Chapter 1
Draco growled in her throat with frustration. The rocks sizzled under her claws and the air was thick with warmth. She was burning up in this stinking heat! Who made the sun so dang hot? It was the middle of January too! That's a winter month, everyone knows that! What was going on?! Why was this happening, why oh whydid she have to be stuck on an island in the middle of the ocean, why is life, why do the months have to be flaming backwards here?! This was not okay! At all!
But wait, Draco. She reminded herself. Normally you don't complain about the heat. In fact, you love the heat. Why start now?
"I'm glad you asked!" She exclaimed out loud. "Because it's so BURNINGLY HOT that all the SPRINGS have DRIED UP!"
"Big sis?" a voice piped up from behind her.
"Hold on, Lid, I'm ranting!" Draco ignored the tiny girl rubbing her sleeves nervously together. She took a deep breath and-
"Oh I-I-I'm sorry. It's just that… w-well." the girl stuttered. Draco sighed and spun around to face her.
"LID, dang it, as long as you're going to interrupt, didn't we talk about speaking your mind? Spit it out."
The girl nodded quickly. "S-sorry! But um, I promised I'd help with the springs… is there a need to rant?"
Draco stepped back and faced the ocean, at the tip of Primp Town's cliffs, evidently offended. "Okay, dial it back a notch! Can't a girl scream and vent her sorrows on other people? I mean, I feel better already."
"Oh. Really?" Lidelle gazed at her curiously, her ears twitching up.
"Gao! Yeah!" Draco took note of the adoring gaze from the imp girl and puffed up her chest. "After all, nothing's hotter than a woman full of simmering RAGE."
Lidelle took this into consideration. "You may have a point… Raffina's like that, and she's the prettiest girl I know..."
"Exac- Hey!" Draco kneeled down to her level, hurt shining in her gold reptilian eyes. "I thought I was the prettiest girl you knew."
"Uh- UM!" Lidelle swallowed. "I'm sorry, of course you a-are! I w-was just… joking-"
The dragon hybrid laughed guiltily and tousled her hair. "I'm just messing with you Lid!" Even though I really wasn't, a tiny annoying voice whispered in her head.
Draco Centauros shook her head. She almost forgot how much Lidelle hates to insult her friends, even if she does it constantly without her knowing. Poor girl is too insensitive to social cues. But, her heart is in the right place, like now. Draco wasn't entirely sure why Lidelle was so eager to help with her spring problem- it was none of her business, and she could be doing so many other things. Like shopping! The kid definitely needs it.
"Alright, kiddo. Are you sure you want to help me with this?" Draco stood up and her tail swooshed, flipping over pebbles. Lidelle looked up and nodded eagerly.
Draco gave her a toothy pointed grin. "Aw yeah! That's the stuff! We'll get this project done in no time flat!"
"Y-yeah!" Lidelle clapped her sleeves together, which made the satisfying sound of a thumping muffled pillow.
Draco gave her little friend a pat on the shoulder. Man was this girl adorable. "Okeydokey. Let's go."
She snapped open her wings and stepped back even more, at the cliff's edge. Narrowing her pupils to slits, she took a running start off the cliff and the wind caught her wings, pushing the air from her lungs out. Gasping, she flapped her wings twice before straightening up and soaring down the dried up hill, towards a large cluster of rock formations in the distance. From behind her, she vaguely heard Lidelle shout "Vento!" and a gust of wind lifted her up and pushed her ahead of Draco, with a small giggle that was lost in the breeze.
Uh-uh! Not on my watch! Draco thought competitively. She folded her wings even more and shot past the imp girl, with a loud HA!
Lidelle's eyes widened and she attempted to shout something, but the sound was lost in the wind again. Draco peered at her, confused, until she glanced ahead.
Well, sh-
CRASH!
Draco folded her wings and braced her claws over her head as she tumbled onto the rocks, rolling over her tail and back over her head three times before she rolled to a stop. And laid there, staring at the blazing blue sky.
Everything hurts everything hurts everything hurrrrrrrts, she complained to herself.
In her blurry vision, she could see a figure racing towards her and waving across her face. "B-Big sis! Are you alright?"
