Things were—let's be honest here—looking downright bleak for dear Starflight. Abducted from his friends; dumped onto a blighted volcanic wasteland; witnessing the cruelties of the NightWings as well as those committed by his amoral monster of a father; and worst of all, learning that there were replacement Dragonets of Destiny, and that he and his friends were expendable as far as Morrowseer was concerned. It's a lot for a youngster practically new to the world to take in, especially one as meek as Starflight. And even though his quick thinking and some help from his replacement allowed him to survive another day in the waking nightmare that had become his present, the sense of helplessness weighed ever heavily on his shoulders.
On the bright side, he was still permitted the privilege of sleeping in relative comfort, among others of his age group, as opposed to alone in some bizarre death cell. For a few brief hours he could find peace in his dreams and rally his spirit for the coming day… at least, that had been the plan. But his thoughts were ajumble with noise and nonsense that refused to settle down and allow him a decent slumber. Plus, there was an odd sensation that he was being watched.
"Hey kid. Having trouble sleeping?"
Starflight's eyes fluttered open, and slowly he turned his gaze in the direction of the voice. Across the sleeping den, sitting on the edge of an occupied ledge, was a four-limbed creature in white rags, looking less hairy than others of its kind and also wearing… some odd dark reflective apparatus over its eyes. Its hairless face was also smiling, which made it even stranger, and a bit unsettling.
"A scavenger?" Starflight murmured, understandably confused.
"That I am, me bucko," the creature replied. "Though personally I think that title is two syllables too long, so just call me Scav. Or Connelly. Actually no; Scav would be easier."
"You can talk? Or, am I somehow understanding your language?"
"Hey, us Scavs are way more sophisticated than you give us credit for. We can observe and learn just as well as you fiery terrors." The little creature pushed off the ledge and hopped down to the floor, looking up at Starflight as he headed his way. "And I've been doing plenty of observing lately, mostly in regards to you. You're in something of a rough patch, a low spot, I can tell. Not exactly blending in with your fellow dark scales."
"That's an understatement…" Starflight muttered, his remembered misery making him momentarily forget he was holding a conversation with a lower life form. But only momentarily, as Scav bounded up past other sleeping dragonets to get up to his long face.
"Yeah, they're not exactly the nicest to get along with. Granted, you dragons as a whole are a pretty mean bunch, but your clan here? Whew!"
"Not all of us are mean," Starflight said, wincing at how it sounded like a whine. Also that he was defending himself against something hardly larger than a monkey.
"I know I know, and I respect that. It's super easy to be cruel and domineering to others, but it takes a heck of a lotta self-discipline to be merciful and considerate. Especially when your body is built to deliver all kinds of wicked harm."
Starflight held out a talon and flexed his claws in ponderance, never having considered that stance.
"But you're not in good company at this moment, and it's got you feeling glum," the scavenger continued, pacing about with arms folded.
"That's a fairly good sum of it. There are other troubling factors, but you have it about right." Why am I entertaining what's clearly a hallucination, Starflight thought. How could there be a scavenger on this forsaken island, deep within the NightWing fortress no less? And the whole intelligible speech thing made it more apparent that it wasn't actually there. Well, it's a better alternative to wallowing silently in hopelessness, he decided. "This is the longest I've been away from my friends, and there's so much I have to tell them. But I mainly just miss them."
"Mm-hm. Particularly your darling sweetheart Sunny."
"What?" Hallucination, right; of course it would know. Don't get too wigged out.
"Loneliness is quite the drag, especially when everything's so hostile and you need a shoulder to lean on or a friendly voice to comfort you. We all go through that," Scav sagely said. "It's in those trying periods where an old adage of my people proves helpful: Wait and Hope. As long as you hold out and keep faith alive, opportunity will eventually present itself, and things will turn out for the better."
That's some sound advice; definitely the kind of reasoning his brain would come up with. However…
"That's about all I've ever done in my life, though: wait and wait and wait for something to happen, and usually someone else makes it happen. Right now, I feel like I should be the one taking action."
Scav halted in an awkward stance, then turned his head to give Starflight another grin. A worryingly wide one. "Oh, is that right?"
"Well, I mean, I have to do things for myself at some point. Can't just rely on others all the time." Why was he justifying himself to a figment of his frayed imagination?
Said figment snapped into a straightened posture, nodded, then said, "I getcha. The young tend to get restless, feel the need to go do something meaningful, stick it to authority, carve out their own destiny… one besides what's already been assigned to them, of course." Scav threw out a commanding finger at Starflight. "But that kind of direction requires a whole lotta drive and chutzpah to make into reality."
"Huts-pa?" Where had Starflight heard such a word, or even that particular combination of sounds? This delusion was starting to become concerning.
"I believe you have the makings of a fine draco nobilis yet, but ultimately it comes down to whether you're truly willing to pay the price. To take on whatever danger, and make whatever sacrifice, to make that happen." The scavenger turned his back, all solemn-like, going silent for some seconds. Then…
"I understand you are full of doubt. It's only natural, given everything you've been through. However, I find that a little encouragement can help greatly in such grim times. So before you can question your abilities as you are wont to do, oh troubled Starflight, I want you to consider this…"
"I mean, I wasn't planning on doing anything just yet—"
A lone column of light shone down on Scav as an odd melody filled the air.
"What did Jesus do, when they sentenced him to die?" he asked softly, lyrically. "Did he try to run away? Did he just break down and cry?"
"Um, who's Jesus?"
