(Note: Niji in YT's fic "The City of Dragons" was based on Royg, not the
other way around.)
Part III
I did not how to go up, even though I did have wings. So I leapt, and I was caught in a draft. There was something about feeling the air in my wings that made them work. It felt good. This was not like flying on a horse-less chariot or with a jetpack. The wings belonged to me, and I had control.
The higher I went, the worse the storm progressed. I expected to feel cold and wet, but somehow I did not. But as I reached the clouds, I noticed something curious.
Raindrops did not fall from the sky.
I saw with my own eyes as one flitted on my finger. It was a dragonfly made of water. All the raindrops were dragonflies, spiraling down to earth with their large wings.
I knew this could not be so. Could this be what the muse meant?
As I continued to consider this phenomenon, I heard a low moan. Against the clouds, I could barely see a large bird of prey. It sang the moan again and flapped its huge wings. It created a large gust of wind that blew me away. The draft undid my hair and kept me from getting any higher. The best I could do was fight against the bird's wind with my own wings. It was not easy.
By the time I had finally managed to get past the bird, I heard a loud hiss. There was a large snake made of light with blue eyes, and it charged for me. I knew this was lightning. I tried to dodge the snake, but it followed me. I drew my sword and sliced it in half. It hit against a cloud and exploded. Another lightning snake charged for me from the other direction. I knew I couldn't spend all my time warding off these snakes, so I flew above the nearest cloud.
It was not raining up here. The sky was bluer than ever, and the sun looked like a huge, golden pearl. The cloud felt like soft earth. I could walk upon it.
I saw what looked like a large temple made out of clouds. Yet, as I went inside, I saw that it was a stable--an empty stable.
The first stall was round and bigger than the other stalls. A large sign above it read, "ZEPHYR AVIARY." Through a small window, I could see birds like the one I met outside.
Two empty stalls next to the aviary read "ZEUS' and "THOR."
As I passed by these stalls, I heard groaning. So, this place wasn't completely empty. I ran to where the sounds were coming from, the final stall. Above the door hung an impressive sign of gold which read:
ROYG In care of BV
At least I think that's what the name was. It was written in Hebrew. Of all the languages I learned, Hebrew was the most frustrating. I only learned a few basic words, the alphabet, and the fact that they never used vowels. Thinking about it now, the name might have been BW. Either way, it mystified me.
As I looked over the door, I saw what the muse wanted me to find.
It was a large, Oriental dragon coiled on the ground asleep. Its skin was striped red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. White clouds floated out of the dragon's nostrils with every snore.
Of course! A muse would remember that rainbows appear after the rain. They are so rare, I never expect to see them anymore.
I slowly walked into the stable. "Royg?" I whispered.
The dragon grunted and turned over. How was I going to get the dragon to wake?
I spotted an old feedbag full of diamonds. Diamonds? Yet as I came closer, I saw they were drops of morning dew. I shoveled out about a thousand and held them beneath the dragon's nose. The dragon sniffed the food and opened its large, golden eyes. It lapped up the food with its tongue. Then it spied me for the first time. It walked over and nuzzled me in its mane. The dragon smelled like rain. I was glad I earned its trust.
I opened the door. "Go," I said encouragingly.
The dragon looked sleepily at the open door, snorted, and fell back upon the ground.
"Come on, Royg. Go." But the dragon was not motivated. I pulled out my favorite ball from my childhood. "Do you see this?" I gave it a good throw to the entrance of the stable. "Go get it!"
But the dragon just sleepily turned over.
"No wonder we never see rainbows anymore." I was starting to get aggravated.
But then I spotted something I am sure was not there before--a bridle, a saddle, and a piece of golden paper. I read the note to myself.
"You have my permission to take Royg for a ride. Use the bridle. Be careful. He likes to chase the sun."
No name was signed. I imagine it was from Royg's mysterious owner.
I placed the ornaments on Royg, and the dragon perked up. He knew it was time to work.
"Hiya!" I cried once I was situated, but he would not move. "Go!" I was beginning to wish the owner gave me more instructions when a gentle Zephyr blew the entrance door of the stable open. As the golden rays of the sun fell on our eyes, Royg took off like a shot.
I wasn't prepared for the dragon to go so fast. I nearly fell off. The dragon ran closer and closer to the sun, and fell off the cloud.
