Boredom.
That was all Gill knew for the past few days, was it the past few days? Or was it just a day or two? Or maybe just an afternoon? He didn't know. In the chilling, dark, emptiness of his cell, Gill couldn't keep track of the days and everything that happened to him.
Was it a few minutes before when a blood red SkyWing came in his cell and threw a rabbit at him? Was it already a day since a little dragonet clambered into the dungeons only to get dragged back out?
Gill didn't know.
He hated this kind of feeling, this feeling of helplessness, as though he was an ant, and Ruby was the dragon. The only thing he knew was that he had to get back to the Sea Kingdom, back to Coral, back to his family.
His entire body felt cold, his talons felt numb, his wings ached. His heart screamed in horror and desperation. All he wanted to see was a bit of sunlight, or a puddle of water he could reach.
The worst about this miserable place he was stuck in was the etching feeling of wanting something, something that was so close to him, but something that he just couldn't reach.
He could hear the familiar drip drop of water and the splashing sound of droplets, he knew that there was a puddle before him, beside the door of his cell. But the chains that grasped this wrists prevented him from getting to it, in fact he couldn't even move five meters close to the walls in any direction except from behind.
The chains were made of heavy iron, dragging his weight downward, each movement made him feel like someone had melted his scales together with the ground.
Gill also knew it would only take him a day to fly to the Kingdom of the Sea, he knew how close he was to the dragon he desperately needed. But he was here, unable to even move more two meters.
The king could also feel the weight of all the memories on him, making all the weight and pain on his talons double. He remembered how he would go hunting with his sons, he remembered how he could go dive down and hunt sharks with Coral. He remembered the feeling of corals brushing his talons, he remembered feeling the sticky feeling of seaweed wrapped against him.
He remembered the feeling of salt water through his gills, he remembered the way he could tilt his wings and sweep along the sea floor, riding the current.
He remembered eating fish, the fresh, strong taste of fish overwhelmed Gill, but the taste felt dry now in his throat. Now, the only thing he ate was pigs, cows, goats, chickens, and rabbits. The feeling of mammal flesh tasted sour, weird, and made him uneasy, it never had the same warm feeling that seafood gave him.
Gill didn't manage to remember when it was when his talons were still free, were he could soar into the sky. Lie down on the sandy beaches, laughing with other SeaWings, sharing meals and joking around with the dragons in his tribes.
He felt a bit like the missing princess, away from his family, desperately trying to get back. He didn't remember anything else, he should remember other things, but he couldn't.
Gill remembered reading Coral's marvelous stories, the feeling of those words sweep against him, engulfing him in peace. Those were his favorite stories, but now all he could feel about those, was a deep longing deep in his chest along with everything else he wished to have.
Sometimes occasional sounds would slip into the dungeons, sounds of dragonets chirping, sounds of dragons laughing, sounds of dragons flying, sounds of water splashing. All the things he wanted, Gill raised one shaky talon, trying to reach for the door. But his chains strained, and a moment later, he dropped his sore green talon down.
The SeaWing prince wanted to leap out, rip off his chains, and fight his way out of this miserable pit in which he was in. He wanted to throw all SkyWings in these dungeons, make them feel sad, desperate, like him.
Wait no, Gill couldn't think like that, he shouldn't. That wasn't something good, he shouldn't do those types of things, he should do good things, like Swan had. He shouldn't think like that, he shouldn't believe that he could think like that.
Gill just wanted to be back in his home, he just wanted to be with Coral again, he just wanted to have his life back.
