A young boy with auburn hair stood on a small platform like many of the other teens that had come to Spirit Fields today. His parents where nearby, waiting near a large cabin with the many other adults that had brought their children here, for today was a very special day.
The dragons where migrating east to the spirit coves, some to breed, others to molt and grow into adults. This place was one of the flew places that large flocks of the beasts could be seen as they headed to their destination. It was also the time when the School for Young Riders opened it's doors to let in a few very special people enter their doors, for it wasn't just anyone who could earn a dragon's trust and receive a spirit from them. The school was one of the best for young people just learning to care for their new spirits, so plenty of families wanted it to be their kids who got in. There where a several representatives from the school that would be watching the event, and would get to choose a lucky few to get in for free.
Yes, that was one of the reasons that so many people where here. The second was that while it was very possible to run into a dragon in the wild and earn it's gift, the chances of that happening where slim to none. So every year, during the migration season, special events like this where held all over Ninjago, giving everyone a chance to encounter the great beasts.
Each dragon could only give out one gift in it's life time, so they tended to be pretty picky about who they gave them to. The lucky few who did receive it got many gifts, such as gaining some of the abilities of the dragon that gave them the gift, and of course a life long soul bond with their very own spirit.
Jay had been waiting for a very long time to be able to participate in this event, and now that he was old enough his excitement about it only grew.
For as long as he could remember, the blue eyed teen had loved dragons, and the thought that it was possible for him to get his own spirit dragon made him so excited that he couldn't help but pace back and forth on his platform.
Of course he had seen other people with spirit dragons, small glowing creatures that would follow the person they bonded with anywhere, and each one having it's own unique powers. One time when his parents had brought him with them to the city, he had seen a man with a spirit dragon that looked like it was made completely out of metal, and the man himself, the teen was pretty sure his name had been Karloff, had possessed an amazing amount of strength, and was even able to turn himself to metal. But what amazed him the most, was when the man's spirit flew up into the air, and transformed into a full sized dragon, with metallic silvery grey scales and glowing blue eyes.
There had to be thousands of other kids here, all equally as hopeful that they would be chosen to receive a dragon's gift. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, the auburn sat down, glancing at all the things he had brought with him in hopes of improving his chance of attracting a dragon.
He didn't have much money, but being that he grew up in a junkyard there was no end of things he could use to build and create with. He had created a variety of toys and objects he hoped that the dragons would be interested in, as well as a few other things, such as large horse brush he had found and adjusted so that it would be better suited for scales instead of fur.
He also had a bucket of treats that his dad had given him as a gift for his first time entering the spirit fields.
"So your the competition huh?" Someone spoke and Jay looked over to see someone who looked a few years older than him on the platform next to his," Looks like I don't have much to worry about."
"What are you talking about?" The auburn asked," This isn't a competition."
The older teen just laughed," You silly boy, everything in life is a competition, and everyone knows that only the best can succeed. Do you honestly think you have a chance of attracting a dragon with those ridiculous trinkets of yours?"
"Well I think anyone has a chance of getting attracting a dragon if they try," Jay replied, glancing at the things he had on his platform," I've heard of people who didn't bring anything with them to the event that still managed to get a spirit."
"Please, I'm sure those tales are nothing more than stories to give you poor folk hope that you might actually be able to do something with your miserable lives. I on the other hand, know I will be getting my spirit today," The teen pulled a large gemstone out of his pocket.
Jay gasped upon seeing the gem. It was well known that dragons where attracted to shiny objects, jewelry and gold in particular. He once again looked at his toys, seeing how unattractive they where when compared to the gem.
Perhaps that guy was right, what sort of dragon would want to choose him when other people like the boy next to him where around?
"Face it, you don't have a chance of getting noticed by a dragon," The boy continued to mock.
Jay just looked down at his feet, trying to ignore the rest of the bully's harsh words. He was beginning to think that maybe he shouldn't of even come out here, and was just on the verge of starting to pack up his things to leave when a sudden shout caught his attention.
"They're here! The dragons are coming!"
Looking up, the teen watched in awe as several large beasts flew in the sky above them. Jay knew from what he had read that these where the older dragons of the flock, hence why they where usually much larger than the rest. Most of them had already given out their gifts, and they knew the path to the spirit coves the best, so they led the way, not bothering to glance down at the large crowd of humans below.