Draco tried to say Heck yeah I'm fine! But it ended up sounding like "Urghhhgh."
But her head was starting to clear. And as it did, Draco noticed that the pain was even more potent. Feels like road burns, she hissed as she touched her scaly elbow. That sucks.
"Ura-g-gano." Lidelle barely whispered. "Please not a huge storm, I only need a little water..."
As if the laws of nature heard her plea, a small dark cloud hovered above her palm. From it, rain fell and splattered on Draco's burns.
"O-ow HEY- Actually that feels pretty good." Draco was relieved to know that her tongue still worked as the rain soothed the scrapes in her scales. She smirked at the kid. "So we both know I won that race, right?"
"We were r-racing?" Lidelle queried, tilting her ears downward in confusion.
Draco waved a claw away. "Ah, whatever. Let's say I won. Now, get! I need space to stretch."
Lidelle skittered a few feet away as Draco stood up with a groan, allowing her wings to stretch to their full extension and to crack some stiff joints from that fall.
"Man, do I look like a mess or what?" Draco laughed as she glanced over clothes, which was a traditional chinese silk dress (according to Ringles and Fish-boy anyways), over some cuffed khaki pants. The dress was shredded at the stomach area and at the sleeves. "Well shoot, this cost me half my stock in curry! I sure hope Señor Bones takes refunds. At least the view's good, am I right?" She said proudly as she showed her rock hard abs, to hide the fact that she was REALLY BUMMED ABOUT THE DRESS!
How was she supposed to prove her beauty to Arle and Rulue and Seriri and Witch and ALL THE OTHER GIRLS WHO CLAIM THAT SHE ISN'T AS PRETTY AS THEY ARE without it?! I mean, not that she heard them say that to her face… but Draco was positive that they whisper behind her back, snickering that she can't be beautiful because she was...
A…
"I don't think Mr. Oshare Bones takes refunds though..." Lidelle mused out loud, breaking Draco's train of thought.
Draco shook her head and forced herself to grin. "Aw, man, way to be a kill-joy, kiddo! I can still hope, right?"
Lidelle's eyes widened. "Oh no, I'm s-sorry! O-of course you can, don't listen t-to me." Her sleeves crept up to her face in shame.
Draco internally smacked herself. This imp girl was way way way too sensitive! Or maybe I'm too blunt, she thought. "Aw, don't worry about it! I'm messing with you." She knelt down to her level and made sure Lidelle stared at her back. "Don't ever let anyone tell you that you shouldn't be listened to. If they do, sock em! That'll shut em up good! Or, you know, ask me to sock them."
"Uh-um." Lidelle swallowed. "Without violence? Maybe?"
"Absolutely. Be passive aggressive for all I care." Draco patted her shoulder. "Don't let anyone push you around, though, Lidelle. Promise me that at least."
"I-I won't. I promise."
Draco stood up with relief. Hey maybe I could be good at this, this sister stuff. It could be the only thing I'm good at, except for eating, of course. I'm the BEST at eating-
Focus!
Right, okay. The springs.
"This was where the springs were." Draco gestured at an empty natural basin, surrounded by rock walls. The air sizzled around them, and when she stomped her foot, a cloud of dust rose up and she hacked. "That's before it got all dried up because of this stupid heat! Now, we gotta fill it up again and make sure it stays this time!"
Lidelle stood beside her and looked out. "Sis, is this where you've been living while you've been in Primp Town?"
"Gao! Of course!" Draco huffed a puff of fire. "Where did you think I was living? I'm a walking torch! I like to avoid your wimpy wooden excuses for homes when I can, so I don't blow something up while I'm there."
Lidelle gazed up at her sister-figure adoringly. "Th-that's very noble of you."
Draco flushed green in embarrassment. "Aw, not really. Just trying to avoid loud screaming humans as much as possible. Cough. Enough about me!" she pointed at the basin. "So how you want to do this? You're the big weather master here."
You're the one who clearly knows what you're doing. I'm just faking it. The only good idea I've had in a while is asking you for help, Draco couldn't help but think to herself. Snap out of it you gloomy lizard! Stupid!
Lidelle peered around the rocks and murmured some things to herself as she took in her surroundings. Draco followed her as she attempted to climb down, but her sleeves kept getting caught.