The experience was thrilling, once I was used to the dragon's flight. I was flying on the rainbow! I knew people down below were looking up at us in wonder. I had to guide the dragon toward the miserable town.
Our flight lasted for about half an hour, then seemed to come to a halt. An invisible wall was blocking the dragon's path. Royg kept banging his head against it. Below, I could see the city with no color. How could we get through?
It came to me. I remembered earlier that day, the tiny rainbows dancing on my gi. I drew my sword and held it up to the sun, so that it reflected the light on the invisible dome. "There Royg! Go!"
The dragon roared and flew toward the reflected light. It filtered us through. Yet, now we were no longer flying. We were falling.
I could see the dreary parade of children below us. Royg hit the ground, and I fell off the saddle onto the ground.
The children gathered around me. "A man with wings? That's impossible," I heard one say.
"I like the idea, though," another said.
I opened my eyes to find myself in the heart of the rainbow. As I came out, I saw that my gi was no longer white, but a deep red. The children were no longer black and white. They were every color imaginable. No two looked the same. They stared at their new surroundings in wonder and delight.
"But this isn't right at all!" I whispered. Everything was colored now, but nothing was the correct color.
Nobody seemed to mind though. The musician I encountered at first was now playing a joyous tune, and from the look on his face it seemed this time it was from the depths of his soul. The young artist was painting meaningless lines and shapes. It still looked thought provoking, but I did not tell her. Some people did not like their new surroundings, but I think by and large that most were very happy. I saw the angry man painting a new sign at the city limits reading "Kaleidoscope." "This was exactly what we needed, my friend," he said, smiling at me. "Thank you!"
"I'll take those." The muse was on her way in. She unfastened the invisible strands and took them back.
"Thank you for letting me use them. Tell me more of what you meant, that I would see things differently."
"Well, how else would you picture a rainbow as a dragon? I meant you see things as a muse would, as a dreamer."
"And why exactly did the rainbow work and not the flower?"
"The flower was meant for you! It was good that you shared it, but it was for you. The rainbow is for everyone. See Jack, you always do make a difference, but sometimes you can't do it by yourself."
"I do not understand."
"I'm sorry, but there's no other way I can explain it." She put the wings back on herself and touched my arm. "Keep fighting, mighty warrior, and bless you."
I watched her enter the city, and I went on my way.
Part III
I did not how to go up, even though I did have wings. So I leapt, and I was caught in a draft. There was something about feeling the air in my wings that made them work. It felt good. This was not like flying on a horse-less chariot or with a jetpack. The wings belonged to me, and I had control.
The higher I went, the worse the storm progressed. I expected to feel cold and wet, but somehow I did not. But as I reached the clouds, I noticed something curious.
Raindrops did not fall from the sky.
I saw with my own eyes as one flitted on my finger. It was a dragonfly made of water. All the raindrops were dragonflies, spiraling down to earth with their large wings.
I knew this could not be so. Could this be what the muse meant?
As I continued to consider this phenomenon, I heard a low moan. Against the clouds, I could barely see a large bird of prey. It sang the moan again and flapped its huge wings. It created a large gust of wind that blew me away. The draft undid my hair and kept me from getting any higher. The best I could do was fight against the bird's wind with my own wings. It was not easy.
By the time I had finally managed to get past the bird, I heard a loud hiss. There was a large snake made of light with blue eyes, and it charged for me. I knew this was lightning. I tried to dodge the snake, but it followed me. I drew my sword and sliced it in half. It hit against a cloud and exploded. Another lightning snake charged for me from the other direction. I knew I couldn't spend all my time warding off these snakes, so I flew above the nearest cloud.
It was not raining up here. The sky was bluer than ever, and the sun looked like a huge, golden pearl. The cloud felt like soft earth. I could walk upon it.
I saw what looked like a large temple made out of clouds. Yet, as I went inside, I saw that it was a stable--an empty stable.
The first stall was round and bigger than the other stalls. A large sign above it read, "ZEPHYR AVIARY." Through a small window, I could see birds like the one I met outside.
Two empty stalls next to the aviary read "ZEUS' and "THOR."
As I passed by these stalls, I heard groaning. So, this place wasn't completely empty. I ran to where the sounds were coming from, the final stall. Above the door hung an impressive sign of gold which read:
ROYG In care of BV
At least I think that's what the name was. It was written in Hebrew. Of all the languages I learned, Hebrew was the most frustrating. I only learned a few basic words, the alphabet, and the fact that they never used vowels. Thinking about it now, the name might have been BW. Either way, it mystified me.