A few seconds later the rest of the flock came into view, and Jay couldn't help but gawk at the sheer number of dragons. There had to be hundreds, no thousands, of them, all in different sizes and colors.
He noticed some of them started to dive down lower, and some even going strait to the ground, to see the platforms close up.
Looked over at the other teen again, and he saw that boy now had several large gemstones on his platform, all glittering in the sunlight, and he could tell several of the dragons flying above them where interested.
He noticed a yellow colored dragon land a few platforms to his left. Judging by it's milky colored eyes, Jay guessed that this one was probably a sound dragon. They where born completely blind, but it was said that they where able to see far more than many other dragons could. He watched it walk up to a platform with a very small boy on it. The boy had black hair, and large sunglasses on. He held a stick in one of his hands, and Jay noted that the only thing the boy had laid out on his platform was some food.
The dragon sniffed some of it, before grabbing what looked like a large fish and swallowing it in one gulp. The boy looked at where the dragon was, and took a few steps forward. Jay quickly realized from the way that he was using his stick that they boy must of also been blind.
The dragon sniffed the boy, who giggled slightly. He slowly lifted up one of his hands and the dragon pressed his snout to it.
Seeing the boy and the dragon interact gave Jay hope, that he did still have a chance at getting a spirit dragon.
He heard the sound of another dragon landing and looked over to see a large shadow dragon had landed near him, though it was looking at the rich teen's platform. The teen grinned, then looked over Jay as if he was showing off the fact that a dragon had taken interest in him instead of the young inventor.
The auburn looked back at the shadow dragon, guessing from it's size and snout shape that it was an adult male.
He started to walk to the older teen's platform when another dragon landed next to it.
Jay stared in awe at the beautiful lightning dragon that was obviously very intrigued by the gems just like the shadow dragon. Her scales where a lovely shade of dark blue, fading to a slightly lighter color near her belly. The webbing between her wings was a much brighter hue,and it almost appeared as they where made of lightning by the way the light reflected of them. There was a pattern of white scales, that started on her head, and traveled down her back towards her tail. Her purple eyes showed her curiosity of the humans in front of her, and also gave a small hint of what amazing power she had hidden inside of her. She was a bit smaller than most lightning dragons, but to the auburn that just made her that much more unique.
While Jay was amazed by the beast, the other teen didn't quite feel the same and showed his displeasure when she approached his platform first.
"Do you really expect me to want to bond with something like you?" He spoke," I want a real dragon, not some blue lizard with wings."
The lightning dragon lowered her head, whimpering slightly and backing up.
"Who do you think you are to talk to her like that?" Jay suddenly shouted, obviously angry about how the teen was treating the large reptile," Tons of people would kill for a chance to have a dragon like her walk up to them!"
"Well unlike those barbarians I am here for only the best, and that little hatchling has got to be one of the worst excuses for a dragon I have ever seen."
"How can you say something like that? All dragons are amazing and unique in their own way."
"Please, there are the weak, like that little worm," The dragon whimpered again and cowered," Then there are the strong," He smirked at the shadow dragon, though Jay noticed it no longer seemed very interested in the gems.
The auburn looked down at the small dragon, a wave of sadness washing over him as he saw her state. Her scales seemed to have become duller, and the bright spark that had been in her eye when she first landed was no longer there.
Suddenly feeling determined to prove the older teen wrong, Jay grabbed his brush and a treat from his bucket before stepping off of the platform.
"Oh, are you giving up?" The boy teased," I told you you didn't stand a chance."
Jay ignored him and walked towards the lightning dragon. Despite being on the smaller size, she was still plenty larger than the teen, so he approached cautiously, pausing when he saw her tense up.
She looked at him, before lowering her head back down and letting out a small cry. It was the saddest sound that Jay had ever heard any creature make, and only served to make him even more determined to go through with this. Taking a deep breath he started walking forward again, only this time at a slower pace.
"Hey girl," He kept his voice low and even, trying his best not to spook her, given that it was usually the dragon that approached the human, not the other way around.
She glanced back up at him, clearly a bit uncomfortable about the situation, but not acting hostile in any way.