The dragon girl chuckled. "Here, I got you." She offered to take Lidelle on her back.
"A-a-are you sure?" Lidelle asked tentatively.
"I was the one who offered, wasn't I? Don't waste your energy climbing. Come on." Lidelle nodded and climbed onto her back. Draco hoisted her up, and couldn't help but notice that she thought she felt something like… a tail? Hmm.
"Alrighty, kiddo, hold on!" Draco unfolded her wings and took off from where she stood, flapping them harder than before to keep the two of them upright.
This time, Draco made sure to land safely below. She allowed Lidelle to slide off and folded her wings once again. They were still sore from the rough landing from before. What do you know, Draco. She thought. Turns out you can be helpful and have pretty okay ideas.
"Hmm…" Lidelle mused. "Well, I'm going to need… A lot of magic. More than what I can do on my own. This is a b-big basin, it's going to take a lot to fill up, and stay cool… I need a lot of puyos. For extra p-power."
"That's smart. Wish I thought of that..." Draco muttered. "Well, you aren't going to get any puyos around here, that's for sure. The little buggers probably hate the heat."
Lidelle's ears twitched. "You are p-probably right." She walked around the basin and flattened herself on the rocks, placing one ear on the ground. "They would be hiding." she stood up and wandered over to one wall. "To stay cool."
She leaned in to listen to the wall. "I hear something."
Draco wandered over. "What is it?"
"Like thousands of p-pattering feet."
"What are you saying?"
"I think they m-might be..."
Draco stamped her foot. "Lidelle, spit it out!"
"S-sorry. Puyos. Lots and lots and lots of them..."
Draco stared at the wall. "So, what, you're saying the walls around the basin are hollow or something?"
Lidelle nodded. "It-it's possible. This is a natural spring, after all. I d-don't see any source of water, so it m-must be underground."
"Oh. Oh! Duh!" Draco smacked her head. "I'm such an idiot. You have a good brain inside that little head of yours, Lid."
Lidelle flushed a light green, and looked away. "N-not really. It's just a guess. A-and! You're not an-"
"It's okay kiddo, save it. You are smart. Don't make this about me." Draco sighed as she avoided the lecture that, oh, she was actually smart and good at everything and hot and pretty when she knew she wasn't. Lidelle had a future, she was a smart kid. Draco never had a chance, because-
"You should b-burrow into the wall."
"Huh?" Draco snapped out of her thoughts.
"You are strong, much stronger than me." Lidelle said, with force in her voice that Draco had never heard from her. "You can get us inside."
Draco stared at her. "Are you sure? You could blast through with your fancy weather magic."
"No, I don't have enough power right now. I don't want to waste it." Lidelle pointed out.
Ah. Of course. She would do it if she had the power to. Draco was just the backup.
"Right." Draco mumbled. "Stand back."
Lidelle stepped back a few feet and Draco breathed in. Her flame pouch in the back of her throat was heating up, steadily. Time to show what she was made of.
She blew as hard as she could and a stream of both gas and liquid flame licked out. She threw her fists and claws, with the fire-proof gloves on, into the flames and started to punch at the rock. "Fire breath!" She exclaimed, her punches growing faster.
"Draco Special!" She roundhouse kicked at the rock, blowing apart the boulder, and finding another one in the way. "Fire Dragon Spinning Kick!" She was proud of that name. It was cool. She spun her torso in a 90 degrees angle to the ground and repeatedly kicked at the stone with her wings holding her up from the ground. She chiseled and chiseled and chiseled at it until she felt her foot reach nothingness.
She pushed herself up from her wings and gave a traditional bow at the huge hole in the wall she had just created. "And that's how its done!"
Lidelle blinked, her eyes wide. "Big sister, that was a-amazing!"
"Gao! Heck yeah it was!" Draco smirked proudly. "Thanks, kiddo. I needed that. You know, to punch something."
Lidelle beamed at her through her sleeves.
Draco glanced back at the doorway. "Uh, Lid, I think we have a-"
She couldn't even finish her sentence before she was swarmed with hundreds of multi-colored blobs. She heard Lidelle squeak with surprise before she was swept away by the wave. Draco opened her mouth to shout to her but was quickly muffled by the swarm. What in the what, how many of these things were hiding?! Draco wondered angrily.
