the mammoth bone he'd been gnawing. "You're too hard on the boy, Wakaba. Let him have a few minutes to be a hatchling."
That was the wrong thing to say. Wakaba's ridges raised in anger. "Go to your room, Tourmaline."
"Yes, Wakaba."
Wakaba and Isshiki had had many hatchlings. Most of them had grown up and flown away, but the little side cave was still packed full of them, all nestled together in one big huddle. He was eager to join them. He cuddled up to Botta, his favorite brother, and listened to Wakaba's hisses. She always seemed to think the hatchlings couldn't hear her when she was angry.
"You know exactly why I've been keeping that child in perfect condition! What would the Earthshaker think if we brought him a filthy, woolgathering little boy? You Lightning and Earth filth may be used to dirt and dust, but I was not raised here and I don't want to rot here. He's our only ticket to higher places and you know it!"
She went on like that for a while, saying things that made no sense to Tourmaline, and all the while he knew Isshiki was simply sitting, staring at her, and smiling. That's what he always did.
* * * * * * *
"Tourmaline. Wake up, my boy."
The world is soft and gentle to a child waking from a doze. Even with his father lifting him by his neck, Tourmaline took a few minutes to realize he was awake.
"Isshiki?"
His father set him down in the cold, hard-packed dirt. It sent a shock through Tourmaline's paws.
"Quiet, boy. Don't wake your mother."
"What's happening?"
"You must leave."
This woke Tourmaline up all the way. "What?"
"She wants to exalt you. To sacrifice you to the Earthshaker. You're nothing more than money to her, pretty gleaming Tourmaline. But you matter more to me than that. Which is why you must go. Seek out whatever destiny awaits you in the chasm."
"The chasm?" He turned, and to his surprise saw the black abyss looming up right beside him. He shrank away.
Isshiki draped a navy aviator scarf over Tourmaline's neck, tying it in place. "I love you, my son," he said, "more than everything. Don't forget me." And with those last words, he put his nose to Tourmaline's back and shoved him over the edge.
It was an endless, dark, horrifying slide. Tourmaline had no breath to cry out, nor the claws to slow down. He slid, and slid, and slid, on and on, until he wanted to scream. He felt like he was being squeezed in some giant's hand, and for one insane moment he got the urge to laugh.
And then...slowly...he stopped. The slide got less and less steep until he ground to a halt.
He slumped to his belly, searching desperately for air, and he looked up. Far above, he could just barely make out a purple-brown circle that was the top of the chasm. So far away. He'd come down from such a height. His fear-rattled heart felt like it was about to fall to pieces.
He lay still for a while, brain blank. There were bones all over the ground around him, but they weren't dragon bones. A cave sat quietly at the far end of the chasm, lit softly by bumbling golden fairies. A gruff-looking Tundra lady rested outside the cave, sleepily flicking away any of the little things that wandered too close. As Tourmaline watched, she rose, shook herself off, and loped towards him. He was too numb to be afraid.
She stood above him and nuzzled him with her soft nose. "You must be Isshiki and Wakaba's hatchling," she said in a startlingly soft voice. He couldn't move, so he just gazed up at her. She lifted him from the ground.
"No need to worry," she said. "Your father's making sure you go to a good place where no one will sell you. He wanted me to make sure you know you're worth far more than money."
I'm terrible at endings lol
I loved all of your prompts:) It was a tough choice, but I ended up going with @Victorzies.
Snow drifted down silent, silent outside the cave threshold. Or at least he imagined it did. He'd never seen the snow, but he wanted to. He imagined it looked like a thousand tiny silver fairies, all dancing and laughing on their way to the ground...
"Tourmaline! Come away from the window, boy. You're daydreaming again."
Tourmaline reluctantly turned away from his imaginary snow.
"Yes, Wakaba."
"Thank you. Have you taken a bath today?"
"Twice."
"Take another one before you go to bed. It's so dusty here."
"Yes, Wakaba."
Isshiki looked up from the mammoth bone he'd been gnawing. "You're too hard on the boy, Wakaba. Let him have a few minutes to be a hatchling."
That was the wrong thing to say. Wakaba's ridges raised in anger. "Go to your room, Tourmaline."
"Yes, Wakaba."
Wakaba and Isshiki had had many hatchlings. Most of them had grown up and flown away, but the little side cave was still packed full of them, all nestled together in one big huddle. He was eager to join them. He cuddled up to Botta, his favorite brother, and listened to Wakaba's hisses. She always seemed to think the hatchlings couldn't hear her when she was angry.
"You know exactly why I've been keeping that child in perfect condition! What would the Earthshaker think if we brought him a filthy, woolgathering little boy? You Lightning and Earth filth may be used to dirt and dust, but I was not raised here and I don't want to rot here. He's our only ticket to higher places and you know it!"
She went on like that for a while, saying things that made no sense to Tourmaline, and all the while he knew Isshiki was simply sitting, staring at her, and smiling. That's what he always did.
* * * * * * *
"Tourmaline. Wake up, my boy."
The world is soft and gentle to a child waking from a doze. Even with his father lifting him by his neck, Tourmaline took a few minutes to realize he was awake.
"Isshiki?"
His father set him down in the cold, hard-packed dirt. It sent a shock through Tourmaline's paws.
"Quiet, boy. Don't wake your mother."
"What's happening?"
"You must leave."
This woke Tourmaline up all the way. "What?"
"She wants to exalt you. To sacrifice you to the Earthshaker. You're nothing more than money to her, pretty gleaming Tourmaline. But you matter more to me than that. Which is why you must go. Seek out whatever destiny awaits you in the chasm."
"The chasm?" He turned, and to his surprise saw the black abyss looming up right beside him. He shrank away.
Isshiki draped a navy aviator scarf over Tourmaline's neck, tying it in place. "I love you, my son," he said, "more than everything. Don't forget me." And with those last words, he put his nose to Tourmaline's back and shoved him over the edge.
It was an endless, dark, horrifying slide. Tourmaline had no breath to cry out, nor the claws to slow down. He slid, and slid, and slid, on and on, until he wanted to scream. He felt like he was being squeezed in some giant's hand, and for one insane moment he got the urge to laugh.
And then...slowly...he stopped. The slide got less and less steep until he ground to a halt.
He slumped to his belly, searching desperately for air, and he looked up. Far above, he could just barely make out a purple-brown circle that was the top of the chasm. So far away. He'd come down from such a height. His fear-rattled heart felt like it was about to fall to pieces.
He lay still for a while, brain blank. There were bones all over the ground around him, but they weren't dragon bones. A cave sat quietly at the far end of the chasm, lit softly by bumbling golden fairies. A gruff-looking Tundra lady rested outside the cave, sleepily flicking away any of the little things that wandered too close. As Tourmaline watched, she rose, shook herself off, and loped towards him. He was too numb to be afraid.
She stood above him and nuzzled him with her soft nose. "You must be Isshiki and Wakaba's hatchling," she said in a startlingly soft voice. He couldn't move, so he just gazed up at her. She lifted him from the ground.
"No need to worry," she said. "Your father's making sure you go to a good place where no one will sell you. He wanted me to make sure you know you're worth far more than money."