"This is your first migration isn't it?" Jay asked," You must of been pretty excited about it."
The dragon slowly adjusted herself into a more comfortable position as the teen spoke.
"I was pretty excited about today to, I couldn't wait for a chance to meet an actual real life dragon."
One he was within arms reach of her, Jay stretched out one of his arms, so that she could sniff his hand.
"But I was pretty scared to. I wasn't sure that any dragon would want to meet me."
The dragon now seemed to fully relax, some of the color coming back to her scales.
Jay also relaxed some, finding it very easy to talk to the large creature.
"You where probably a bit nervous about meeting people to," the auburn continued, lightly touching her side.
He slowly used his brush on the dragon's neck, smiling when she started to purr.
"To be honest I don't really have much experience with people either. I grew up out in the middle of the Sea of Sand, and only really go out to get supplies with my parents."
The teen continued to ramble on about his life to the dragon, and she gladly listened, liking this boy much better than the other one.
The shadow dragon remained nearby, watching with interest as the yearling and young human interacted.
Sudden movement caught his attention and he glanced over to see the other human was now also coming off of his platform. Clearly, he thought that if it worked for the other teen then it would work for him.
He walked right up to the shadow dragon, while holding one of his gems.
"Well come on then, take the damn thing and give me my spirit already."
The dragon snorted, not at all pleased with how this human had acted. Instead of taking the gem, he made a sound that was a mix of a hiss and a growl deep in his throat, before suddenly taking off. The wind from his wings knocked the teen over. He hovered above him for a few seconds, before sending a small ball of shadow at the teen and flying off.
He coughed as the wispy blackness surrounded him, before dissipating as if it had never happened.
"Fine then, leave," He yelled as he stood up," I'll find a dragon that's way better than you."
Jay and his new friend watched the whole thing, before the dragon glanced back at him. The auburn smiled and offered her the treat he had brought. She eagerly accepted it and purred as she ate it.
"You want some more?" Jay stood up," I got plenty"
The dragon made a happy chirping sound which Jay could only guess meant yes. He walked back over to his platform and grabbed his bucket.
On the way back he noticed the rich teen was glaring at him. He wasn't sure what it was, but something about that guy scared him.
The dragon seemed to pick up on his emotions, and sent her own glare back at the teen, while protectively wrapping a wing around Jay when he was close enough.
The teen muttered something under his breath before reorganizing his gems and waiting for another dragon to show up.
Jay continued to talk with the young dragon as she ate the snacks. Of course it couldn't last forever. After some time a loud call came from the adult dragons leading the flock.
Any of the dragons on the ground had to leave now or risk being left behind.
The auburn haired teen didn't want the dragon to leave, but he knew she had to. With her being so young there was no way she knew the migration paths yet, so she had to stay with the flock.
He could tell by the look in the dragon's eyes that she didn't want to leave either.
"Hey, don't worry," Jay patted her neck," I didn't get a spirit this year, so I'm sure we'll be able to see each other during next year's migration."
The dragon glanced back at her flock, then down at the ground. She seemed to be thinking about something, though Jay had no idea what.
She stood up and stretched out her large wings, but instead of taking off like the blue eyed teen had expected, she turned towards him and placed her large head on his chest.
The teen was caught by surprise, but then he hugged her, wishing that this moment could last forever.
She started purring, and a strange tingling feeling traveled through the teen's body, though it was a good sort of tingling. An odd warmth settled in his chest and the teen found himself quite enjoying it.
The dragon gently lifted her head up and away from the human, and her body gave off a slight blue glow. The glow to leave her body and formed into a small ball, the flew towards Jay.
Somehow he just knew what he was supposed to do, and he held out his hands. The light landed on them and Jay pulled it close to his chest, mesmerized by the warmth and the fuzzy feeling of it. The light began to take on more of an oval shape, growing brighter as it did so.
The auburn had to close his eye for a second, and when he reopened them, he found himself holding a small glowing blue egg. He could still feel the tingly feeling coming from it, not quite as stong as before, but just as comforting.
He hugged the egg closer to his chest, and looked up at the dragon, who he could swear was smiling at him.
"Thank you."
The dragon made the happy chirping sound again, before taking off to join the others in the air.