As the dust settled, Draco growled and blew a Fire Breath at the stupid blobs. She pushed them out of the way as she came up for air. "Lid!" she gasped, looking about.
The sheer amount of Puyos that were in the vicinity was unfathomable. They nearly filled up the basin. From a distance, Draco could see with her reptilian vision a small lump of green cloth sticking out of the Puyos. "There you are!" Draco raised her wings and flew over to Lidelle's aid.
She gently wrapped her claws around Lidelle's body and lifted her up. Lid gasped and coughed as she clung to Draco. Draco made a surprised noise. "Hey, there kiddo, it's okay."
"Ugh… th-that was… suffocating..." Lidelle whispered hoarsely. "It was t-terrifying."
"Well, yeah, it was, but it's fine now!" Draco gestured toward the puyos. "Look at all of them! Enough power for you to start a storm that could cover the whole island!"
Lidelle peered out. "W-wow." And looked back at Draco. "B-big sis, I have to a-ask you something… if that's all right with you..."
"Shoot away, Lid." Draco set her down, careful not to step on the Puyos, who seemed to be somewhat suffering in the heat.
"Why do you… want the springs back so bad? I thought you loved the heat… you said it was a perfect time to tan or something..."
Draco laughed. "Simple! Well, not so simple, actually. You see, the thing is, I thought January was a winter month. That was what it was back where I lived! So I was prepared to come back here ready and waiting with a couple of AWESOME hot springs!"
Lidelle stared at Draco. "Y-you thought January was only a winter month?"
"Well, yeah, duh! I mean, it's jan-u-ar-y. That practically says cold and snow in the name!" Draco scratched her head. "Or wait, that doesn't make sense. Well, it should be a winter month no matter where you are anyways. The point is, for once in my life I was looking forward to winter so I could run some hot springs that everyone would pay to enjoy! I've never had a real job before, you know, I thought this would be a good place to start… Because I breathe fire, and so I can make sure the hot springs constantly stay hot!"
Lidelle gave her an admirable look. "Th-that's a great idea."
"Haha, well it WAS, until I found out it's actually the middle of the hottest month of the year here. And my springs dried up. And I don't have any way to use them now! My plan was totally ruined!" Draco snorted smoke in annoyance.
"A-and then you… decided to run a cold springs instead?" Lidelle presumed.
Draco snapped her claws. "Bingo! Then I could run this place all year round! Cold in the summer, hot in the winter! Pretty great plan, no?"
"It's brilliant." Lidelle agreed. "You are r-really smart, big sis!"
You are really smart, big sis. The words swarmed in Draco Centauros' head. I'm smart? Me? Okay sure, it was a good idea, but any Joe-shmoe could have thought of that. Is she trying to make me feel good? Was that a real compliment? Did she mean it?
"D… do you mean that?" Draco asked slowly, quietly. "I'm… smart?"
Lidelle grabbed her claw with her sleeve. "I mean it."
Draco could feel her heart rise in her chest with warmth, and it wasn't from the heat. "Alright, kiddo, enough mushy stuff. But… thanks."
Lidelle smiled at her and looked out at the puyos again. "O-okay."
"Ready to pop some puyos, Lid?"
"Y-yeah."
Draco clenched her fist. "Let's do this."
They rushed headfirst into the masses. Draco made sure to not use moves that will overpower Lidelle's, so she could be the one to gain the power from the Puyos. But Draco found she had nothing to worry about. Lidelle was like a tiny hurricane herself. She swooshed in with a Vento and started popping large crowds of puyos easily.
"Uragano!" She exclaimed, and a hurricane rose up from the little precipitation in the air and thundered in the now black sky, turning the air thick with electricity and rain. Puyos were swept up and disappeared into the funnel cloud.
"Tifone!" She shouted again. The cloud grew darker still as sparks appeared from Lidelle's horns. Rain started to pour in a torrent, splattering all over Draco and nearly putting out her flames. Draco began to panic as the embers grew dimmer on her fists, and she knew there had to be a way to keep fighting in the rain.