"No Jesus dug down deep, knowing what he had to do. When faced with his own death, Jesus knew that he had too…"
"But who is he?"
Man up.
He had to Man Up.
So he crawled up on that cross
And he stuck it out.
"Now you're singing."
He Manned Up.
Christ he Manned Up!
And taught us all what
Reeeeal, Manning Up is a-bwouut.
Suddenly music with rocks in it came on.
And now it's up to you
And it's time to Man Up.
Jesus had his time ta,
Now it's thine ta Man Up.
You're taking the reins,
You're crossing the bear!
And just like Jesus
You're growing a pair!
"A pair of what?"
You've gotta stand up;
Can't just clam up.
It's time taa, Man Uuuuuuuuuup!
Cuz there's a time in your life
When you've got to Man Up!
Don't let it pass you by
There's just one time ta Man Up!
Watch you Man Up like nobody else!
You're gonna Man Up all over yourself!
"Uhhh—"
You've got to get ready:
It's time taaa,
Time Taaaaaaaaaa!
What did Jesus do, when they put nails through his hands?
Did he SCREAM like a girl,
Or did he take it like a man?
When someone had to die,
To save us from our sins,
Jesus said "I'LL DO IT!",
And he took it on the chiiiiiiiiiin!
"Okay I think I got the mes—"
He Manned Up!
He Manned ruh-ruh-ruhp.
He took a bullet for me and you.
That's Man Up.
Real Man wruh-wruh-up.
And now it's your time taaaaaa,
Do It TOO!
Time to be the hero and Slay The MON-STER!
Time to battle darkness—
"Will you please st—"
YOU'RE NOT MY FA-THER!
You're gonna time ta, just watch you go!
It's time ta step up and steeeal the show!
Time Ta! Thine Ta!
Time Ta Time Ta, Time, Ta!
Village Flower
Sal Tlay, Ka Siti:
A place of hope and joy~.
Scav
Man Up!
"Who's that?"
Village Flower
And if we want to go there,
We just have to follow that daaark boy!
"You mean me?"
Scav
Time Ta!
Some Skittish Mormon
Heavenly Mo-ther,
Why do you let bad things happen?
Villagers
Ka-lay-ka Siiiti!
Village Flower
Did you get my text?
Some Skittish Mormon
More to the point,
Why do you let bad things happen tooo him?
Villagers
Ka-lay-ka Siiiti
We got your text!
Some Skittish Mormon
I'm sure you don't think he's a flake.
Scav
Man Up!
Some Skittish Mormon
Because you've clearly made a mistake.
Backup Mormons
Turn it off!
Some Skittish Mormon
He's going where you need him most:
Orlan-Doooooo!
Backup Mormons
Orlan-Dooooooooo!
"I don't know what's going on anymore!"
Villagers
Just listen to that weird white guy!
Scav
Your time to time ta
Now it's your time to time Ta!
Villagers
And say "Hasa Diga Eebowai"!
Scav
No time ta, not time ta,
No now it's time to time ta!
Villagers
Huuh!
Scav
You're in the lead for the Very First Time! (Time-Ta!)
That Skittish Mormon
He's going where Sun-ny Doth Shines! (Shines-Ta!)
Scav
You've got to stand up,
Get your flippin' can up.
It's Time Ta,
Time Taaaaaaa
Man UUUUUUUUP!
Village Flower
Sal Tlay, Ka Siti!
Sal Tlay, Ka Siti!
That Skittish Mormon
Orlando! Orlando!
He's com-ing,
Scav
It's time taaaaaaaaaaaaa~
Gotswana
I have maggots in my SCROOOO-TUUUUUUUUUUUUUUM!
*BRRWEEEEEN!*
"Hey, hey, are you alright?"
Starflight shuddered and jerked before opening his eyes. Something had been poking his snout, and a quick bleary glance showed it was a claw belonging to Fatespeaker… his replacement.
"Mwuh?"
"You were moving around and your face kept scrunching up. Were you having a nightmare?" Fatespeaker made an excited gasp. "Or was it a vision?"
Starflight raised himself up, rubbing his eyes and getting his mind in order. "No. Just… feeling restless." Thank goodness, it had just been a nightmare! Made sense, seeing how none of the other dragonets in the cave had woken up to the singing and shouting of the scavenger ensemble, and also how none of them were in sight anymore. On that note. "Why are you awake?"
"I couldn't sleep either, so I thought we'd go explore while the adults are still sleeping. Sound good?"
It didn't really, Starflight thought. Morrowseer would certainly be against them wandering about, and there was no telling what fresh troubles awaited him if he gave into impulse. However, in light of the… whatever that had been, a walk around the fortress would be a relief. "Sure. I'm not really feeling tired anymore."
"Great! Let's go see what we can learn about our tribe!"
Starflight rolled out of bed onto the floor, following the excitable NightWing out of the sleeping cave. But he couldn't stop thinking about what he had seen, even as it rapidly faded from his memory. What exactly was that? Some kind of major stress dream, or a mental breakdown of sorts? He couldn't help but wonder if animus dragons experienced something similar as their magic drove them mad, and that thought alone made him shiver. He had zero magic as far as he was aware, but it was a frightful prospect all the same.
Oh well. At least he could take comfort knowing that whatever he and Fatespeaker might come upon on this late night stroll would surely be nowhere as distressing as what he just experienced.
…Surely.
*Arthurian's Nordstrom: Happy Belated Easter, everyone!*