Disclaimer: Dragon Cave is copyright to TJ09 and the dragon breeds and art are copyright to TJ and their respective artists. The characters portrayed in the following story are works of fiction and are not guaranteed to always follow the DC descriptions of dragons.
Note: I've discovered a new fascination with the recent release of the Soulpeace dragons in Dragon Cave, and one of my dragons on my scroll was buggering at me to write her a story about her. I hope you enjoy it, normal readers and Dragon Cave players alike. I'm RowanLaw on if you wanna look me and my beauties up sometime. :)
Chapter One
The Black Dragon
"Quark!" Khansama exclaimed once more in complaint about the black claw wrapped around her neck. She ceased her vicious scratching at the claw some time ago because it wearied her without achieving any results. She settled for clinging to the talon with her legs, balling herself up against the wind that ruffled the feathers on her wings. Her long, slender tail twitched back and forth in the wind, rippling like a snake.
Not too long ago, Khansama was sunbathing on some rocks near her parents' cave, enjoying the feeling of warmth and calm, out of sight from the world. Her thoughts drifted somewhat, although she was always wary of her thoughts being accidentally influenced by her mother.
She began to doze off one moment, and the next she found herself accosted by a large black dragon, easily four or five times her size. When she first saw it, she noted its broad muzzle, indicating a male instead of a female dragon. Khansama couldn't scrabble off her perch fast enough before he swept down and snagged her with his paw, taking off before she could even manage out a screech. When she overcame her shock enough to do so, she found magic holding at her muzzle, preventing her from releasing any sort of sound. She attacked at his foot, scratching up his black paw and white talons in a futile attempt to escape, but he didn't take any notice.
His claws encased her whole neck, his white talons overlapping on her neck. His large size would seem to indicate that he was old, and therefore wise. Her mind was having troubles trying to come up with a reason for him to snatch her up so abruptly from her nest. It didn't make sense, even if he was of a more warrior like breed.
Judging by the sun, Khansama thought they flew for several hours. However, their path was towards the sun; the sunset was probably delayed by some time, thus making her time predictions nearly moot. She didn't feel tiredness creeping beneath her scales, so she knew their travel time couldn't be all that long. Even if she could go without sleep for some time- not that she preferred to do it that way. However, she didn't see herself falling asleep any time here soon.
The landscape beneath them kept changing, only adding to her bewilderment of their location. In the middle of their flight, her vision blackened by magical means, effectively cutting off hopes of memorizing the route to their destination. The black dragon clearly knew what he was doing, and he wasn't taking chances. That was about the time that she stopped wasting her energy trying to pry herself out of his grasp. Instead, she just clung to his claws, shivering a little from the wind that was blasting about in her wings, which previously mimicked a small bird being caught by a hawk.
Khansama's attention perked up when she noticed that their velocity was decreasing by a significant amount, his wings beating lazily against the wind. She shifted her hind legs slightly, a cramp growing down her spine. She looked around a bit at where the surroundings, and noted that the area around them had become more tree-filled, with a bit of mountainous terrain jutting out a bit ahead. They flew down towards the mountain area, their speed slowing with their descent. She flapped her wings a bit in interest, shifting slightly in his claw to scan the side of the mountain. She could spot several places that would make decent caves if she were to travel this way.
A few minutes later, the black dragon slowed even further, flapping backwards as he came down for a landing on the crest of a cave, landing on his three free claws. Khansama gave another little quark noise of discomfort upon landing, gravity pulling her down against her captor's claw despite the obvious attempt at a soft landing. Her tail reached the ground, and she swished it back and forth a bit, feeling the cold, stony surface. The black dragon shuffled inside awkwardly, then set Khansama down carefully. She stumbled a bit for a moment, before regaining her feet and turning to look up at him. Bright green eyes shone down at her, plastered on an impassive face.
"Why did you kidnap me?" Khansama quarked out in a slightly trembling voice, her wings quivering slightly, tail pulled close.
There was silence from the large black dragon, and after a moment, he stalked off to the back of his cave, where a treasure hoard laid piled. He hopped on top of it, nearly matching it in size, and then laid his head down, giving a brief glance to Khansama before closing his eyes, and seemingly falling asleep. She stared at him for a minute, bewildered. Then she looked over at the cave opening, and padded over to it. If he was just going to go to sleep, she wouldn't spend her time lollygagging. She opened her wings, nearly running towards the opening. She jumped-
-And then was promptly thrown back to the ground by a force field of magic. She gave a quark of irritation more than pain, though her back was a bit sore from her landing. A bit of prodding at the field told her she wouldn't be leaving anytime soon unless she learned black dragon magic, and she deflated, sulking. She sat down on her haunches, glaring at the black dragon. He kidnapped her to a cave, and then just went to sleep? What kind of dragon did that?
She was restless though, so sitting on the ground didn't last for very long. Soon she was pacing next to the opening, claws clicking against the stone floor rhythmically as she tried to figure out why she was in this particular predicament. During her pacing, she glanced over at the black dragon, and noticed that his size had diminished dramatically, making him only one and a half times or twice her size. So, he his incredible size had been through a spell? She gave a snort, feeling cheated.
A trilling noise caught her attention, and her head turned towards the sound. It was coming from deeper inside the cavern. Curiosity overwhelmed her, and she crept past the black dragon, deeper into his cave. Some moments later, she heard the patter of four little paws, and then a little ochredrake dragon appeared, looking excited.
It was three or four feet long from its nose to its tail, and a beautiful sandy color. Dark brown antlers curved up from its head, its right one split into two, its left one completely straight. Its muzzle was a lighter brown than the rest of its body. Small wings extended from its body as it skittered across the ground, running all the way down its tail.
It saw Khansama, and it danced a little, bounding forward some, coming closer to her. She gave a pleased hum, and the ochredrake trilled happily, coming close enough to wind itself between her legs. She picked up one front paw as she watched it rub against her legs, then came back to her front, looking for attention. She sat down on her hind legs, scratching beneath its horns. It made some more trilling noises, then pressed closer to her, and soon she found herself scratching all over its body. It soon fell asleep, giving little chirps like the purrs of a cat. She continued to lightly stroke down its scales with her paws.
She sighed, then laid down next to the little ochredrake, resting her head on her front paws. The ochredrake shifted, then rolled closer to her body, leaching from her warmth. She lifted a wing, draping it over the smaller dragon, then closed her eyes, trying to ignore the horrible day's events. She was tired from it all. She didn't think she would be able to sleep without her personal nest and on cold stone, but she managed it soon enough, thoughts drifting into oblivion.