"Tuono!" Lidelle cried, the sparks from her horns gaining way to a massive thunderbolt that was released into the clouds. Thunder rumbled, and lightning roared, decimating Puyos left and right. However, Puyos kept pouring out of the cavern walls. Lidelle would soon be overtaken if they weren't all popped soon. Draco grinned. She could use the lightning for her power. It would take one trick shot though.
She made her way towards Lidelle and reached out her claw, preparing to touch the electricity engulfed in her body. Lidelle gave her one quick look of horror, but Draco had already placed a claw on her.
To be shocked by lightning was a rather underrated form of pain, Draco then realized. It was like her very core was being burned to a crisp. She screamed in agony, but she knew she must grab a hold of the electricity in order for this to work. At the heart of electricity was heat. At the heart of heat was energy. Energy and heat was fire. She could do this.
"Great Fire!" She screamed, unleashing the energy in her surroundings with the touch of a nearby Puyo. The blast was deafeningly huge and fire swirled, searching for a place to land with every moment it was airborne.
The water building up in the basin was blasted away. But so were the puyos.
Draco could feel the energy leaving her body and she collapsed. She had never tried to harness lightning like that before. She felt scorched like she had never been before, and upon looking down, she saw that her clothes were blackened.
Lidelle shouted something and her magic halted, allowing the storm cloud to continue pouring torrents of rain without her help. Draco waved at her like, keep going, I'm totally fine. Even though she wasn't.
It wasn't long before Draco lost vision and re awoke in her temporary home, a cave high in the rocks, away from the bottom of the basin where the storm continued. The walls of the cave were glowing with flaming torches and she was wrapped in a large blanket, an idea she would disapprove of if she weren't so exhausted.
The dragon girl groaned and sat up, finding bandages covering most of her body. She was sore and moved as if she had gone to hell and back, which, granted, was what it felt like. Her mouth tasted like metal and was as dry as a corpse.
"Ugh… what the heck?" she mused hoarsely.
A noise over by the entrance of the cave startled her. Draco stared sullenly as a figure ran toward her and gave her a hug. "Big sis!"
"Ack, okay, hey there kiddo. Good to-" Draco started hacking up smoke and Lidelle stepped back worriedly.
"S-sorry! I'm sorry! Are you okay?" Lidelle exclaimed.
"You kidding?" Draco grinned tiredly. "I've never felt so alive!"
"Are you sure? Do you need anything? I have water! And what food d-do you need? I could ask Arle to bring some curry. Or maybe that'll hurt your throat! Otherwise I-"
Draco waved at her. "Hey, hey! I'm fine, Little Miss Worry-Pants. More importantly, what happened? How did I get up here?"
"I um… I used Vento to get you up here. We had to get away from the rain." Lidelle explained.
"Huh, well. You're pretty strong to get this hunk of flesh up here." Draco grinned then gasped. "The rain! How's the basin flooding?"
Lidelle waved her hands. "Um, well, it's fine, w-wait d-don't g-get up you are still hurt!"
Draco ignored her and hobbled over to the cave's entrance. Rain was still pounding on the rocks strong, but the basin was nearly filled up. The sight made her heart rise in her chest like before, and she giggled with glee.
"Aw, yeah, gao! Whoo-hoo! It's nearly filled, oh, this is the best!" Draco laughed and danced a bit in the rain, catching the water in her mouth.
Lidelle joined her. "I'm happy that you're happy… b-but..."
"What's up kiddo?" Draco stopped to look at her.
"B… but… um…"
"Lid. Speak your mind."
"It's just…" Lidelle swallowed and forced some unusual anger into her voice. "H-how could you do th-that?!"
Draco stepped back with surprise and gave a confused laugh. "Do what, Lid? I don't know what-"
"You d-do! You nearly k-killed yourself, you touched my lightning and you started to g-glow and you were SCREAMING and I was so S-SCARED and, and you… when you collapsed I thought..."
Lidelle started to cry. Draco stared at her for a minute, astounded. She didn't think that Lidelle cared so much about her that she thought she was… dead? Wow.
I'm a huge jerk.
I'm an idiot.
Why did I do that.
Why did I put such a sweet girl through such a scare.
