Allison woke up slowly, as if from a dream state. The chirping of birds seemed unusually loud, accompanied by the winds in the trees and the sound of wings flapping. She opened her eyes, startled at the feel of fresh soil and leaves beneath her, and every sight seemed to jump out at her.
She sat up, blinking in surprise. There was a small camp of a sort set up next to her. A small campfire was burning a few feet away, with a boiling pot of tea of some sort over it. Several other items and a knapsack were neatly laid out against a nearby flat-topped boulder.
"What's going on?" she wondered out loud, then heard the sound of feet on grass and the rustling of wings. Scolding herself for not noting that sound earlier, she turned around.
She was met with the sight of a small lizard-like creature, sitting on his - how she knew it was "his" was something she couldn't figure out - haunches. Dull bronze scales covered his body. His wings were folded against his body, but even so Allison could tell that when opened, he would have a rather large wingspan. A long tail curved around him, and the tip tapped the ground. He had his hind feet tucked under him, and was holding up most of his weight with his three-fingered forepaws. He had a long, slender neck with a thick ridge of skin, and his head was wedge-shaped. His eyes were closed, and there was a small black horn behind each eye.
She looked at the creature, noticing that it looked so mythological, perhaps like a dragon.
He raised his head and opened large, crystal-like eyes...
We greet you with open hands.
Allison blinked in surprise. She knew that the creature's mouth had not moved, yet she knew it was he who had spoken. "Who are you?"
And all that makes that up is me.
I am the dragon of the Master Plan.
My name is Cobalt, assist you I can.
"Uh-huh." She sat down on a nearby rock. "Umm...can I ask a question? Why are you rhyming?"
It is to right things that go wrong.
You learn some things anew,
And I will be here too.
You can set things right,
And drive back the Eternal Night.
She frowned. "What is the Eternal Night?"
Since we have served humankind last.
So long without help from dragonkind,
Your species remembers not in the mind.
The Eternal Night will come to be,
If you do not trust in me.
The Eternal Night is destruction and pain,
And there will be nothing to gain.
But you know not all that you need,
And you must go at a faster speed,
You are the one who will bring forth,
The dragons, hailing to the north.
"So, basically you've been alone but you've met humans before, and you're here to teach me things I need for the future." Cobalt nodded his bronze head. "Okay, is this in any way connected to the T'MrijisuL K'JnN?"
And that's the reason I chose you.
Allison mostly understood him. "Why are you only now finding me?"
Before your species began to grow.
Much had you to learn before,
And now you can learn even more.
Your unity with the Protector,
Has opened up the vital door.
The Protector was obviously Damian. She remembered that from what R'IljiN had told them a few months before. "So now that Damian and I are Bonded, I can learn more?" She was very surprised, having not expected this young dragon to know all the details of her life. Cobalt patiently nodded his head.
You will see!
It is now time for memory.
~~~~~~~
Damian had a similar experience in waking up. Except he woke up to a delicate-looking bronze dragon with a swooping neck ridge, who was standing on its hind legs in front of him.
Making sure that all goes well.
I am the dragon of the Game,
Illumina is what is my name.
Damian felt a headache coming on. "Please, no rhymes."
It really is not all my fault.
Rhyming is what I must do,
Even so, I stay with you.
He sighed, and decided that he had to put up with it. "Alright, what am I here for?"
And this is what my kind brings.
A gift to you, from all of us.
We're sorry if we caused a fuss.
But you must start your learning now
Come this way, I'll show you how!
~~~~~~~
He will be different, though.
Talk to him and your knowledge will grow.
"Okay, who is it?" Allison asked as she and Cobalt entered a small clearing. In the clearing was a teenage boy, about fifteen years old. He had light blond hair and greenish-brown eyes, and he was dressed in jeans and a plaid shirt.
The boy turned to look at her. "Oh, hello!" he called. "Would you happen to know where we are?"
"All I know is that the area is called K'ti'ma. I'm not sure if that is the name of the planet or the forest," she answered carefully, wondering what this was all about.
"Well, at least I'm not the only one lost around here," he said, then offered her his hand. "My name's Jimmy Kirk. What's yours?"
Allison shot a glance at Cobalt, and raised an eyebrow.
I have not lied to you,
And you still have things to do.
"Whatever," she muttered, and the young James Kirk looked over at her oddly. "He rhymes all the time. It gets really annoying after a while."
"But he didn't say anything..." Jimmy looked puzzled.