As I looked over the door, I saw what the muse wanted me to find.
It was a large, Oriental dragon coiled on the ground asleep. Its skin was striped red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. White clouds floated out of the dragon's nostrils with every snore.
Of course! A muse would remember that rainbows appear after the rain. They are so rare, I never expect to see them anymore.
I slowly walked into the stable. "Royg?" I whispered.
The dragon grunted and turned over. How was I going to get the dragon to wake?
I spotted an old feedbag full of diamonds. Diamonds? Yet as I came closer, I saw they were drops of morning dew. I shoveled out about a thousand and held them beneath the dragon's nose. The dragon sniffed the food and opened its large, golden eyes. It lapped up the food with its tongue. Then it spied me for the first time. It walked over and nuzzled me in its mane. The dragon smelled like rain. I was glad I earned its trust.
I opened the door. "Go," I said encouragingly.
The dragon looked sleepily at the open door, snorted, and fell back upon the ground.
"Come on, Royg. Go." But the dragon was not motivated. I pulled out my favorite ball from my childhood. "Do you see this?" I gave it a good throw to the entrance of the stable. "Go get it!"
But the dragon just sleepily turned over.
"No wonder we never see rainbows anymore." I was starting to get aggravated.
But then I spotted something I am sure was not there before--a bridle, a saddle, and a piece of golden paper. I read the note to myself.
"You have my permission to take Royg for a ride. Use the bridle. Be careful. He likes to chase the sun."
No name was signed. I imagine it was from Royg's mysterious owner.
I placed the ornaments on Royg, and the dragon perked up. He knew it was time to work.
"Hiya!" I cried once I was situated, but he would not move. "Go!" I was beginning to wish the owner gave me more instructions when a gentle Zephyr blew the entrance door of the stable open. As the golden rays of the sun fell on our eyes, Royg took off like a shot.
I wasn't prepared for the dragon to go so fast. I nearly fell off. The dragon ran closer and closer to the sun, and fell off the cloud.
The experience was thrilling, once I was used to the dragon's flight. I was flying on the rainbow! I knew people down below were looking up at us in wonder. I had to guide the dragon toward the miserable town.
Our flight lasted for about half an hour, then seemed to come to a halt. An invisible wall was blocking the dragon's path. Royg kept banging his head against it. Below, I could see the city with no color. How could we get through?
It came to me. I remembered earlier that day, the tiny rainbows dancing on my gi. I drew my sword and held it up to the sun, so that it reflected the light on the invisible dome. "There Royg! Go!"
The dragon roared and flew toward the reflected light. It filtered us through. Yet, now we were no longer flying. We were falling.
I could see the dreary parade of children below us. Royg hit the ground, and I fell off the saddle onto the ground.
The children gathered around me. "A man with wings? That's impossible," I heard one say.
"I like the idea, though," another said.
I opened my eyes to find myself in the heart of the rainbow. As I came out, I saw that my gi was no longer white, but a deep red. The children were no longer black and white. They were every color imaginable. No two looked the same. They stared at their new surroundings in wonder and delight.
"But this isn't right at all!" I whispered. Everything was colored now, but nothing was the correct color.
Nobody seemed to mind though. The musician I encountered at first was now playing a joyous tune, and from the look on his face it seemed this time it was from the depths of his soul. The young artist was painting meaningless lines and shapes. It still looked thought provoking, but I did not tell her. Some people did not like their new surroundings, but I think by and large that most were very happy. I saw the angry man painting a new sign at the city limits reading "Kaleidoscope." "This was exactly what we needed, my friend," he said, smiling at me. "Thank you!"
"I'll take those." The muse was on her way in. She unfastened the invisible strands and took them back.
"Thank you for letting me use them. Tell me more of what you meant, that I would see things differently."
"Well, how else would you picture a rainbow as a dragon? I meant you see things as a muse would, as a dreamer."
"And why exactly did the rainbow work and not the flower?"
"The flower was meant for you! It was good that you shared it, but it was for you. The rainbow is for everyone. See Jack, you always do make a difference, but sometimes you can't do it by yourself."
"I do not understand."
"I'm sorry, but there's no other way I can explain it." She put the wings back on herself and touched my arm. "Keep fighting, mighty warrior, and bless you."
I watched her enter the city, and I went on my way.