I know why. Because I'm a selfish moron who doesn't deserve to be called this girl's sister.
Draco knelt beside Lidelle and wrapped her in a hug. "I'm… I'm so sorry Lidelle."
"I thought you were d-d-dead." She quietly sobbed in her arms. The words stung. Draco sighed.
"I saw you in danger… the puyos were only growing in number, so I had to take action, and I couldn't use my fire in the rain… and..." Draco rambled. Oh, this was stupid! Just tell her the dang truth, you worthless lizard.
Draco took a shaky breath. "No. That wasn't all of it. Lidelle… the truth is you are a very talented person. You are great at everything! You are smart, and you have a bright future ahead of you. People love you, and respect you as a person. As for me..."
Draco let her sentence fall flat. She wasn't sure Lidelle would want to hear her complain about her faults. She'd probably label her as a whiner.
But Draco didn't want to live with these awful feelings inside of her anymore. If she was going to tell someone, she couldn't think of anyone better to tell then her little sister, Lidelle.
"As for me… I'm a joke. I'm not good at anything. People think I'm slow and kind of a ditz. That's why I always challenge people to competitions. To prove I'm good enough, a worthy individual. But I'm a dragon hybrid. I'm not beautiful. I'm not even that great at Puyo battles. I'm a lizard who's always hungry, always a nuisance, who's never worked a decent job in my life. I take the time to work myself to hell, and I can't even beat people like Rulue or Raffina, who are ten times better than me, you were right, before."
Lidelle listened patiently. Draco couldn't tell what she was thinking.
"And so, when I saw you, taking control of the situation, using your incredible magic to create the most amazing storm I've ever seen… I wanted to one-up you. I wanted to be noticed, as a powerful worthy person, and get your approval. I'm sorry Lidelle. I'm a selfish jerk, I acted on my own wants. It was to help you, but it wasn't." Draco took another deep breath. "Listen. Find someone else to call your big sister. I'm not good enough. That isn't a request."
Lidelle stared at her. Her face was unreadable. After a moment, she tut-tutted with her teeth. "Draco Centauros. Someone once t-told me not to be p-pushed around."
Draco stared at her with surprise written on her face.
"And I promised that I'd take their advice to heart. Big Sister."
Draco could feel something wet on her face. She assumed it was the rain.
"You have always been the most amazing p-person to me. Dragon hybrid or no." Lidelle reached up and pulled out the buns hiding the horns on her head. "Sure, we share some things in common. Look at our horns. Look at our ears." she swept out a short cow's tail from behind her. "Look at our tails. But the t-truth is, I learned something when I got t-to know you."
"You have a great heart. You love your friends, and you love me. And I love you." Lidelle continued. "You are beautiful. You are beautifully s-strong, in a way I'm not. And in a way all of the other girls aren't. You are the t-t-toughest girl, and you don't need to prove anything to anyone, b-because you are perfect. And I mean that."
Lidelle gave Draco another hug. "I wish I was like you. A risk-taker, an a-adventurer, who's so c-courageous, she won't let a-anyone push her around. I wish I was like YOU. I admire you..."
Draco Centauros started to cry hot tears, streaming down her face, mixing with the rain.
"S-so don't EVER…"
"EVER..."
"Tell me t-to find someone else t-to be a b-better big sister than you are. B-because you are the b-best." Lidelle was crying too. Draco couldn't even say yes, because her throat was choked with water and emotion.
I'm a risk-taker. An adventurer.
The rain was starting to clear up.
I… don't let anyone push me around.
I'm beautiful.
The clouds were lifting.
I have a great heart.
I'm the best big sister.
"Th… thank you, Lidelle..." Draco choked out. "I don't deserve you… little sister."
Lidelle looked at her face, and smiled so wide that the sun literally broke through the clouds. She quietly let go of Draco, dried her eyes, and faced the sky.
Draco watched as Lidelle raised her arms and whispered, "Arcobaleno."
The two sat and watched the eminent rainbow streak across the blue sky, and over the still basin, filled with clean spring water. Draco felt more free than she had ever felt in her life.
She glanced over at her little sis, who peacefully watched the sky. Who knew such a shy little girl would give Draco Centauros, dragon hybrid, such a change of heart.