"Yes, he did. I think he's telepathic." She looked over at Cobalt. "Let him hear you, will you?"
This is something I can do.
Jimmy stared hard at Cobalt for a minute. Then he looked back up at Allison. "I never did get your name."
"Sorry. I'm Allison Danks, and this is Cobalt."
"Danks? My mother's maiden name was Danks...you wouldn't happen to have a relative named Winona, would you?" Jimmy asked, surprised.
"Actually, no," she said, crossing her fingers behind her back and feeling guilty at lying to this young Kirk. "I don't think we're related, unless you're part Vulcan."
"That's true." He paused. "This may sound completely irrelevant, and please don't take this the wrong way, but you really don't act like a Vulcan. What's your blood type?"
She blinked, mind racing. She only remembered hearing about one Vulcan blood type from the old Star Trek episode "Journey to Babel," but she had never bothered to find out her own. "I'm actually not sure." Then she remembered the knapsack. "There might be something in here to tell us," she said, unfastening the straps.
Jimmy opened up the knapsack, and soon pulled out a small black box with a screen and a button on it. "Here, this should tell us." He hit the button and held the box up near Allison's arm, and it beeped.
He looked a little surprised. "You're S-positive. That's almost unheard of. What House do you come from?"
She looked over at him. "Uhh...I don't come from a House, actually. I was raised on Earth."
He glanced at her oddly. "I've never heard of a Vulcan living on Earth before..."
Something's there and it could hurt!
Allison turned to the direction Cobalt was looking in, having picked up on the baby dragon's worried tone. The sound of something sharp biting into wood, and she looked up to see a very large, adult version of Cobalt with long, curving black horns that went well past its nose, and scales of a deep red blood color. Its tail whipped around as if alive, making a bell-like sound. It snarled, and blue-colored liquid dripped from its fangs. The saliva landed on a bush and it began to sizzle, eating away at the plant. The large dragon began to growl deep in its throat.
"This can't be good..." Allison muttered.
Cobalt was growling also, which faintly surprised her.
He could defeat you with his powers.
Careful, or he will destroy you,
But fight Sanguine, you must do!
Jimmy whipped out a phaser that Allison hadn't noticed, and aimed it at Sanguine's head. The dragon suddenly roared, an ear-splitting awful shriek, and lunged at them both.
Allison leaped out of the way and reached for her own phaser, not expecting to find it at her side and was more than mildly surprised when it was.
Jimmy fired at Sanguine, intending to kill him quickly. The red blast struck the red scales at Sanguine's neck with deadly force-
-and the dragon sat back, unharmed but apparently amused. It snarled in a parody of a grin, then jumped on top of Jimmy and bit down hard on his legs. Jimmy screamed, and Sanguine roared in triumph as he began to tear at the teenager. Allison fired at the dragon with her phaser, but he ignored her and continued ripping Jimmy apart. Cobalt sprang upon Sanguine's back and arched his neck as a ripple moved across his scales toward his head. His head darted forward, spitting a glob of blue-tinted saliva onto Sanguine's back. The older dragon screamed as acid melted scales and flesh and bone, and knocked Cobalt off before spreading his wings and flying away in a flash, taking Jimmy with him.
Allison stood in the clearing for a few minutes, staring at where Sanguine had flown. She heard Cobalt step up behind her. "This...this isn't right. He didn't die like this, at this age."
But things have seemed so amiss.
This isn't really what it seems,
We dragons only call it the Dream.
The elders have been testing you,
And it's supposed to help me, too.
That was only part of the test,
It will take time to find the rest.
She frowned. "So none of this is real?" Cobalt nodded his bronze head.
That which you have rightly earned.
But some of the lessons will be hard,
And some are like a wild card.
But they are only meant to help you,
And hurting is not what you are meant to do,
Even though you might be made to.
Allison stared into the dragon's crystal eyes and reached out mentally, trying to see if he was telling the truth. Without effort, all of the baby dragon's thoughts and feelings rushed into her in a split second. Cobalt made a sort of soft crooning noise, enjoying the mental touch, and Allison realized that all of her own mind was open to the dragon as well. She released the deep mental contact, and sat back. "This is going to take some getting used to."
Author's Notes: The dragons of K'ti'ma and all related items belong to Jennifer Embree, and are used with permission. Cobalt is my character, and Illumina is Damian's character. All facts about K'ti'ma and its lifeforms come from the Star Wars Genesis saga, which is a VERY good fic series that I recommend to any and all Warsies.